Eugenio Suárez

Eugenio Alejandro Suárez (born July 18, 1991) is a Venezuelan professional baseball infielder for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds, and Seattle Mariners. Suárez signed with the Tigers as an amateur free agent in 2008 and made his MLB debut with the team in 2014.

Suárez was traded to the Reds following the 2014 season. After seven seasons with Cincinnati, Suárez was traded to the Mariners, with whom he spent two seasons before being traded to the Diamondbacks. On April 26, 2025, Suárez became the 19th player in MLB history to hit four home runs in one game. He is a two-time All-Star.

Career

Detroit Tigers

Suárez originally signed with the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent on October 9, 2008. He played for the Venezuelan Summer League Tigers in 2009 and 2010. He played for the Gulf Coast Tigers of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League and the Connecticut Tigers of the Class A-Short Season New York–Penn League in 2011, and the West Michigan Whitecaps of the Class A Midwest League in 2012. With the Whitecaps, he had a .288 batting average and 21 stolen bases in 135 games.

He started the 2013 season with the Lakeland Flying Tigers of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League and was promoted to the Erie SeaWolves of the Class AA Eastern League during the season. He was added to the Tigers' 40-man roster on November 20, 2013.

Suarez began the 2014 season with Erie, and was promoted to the Toledo Mud Hens of the Class AAA International League in May. Suárez was brought up to Detroit for the first time on June 4, and entered that night's game in the seventh inning. In his first at-bat, he reached base via a fielder's choice. On June 7, Suarez made his first major league start in a game against the Boston Red Sox, and recorded his first hit, a solo home run. He finished his rookie season with a .242 batting average, with 4 home runs and 23 RBIs in 85 games.

Cincinnati Reds

On December 11, 2014, the Tigers traded Suárez and minor league pitcher Jonathon Crawford to the Cincinnati Reds for starting pitcher Alfredo Simón. On June 11, 2015, he became the Reds' regular starting shortstop after Zack Cozart's season-ending injury. He finished the 2015 season with a .284 batting average, with 13 home runs and 48 RBIs, and was second among NL shortstops in errors, with 19. With the Todd Frazier trade to the Chicago White Sox, the Reds announced Suárez would be moved to third base full-time, with Zack Cozart returning to shortstop after his stint on the disabled list.

In 2016, Suárez hit 21 home runs and drove in 70 runs while hitting .248 and striking out 155 times (8th in the league). On defense, he led the major leagues in errors, with 23. In 2017, he hit 26 home runs and drove in 82 runs while batting .260.

On March 16, 2018, Suárez signed a seven-year $66 million contract with the Reds. Batting .315 with 19 home runs and 68 RBIs, he was named to the 2018 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Suárez finished the season leading the team with 34 home runs and 104 RBIs, and leading all NL third basemen in errors, with 19. On September 10, 2018, he was selected for the MLB All-Stars at the 2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series.

In 2019, Suárez played 159 games, finishing with a .271 batting average, 49 home runs (2nd in the NL), 103 RBIs (10th), and struck out an MLB-leading 189 times while leading all NL third basemen in errors, with 17. His 49 homers set new single season records for both NL third basemen and Venezuelan-born players. He led the National League in pull percentage (52.0%), and made contact with the lowest percentage of pitches he swung at outside the strike zone (44.2%) of all NL batters. In October 2019, Suárez was awarded the Luis Aparicio Award, which is given annually to a Venezuelan player in Major League Baseball (MLB) who is judged to have recorded the best individual performance in that year.

On January 28, 2020, it was revealed that Suárez underwent right shoulder surgery to remove torn, loose cartilage, an injury that occurred during a swimming pool mishap at his residence in Pinecrest, Florida. He had injured his shoulder when he dove head-first into the shallow part of his home's pool and hit the bottom of the pool. During the shortened 2020 season, Suárez hit .202/.312/.470 with 15 home runs and 38 RBIs in 57 games, and was fourth among NL third basemen in errors, with five.

