Seiya Suzuki left Saturday night’s Cubs win over the Giants after right knee discomfort flared during a fourth-inning play. Manager Craig Counsell said early reports were positive, but the team’s focus is how Suzuki will feel on Sunday.
SAN FRANCISCO — Seiya Suzuki had been turning in a defensive showcase in the middle innings, then a single misstep in the fourth sent him off the field early.
With the Cubs in motion during Saturday night’s win over the Giants, Suzuki came up short on a fly ball to right field in the fourth inning. He attempted a running, reaching grab, couldn’t get to the ball in time, and it dropped in for a hit as he stumbled to the ground.
The moment that followed mattered more than the play itself. Suzuki left the game with the trainer, and “right knee discomfort” was listed as the official cause. Shaw replaced Suzuki in right field.
Craig Counsell, speaking after the game, kept the focus where it has to be after an injury scare like this: not on what happened on the field, but what happens next. “The reports after he came out were positive,” Counsell said, “but the most important thing is: How is he going to feel tomorrow?”
For Suzuki, the day carried extra weight. His right knee injury dates back to when he played for Japan in the World Baseball Classic. That injury kept him sidelined at the start of the regular season. delaying his season debut until the Cubs’ 13th game of the campaign. Counsell’s question—how the knee would feel the next day—was essentially the same concern Suzuki himself put into words.
“I’m wishing it’s not a big deal,” Suzuki said through an interpreter. “I’ll wake up tomorrow, see how everything feels. If I can go from there, go for it. If not, we’ll see how it goes.”
Suzuki’s defense has been one of the bright spots for Chicago this season. and Saturday’s earlier sequences fit that narrative. Earlier in the game, he threw a runner out at second base and made a terrific sliding catch. The improvement has also helped set the tone for a Cubs team whose overall results have been uneven recently. even as its defense has remained among the best in baseball.
After the game, center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong pointed to just how special Suzuki’s tools looked on Saturday. “Those two plays he made were pretty incredible,” Crow-Armstrong said. “Everybody knows he’s got a really good arm. It’s always fun getting to watch him show it off. He put that thing on the money.”.
Now, with his right knee discomfort prompting an early exit, the Cubs’ attention shifts to the next morning—what Suzuki feels when he wakes up, and whether he can return to the field as the defense-first storyline continues.
Seiya Suzuki Cubs Giants right knee discomfort Craig Counsell Pete Crow-Armstrong Shaw World Baseball Classic MLB injuries Chicago Cubs