Good vibes only: Diamondbacks' Eugenio Suarez connects clubhouses wherever he plays

Mention the name Geno Suarez to anyone at the Seattle Mariners spring training facility who knows him or played with him, and a smile immediately follows.

Ask Perry "Bone" Hill, Mariners infield coach. Or Aaron Goldsmith, the Mariners' play-by-play announcer. Or former teammates Andres Muñoz, Dylan Moore and J.P. Crawford.

Geno, real name Eugenio Suarez, is the real deal, they all say, just as they do inside the clubhouse of the team for which Suarez currently plays, the Arizona Diamondbacks. There's simply no shortage of compliments about Suarez, who is making the same impact with the Diamondbacks as he did in a mere two seasons with the Mariners.

The word that keeps coming up when talking about Suarez's impact everywhere he's played — from Cincinnati to Seattle to Phoenix — is perhaps the one that best describes Suarez every day: happy.

It comes from his parents, who are in Arizona with him along with his brother. They keep Suarez grounded, he says, and are physical reminders of how fortunate he feels every day to be a man of faith, a father, a husband, a son, a brother and a baseball player.

"It's a gift. From that, one treats life like there is more to it than baseball," Suarez, 33, said in Spanish. "I look for happy moments and think the best about people. It's the word of God and I am here to serve God. It's something that is always with me and I hope it never changes.

"I do everything from the heart, and when I do it, I give it my best. It's very meaningful to me. I always have a smile, a good thing to say, a good attitude toward others. It's really important in this business. These days you never know where you will be from one day to the next. Having good relationships and open doors is part of what is baseball."

Faith means a great deal to Suarez, who serves as a bridge of sorts in the clubhouse. He relates well with the Latino Diamondbacks from throughout the Caribbean region and his home country of Venezuela and takes the responsibility seriously.

One moment in the clubhouse, he's hanging with Spanish-speaking teammates laughing and looking at videos on his phone. The next, he's yukking it up with pitcher Merrill Kelly or talking about shoes with teammates in another corner of the room.

"In his own good-guy way, he demands the best from you," shortstop Geraldo Perdomo said in Spanish.

And it's not just players. Suarez greets everyone warmly, from coaches, clubhouse staff and Diamondbacks support staff to reporters.

Suarez is widely associated with the phrase "Good Vibes Only," a motto he's worn on a T-shirt.

"I try to be the one who brings everyone together," he said. "I like when everyone is cool with each other and are friends and more than just co-workers in the clubhouse. When everyone gets along, it leads to good results on the field."

A big impact in a short time

Suarez was with the Mariners for just two seasons, 2022 and 2023, but his impact on the club is still felt, a year and a half after the Mariners traded him to the Diamondbacks.

Former teammates say losing him was a blow to the Mariners clubhouse. And while teams move on quickly from their transactions, plenty of Mariners fans had a harder time saying goodbye.

"Eugenio Suarez. What is there to say?" Mariners utility infielder Moore said. "Beyond his abilities on the field, I think that he brings a happiness, and the way that he works and he's happy at the same time is very rare. This game is very hard. It can mess with your emotions up and down, but he's kind of like a constant. He's great at his job, he's a family man, he's a follower of Christ. There's just good things to say about him all around.

"He was a crazy good competitor. He brought out the best in people. He definitely brought out the best in me."

Eugenio Suárez walk-off homer! WHAT A GAME! pic.twitter.com/bmv5ERe46B
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) September 11, 2022

Goldsmith called Suarez "the single best guy that I have ever been around in the game." He said Suarez was kind, outgoing, energetic and just cared about people.

"He just really is that guy. What you see is what you get," Goldsmith said.

On the team plane during a road trip, Suarez walked to the back of the cabin and asked the broadcast crew what they wanted to drink. Then he helped the flight attendants serve the beverages to Goldsmith and the others.

"He just did it because he wanted to do something nice for people," Goldsmith said. "My kids fell in love with him, Seattle fell in love with him. I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a guy who was with the Mariners for just two years like Geno was, who left as big of an impact on the fan base just as a guy. And he had some really impactful moments on the field as well."

It can be hard to be loud and outgoing and happy and fun when things aren't going so well on the field. But Suarez doesn't seem to let any slumps bother him. In 2024, he went from a .192 batting average on June 26 to finishing at .256 with 30 home runs and 101 runs batted in.

And Suarez never let his struggles on offense carry over to third base defense last season. His glove work during his 11-year big-league career has been a constant.

"He held the clubhouse together, and he played a fabulous third base for us for two years," Hill, the Seattle infield coach, said. "Unreal the things that he did defensively."

Muñoz, in Spanish, said Suarez was a good teammate who was willing to talk to anyone about any problems they had and help find a solution.

"For me mostly, he's an excellent human being," Muñoz said in Spanish. "Having fun, but with respect for the game and for people. In truth, he has good vibes and brings people together."

Mariners infielder Crawford had a locker next to Suarez at T-Mobile Park for two years and called Suarez "the best human being on Earth."

"If he was 0-for-4 or 4-for-4 and won the game, he was as happy as can be. He did that every single day," Crawford said.

Suarez's red-hot September and October — he hit .347 in 26 games — included nine home runs, lifting him into the top 200 of baseball's all-time leaders with 276.

Diamondbacks' Suarez cites a firm foundation

There's always going to be a bad day here and there, Suarez said. It's how one approaches them.

"I try to face hard times the best way I can," he said. "Those bad days or bad moments that happen don't stay with me long, because that won't help me.

"It's not good to hold on to them, so I try to get rid of them as fast as I can and go on with life. I always put everything in the hands of God, knowing He will make things good for us."

Though his wife, Genesis, and daughter, Nicole, are in Miami during much of the season, Suarez calls his wife his pillar, his rock and his strength.

"They drive my career. I know they are at home supporting me," Suarez said. "They're depending on me, so I try to enjoy everything to the fullest."

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'He just really is that guy:' What drives Eugenio Suarez to be happy every day

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Good vibes only: Diamondbacks' Eugenio Suarez connects clubhouses wherever he plays

A big impact in a short time

Diamondbacks' Suarez cites a firm foundation

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