Former Mariners Fan Favorite Eugenio Suárez Catches a Tough Break After Slow Start With Reds

Mariners fans know why this Reds setback feels bigger than one IL move.

Apr 17, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Cincinnati Reds third baseman Eugenio Suarez (28) hits a double in the fourth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Nick Wosika-Imagn Images | Nick Wosika-Imagn Images

Geno was not in Seattle forever, but he was here long enough to become one of those players Seattle fans still check on from a distance. He brought power with the biggest smile that made even the ugliest strikeout stretch feel a little less irritating than it probably should have. So when Suárez made his way back to Cincinnati this offseason, there was a little sentimental pull to it.

Now, that reunion has hit a rough patch. The Reds are placing Suárez on the 10-day injured list with a low-grade oblique strain after he was initially scratched because of what the team called mid-back discomfort. The injury doesn’t sound catastrophic, and Cincinnati can backdate the move to April 23, which means May 3 is the earliest he could return. Still, oblique issues are never something hitters casually shrug off, especially when the swing already hasn’t looked quite right.  

Eugenio Suárez’s Slow Start And Oblique Injury Turn Reds Reunion Into Early Concern

Nobody in Seattle should be dancing on this. Suárez was a fan favorite for a reason. He gave the Mariners plenty of real moments. Geno has always been the kind of player who can look completely lost for three at-bats, then make the whole ballpark shake with one swing.

But the Reds are also dealing with something Mariners fans already saw up close. The version of Suárez that returned to Seattle last year was not the romanticized one fans had been holding onto. The strikeouts were still there. The power showed up in flashes, but not consistently enough to make everything else disappear. Too many at-bats felt like a bet on nostalgia.

That was always the risk for Cincinnati, too. Suárez entered this IL move hitting .231/.300/.363 with three home runs through his first 100 plate appearances. Those numbers aren’t a total collapse, but they aren’t exactly the kind of thumper production the Reds were hoping to get from a veteran bat mostly being used at designated hitter. He had made 18 appearances at DH compared to just six starts at third base, which makes the offensive bar even more important.  

The problem comes when the damage starts shrinking. The lineup fit becomes harder to defend and it stops being charming chaos and starts becoming a nightly problem. The IL stint feels like more than just bad timing for Suárez. It lands on top of a start that was already raising familiar questions. The Reds have been winning anyway, which helps, but they didn’t bring Suárez back just to survive around him. They brought him back because there was still a belief that the power could outweigh everything else.

And maybe it still can. Burying Geno would be a silly thing to do. He’s a player who has made a career out of punishing people the second they assume he is done. If the oblique strain is truly mild, this might become nothing more than a frustrating pause. 

But Mariners fans know why the Reds should be watching closely. Seattle already lived through the emotional tug-of-war with Suárez. We knew why fans wanted him back. We also saw why the front office had to be careful about chasing the memory instead of the current player. That doesn’t make the injury easier to see, nor does it make Geno any less beloved. It just makes the whole thing feel familiar.