In 2021, Suárez's batting average fell to .169 through the first five months of the season. Despite a resurgence in September and October in which he batted .370, he finished the 2021 season with a .198 average and 171 strikeouts (3rd in the league). He also recorded 31 home runs and 79 RBIs. On defense, he was in the bottom 2% of major leaguers in "outs above average."

Seattle Mariners

On March 14, 2022, the Reds traded Suárez and Jesse Winker to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Justin Dunn, Jake Fraley, Brandon Williamson, and a player to be named later, later announced to be Connor Phillips. The transaction was a cost-cutting measure that saved the franchise just under $36 million but was unpopular with Reds fans. On July 8, he hit his first career walk-off home run in a 5–2 extra-innings win over the Toronto Blue Jays. On September 7, he recorded his 1000th career hit with a 2-run home run off Chicago White Sox pitcher Michael Kopech. On September 11, Suárez homered twice in an 8–7 win over the Atlanta Braves, helping to atone for a blown 4-run lead in the top of the 9th by taking Kenley Jansen deep for a walk-off solo shot.

In 2022, he batted .236/.332/.459 with a league-leading 196 strikeouts, as he was fourth among league third basemen in errors, with 10. He played 130 games at third base, 19 at DH, and appeared in 3 as a pinch hitter.

In 2023, he played in all 162 games for Seattle and batted .232/.323/.391 with a league-leading 214 strikeouts and a league-leading 11 sacrifice flies.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On November 22, 2023, the Mariners traded Suárez to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for reliever Carlos Vargas and catcher Seby Zavala.

In his first year as a member of the Diamondbacks in 2024, he played in 158 games for Arizona and batted .256/.319/.469 with a league-leading 11 sacrifice flies. He played 155 games at third base and 3 at DH.

On March 31, 2025, Suárez was named the National League Player of the Week for the first week of the season after going 4-for-17 (.235) and slugging 1.143 with four home runs and seven RBI in that period including four home runs in the first three games of the season in a four-game home series against the Chicago Cubs. On April 26, 2025, Suárez became the 19th player in MLB history to hit four home runs in a single game, doing so versus the Atlanta Braves. He became the second player in MLB history, along with Carlos Delgado, to hit four home runs in only four plate appearances in a game. He was also the third player to achieve the feat in a game that his team ultimately lost. On April 28, Suárez was named the National League Player of the Week, co-winning with Andy Pages for the fifth week of the season after going 8-for-20 (.400) and slugging 1.050 with four home runs and five RBI in that period including his historic 4-HR game on 4/26 against the Braves. On June 1, Suárez hit a 466-foot 2-run home run off pitcher Mitchell Parker in a 3–1 victory over the Washington Nationals. That home run was the farthest hit ball by a Diamondbacks player since Christian Walker blasted a 467-foot shot in April 2022 against Tylor Megill of the New York Mets. It was also the longest home run Suárez has hit in the Statcast Era since 2015. On June 20, Suárez hit a 4–for–6 with two home runs and 3 RBIs performance against the Colorado Rockies. With his performance, Suárez became the 12th active player to reach 300 career home runs, slugging Nos. 299 and 300. On June 23, Suárez was named the National League Player of the Week for June 16–22, a span in which he batted .440 (11–25) with 5 Runs, 4 HR, 10 RBI, and an OPS of 1.464..

Personal life

Suarez and his wife, Génesis, have two daughters together and reside in Pinecrest, Florida.

See also

*List of Major League Baseball players from Venezuela
* List of Major League Baseball single-game home run leaders

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suarez, Eugenio
1991 births
Arizona Diamondbacks players
Cincinnati Reds players
Connecticut Tigers players
Detroit Tigers players
Erie SeaWolves players
Gulf Coast Tigers players
Lakeland Flying Tigers players
Leones del Caracas players
Living people
Louisville Bats players
Major League Baseball players from Venezuela
21st-century Venezuelan sportsmen
Major League Baseball shortstops
Major League Baseball third basemen
National League All-Stars
Seattle Mariners players
Sportspeople from Ciudad Guayana
Baseball players from Bolívar (state)
Toledo Mud Hens players
Venezuelan Summer League Tigers players
Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States
West Michigan Whitecaps players
2023 World Baseball Classic players