Sunday Hero Eugenio Suárez Helps Carry Load For Mariners With Epic Week
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Back on March 14, Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto pulled the trigger to acquire outfielder Jesse Winker and third baseman Eugenio Suárez from the Reds. Both have become fan-favorites, but Suárez has particularly been one of the most valuable players in baseball that changed teams last offseason.
Suárez has been worth 4.2 WAR this year, according to Fangraphs. That is the second-highest mark amongst all position players to change hands last offseason, only behind Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers.
While Winker was viewed as the prize of the trade, it is safe to say Suárez has overtaken that.
The acquisition is pure brilliance by Dipoto and the Seattle front office and they deserve a lot of credit. Not only has Suárez been extremely valuable, but he has played in 139 games already this season. His addition to the Mariners' clubhouse has been one of the best injections of energy the team could ask for.
On Wednesday, Suárez launched his team-leading 26th home run of the season into the upper deck at T-Mobile Park. The blast was also hit No. 1,000 for his career. Not too bad for a player acquired as a "salary dump."
Suárez followed this up with hit No. 1,001 in the same guy, knotting things up at six runs apiece in an eventual 9-6 loss to the White Sox.
That would only be the beginning of a remarkable week for the veteran third baseman. When the Mariners needed a boost in Saturday's win over the Braves, Suárez did this to postseason hero Max Fried.
Fried is one of the best pitchers in the game, and a tough guy to take deep. The blast was Suárez's 28th of the season, and his 12th since August 1. The heroics didn't stop there either, as Sunday may have cemented his status as a Seattle hero.
The Venezuela native launched his 29th bomb of the season off of Collin McHugh in the fifth inning to give the Mariners some breathing room.
Things fell apart for Seattle in the ninth when Diego Castillo couldn't find the strike zone. The Braves made the Mariners' bullpenpen pay, with two home runs off Castillo and Paul Sewald to give Atlanta the lead.
After the air had been sucked out of T-Mobile Park, the Mariners stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth trying to accomplish an improbable comeback. Julio Rodríguez rocketed a one-out offering from decorated reliever Kenley Jansen over the wall and into Edgar's Cantina, tying the game at 7-7.
Two batters later, Suárez got a chance to swing the stick. Then this happened:
The game-winning blast cemented one of the craziest wins of the season and Suarez's catch phrase of "Good Vibes Only" was embodied throughout the stadium. The win moved Seattle's playoff chances to 99.9 percent, but for Suárez it cemented his place in Seattle's baseball lore.
