MESA, Ariz. – As Seiya Suzuki answered questions about primarily serving as the Cubs’ designated hitter, he wore his glove on his left hand, flexing and kneading the leather with his right.
The topic had surfaced at winter meetings a couple months earlier, when his agent Joel Wolfe referenced Suzuki’s preference for playing in the field. On Friday, cameras and microphones surrounded him at his spring training locker to capture his first public comments since.
“I feel like last year [manager Craig Counsell and I] could have had better communication,” Suzuki said through interpreter Edwin Stanberry. “So going into this year, I feel like we’re improving upon that — and then communicate better during the season.”
Last year was their first working together, after the Cubs fired David Ross and hired Counsell in one fell swoop in November 2023. Ross was Suzuki’s manager for the first two years of the five-year, $85 million deal he signed when he came to MLB from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball.
“It was my first experience coming here where the manager changed, so I’m trying to learn how he thinks,” Suzuki said. “And obviously the goal is to win the championship, so what his thoughts are, considering baseball and other things. So just getting a deeper understanding through him.”
Suzuki began last season as the Cubs’ primary right fielder. But later in the year, rookie Pete Crow-Armstrong established himself as an everyday player in center field. So, when Cody Bellinger’s broken middle finger improved enough for him to return to the field, he went to right, pushing Suzuki to DH almost exclusively for the last month and a half of the season.
Suzuki was the Cubs’ best hitter last year, his .848 OPS landing him among the Top 20 qualified hitters in MLB. And September was his best month in terms of batting average (.329) and on-base percentage (.457).
Trade rumors percolated at the winter meetings when it became clear the Cubs were pursuing right fielder Kyle Tucker. And Wolfe said Suzuki would be open to waiving his no-trade clause for a select few teams.
After acquiring Tucker, the Cubs traded Bellinger to the Yankees. But in a crowded outfield picture, that still left Suzuki as the odd man out defensively.
“My job is to give it my all to whatever my job calls for,” Suzuki. “So if it is to DH, if it is to play the field, I’m giving my best, and that’s my job.”
Suzuki and Counsell talked about role expectations in mid-January, according to the manager.
“I told him that right now DH is going to be where the at-bats come from,” Counsell said at Cubs Convention days later. “He understands. He’s on board. He wants to play the field but he understands that right now this is where the team kind of sits. And I know that he’s going to play a lot of outfield. You hope Kyle and [left fielder Ian Happ] are healthy, obviously, and if they are, they’re going to play. But things will happen.”
On Friday, Counsell took responsibility for their communication falling short last season.
“Sometimes the language barrier makes you lazy, unfortunately, and that’s that’s on me,” he said. “And I’ve got to get a little better at that, and will. And that’s something that I promise Seiya and will work hard to do.”
Regarding discussions on Suzuki DHing, Counsell said: “We’re in a good place there.”
The Cubs plan to play Suzuki at both corner outfield spots this spring. As for whether he will be relegated to DH long term, Suzuki is taking ownership of that question.
“I need to get better defensively, and if it does, I get to play the field more,” he said. “So, it’s ultimately down to me.”