Suárez and Friedl will remain with the team after clearing waivers on Thursday morning, just one day after being waived.
In Wednesday’s series finale against the San Francisco Giants, the Cincinnati Reds entered the top of the ninth inning down by six runs, on the verge of being swept on the road in what seemed to be a baseball game that was already over.
Instead, the Reds’ offense caught fire and found late life in an emphatic way. Shortly after a Héctor Rodríguez leadoff homer, the Reds rode that momentum into a bases loaded opportunity with Eugenio Suárez at the plate, still with no outs.
In a 1-0 count, Suárez launched a fastball into the bleachers in left-center field for a grand slam, suddenly putting the Reds down by just one run. Suárez’s big swing fueled a rally later in the inning, where the Reds would put up two runs to take the lead and cap off a thrilling comeback victory.
Just hours after the game, Suárez would be put on waivers by Cincinnati.
The Reds placed Suárez and outfielder TJ Friedl on outright waivers on Wednesday night, per C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic Cincinnati. The move made them available for any MLB team to claim them during a 47-hour period. Suárez is owed $3 million for the remainder of the season and Friedl is owed over $700,000.
However, both Suárez and Friedl cleared waivers completely the following morning on Thursday.
Per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, neither player generated a significant amount of interest at the trade deadline and neither player is expected to return to the Reds’ roster next season. But in the meantime, the two will remain in Cincinnati for the remainder of the season.
Entering the 2026 season, the Reds had contending aspirations and seemed to be heading that direction in the season’s first month. But since the start of May, things have trended downhill as they own a 43-59 record since May 1 and sit in last place in the NL Central.
Cincinnati signed Suárez to a one-year, $15 million contract just before the season, returning the slugger to the team he has spent the majority of his career at. However, he has had a down year in hitting just .208 with 19 home runs. He currently owns a 91 wRC+ and his -0.4 fWAR is marginally a career-low.
Friedl has also had himself a disappointing season. In 76 games this year, the outfielder owns a 33 wRC+ and a poor fWAR of -0.9. This season, he is batting .158 and owns a .476 OPS, each of which is a significant career low.
After an off-day on Thursday, Suárez and Friedl are expected to be with the team in Chicago on Friday when the Reds open up a three-game divisional set against the Cubs.
