CHICAGO -- Seiya Suzuki’s slug has been on full display for the Cubs over the past week. But on Wednesday at a scorching-hot Wrigley Field, his power hitting placed him alongside a former World Series MVP, a Hall of Famer and a player who could probably start penning his Cooperstown acceptance speech right now.
Suzuki gave Chicago an early lead by blasting a three-run homer off Walker Buehler in the first inning of an eventual 23-3 drubbing of the Padres. The ball sailed well over the ivy in left-center field, officially marking the 100th Major League homer of Suzuki’s career. He finished 3-for-5 with a walk in Chicago's franchise-high-tying eight-homer day.
The Cubs’ right fielder became just the fourth Japanese-born big leaguer to reach that milestone, joining Hideki Matsui (175), Ichiro Suzuki (117) and Shohei Ohtani (298).
But for Suzuki, joining such legendary company took a backseat to what he felt was the most meaningful aspect of the moment.
“Those are all legends in the game. I'm not even close to that at all,” Suzuki said via interpreter Edwin Stanberry. “I think one thing that I can take away that means a lot to me is the fact that I'm the first right-handed [Japanese-born] hitter to get a hundred homers.
“For me, that allows other players coming from Japan who are right-handed, that could be their goal. It just shows them that you can do it, and I think that makes me the happiest.”
For good measure, Suzuki made sure to leave little doubt in reaching the century mark.
Two of Chicago’s first three hitters reached against Buehler, who then left a hanging 1-0 sweeper middle-away to Suzuki. The 31-year-old put extra emphasis on labeling it a mistake pitch, slugging it a Statcast-projected 426 feet over the wall.
“He's been swinging good,” manager Craig Counsell said. “He's just in one of those streaks when you try to make it last as long as you can. But [it's] the power that he has when he's in these streaks -- and more importantly, we're putting people on base in front of him -- that leads to the big, game-changing swings.”
After the Cubs’ win, Suzuki was able to meet the fan who caught his milestone homer, retrieving it in exchange for one of his bats. It was another memory from a game full of them, though one wasn’t as endearing as a significant home run.
During the fifth inning, Manny Machado lifted a deep fly to right field. As Suzuki went to track it down, the ball ricocheted off the brick wall and hit him square in the forehead. He was checked out by trainers for a few minutes, but he stayed in the game.
“That's never happened to me,” Suzuki said with a laugh. “It hurts, but I'm OK.”
It ultimately did little to dampen the spirits of an otherwise important day for Suzuki. His first-inning dinger was his third since Friday, when he became the only big leaguer to homer off Brewers phenom Jacob Misiorowski more than once. After slugging just .375 in his first eight games since tweaking his right knee in San Francisco on June 13, Suzuki entered Wednesday with a .714 slugging percentage over his past five contests.
For Suzuki, that uptick in power is less about his knee getting back to full strength and more about the tweaks he’s made at the plate over that time.
"I can square it up where I want to,” Suzuki said, “and I think making those micro-adjustments game to game, at-bat to at-bat, and having the communication with the hitting coaches, I think that's helped.”
Not only has it helped him sustain this plate success, it also ensured he capped a power surge like that with a blast that put him in rarified air.