Eugenio Suarez took a Jameson Taillon pitch off his right hand in the Top of the 4th inning on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and while he stayed in to run the bases, he exited afterwards and was replaced by Cliff Pennington at 3B.

There was no immediate news on the severity of Suarez’s bum hand in the team’s official announcement, however.

Best case scenario here, of course, is that he hasn’t broken anything, and the combination of the obvious pain of being hit on bone and the near freezing temperatures in Pittsburgh led to the team taking the cautious route and removing him. That would likely leave Suarez day to day, though, and considering Scott Schebler has been in ‘day to day’ limbo while on the active roster for a full week now, that would leave the Reds even more shorthanded with their position players than they already are.

If - heaven forbid - Suarez’s hand is in worse shape, my guess is that you’d get to see infielder Alex Blandino get his first big league call-up to fill in. Nick Senzel would look lovely in a Cincinnati uniform and will at some point soon, but he’s both not yet on the roster and is up against the service-time clock that could impact his overall team control. Blandino, on the other hand, is already on the 40-man roster, and has been the 3B for the Louisville Bats on a regular basis to begin their season.

Either way, it’s a big ol’ grumbly sigh to even have to consider this, especially given Suarez’s solid start to the season after signing his 7-year contract extension this winter. We’ll keep you updated with any additional information as it comes out.

**UPDATE**

Suarez’s thumb is broken. So are our hearts.