It might seem hokey and cliche to say that Eugenio Suárez is home again with the Cincinnati Reds, except that you believe that sentiment when he describes it.
Suárez was re-introduced to the Cincinnati market during a Feb. 3 video conference call in which a casual observer could have been convinced he’d never left the Reds after his memorable, power-laden stay from 2015-2022. He was playful with longtime members of the Reds press corps, and he leaned into his old “good vibes only” mantra, which he coined prior to departing the club via an admittedly emotional trade to the Seattle Mariners.
Suárez on Feb. 3 also spoke about important moments that transpired on and off the field during his time in Cincinnati, from breaking the all-time home run record for Venezuelan-born MLB players (49 homers in 2021, surpassing Andrés Galarraga’s 47 in 1996) to the birth of his daughter in the city.
“It’s perfect. That’s why I’m here, because it’s perfect,” Suárez said. “Perfect (how) it worked out. Everything right now is perfect. Beautiful. Happy and very excited to be back home. I mean, first of all, the Reds were the team that I always in the offseason talked to my agents about me. They always asking. They trying to bring me back. When you put everything together, it makes it easy for me to be back home.”
The conference call with local reporters served as the official re-introduction of the prolific slugger and 2025 American League All-Star to the Cincinnati market, where he returned just days ahead of spring training for the 2026 season on a one-year, $15 million contract with a mutual option for the 2027 season.
Seeing as Suárez gave the impression he’d never left Cincinnati, the hope now is he’ll play like that, too. There’s reason to think he will.
If Suárez enjoys another year of good health, which has been the norm for him, posting a season close to or in line with his career numbers could serve the Reds very well in the National League playoff picture.
Suárez is coming off a 2025 season in which he matched his career-best of 49 homers, and he reached that number after moving via trade from the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Mariners. Suárez was one of the sought-after prizes of last season’s trade deadline and it paid off for a Seattle team that had Suárez help them secure an AL West division title and advancement to the AL Championship Series.
Suárez hit .213 in the postseason with Seattle, including three homers, eight RBI and 10 total hits.
Since departing Cincinnati in before Opening Day in 2022, Suárez hit a combined 132 home runs with Arizona and Seattle. His OPS over two stints with the Mariners was .741 while he posted a .832 OPS with the Diamondbacks.
“Obviously, I feel like I’m still the same guy on the field, doing my best every day,” Suárez said. “Play my 100% everyday, even when I’m not feeling good.. Like I say, on the field I feel like I’m the same guy on the field who enjoys the game 100%. I’m the guy who wants to give the team the best version of me and try to win games. That’s my goal. That’s our goal.”
Everything about the 2026 MLB season is a projection for the time being. Still, it’s hard to overstate what Suárez’s presence in the Reds’ lineup could mean. He figures to offer solutions to almost all of the club’s biggest offensive problems from 2025, a year in which Cincinnati still claimed the National League’s third Wild Card postseason berth while lacking for power and consistent offense.
With a career OPS just below .800, Suárez projects to inject the Reds’ lineup with much-needed power and a general hitting threat, likely in the middle of the batting order. According to Baseball Savant, the contact Suárez made in 2025 would have upped his home run total of 49 to 54 at hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park, too.
Suárez’s presence could unlock the entire Reds’ lineup offensively. Not only would he demand leverage pitches and taxing, high-intensity encounters for opposition pitchers in each plate appearance, he’d lengthen the lineup and keep a steady flow of competitive hitters at the plate deeper into the batting order.
Perhaps most important of all, Suárez could provide protection for Elly De La Cruz, who lacked protection in 2025. In essence, Suárez can be the bat that makes teams pay for letting De La Cruz reach base. The 2025 Reds simply didn’t come close to offering the kind of backstop to support De La Cruz, and themselves, like they’ll have in Suárez.
“To bring a guy in that’s a middle of the order bat, that hit 49 homers last year, the he’s a great clubhouse guy, great guy with all of your fans, you know what you’re getting with him,” Reds President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall said. “He’s just a tremendous individual and it’s really been something that we weren’t sure we were gonna be able to do but it was great that we were able to get ‘Geno.'”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Here’s why having Eugenio Suárez matters to the Reds
Reporting by Pat Brennan, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
