Eugenio Suárez gets in extra play before World Baseball Classic

n”,”providerName”:”Twitter”,”providerUrl”:”https://twitter.com”,”type”:”rich”,”width”:550},”type”:”oembed”},{“__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”It’s been almost one year since Suárez arrived in Seattle in a big trade with Cincinnati that was largely billed on Jesse Winker, who was coming off an All-Star season and expected to be a major run producer, which the Mariners lacked. Yet, Winker had a disappointing year, finished the season on the injured list and was traded to Milwaukee in December with Abraham Toro for Kolten Wong. nnSuárez was an established MLB slugger, with more homers (160) since 2018 than any hitter but Aaron Judge (164). Earning $11.3 million in each of the next two years, he wasn’t a salary throw-in, by any means; the Mariners recognize that he was even more productive than they envisioned. Suárez hit .236/.332/.459 (.791 OPS) with a team-leading 31 homers and 4.1 wins above replacement, per FanGraphs, eighth-most among third basemen. nnAt a position that was exclusively manned by Kyle Seager for 10 full seasons before his retirement at the end of 2021, Suárez quickly caught on. nn“He has an intensity about him, but he’s not afraid to share with the group what he’s thinking,” Servais said. “And most times, it’s in total alignment for how we want to play and how we want to go about stuff.”nnStrikeouts have always been part of Suárez’s game, and he led the American League with 196 last season. But he also proved to be one of Seattle’s best situational hitters in leverage moments, including the postseason, in which he went 7-for-20 with a homer, two doubles and three RBIs, nearly all delivered in big moments. nn“Along the way, you feel better about him hitting with runners in scoring position and not just looking for the homer,” Servais said. “But can you find a way to get \[runners\] in? And he has gotten better in those spots.”nnOn-field success certainly resonates with fans, but it’s Suárez’s personality that was an even bigger hit.”,”type”:”markdown”},{“__typename”:”ExternalEmbed”,”data”:{“__typename”:”ExternalEmbedContent”,”html”:”

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