It was the first multi-hit game Suarez has had since his call up June 11 to be the everyday shortstop after Zack Cozart suffered a season-ending knee injury.
He singled in the second, sixth and eighth innings to raise his average from .185 to .258.
“The most important thing that he’s doing is defending,” Price said before the game. “It’s a short sample size on the offense. I think he’ll be fine. We felt when we traded for him he’d be a very, very good offensive performer and outstanding defensive player.”
Suarez was 5-of-27 entering Sunday. He had a game-winning single in his second game with the Reds and clubbed a two-run, game-tying home run the next night. But a 0-for-13 slump followed.
“I think he looks very comfortable in our lineup,” Price said. “He had the squeeze the other day, which I think wasn’t an easy pitch — a breaking ball out over the plate, and he got it down. Those are the things he’ll need to be able to do. He’s going to need to be able to hit and run and get his bunts down and be a good situational offensive player.
“He’s got enough power to be seduced by hitting home runs,” he continued. “We just have to keep him off that thought process of thinking he’s got to be a big run-producing, home-run-hitting shortstop.”
Suarez came to the Reds along with pitcher Jonathon Crawford in the off-season trade with Detroit for Alfredo Simon.
Suarez hit .242 with four home runs, nine doubles and 23 RBIs in 244 at-bats as a rookie with the Tigers. Price said he thinks Suarez has enough pop to produce a good amount of home runs and doubles, but it’s not something he should focus on.
“Understanding what type of player you are sometimes takes a bit of time to figure out,” Price said. “These kids sign, like in his case when he was 17. So he’s still trying to figure out at 23 what type of player he is from an offensive standpoint.
“He’s always been a defender. I think that’s what got him to Detroit so quickly,” Price continued. “Think about it. I don’t think he came to the U.S. until 2011 and he was the starting shortstop for the Tigers in 2014. So as you mature and you get stronger and you start to realize you can hit the ball out of the ballpark, that can be seductive. And it’s great. It wasn’t like I was disappointed at all with Cozart’s nine home runs in the first third of the season. However, if you’re chasing the home run, then it can be dangerous.”
Possible POTW: Reds third baseman Todd Frazier put the finishing touches on his bid to win a second National League Player of the Week award Sunday afternoon with a two-run home run in the bottom of the first.
Frazier finished the week 8 for 25 (.320) with five home runs and nine RBIs. He had hit four of the team’s last five homers and five of seven until Jay Bruce went deep in the sixth.
Frazier won the first NL Player of the Week Award of his career for his performance May 25-31, when he hit .500 with four homers, four doubles and seven RBIs.
Up next: The Reds will be off today before beginning a three-game series Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, where Johnny Cueto (4-4, 2.98 ERA) will oppose Pirates left-hander Jeff Lock (4-3, 4.74).
Since 2009, the Reds have pitched 10 shutouts at Pittsburgh’s PNC Park. That equals the most by any team in the majors at an opposing stadium. Milwaukee pitchers also have tossed 10 shutouts at PNC Park.
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