Geno Suarez was about to head out of the Diamondbacks ’ locker room for a meeting Saturday afternoon when he was stopped by longtime clubhouse assistant Lupe Uribe. Moments earlier, Uribe had hung up some clothes in the third baseman’s locker that had just arrived from the dry cleaners.
“I’m sorry,” Uribe told Suarez in Spanish, ushering him back to his locker stall, “but I think they shrunk one of your shirts.”
The usual smile on Suarez’s face briefly left. It was only a harmless prank, though. Turns out, the tiny pink shirt hanging next to the rest of Suarez’s clean clothes belonged to his young daughter, and it got mixed in with his laundry order by mistake.
Even if it were one of his shirts, it wouldn’t have bothered Suarez.
“This guy?” Uribe asked. “He never gets upset.”
It’s true. Geno Suarez is always in a good mood. Whether he goes 0 for 4 with three strikeouts or rakes four hits with three home runs, he’s generally the same, easygoing, fun-loving guy.
“Yes. Always,” Suarez said, smiling.
Suarez has become a huge presence on this resurgent Diamondbacks squad on a quest to punch its ticket back to the playoffs, and was at it again Sunday with a first-inning RBI single.
The slugger has got a lot to be happy about these days. Entering the weekend, his 60 RBIs since July 1 were the most in the majors. He was batting .403 with a 1.313 OPS with four doubles, 10 home runs, 23 RBIs and six walks in his previous 20 games.
Even more impressive, the Venezuelan-born Suarez recently joined Babe Ruth as the only two players in history to have four games with four or more hits and five or more RBIs in July or later in a season since RBIs became an official stat in 1920.
Suarez found out about that nugget from an unlikely source.
“My mom told me,” he said, laughing.
Apparently, she knows about Babe Ruth.
“Yes, she knows, of course,” Suarez, 33, said, adding of the milestone:
“It’s something I never thought could happen. It’s unbelievable. It is crazy. You know how many millions of players have played after Babe Ruth? A million players. To be in that talk, it’s a big honor to me. That’s why I say, ‘God is good.’ God is very good. It’s an honor for me and I love it.”
Even when it seemed he was at his lowest, back in late June when he was batting .192 and had just six homers and only 32 runs batted in, Suarez never really wore his emotions or showed any disgust.
“Yes, I was the same,” he said. “It’s something that I have. It’s natural, I guess. It’s something I learned.”
Suarez said he credits his wife and for putting his faith in God, saying: “During the tough moments, I pray a lot. I put everything on God, everything on Him, and he’s got my back.”
“It made me believe in myself,” he said. “It made me realize I get to play this game every day. That’s something that helps me, knowing every day is an opportunity to be successful and be good. I just play day by day and nothing really upsets me.”
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said he had a feeling outfielder Corbin Carroll would work his way out of his early-season funk at the plate, which he’s done with amazing success. Lovullo wasn’t so sure about Suarez, the big bopper Arizona acquired in the offseason from the Seattle Mariners. He kept running him out there anyway, banking Suarez would respond.
“He was an unknown … But everybody said at some point it’s going to click for him,” Lovullo recalled. “I have no problem sitting on my own island. Everybody in this room looked at me like I was crazy for putting him out there. But I felt very good about what he had done in the past, and the track record for someone who played the game as long and hard as he has, deserved some consideration.
“The way he’s galloped and gotten to this point, it’s been a real impressive run. So, from .500 OPS to over .800, he’s been the best, most productive hitter in Major League Baseball since July 1. I saw that up on the screen and we all see those little snippets. We all do. That’s impressive. There’s a lot of good players in Major League Baseball.”
Suarez has helped the Diamondbacks stay firmly in the playoff hunt. Since July 1, Arizona's 41 wins entering Sunday were tied with the New York Mets for most in baseball.
Lovullo says it’s not a coincidence the two trends have played out, especially since Suarez has “found a little niche down there in the sixth, seven spot and he’s cleaning up everybody he possibly can when runners are on base.”
It’s fun, of course, when you’re winning.
“I’ve enjoyed this so much,” Suarez said. “There’s nothing like winning. There’s nothing better than to do good, be good, and play good baseball. Even when we lose a game, we play good baseball. The (playoff) chase is going to be fun. It’s going to be awesome these last two weeks. There’s going to be more fun.
“We’re going to make it into the playoffs – not only make the playoffs but go far.”
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Suarez said this is the most fun he’s had in baseball, regardless of how the season ends. He enjoyed his time with the Tigers, Reds and Mariners, he said, but nothing tops this season with the Diamondbacks.
“Believe it. Yes,” he said. “I loved everywhere I’ve been, and I’ve enjoyed it. But this year has been so much fun. It’s been so good. And I think it’s been special because my first half of the season wasn’t that good, but now it’s really fine, so I’ve been enjoying it a lot.”
The Diamondbacks have a club option to bring Suarez back next season at a cost of $15 million. Suarez says he doesn’t want to leave.
“To be honest, I want to stay here,” he said. “I want to finish my career here. I don’t know how many more years I have left. Plenty, I guess. But yes, I would love to stay here.”
Lovullo said that would be just fine with him, although he isn’t the guy writing the checks. He has seen “good vibes Geno” lose his cool at least once, though. It happened, he said, when Suarez got drilled by a pitch on the hand and the umpire called strike three on a checked swing.
“I’ve seen him mad, and it’s scary,” Lovullo said. “He’s that guy when he gets mad, he gets really mad. I don’t mind those spikes; I think we all have that in us. But the level-headedness and the way he goes about his day-to-day business is about as good as I’ve seen.
“He doesn’t get fazed by good moments or bad moments. He’s just going out there and having a good time, playing the game that he loves. And when it’s time to be serious, he cranks it up to that level and gets the job done.”
Reach McManaman at bob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic . Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @azbobbymac and listen to him live every Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. on Roc and Manuch on Fox Sports 910-AM.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'There’s going to be more fun': Arizona Diamondbacks' Eugenio Suarez in a great place
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