From Security Guard to the Playoffs
Padres reliever Robert Suarez is October’s most unlikely hero
Playoff baseball so often comes down to being the team that has that guy.
You know that guy. The bearded Brian Wilson was that guy for the San Francisco Giants back in the day. It was Justin Papelbon for the Boston Red Sox. Mariano Rivera for the New York Yankees year after year after year.
When that guy comes into the game, it’s all over. The opposing team might as well send their guys home early.
Nobody scores off of that guy. Nobody even gets a hit off of him.
Teams mortgage their futures every trade deadline to get that guy. They send scouts across the world to find him. They spend $100 million to keep him.
This year? That guy might just be San Diego Padres reliever Robert Suarez—though he doesn’t have the typical origin story of most October heroes. In fact, it’s extraordinary that he’s even pitching in the Big Leagues at all, let alone starring on its brightest stage.
Suarez grew up in Venezuela, and baseball wasn’t much more than a hobby for him. Scouts ignored him and didn’t think he had much of a future in the sport. In fact, he barely thought he had much future. In his early twenties, he worked as a security guard in Caracas. The only time he pitched was on the weekends in amateur games.
A teammate on one of those weekend games looked at Suarez’s hulking, 6-foot-2 frame and might have been the first person to ever see that guy lurking somewhere inside. He implored Suarez to get serious, save his money, and move to Mexico to pitch professionally. Suarez decided to give it a shot; he didn’t have much to lose, after all. “That’s when I really started honing my craft,” Suarez said years later.
In Mexico, Suarez pitched in 48 innings. He struck out 48 batters.
Not bad for a security guard.
But Suarez’s journey was far from over. His performance impressed Japanese teams, and then he spent six years bouncing between the Japanese minor and major leagues. He finally he established himself, notching 42 saves in his final season. Then the Padres called in late 2021. They offered a Major League contract.
At Spring Training this March, Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla could hardly believe what he was seeing. “Gosh darn that’s an explosive arm,” he said.
As a 31 year-old rookie, Suarez has bulldozed his way through the best in the Major Leagues. He dismantled the Dodgers in the NLDS, striking out three and not allowing a run in three appearances. Now, when NLCS games are on the line, the Padres will look towards Suarez to help win the first World Series in club history. If they want to win it all, they’ll need Suarez to be that guy.
It’s who he’s always been.
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