MiLB Player of the Day: José Suárez

The Cardinal Chronicle
Minor League Player of the Day: José Suárez
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

José Suárez was in the middle of Peoria’s win from the first pitch to the final rally.

Suárez is The Cardinal Chronicle’s Minor League Player of the Day after helping lead the Chiefs to a 4-3 comeback win over the Beloit Sky Carp on Saturday night at ABC Supply Stadium.

This was not a loud offensive night across the board.

It was a game Peoria had to grind out.

That is where Suárez made the difference.

He opened the game by attacking the first pitch and driving it off the top of the right-field wall for a double. Two batters later, Jalin Flores brought him home with a sacrifice fly, giving Peoria a 1-0 lead.

That was the first spark.

Beloit answered with a run in the second and two more in the third, taking a 3-1 lead. Peoria’s offense had chances, but the Chiefs had to keep working to stay close.

Suárez was part of that, too.

In the fifth inning, Christian Martin singled, Suárez followed with another hit, and Cade McGee drove in a run to cut the deficit to 3-2. Peoria had a chance for more in the inning, but stranded runners at second and third.

That could have been the missed opportunity that decided the game.

Instead, Suárez helped make sure it was not.

With Peoria still trailing by one in the ninth, Jose Cordoba led off with a single. Suárez later singled to center, putting runners at the corners with one out.

Then the Chiefs put pressure on Beloit.

With McGee at the plate, Suárez broke for second base. Beloit catcher Wilson Weber pump-faked toward second, then tried to throw behind Cordoba at third. The throw sailed down the left-field line.

Cordoba scored.

Suárez scored.

Peoria led 4-3.

That was the game.

It was not a tape-measure homer or a clean gap shot that drove in the winning run. It was pressure. It was timing. It was a baserunner forcing the defense to make a play, and Beloit could not make it.

That is baseball.

Suárez finished with multiple hits, two runs scored and a direct role in the ninth-inning sequence that won the game for Peoria.

Noah Mendlinger deserves strong mention after driving in two runs for Memphis in the Redbirds’ 4-3 loss at Jacksonville. Alex Birge also deserves mention after homering for Palm Beach, and Springfield’s offense did enough to support a 4-0 shutout win over Northwest Arkansas.

But Suárez had the best full-game impact.

A first-pitch double.

Multiple hits.

Two runs scored.

The pressure play that helped Peoria steal a road win.

That earns the honor.

Old School Take

Not every Player of the Day has to win it with a home run.

Sometimes the best player on the field is the one who keeps showing up in the right spots.

José Suárez started the game with a double, helped Peoria cut the deficit in the fifth, and then put pressure on Beloit in the ninth until the defense cracked.

That is winning baseball.

That is why José Suárez is The Cardinal Chronicle Minor League Player of the Day.

The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
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Photo Credit: José Suárez, Peoria Chiefs |