NEW YORK -- Eugenio Suárez has had big offensive seasons before. There were the 49 homers he hit in 2019, or the 34 he smashed in '18. But never has the veteran third baseman felt as locked in as he does now.
That was on display again Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium when Su¨¢rez hit an eighth-inning grand slam to cap a five-run rally and lead the Diamondbacks past the Yankees, 7-5.
Su¨¢rez has five hits on the season, all of which are home runs. He also has 11 RBIs. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Su¨¢rez is the third player in the Modern Era (since 1900) to have each of his first five hits of a season go for home runs, joining Rob Deer (1992) and Rodolfo Castro (2021).
Does Su¨¢rez plan on mixing in any singles or just homers this year?
¡°If it were that easy, I would take all the homers,¡± said Su¨¢rez, who is coming off NL Player of the Week honors. ¡°But it¡¯s not easy. I know that all my hits right now are homers, but it¡¯s out of my control. I just go out to put together my best at-bats and not try to do too much. I know that I have the power, I know that if I put my best swing on it and get it on the barrel, I know I¡¯ve got a chance to hit a homer -- but I don¡¯t go with that plan to the plate. I just make it simple and not try too hard.¡±
There was a time when Su¨¢rez tried too hard. It was at the beginning of last season, his first in Arizona, when he went to the plate every time trying to hit a homer, trying to make a good impression on his new teammates.
It led to a terrible first three months of the season, and as he sat with a .196 average at the end of June, the Diamondbacks had to seriously consider if they should designate Su¨¢rez for assignment.
Su¨¢rez worked diligently with hitting coaches Joe Mather, Damion Easley and Rick Short before games. He shortened his swing and took more reps against a high-velocity pitching machine to help quicken his bat.
Su¨¢rez caught fire and never looked back in finishing the year with 30 homers and 101 RBIs -- and the Diamondbacks went from thinking of cutting him loose in-season to picking up his $17 million contract option for 2025.
So far, it¡¯s been money well spent. His two-homer game against the Cubs on Friday helped lead to an 8-1 victory, and his two-run shot Saturday in the ninth nearly helped Arizona pull off a late comeback.
Tuesday, the Diamondbacks trailed the Yankees, 4-2, heading into the eighth. With two outs, the bases loaded and one run in, Su¨¢rez came to the plate against Mark Leiter Jr.
¡°You know, with the bases loaded, I¡¯m not trying to do too much,¡± Su¨¢rez said. ¡°I know the tying run was at third base, so I was just thinking about having a good at-bat. A walk would tie the game, a base hit would give us the lead. I tried to have a really, really good at-bat because I knew they had been pitching me really well all game.¡±
Su¨¢rez was looking for a split-finger fastball from Leiter -- and he got one. He deposited it just over the wall in left field for his sixth career grand slam.
"It was a good swing,¡± Leiter said. ¡°That's my split, and that's what I'm going to go to. And he put a real good swing on it. Unfortunately, it got out."
Su¨¢rez's five homers are tied for the third-most by a player through his team¡¯s first five games of a season in Major League history, trailing only Trevor Story (six in 2016) and Larry Walker (six in 1997), each of whom did it with the Rockies.
The Su¨¢rez homer and come-from-behind win overshadowed the debut of Corbin Burnes, who was signed to a six-year, $210 million contract in the offseason.
The right-hander allowed four runs (two earned) while striking out eight over 4 1/3 innings. An error by Josh Naylor in the fourth led to two unearned runs and shortened Burnes¡¯ outing.
¡°For the most part, it was pretty good,¡± Burnes said of the outing. ¡°Early on, the cutter was really good, and then we kind of just lost the feel for the cutter in the last couple innings. Just wasn't consistent enough with it.¡±