It had been a bit of a slow start to the season for Eugenio Suárez entering play on Sunday. It’s hard to fault him for it, of course, as he’d been away on the roller coaster that was Team Venezuela’s victory in the World Baseball Classic and had far from the typical spring training warm-up.
He also was returning to the Cincinnati Reds after four seasons elsewhere, and surely was putting some added pressure on himself to perform for a base of fans that adored him so. Spotlighting it was that the players
who have been hitting ahead of him in the lineup – namely Sal Stewart and Matt McLain – have been so impossible to retire that each and every time Geno stepped to the plate it seemed as if there were multiple runners in scoring position.
Suárez put in a more vintage showing on Sunday in Great American Ball Park, however. With the Reds trailing the Boston Red Sox 2-0 in the Bottom of the 6th and a pair of runners on, Geno absolutely obliterated a ball into the second deck in LF for a 3-run homer, a 431 foot blast that flipped the scoreboard completely.
Thanks to Rhett Lowder holding Boston to just a pair of runs in an otherwise rock soild start and the bullpen holding firm over the final four frames, that swing was all the offense the Reds would need on the day in a 3-2 victory that earned them a series victory in their first of the year.
Geno, of course, takes home Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game honors for the day, the first time I’ve been able to dote the award on him in some five years.
Hat tips are in order for Sal Stewart, too, who was on base another four times in a masterful outing that’s becoming the norm for the rookie. He doubled, singled, walked twice, and even tagged up on a deep fly ball to CF off the bat by Geno that was nearly another homer.
The vibes on this team right now – they are quite good.
Other Notes
- Suarez did his damage on the day while also getting the start at 3B, as Ke’Bryan Hayes (who later came on to pinch run and play defense) got a break. I do often wonder how a guy who is so accustomed to playing defense in games every day adjusts to life as a DH, and it’ll be interesting to track how different Geno performs offensively on the days when he’s getting run at the other aspect of the game vs. on the days when he’s stuck twiddling his thumbs in the dugout for an hour at a time.
- Spencer Steer got his first hit of the season. Hooray, Spence!
- TJ Friedl played LF as Dane Myers got the start in CF, and he looked just fine over there. That’s certainly a rock solid defensive alignment when put together that way.
- Elly De La Cruz will never not look weird to me hitting right-handed, which he did all four times he came to the plate today. He struck out in three of those appearances.
- The Reds will rest up this evening and tomorrow will begin a three-game series at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates, who dropped their first two games of the season (and are in extra-innings against the New York Mets at the time of writing this). Chase Burns will get his first start of the season opposite Bucs starter Braxton Ashcraft, with first pitch slated for 6:40 PM ET. That game will be on FS1, for those parties interested in watching it that way, and also via MLB.tv.
