ST. LOUIS – Maybe $15 million doesn’t buy what it used to in free agency.
Or maybe it does eventually?
The Cincinnati Reds are still waiting to find out.
And early is starting to get late when it comes to the wait for $15 million free agent Eugenio Suárez to pay off for the little-market club with the big-time playoff hopes.
“I’ve just got to continue to believe in myself, keep doing what I’ve been doing, what I’ve been doing for a long time,” said Suárez, who was hitting barely .200 with just four home runs for the Reds through 38 games this season after matching his career high with 49 for Arizona and Seattle last season.
“I don’t have to change anything,” said the notoriously streaky veteran slugger. “Just go out there and have fun and see what happens.”
It has worked for 12-plus seasons and 329 career home runs.
But there’s nothing fun for Suárez or the Reds about the way his return engagement with the team and city have gone.
And his prolonged slump, which was exacerbated by a monthlong oblique injury, has underscored all that has gone wrong so far for a club that believes it has the talent to end a 31-year drought of playoff success – a club that has struggled so mightily since the end of April that it dropped under .500 for the first time since March when it lost it’s series against the Cardinals over the weekend.
“The best thing we can do is let him get hot. Because he will,” manager Terry Francona said, evoking the back-of-the-baseball-card theory for a veteran. “And hopefully, he puts us on his back a little bit.”
In 25 games before going on the IL, Suárez hit .231 with three homers, 30 strikeouts and a .663 OPS, providing just enough reputation-based presence to help protect Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart in the lineup as the Reds won a bunch of close, often low-scoring games to end April in first place.
The team tailspin began soon after he suffered the injury, and in 13 games since his return, Suárez is just 7-for-43 (.163) with one home run, 17 Ks and a .539 OPS.
Francona suggested that Suárez’s extended run in the World Baseball Classic with champion Venezuela in March might have contributed to his early struggles this season.
“He didn’t get very many at-bats (in the tournament),” Francona said. “He did everything he could. When he got back he went down to the minor-league (side for more at-bats). So I’m not being remotely critical. But it was disjointed.
“If you look at a lot of the WBC guys, there’s been a lot of injuries, a lot of guys are struggling. Because it’s different,” Francona added. “I know a lot of people poo-poo spring training, but when you do it right, there’s a reason (for having it). And then he got hurt and he missed time again.”
That’s where Francona’s trust in the career track record comes into play. And Suárez’s trust in his ability, even with his 35th birthday fast approaching next month.
“I just lost my timing when I got (to the regular season),” said Suárez, who disagrees with Francona’s WBC assessment. “The WBC had nothing to do with that. After the WBC everything was good for me.”
So what does Suárez point to as the cause for his struggles?
“I’m not going to point at anything,” he said. “I’ve just got to continue doing my thing.”
If it’s any consolation to the Reds and their fans, Suarez said he thinks one of his patented streaks is coming soon to a ballpark near you:
“I feel very close.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Eugenio Suárez says WBC didn’t play role in his prolonged slump
Reporting by Gordon Wittenmyer, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Gordon Wittenmyer, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
