This pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds is using his platform to share his faith and speak out on behalf of the environment.
In baseball lore, the bullpen lefty is a special character. There are long hours of quiet waiting. Then, as the game tilts in the balance, 40,000 fanatics scream as a lone man on a mound and another man holding a stick are thrust into a high-stakes moment. When the batter strikes out, the cheers cascade. When the reliever fails, his manager directs the ritual of taking the ball from the hand of a now-vanquished pitcher consigned to make the long walk of shame to the dugout.
It takes a special kind of character to succeed in such a high-pressure atmosphere.
Enter Brent Suter, the Cincinnati Reds lanky lefty relief pitcher, who strides to the mound carrying a slim 6’4” frame. He delivers sinkers and sliders, which, while not overpowering, have allowed him to craft what has become a long career for the 36-year-old. He owns a career record of 42–23, forged among three teams, beginning with the Milwaukee Brewers and followed by a stint with the Colorado Rockies. In 2024, he returned to Southwest Ohio to play for the Reds, the team he grew up rooting for.
What makes him unique, though, goes beyond baseball prowess. On the lighter side, Suter is known for a deadpan impression of famous figures, including Jim Carrey. He mimics the less famous, such as Reds’ pitching coach Derek Johnson. He’s also added the Sesame Street character Elmo to his repertoire for his kids. And while he can go for laughs, he is also known for being devoted to his Catholic faith and environmental activism.
Brent Suter: A Different Kind of Ballplayer
Many ballplayers come to professional baseball right out of high school. Others go to colleges known for warm weather and extensive baseball programs before they make it to the Show. Still others come from the poorest of sandlots in the Dominican Republic and other parts of Latin America, as well as from Japan and Korea.
In this mix, Suter’s background stands apart. He earned a degree in environmental science and public policy from Harvard and combines book sense, a baseball savvy earned by learning to pitch without a 100 mph fastball, and a consuming zeal to spread the Gospel that God’s creation requires respect and tender loving care.
His interest in the environment traces back to when he went to the movies with his mother, Shirley, while he was a sophomore at Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati in 2006. They saw former Vice President Al Gore preach on the dangers of climate change in the landmark documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Gore warned of an impending environmental apocalypse, which some see as being fulfilled in troubling recent weather events and climbing global temperatures.
“It spoke to my heart and soul,” recalls Suter via phone from his home in the Cincinnati suburbs. In the background, his son, one of three children, makes noise and stakes his claim for fatherly attention. Having been raised in a Catholic home, Suter learned how his faith aligned with his interests.
“It’s a huge blessing,” he says of the Church’s growing concern over environmental issues, highlighted by the late Pope Francis’ landmark encyclical Laudato Si’, as well as the late Pope Benedict XVI’s emergence as the green pope, awakening concern for the environment in Catholic teaching.
Advocate for the Environment
During the offseason, Suter speaks regularly to community groups, offering inspiration and insights into a major league career. He is part of Care for Creation, an environmental awareness ministry of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
In late 2024, he spoke to the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur at their motherhouse in Reading, Ohio, promoting the vision of Sister Dorothy Stang. In 2023, Suter earned the Dorothy Stang Award from the archdiocese and the Sisters of Nore Dame de Namur. The award is given to encourage schools, parishes, and members of the archdiocese to study and teach about Sister Dorothy and encourage others to follow in her footsteps by promoting global solidarity and cross-cultural mission and ministry.
Sister Dorothy, a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur, was martyred in Brazil in 2005 after being targeted by landowners in the Amazon who were destroying the lands of the people there. The landowners were opposed to her campaign organizing Indigenous peoples to preserve their environment.
That environmental consciousness for the Cincinnati lefty doesn’t end with a single award, though. Suter has spent his career promoting the environment, including when he pitched for the Brewers from 2016–22, planting fruit trees in urban neighborhoods of Milwaukee. He arranged for the planting of a tree each time he earned a save.
He is also active in Players for the Planet, a group of professional athletes concerned about the environment. With that group, he participated with other ballplayers in beach-cleaning projects in the Dominican Republic. He also successfully lobbied for the Milwaukee Brewers to reduce plastic usage at their ballpark.
The platform of being a major leaguer enhances Suter’s spiritual and environmental message, as well as his charitable efforts, such as supporting the Joe Nuxhall Miracle League, a Cincinnati group devoted to providing ballfields and support for children with disabilities who want to play baseball.
A Late Bloomer
Throwing a baseball was a gift that emerged relatively late in life. He only started pitching regularly in his senior year at Archbishop Moeller High School as his team emerged as a top four contender in the state finals. Former Major League Baseball players Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Larkin, and David Bell also attended the high school. Suter’s fastball was largely considered not good enough to interest any big-league clubs or high-powered collegiate teams. Only Harvard expressed an interest in his baseball skills.
So, he left Ohio for the famous Massachusetts school known for its stellar faculty and elite student body, but with little history of baseball achievement.
After graduating from Harvard, he signed with the Brewers, toiling for years in their minor-league system. He got his first chance in the big leagues with Milwaukee in 2016. The Brewers eventually traded him to the Colorado Rockies, where he played for one season. After becoming a free agent, he returned to his hometown.
