Eugenio Suárez's Selfless Consistency Bridges D-backs Culture to Results

The Diamondbacks' powerful third baseman continues to smash the ball, but it's his consistent attitude and work ethic that make him a player worth rooting for.

Aug 14, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks third base Eugenio Suarez (28) reacts after hitting a grand slam against the Colorado Rockies in the sixth inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports / Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

As a towering shot to left center field cleared the bases in a 6-3 game, Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Suárez began his trot. The D-backs had blown open another one, taking a 10-3 lead on the Rockies in the seventh inning.

It was Suárez's 4th career grand slam--his first since 2018.

It's become almost routine to examine brilliant game after brilliant game from the veteran third baseman. Thousands of words have already been plastered on this very website about Suárez's offensive resurgence, and the boost that his powerful bat has brought to the club.

Certainly, it's been nothing short of remarkable. After a brutal three-month stretch to open the year, Suárez came alive with a .333 average and 1.131 OPS in the month of July. August has been a bit of a step down, though still an extremely productive .863 OPS over 13 games.

As the D-backs completed their third sweep since July 30th, Suárez once again took on a workhorse role, going 3-for-4, with two doubles, a grand slam and five RBI.

After Rockies reliever Riley Pint--struggling mightily with control--hit both Joc Pederson and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. with pitches, sandwiched around a walk to Josh Bell, Suárez said he came up to "send a message."

"After the [pitcher] hit a couple guys... I just was ready to make that pay off. He made that mistake right there with a slider, I was ready to put it in play," Suárez said.

Of course, there was no obvious malicious intent behind the pitches. Pint's errant throws were clearly location mistakes. But Suárez noted that the best way to "protect" himself and his teammates was to punish a mistake and hit a homer.

Manager Torey Lovullo talked glowingly of Suárez's day, as he has so often.

"Offensively, it was Geno's day... Had that type of special day that you like before an off day, because you roll over in bed and think about it all night, you think about it 25 times tomorrow on the off day, and you just keep rolling right on through," the manager said.

"[Suárez has] been a great hitter for us over the past month and a half. He's really impacted this team's ability to score runs, and he should be proud of himself. He's been working really really hard to have those types of moments," Lovullo said.

And work hard he did. Despite the major slump in the early months, and even working through some changes to his training regiment, the affable Suárez remained ever-positive, and perhaps even more importantly, consistent.

Lovullo said the veteran's attitude never wavered. Suárez remained consistent with his work ethic, his good will toward his teammates, and overall positivity.

"[His attitude] hasn't changed one bit, and that's what I respect most about him," said Lovullo, "he is fearless with the conversation he needs to have, or wants to have on a given day, and when you're struggling, and your OPS is in the high .500s and you're not used to that, that can be a little bit of a challenge."

"But he has been so consistent, and we like that, we like consistency here, we like consistency in preparation, consistency in beliefs, and don't change your mindset. He has been a model of consistency, and I think that's why a lot of his teammates respect him too," the skipper continued.

When told of Lovullo's praise of him, Suárez readily agreed with his manager's sentiment.

"That's me, that's something that I have from a long time ago, something that I learned, it doesn't matter how the results [are] going in the game, you just have to keep the good energy, the good vibes, and that's me," Suárez said.

And it's not just about his own numbers. Though Suárez has undoubtedly earned the ability to be proud of his results of late, the most important thing to the veteran is, as always, simply finding a way to enjoy the ride, and aid the team in winning games.

"I always say that one bad day does not tell who I am, I always enjoy the game, always happy, and I try to help my team win the game no matter what, even in the defense, or [as a] baserunner, offense, I always enjoy the game, I always do my best and try to help my team win games," Suárez said.

"Big thing for me is just believe in myself, believe in what I can do, and trust in my eyes and my talent that God gives to me," said the third baseman, "he's the only one who really deserves all the glory and all the honor."

And it's that belief, that consistency, and that selfless positivity that's pervaded Arizona's clubhouse. Though the D-backs are already a culture built on connectedness, a presence like Suárez's adds an even stronger dynamic of support and work ethic.

"He's easy to root for right now," said Lovullo, "because when he wasn't doing well, he was rooting for everybody else, and when he's doing well, you feel really good about going out there and slapping high fives with him."

"It's awesome, it's very fun to come here and compete, and every time you come into the clubhouse you feel that good energy, that good vibe like I always say, you want to be part of that," Suárez said.