CHICAGO — It had been over a year since Jack Suwinski had been the hero in the ninth. It has been a trying year, at that.
Suwinski came into 2024 positioned as a projected part of the Pirates’ outfield moving forward, but offensive struggles had him down in the Minors for half the year. He cracked the Opening Day roster in 2025, but again has spent a large portion of the season (53 games) with Triple-A Indianapolis.
On Friday at Wrigley Field, though, he hit the winner. Knotted at two apiece in the ninth, Suwinski jumped on a 101 mph Daniel Palencia fastball and put it in the bleachers in left-center, propelling the Pirates to a 3-2 win over the Cubs.
It was quite the swing for the Chicago kid who grew up a White Sox (and Paul Konerko) fan instead of the North Siders.
“It’s always special, knowing that my parents are here,” Suwinski said on his homecoming.
A win helps get the taste of the Pirates’ last series against the Brewers out of their mouth, but especially for Suwinski. Friday was the first time he had a game-winning RBI in the ninth inning or later since May 4, 2024. It was his first go-ahead homer in the ninth since June 19, 2022 against the Giants.
The moment was made possible by Braxton Ashcraft tossing five strong innings and Evan Sisk, Isaac Mattson and Dennis Santana combining to throw the final four frames, but Suwinski got to be the hero at the end.
“That was sick, especially being here in Chicago for him,” manager Don Kelly said. “To go backside like that in that moment of the game against Palencia, just so many things adding up. Really cool moment for him. The hard work is paying off. He’s been having really good at-bats. Just really, really awesome.”
Suwinski’s been swinging a better bat lately, even if it hasn’t fully shown in the results. In his first at-bat Friday in the second inning, he drove a line drive to right-center, but it was snared by right fielder Seiya Suzuki. That’s been more common of late, and his expected stats this month are painting a fairly optimistic picture. He entered Friday with a .371 on-base percentage in August, but his expected OBP was .419, according to Baseball Savant. His slugging was .308 before Friday, but his expected slug was almost 100 points higher (.406).
Since being recalled, the messaging to Suwinski has been to get his swing off early in the count. Or as Kelly put it: “Just be aggressive on pitches that you should be getting your swing off and let it eat and see what happens.”
Driving a 1-1 fastball that leaked over the heart of the plate? That’s what they’ve been talking about. That qualifies as “letting it eat.” Doing it in a big moment was just the cherry on top, and reassurance that he might be headed in the right direction.
“Especially with a great arm on the mound, in a tight game, to provide a run like that, it’s huge,” Suwinski said. “Hopefully, it makes it feel like the process is good. Some of that hard work makes it feel really good. Have to keep going and get ready for tomorrow.”
Time will tell if this homer or Suwinski’s better August could be a building block for the 27-year-old moving forward. One thing that has been for sure is that even amid the down times these last two years, he has grinded to try to get better. There is playing opportunity in the outfield right now — especially with Oneil Cruz on the concussion injured list — and if he could look more like the Suwinski of 2023, perhaps he could play his way back into the Pirates’ plans.
It’s going to be a journey. If it does come to fruition, it’s going to be a product of hard work, something made possible by his teammates helping him keep his head up.
“Everyone pulls for each other,” Suwinski said. “Everyone works hard. It’s easy to go right next to them and work just as hard.”
