TORONTO -- When free agent Eugenio Suárez signed a one-year, $15 million contract in February to return to the Reds, the fan favorite slugger was viewed as the lineup's missing power ingredient that could help them not only reach the postseason but make a deep run.
After all, Suárez had hit 49 home runs with an .824 OPS in 159 games for the Mariners and Diamondbacks in 2025. This season, over 125 games, he has 26 homers while batting .212 with a .740 OPS.
“It wasn’t the year that I wanted," Suárez said on Sunday. "Obviously, the first half of the season was not good for me. My injury and the numbers don’t reflect what I wanted."
Over the first three months, Suárez hit only eight homers. He also missed 25 games from April 23 to May 22 with a strained left oblique.
"That never happened in my career. Then, coming back from the injury, I wasn’t the same. It wasn’t on my mind to not have a good year," said Suárez, who was not in the Game 162 lineup vs. the Blue Jays.
Since July 7, Suárez has hit 18 homers over 64 games, seventh-most in the Majors in that stretch. That included hitting his 350th career home run on Tuesday at Atlanta.
"I finished strong. I’m very happy with where I am right now," Suárez said. "This is one of those years where I want to take the good part about it. I learned a lot. I learned from young guys like Elly [De La Cruz] and the young guys that came up -- [Carlos] Jorge, [Héctor] Rodríguez, [Chase] Burns, [Rhett] Lowder -- all those guys. I’m happy and grateful.
"Cincinnati gave me the opportunity to be back and do my best for the team. Obviously, our goal was to make the playoffs. We didn’t have it. It is what it is. I think we’ve got to turn the page quickly and come back with a better mentality next year.”
Suárez, 35, was a fan favorite in Cincinnati from 2015-21, which was one of the reasons the club brought him back.
The Reds and Suárez have a $16 million mutual option for 2027 with no buyout. Both sides would have to pick it up for the third baseman/designated hitter to return. It seems unlikely the club will exercise its side of the option, though.
Suárez is grateful for the second act in Cincinnati and hopes to return next year.
“Of course, you always want to be back," he said. "I’m not going to change my thoughts. They obviously know I want to be back, but we never know. I’ll just let them do their job and we’re ready to come back if they give me the opportunity to be back.”