While Suárez didn’t get a hit on Opening Day, this was still his homecoming.
During the free agency process, Suárez really wanted to a place he has called “home.” He loves being in Cincinnati, and loves being a Red.
He appreciated the familiarity this week. On Wednesday night, he went to a Target and a Kroger that he knew well.
“I know all the streets,” Suárez said. “I know my city. I’ve spent eight years here.”
Suárez had his chance at a signature Opening Day moment but struck out with the bases loaded in the sixth inning in Thursday’s 3-0 loss to the Red Sox.
“It’s a really good pitcher out there,” Reds first baseman Sal Stewart said. “We have really good pitchers. Ten out of ten times, I want No. 28 (Eugenio Suárez) in the box. The situation was there. So what? Who cares? Onto tomorrow. We had many chances. We could have had better at-bats as a whole, including myself.”
There will be a lot of memorable big swings to come this year from Suárez, who profiles as the best slugger in the Reds’ lineup.
He has a way of impacting the results of games.
There are two stats that tells the story of Suárez’s career.
In games that his team wins, Suárez’s career OPS is better than Bryce Harper’s. In games that Suárez’s team loses, his OPS is well below average. Even though he’s participated in more losses (840 games) than wins (790 games) in his MLB career, Suárez has 620 RBI in wins and just 329 RBI in losses.
Opening Day in 2026 just wasn’t Suárez’s day to be the hero.
He still got to appreciate being back in a Reds’ uniform.
Suárez received the biggest cheers from the crowd during pregame introductions. He got a standing ovation before his first at-bat. Had Suárez connected with the bases loaded in the sixth inning, the ballpark would have exploded.
Suárez could feel the welcome that he was receiving, and he plans to pay it off with big swings yet to come in 2026.
“It’s always going to be high expectations for a (group) like this,” Suárez said. “We have to understand what we have. For me, this is a very special team… We have a really good group. A really good team. We have to believe in each other, put everything on the field and play hard all the time.”
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