Eugenio

Suárez

The 35-year-old slugger and impending free agent started each of the previous five games, so he’ll get a breather at least to begin this one. I’d expect to see him make an appearance off the bench in what could be his final at-bat with the Reds. Juan Brito will start at third base for the Reds and will bat fifth against Jays’ right-hander Max Scherzer.

Suárez’s homer off Antonio Senzatela gave the Reds a 3-2 lead in the sixth. The Brewers briefly tied the game with a Jake Bauers homer in the seventh, only for the Reds to go back ahead on a Tyler Stephenson sac fly in the eighth. Suárez has homered in back-to-back games and now has 24 homers on the season. He’s hit .256 with five homers and 11 RBI in 12 games since it was reported on Aug. 27 that he passed through waivers unclaimed.

Suárez’ home run was his 23rd of the season. He hit a solo shot off Shane Drohan in the second inning. Suárez has hit four home runs in his last 10 games. He’s hitting .212 with a .737 OPS and 65 RBI this year.

Suárez, who missed games Tuesday and Wednesday, homered in his first at-bat back with the Reds after passing his naturalization test and becoming a U.S. citizen. It was his 21st of the year.

Good luck to Geno. He’s expected to miss another game Wednesday before rejoining the Reds. It’s unclear if there will be a roster move here, but his absence might be part of the reason why the Reds promoted Juan Brito as their September callup. Brito is starting at second base tonight, with Matt McLain at shortstop and Elly De La Cruz DHing for a second game in a row.

Suárez being claimed by the Diamondbacks or Mariners would have made for a fun story, but instead he’ll finish out the regular season with the Reds. Neither club was willing to pick up approximately $3 million in salary for the 35-year-old slugger.

Suárez, a free agent at season’s end, has hit .208/.295/.410 with 19 homers and 57 RBI in 410 plate appearances and is a below average third baseman at this point, but some team might be willing to pick up the approximately $3 million he’s still owed in order to add his power. The Mariners and Diamondbacks are both very familiar with him, and the Phillies are short of right-handed power and have time available at both first and third. If Suárez goes unclaimed, he’ll presumably finish out the season as a regular with the Reds.

Cincinnati entered the ninth trailing by six, and Suárez’s grand slam made it a one-run game before any outs were recorded. The veteran DH hasn’t had the season Reds fans or fantasy managers hoped for after last year’s 49-homer eruption. On the positive side, Suárez has played enough at the hot corner this season to retain third base eligibility heading into 2027.

This appears to just be a routine day off for the WBC-winning third baseman. Michael Toglia is batting sixth and DHing in Suárez’s absence.

The Reds were held in check by Sandy Alcantara all night, but finally broke through in the sixth inning when Suárez ripped a double to left-center to bring in Tyler Stephenson for the lone run of the game. Suárez has now hit safely in three of his last four games while driving in six runs over that span.