Seiya Suzuki’s Cramp Recovery Plan Involves 100 Bananas and a Sense of Humor

Seiya Suzuki left Thursday’s game against the Orioles with calf cramps, and the Cubs held their breath for a minute. Then the 31-year-old right fielder made everyone laugh.

Suzuki went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and both of Chicago’s RBIs in a 3-2 loss at Camden Yards. He looked locked in all afternoon. When cramps forced him out late, it felt like a gut punch for a team that sits second in the NL Central and needs his bat in the middle of the order.

But the postgame remedy? Pure gold.

“I’m going to go eat about 100 bananas,” Suzuki told reporters, straight-faced. The Marquee Sports Network clip blew up on social media, and fans had a field day with it. The guy just wanted potassium. A lot of it.

The injury itself wasn’t the scary part

Suzuki made it clear this wasn’t a lingering problem. Calf cramps look alarming in the moment — players grab at the leg, trainers jog out, the whole dugout goes quiet. But his tone suggested he’d be fine by Friday. No MRI needed, no IL stint on the horizon. Just bananas.

For the Cubs that’s genuinely good news. Suzuki has been heating back up after a quieter stretch at the plate. He homered Wednesday too, meaning he went deep in back-to-back games. His Thursday blast tied the game in the sixth. His RBI double gave Chicago the lead in the eighth. That kind of production matters with a series against the Reds coming up before the All-Star break.

The Orioles answered quickly in the bottom half. Jeremiah Jackson doubled home two runs and flipped the score. So Suzuki’s strong day ended in a loss anyway. That stings.

But the Cubs are 52-41, 6.5 games behind the Brewers, and every healthy bat counts. A serious leg issue would have changed the whole tone of the afternoon. Instead Suzuki made a joke, ate some yellow fruit (or at least said he would) and gave everyone a reason to breathe.

It’s not every day a player leaves early and the biggest takeaway is a banana count. But that’s where we are. The Cubs lost the game. They didn’t lose their slugger. And somewhere in Baltimore, Seiya Suzuki was probably peeling his way through a grocery bag full of potassium.