When the Cincinnati Reds entered spring training last season, Jonathan India was expected to begin at Triple-A Louisville, Joey Votto was one of the biggest question marks on the roster and Eugenio Suárez was viewed as their best comeback player candidate.
When spring training began, India was blocked in the infield with Eugenio Suárez starting at third base and Mike Moustakas at second. It didn’t even look like he’d make the Opening Day roster, let alone begin a season that would end with the National League Rookie of the Year award in his hands.
India emerged with a breakout camp and pushed himself into a starting spot in the Opening Day lineup. Once he moved into the leadoff spot in June, hitting in front of All-Star starters Jesse Winker and Nick Castellanos, the Reds’ offense reached another level.
The Reds failed to address shortstop last offseason. They didn’t sign one from the free-agent group of Marcus Semien, Andrelton Simmons or Didi Gregorius, and they couldn’t land one in a trade. There wasn’t a clear standout from their spring training battle, so they turned to Suárez, a guy who hadn’t played the position regularly for five years.
The Suárez at shortstop experiment didn’t work. After Votto broke his thumb, the Reds moved Suárez to third base and tried Farmer at shortstop. Farmer, who spent most of his minor league career as a catcher, played as well as the Reds could’ve imagined.
Farmer made only five errors in 1,008 innings at shortstop while showcasing solid range, drawing compliments from pitchers. He hit .274 with 20 doubles, 15 homers and 57 RBI as the starting shortstop, the first time he’s received a real starting opportunity in his big-league career.
Jose Barrero is the favorite to win the starting shortstop job this spring, but Farmer proved he can handle the position, too.
Plenty of players surprised throughout the 2021 season – few people expected Art Warren to become one of the top arms in the bullpen – but here are the seven biggest surprises from last season:
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