Suárez at 350

The Last Tryout

At 17, Eugenio Suárez told himself the next tryout would be his last. He had been rejected already, more than once. He carried his Bible to Ciudad Bolívar, prayed, made solid plays, hit well, and ran a surprisingly strong 60-yard dash. He signed with the Detroit Tigers on October 9, 2008, earning his first professional contract instead of studying engineering. He was raised in Ciudad Piar, a mining town, where his father Alejandro, an amateur ballplayer, started taking him to local fields at age six. The boy idolized Omar Vizquel and later worked with him as a coach during his 2014 rookie season in Detroit.

The Road Since

Thirteen seasons, six stints, four teams. Detroit for one year, then Cincinnati for seven, where he won the Reds' Ernie Lombardi MVP Award in 2018 and 2019 and made his first All-Star team. Seattle for two, Arizona for two, then Seattle again in 2025 after his stint with the Diamondbacks, and back to Cincinnati this year. He has played 1,751 games and driven in 1,019 runs. In early 2020, playing with his young children at his Florida home, he dove head-first into the shallow end of the pool and tore cartilage in his right shoulder. Surgery delayed his preparation and contributed to two of his toughest seasons.

When he returned to Seattle in 2025, he boarded the team plane to an impromptu celebration from players, coaches, and staff — greeting everyone, nearly breaking infield coach Perry Hill's back with an excited hug. Teammates and coaches across teams describe him as a positive leader with high energy who treats everyone with respect.

Three Hundred Fifty

On September 22, Suárez hit his 350th career home run, back in a Cincinnati uniform. He is 35 and the designated hitter now, with a career line of .244/.326/.462. His second All-Star selection came in 2025. He became a naturalized United States citizen on September 2, 2026.

Reporting: La Vida Baseball, The Athletic, Sports Illustrated. Career and biographical data: MLB StatsAPI, via the Fever engine.