Eugenio Suárez closed his return season in Cincinnati with the kind of power surge the Reds envisioned when they brought him back, even if the larger October goal slipped away. The 35-year-old third baseman and designated hitter was out of the lineup for the regular-season finale in Toronto, left to look back on a year interrupted by injury but finished with a much stronger swing.
Suárez signed a one-year, $15 million deal with the Reds in February, rejoining the club where he had become a favorite from 2015 through 2021. Cincinnati hoped his right-handed thump would help push a young roster into the postseason and perhaps beyond it.
That did not unfold cleanly. Over 125 games, Suárez hit .212 with 26 home runs and a .740 OPS. He missed 25 games between April 23 and May 22 because of a strained left oblique, then spent much of the first half trying to regain his usual rhythm. Through the season’s opening three months, he had only eight homers.
“It was not the season I had pictured,” Suárez said Sunday. “The first half went poorly, and the injury and the results were not what I wanted.”
He said the oblique issue was an unfamiliar setback in his career, and that he did not immediately feel like himself once he returned. Still, there was a different finish to the season. Beginning July 7, Suárez hit 18 home runs in 64 games, the seventh-highest total in the Majors during that span.
That late push included a career landmark in Atlanta on Tuesday, when Suárez drove his 350th big league homer. It also gave him something constructive to carry into the offseason after Cincinnati fell short of the playoffs.
A better finish, and lessons from a young clubhouse
Suárez said he was pleased with the way he finished and intends to take the positives from a difficult year. He pointed to the younger Reds he watched and played alongside, including Elly De La Cruz, Carlos Jorge, Héctor Rodríguez, Chase Burns and Rhett Lowder.
“I learned plenty, especially from the young players coming through here,” Suárez said. “I’m thankful Cincinnati gave me another chance to return and help the club. We wanted to reach the postseason and did not get there, but we have to move forward and come back with a better mindset next year.”
His future with the Reds now rests with a $16 million mutual option for 2027 that carries no buyout. Both Suárez and the club would need to exercise it for him to stay in Cincinnati, and the team is not expected to pick up its portion.
Suárez nevertheless made clear that he would welcome another season in the Reds clubhouse. “You always want to come back,” he said. “They know how I feel. Now I’ll let them make their decisions, and I’ll be ready if they want me back.”
