The Cincinnati Reds placed veteran designated hitter/third baseman Eugenio Suarez on the 10-day injured list Saturday due to a left oblique strain.

The move is retroactive to Thursday.

Cincinnati recalled outfielder JJ Bleday from Triple-A Louisville to fill the roster spot.

Reds manager Terry Francona doesn’t expect Suarez to be sidelined long.

“The hope is after possibly five or six days if symptoms are gone, we’ll get him imaged again,” Francona told reporters. “Then we’ll start to build him back up.”

Suarez was scratched from Friday’s lineup before a game against the Detroit Tigers about one hour before first pitch when he felt pain in his left side while swinging a bat. He underwent an MRI exam that detected the damage.

Suarez, 34, is batting .231 with three homers and 11 RBIs in 25 games. He signed a one-year, $15 million deal as a free agent in the offseason for his second tour of duty with Cincinnati. He also played for the Reds from 2015-21.

Suarez matched his career high of 49 homers last season while splitting time between the Arizona Diamondbacks (36 HRs) and the Seattle Mariners (13). He also hit 49 for the Reds in 2019.

Bleday, 28, was batting .341 with six homers and 19 RBIs in 24 games at Louisville. He nearly made the Cincinnati roster in spring training when he batted with .317 with four homers.

Bleday has 49 homers over four major league seasons with the Miami Marlins (2022) and Athletics (2023-25) but has just a .215 career average.

Cincinnati also recalled Jose Franco from Louisville and optioned fellow right-hander Kyle Nicolas to the same affiliate.

Franco, 25, had a 3.18 ERA in three appearances with the Reds earlier this season. Nicolas, 27, went 1-0 with an 8.59 ERA in seven appearances and walked 13 batters in just 7 1/3 innings.

–Field Level Media