“It’s been the best year of my life,” he said about the 2024 season.
Suter re-signed with the Reds after that season and is looking forward to advancing the fortunes of a team with a dedicated fan base.
Life Outside Baseball
Suter lives with his wife, Erin, and their three children in Cincinnati, where they attend Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Anderson Township. The itinerant life of a ballplayer has settled down, at least for now, as Suter looks forward to more time with the hometown Reds.
Suter has learned lessons from family life. Some of those lessons he incorporated into The Binky Bandit, a children’s book he wrote and published in 2022. The tale was inspired by the reaction of Wally, the family Doodle puppy, upon the arrival of Suter’s oldest son, Liam.
Beneath the cuteness of a puppy story, the children’s book deals with serious underlying themes. One is jealousy, as Wally the puppy misses the attention directed to the new infant in the family. His response is to steal and dirty the pacifier intended for the new arrival.
“My dog dirtying Liam’s binkies was so funny to me I decided to write Liam a poem about it so we could remember this hilarious phase in our lives,” he says in promotional material accompanying the book’s release. The children’s book also provides an environmental message, warning readers about what would happen if those stolen binkies ended up in a landfill, or worse, in an ocean, to be eaten by unwary fish.
Faith in the Bullpen
Suter’s creativity is enhanced by his baseball life. He says it has opened up a cosmopolitan world to him. The sport has emerged as an international pastime, with rosters stocked with players from all over the world. Suter says it’s a regular learning experience, something he’s thankful for, particularly the friendships he’s been able to nurture.
Baseball life brings dozens of men together in a grueling season. Close relationships are forged.
“Nothing is off the table,” he says about bullpen banter. Credibility and character emerge in the crucible of competition. “It’s tough to fake who you are in the dog days of August,” he says, noting that the grueling grind of hot weather and the conclusion of a long season create pressure that tests character. The bullpen, he says, remains a special place to forge friendships. According to him, “It’s like a team within a team. We talk about everything under the sun.”
Among the topics ballplayers talk about is their faith lives. Suter has discovered an ease talking about his relationship with Jesus with his fellow ballplayers from all Christian denominations who are also willing to talk about their own faith. Added to that faith dimension, he brings up environmental consciousness as well. The two topics are intimately related, Suter says.
Read: “Preachers in the Bleachers” by Casey Cole, OFM
In a polarized political world, where environmental issues can be flashpoints, Suter focuses on what unites. He is particularly concerned about the environmental degradation created by plastic usage and its impact on clean water. That issue, he says, is evident to those of all political and religious persuasions.
“People can see plastic piling up. On either side of the political divide, you can get people involved in it,” he says.
Much like the late Pope Francis, Suter is also concerned about humanity’s impact on struggling species. He regularly brings his Catholic faith into discussions about his passion for the environment.
“We love animals and plants,” he says, making the point that humanity has an obligation to preserve endangered species.
He emphasizes that God’s creation requires respect and love. He talks about his own conversion experience, emphasizing it came to him quietly. Raised and steeped in Catholic faith, he began to feel called toward making that faith truly his own. One day, driving alone, he felt the presence of the Divine. In that quiet moment he realized, “Jesus was in the car, but he wasn’t driving the car.” Ever since, he’s tried to make faith a focus.
Embracing the Moment
Baseball careers are short. Suter has far surpassed the average of most who spend time in the majors. He knows he will never be a superstar. He’s earned his spot by developing a sinker and slider, compensating for a fastball that won’t ever blow away big-league hitters on its own. He’s worked himself back from injuries, focusing on diet and exercise, which has allowed him to excel. He’s known as a relief pitcher who can go multiple innings, a valuable commodity for any big-league team.
When he was drafted in 2012 by the Brewers, it was in the 31st round. He was the 965th player selected. Few chosen that late ever make it to the big leagues, instead spending years pursuing an unattainable dream through long bus rides and minimum wages. But Suter persevered. At 36 years old, in baseball terms he’s become an old-timer.
Suter is enjoying the ride for now, knowing that his place as a baseball celebrity, particularly in his hometown, offers a chance to preach the gospel of Catholic faith and the environment. He is unlikely to win a Cy Young Award, granted to baseball’s top pitcher each year. But he was nominated by the Reds in 2024 for the Roberto Clemente Award, given to the player who best exemplifies the humanitarian work of the Pittsburgh Pirate great who died in a plane crash delivering supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.
Susan Keefe, a former lay missioner active in Cincinnati area social justice and Catholic environmental causes, has worked with Suter in advocacy and says that the major leaguer brings a unique dimension to the issues.
“I see Brent as a young man who is aware that we need to take care of the earth now as Christ would have wanted us to do,” she says. “As busy as he is with professional baseball, he makes time to plant trees and educate children.” She adds, “There aren’t enough young men like Brent Suter living out Catholic social teaching. Best of all he is like a pied piper,” drawing others to get involved.
Focused on his home life as a father and husband, Suter remains an unusual bullpen lefty, a special kind of character.
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