He hasn\u2019t yet, but Su\u00e1rez said that he\u2019s going to call Joey Votto at some point for advice about playing first base.<\/p>\n
The motivation and dedication of such an established player is setting a good example on a young team. That has been Su\u00e1rez\u2019s reputation across every team he has played for in MLB.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he came back to our team last year, the reception that he got on the airplane and some of the relationships he renewed, it was super impactful,\u201d Seattle Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. \u201cI don\u2019t know how to describe it other than that he\u2019s an incredible human and an incredible player. Any team is lucky to have him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Su\u00e1rez played for the Reds between 2015 and 2021, and most of the big league roster and coaching staff has changed since the Reds dealt him to Seattle five years ago. <\/p>\n
One of the constants is Freddie Benavides, the long-time Reds bench coach who\u2019s now working with Su\u00e1rez at first base. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a proven commodity,\u201d Benavides said. \u201cHe\u2019s explosive. He\u2019s one pitch away from changing the game and changing the outcome. Last year, we did struggle with the power game in general. This guy gives us legitimate \u2014 we can score at any time. He gives us legitimate punch right off the bat.\u201d<\/p>\n
For a lot of last season, it didn\u2019t look like the Reds were going to finish the year with a 20-home run hitter. Su\u00e1rez\u2019s reputation as a slugger is very well established. <\/p>\n
Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo, who managed Su\u00e1rez for two seasons, says that you can look for a few signs that show that Su\u00e1rez is about to get hot. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he\u2019s laying off of certain pitches, checking off of pitches that are undrivable, fouling off good two-strike pitches, that\u2019s when I know good things are happening,\u201d Lovullo said.<\/p>\n
There was also a movement that Lovullo looked for. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe checks off his swing where it\u2019s a yes, yes, yes and at the last second his entire body moves but his hands stay back (to take the pitch), Lovullo said. \u201cWhen I see a yes, yes, no decision that late, I know good things are on the way.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Cincinnati](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3IT2TKJTIMDFEJLXV7QPZ5O5HQ.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Credit: Jay LaPrete<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Credit: Jay LaPrete<\/p>\n
In Cincinnati, Su\u00e1rez\u2019s presence should really help Elly De La Cruz. Pitchers will be keeping Su\u00e1rez\u2019s power in mind when they pitch to De La Cruz and throw more strikes to the No. 3 hitter. <\/p>\n
Su\u00e1rez will also help guys like Sal Stewart, Tyler Stephenson and Noelvi Marte because Su\u00e1rez can confidently hold down the clean-up spot. This year, Terry Francona won\u2019t need to be constantly shuffling his best hitter behind De La Cruz like he did last year. <\/p>\n
All of this is why the Reds went over budget to sign Suarez.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone is excited,\u201d Francona said. \u201cI don\u2019t think you need to hide it. He\u2019s loving it. So are we. In the drills he brings energy. Guys gravitate toward him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI\u2019m a guy who likes work,\u201d Su\u00e1rez said. \u201cI want to be better at first base. I know…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499556,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":["post-499555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}