It’s been quite the week for Cincinnati Reds slugger Eugenio Suárez. For one, he actually served as ‘Cincinnati Reds slugger’ by socking a vital grand slam during the team’s epic comeback victory over the San Francisco Giants, a title he’s not truly been able to live up to during his disappointing 2026 campaign.
Then, he got to sit tight through the waiver process, as that’s where the Reds placed both him and teammate TJ Friedl. Given his career and reputation, there had to be at least a little thought
that some team might roll the dice on claiming him, so he had to have bags packed in the event he’d be switching lineups altogether for the remainder of the year.
That didn’t happen, though. Now, he gets to head back to the same team that tried to unload him just days ago, and that will begin immediately as he’s in the lineup and batting 5th as the Reds take on the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field at 2:20 PM ET.
You’ll notice that Hector Rodriguez, who homered twice in his first start in the leadoff spot in Cincinnati’s most recent game, is now batting 9th with Dane Myers at leadoff. That’s because lefty David Peterson is on the mound to start for the Cubs today, and also because Terry Francona has become a tinkerer at this point of the team’s wholly underwhelming season.
Rhett Lowder gets the ball to start for the Reds today, with MVP frontrunner Pete Crow-Armstrong the first bat he’ll face.
