Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona beamed Tuesday night when Eugenio Suárez’s name was brought up following his team’s Cactus League game against the Cleveland Guardians.
Because he was managing, all Francona knew was that Suárez had a big hit and Venezuela won. Francona said …
💬 “We might not get him back, they may be going to Venezuela.”
Francona has been supportive of players playing in the WBC, but he also worried about players missing time and not getting the number of at-bats they’d normally get in spring.
Suárez has played five Cactus League games and five WBC games for Venezuela, with 15 plate appearances for the Reds and 21 for Venezuela. Last season Suárez had 62 plate appearances in spring for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Francona added …
💬 “He’s gotten shorted at-bats from what he’s got normally, but he’s also got at-bats in stadiums with 50,000, so you hope the tradeoff works.”
Suárez was just 4 for 20 in the WBC, but in addition to his championship-winning double, he also had a pair of home runs. Francona continued …
💬 “It’s hard when you don’t have your guys here, but it’s good for baseball. It sounded like the atmosphere was great. That’s good. That’s really, really good.”
And now the WBC hero will return to the Reds this week.
💬 “That’s even better.”