Eugenio Suárez

Eugenio Alejandro Suárez (born July 18, 1991) is a Venezuelan professional baseball infielder for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Detroit Tigers. He was an All Star in 2018.

Eugenio Suárez
Suárez with the Cincinnati Reds in 2016
Cincinnati Reds – No. 7
Third baseman / Shortstop
Born: (1991-07-18) July 18, 1991
Puerto Ordaz, Bolívar, Venezuela
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
June 4, 2014, for the Detroit Tigers
MLB statistics
(through September 27, 2020)
Batting average.261
Home runs162
Runs batted in468
Teams
Career highlights and awards

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.[1] 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.[2][3] He was added to the Tigers' 40-man roster on November 20, 2013.[4]

Suárez with the Detroit Tigers in 2014

Suarez began the 2014 season with Erie, and was promoted to the Toledo Mud Hens of the Class AAA International League in May.[5][6] Suárez was brought up to Detroit for the first time on June 4,[7] 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.[8] 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.[9][10] On June 11, 2015, he became the Reds' regular starting shortstop after Zack Cozart's season-ending injury.[11] He finished the 2015 season with a .284 batting average, with 13 home runs and 48 RBIs. 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. On defense, he led the major leagues in errors, with 23.[12]

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.[13] Batting .315 with 19 home runs and 68 RBIs, he was named to the 2018 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.[14] Suárez finished the season leading the team with 34 home runs and 104 RBIs.

In 2019, Suarez 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. His 49 homers set new single season records for both NL third basemen and Venezuelan-born players.[15][16] 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.[17][18] In October 2019, Suarez 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.[19][20]

On January 28, 2020, it was revealed that Suarez underwent right shoulder surgery to remove loose cartilage, an injury that occurred during a swimming pool mishap at his residence in Pinecrest, Florida.[21]

International career

On September 10, 2018, he was selected for the MLB All-Stars at the 2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series.[22]

See also

References
  1. Jones, Emily (July 25, 2012). "Whitecaps shortstop becoming top Tigers prospect". Mlive.com. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
  2. Lowe, John (March 8, 2013). "Tigers' Eugenio Suarez leaves big impression on Jim Leyland with his glovework". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
  3. Martin, Jim (May 5, 2013). "Suarez makes impact for Erie SeaWolves". Goerie.com. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
  4. "Tigers purchase contracts of seven players". Detroit.tigers.mlb.com. November 20, 2013. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
  5. Lowe, John (May 22, 2014). "SS help in the future? Detroit Tigers promote Eugenio Suarez to Toledo". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
  6. "Detroit Tigers infield prospect Eugenio Suarez promoted from Double-A Erie to Triple-A Toledo". 2014-05-21.
  7. "Tigers call up Suarez to boost shortstop spot". MLB.com. June 4, 2014.
  8. Iott, Christ (June 7, 2014). "Shortstop Eugenio Suarez hits solo home run for Detroit Tigers in first major league start". Retrieved June 9, 2014.
  9. "Tigers obtain Alfredo Simon from Reds". USA Today. Associated Press. December 11, 2014. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  10. Beck, Jason (December 11, 2014). "In separate deals, Tigers land Cespedes, Simon". MLB.com. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  11. Fay, John (June 12, 2015). "Reds will miss more than Zack Cozart's glove, bat". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
  12. Major League Leaderboards » 2016 » All Positions » Fielding Statistics | FanGraphs Baseball
  13. Fay, John. "Cincinnati Reds third baseman Eugenio Suarez proves that it can pay ($66 million) to be a good guy". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  14. Votto, Gennett, Suarez selected for 2018 MLB National League All-Star Team
  15. Nightengale, Bobby (December 17, 2019). "Eugenio Suárez sets NL third baseman HR record as Milwaukee Brewers clinch playoff spot". Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  16. "Batting Season & Career Finder: For Single Seasons, Born in Venezuela, From 1871 to 2020, (requiring HR>=40), sorted by greatest Home Runs". Stathead. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  17. "Major League Leaderboards » 2019 » Batters » Plate Discipline Statistics | FanGraphs Baseball". Fangraphs.com. 2019-01-01. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  18. "Major League Leaderboards » 2019 » Batters » Batted Ball Statistics | FanGraphs Baseball". Fangraphs.com. 2019-01-01. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  19. "Eugenio Suárez Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  20. Sheldon, Mark (October 23, 2019). "Suárez named top Venezuelan MLB player in '19". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Archived from the original on December 7, 2019. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  21. "Eugenio Suárez has right shoulder surgery". MLB. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  22. "Eight Players Selected for Japan All-Star Series". The Official Site of Major League Baseball Players Association. September 10, 2018. Archived from the original on September 12, 2018. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
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