It’s impossible to tell which side is enjoying this more.
Eugenio Suárez is back with the Cincinnati Reds in 2026, and the crowd is on its feet before each of his at-bats with everyone at Great American Ball Park anticipating that big swing. On Sunday, Suárez had that moment with a three-run homer that gave the Reds all of their offense for the day in a 3-2 win over the Boston Red Sox.
Every Reds’ player, everyone on the staff and every fan who wears a jersey is thrilled to see him back in Cincinnati.
“(Sunday), that’s a game that last year, we lose a lot of times,” Terry Francona said. “We were kind of frustrated. We had some hits, but we didn’t bunch them together. But all of a sudden, they try to sneak a fastball by him and it completely changes a game. That didn’t happen a lot. That’s why we got Geno.”
Suárez looks like he’s appreciating this reunion just as much.
He smiles as he discusses the familiar local spots that he’s going to again. Suárez had his family at this season-opening series, and his daughters were doings Reds cheers in the car ride to the ballpark before Opening Day. Suárez recorded a video message for his wife on the scoreboard during the game on Saturday to wish her a happy birthday.
This weekend, Dave Concepcion presented Suárez the Luis Aparicio Award, which recognizes great seasons by Venezuelan players in MLB. He also gets to say, “Have a good day, Jim Day,” again.” He’s doing six-seven dances with Elly De La Cruz.
Suárez is back home in Cincinnati, playing for a good team and making a big impact.
“This series was very good for us,” Suárez said. “We played very good baseball. That’s a good series for us to know how good we are. We played together. Winning this first series is big… We’ve got a really good group to do something special this year.”
For most of the day on Sunday, the game was a story that we’ve seen dozens and dozens of times in recent years from the Reds. A left-handed starting pitcher (this time Connelly Early of the Boston Red Sox) was using a lot of pitches, moving them around, throwing strikes and shutting down the Reds’ lineup. Boston took a 2-0 lead into the sixth inning, and setup reliever Greg Weissert took the ball with a runner on base in the inning to face the middle of the Reds’ lineup.
Following a walk from the red-hot Sal Stewart, Suárez stepped up to the plate with two runners on.
Suárez demolished a fastball into the second deck as the Reds took a 3-2 lead.
“I never try for homers,” Suárez said. “I put my best swing on it. I know what I can do with it. I’m not coming to hit homers every time. My swing is right there. I want to put my best swing on it and swing at strikes, and I’ll get the results at some point. Today is one of those days.”
He said that he made an adjustment recently to be more on-time against fastballs and to not let the fastball beat him. Before batting practice on Saturday, hitting coach Chris Valaika was working with Suárez on the stride as he moves his leg forward toward the ball during his swing. Before the game on Sunday, Suárez took some extra swings during optional on-field batting practice.
The adjustments worked, and Suárez provided a moment that sent the dugout and the home crowd into a big celebration.
“It was electric,” Dane Myers said. “That’s the reason we got him, to get big hits like that. He’s a special teammate, a special person and an even better ballplayer.”
Suárez is one of the great game-changers in baseball.
Between 2023 and 2025, Suárez has the eighth most games in all of MLB where he had three+ RBI and his team won. In 2025, he was tied with Kyle Schwarber for delivering the second-biggest number of those games (three+ RBI in a team win).
Between 2023 and 2025, Suárez has the 16th-most games in MLB where he had a homer and his team also won. In 2025, he was tied for eighth in that stat.
When Suárez has a big swing, big things happen and his team wins. It’ll be fun to track how many games his power wins the Reds this year.
“The guy is worth every penny,” said reliever Brock Burke, who officially picked up the win on Sunday. “From a bullpen perspective, it’s a guy you have to worry about at all times. Any time you get to that part of the lineup, you have to worry about having a (plan) for that guy. If you don’t he’s going to make you pay.”
The Reds did a lot of things very well as they took the series-opening series against a good Red Sox team. Andrew Abbott and Rhett Lowder looked great in their starts, and Brady Singer grinded through a finger issue to keep the Reds in Saturday’s game. Since the Reds weren’t getting long starts, the bullpen stepped up, covered more innings than is usual and kept runs off the board.
The defense was crisp. The base running was mostly sharp. The ABS challenge strategy was strong. Stewart looks superhuman, and Francona said about the rookie cleanup hitter, “I know that I’ve been saying for a while that he’s an advanced young hitter. What he is is an advanced hitter.” McLain looks rejuvenated.
Despite all of that though, the biggest difference between the 2025 Reds and the 2026 Reds is that the team has Suárez’s power presence this year.
“He’s happy to be here,” Francona said. “We’re thrilled to have him. He lifts everyone up. We already had a great group. But he adds a lot.”
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