Eugenio

Suárez

Suárez smacked a one-out double off of Gabriel Hughes in the fourth inning, but he wound up being stranded there. He then clobbered a 415-foot (98.6-mph EV) solo shot off of Jimmy Herget in the sixth inning, going back-to-back with Spencer Steer to increase the Reds’ advantage to 4-1. On the season, the 34-year-old slugger is hitting a disappointing .213/.288/.406 with 12 home runs and 36 RBI.

Suárez was responsible for the only run of the game against a terrific Zack Wheeler and then the Philadelphia bullpen. It’s the ninth homer for the 34-year-old in his first season back with the Reds, and he’s plated 32 runs in the process. He also struck out in his other three at-bats, and saying Suárez hasn’t matched his magic of the 2025 season — particularly the first half — is quite the understatement.

Suárez returns to the hot corner and is hitting cleanup following a brief one-game absence after being hit by a pitch on the left hand over the weekend. The 34-year-old veteran slugger underwent imaging, including a CT scan, that didn’t reveal any fractures or structural damage. It’s a significant relief for Cincinnati, and fantasy managers, after a couple tense days of waiting.

It’s challenging to dismiss the possibility of a trip to the injured list despite a CT scan coming back clean on Suarez’s left hand. The 34-year-old veteran was hit by a pitch during Sunday’s series finale against the Pirates but expressed optimism on Monday that he’ll be able to avoid an extended absence after imaging revealed no structural damage. Fantasy managers should prepare to be without Suárez for at least a couple days, but it sounds like he managed to avoid serious injury.

Suárez was unable to get X-rays on Sunday because his hand was too swollen for the imaging to show anything. The team will wait for the swelling to go down and, presumably, will get X-rays done on Monday. We should have more information once that imaging is done.

Suárez was hitless into the ninth before stepping to the plate down by one run with two runners on and two outs in the top of the ninth. Down to the team’s last strike, he delivered an opposite-field homer off Gregory Soto to put the Reds ahead by two runs with his eighth home run of the season. The 34-year-old third baseman is hitting .210/.276/.379 with 18 runs and 29 RBI across 214 plate appearances.

Suárez has been one of the most consistent power hitters in the big leagues over the last decade, but there’s seemingly no end in sight for his first half slide. He went hitless again Monday with his average dropping to .204. Suárez hit .231 in April and missed most of May due to injury. So far in June, he’s 11-for-65 (.169) with 27 strikeouts and two walks in 17 games. Suárez has bounced back from a rough first half before, but he turns 35 next month and it’s fair to wonder how much he’ll recover in the second half this time.

Hopes that Suárez’s two-homer game Monday would get him going seem to have quickly died; he’s 1-for-16 with 10 strikeouts in four games since. His strikeout rate for the year is up to 34 percent, which would smash his previous high of 31 percent from 2022. His hard-hit rate is 28 percent, which is way down from 48 percent last year and 40 percent over the course of his career. Suárez also had a brutal first half in 2024 and recovered, but he’s two years older now and his bat speed is down a bit since then.

The 34-year-old slugger will get a breather on Saturday with right-hander Will Warren toeing the slab for the Yankees. Nathaniel Lowe will serve as the team’s designated hitter and bat cleanup while Sal Stewart covers third base for the Reds.

Suárez’ two-homer game brings his total to seven this year. He hit a two-run shot off Tobias Myers in the first inning and a grand slam off Jonathan Pintaro in the second inning. After hitting 49 home runs with 118 RBI a year ago, it seems impossible that Suárez could have 25 RBI in 45 games, but here we are. His .222 average and .682 OPS haven’t helped, but Monday’s performance could be a sign that Suárez will rebound in the power department.