Ranger Suárez can adapt to a bullpen role, but maybe he should remain in the rotation

New York Times

5 hours ago

HOUSTON — The ball darted toward Ranger Suárez's head until he recoiled and shielded himself with a Cristopher Sánchez glove — Suárez forgot his at home in Philadelphia — and the momentum of making a great catch carried him off the mound. He stepped toward first base with a huge smile.
'Bro,' Suárez said to Buddy Kennedy, 'it scared me.'
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Kennedy laughed. That was the second out of the fifth inning. Suárez had still not permitted a hit. He held a Houston Astros team that entered the day with the highest OPS against lefties to nothing for seven innings until he threw Cooper Hummel a cutter that didn't cut. It landed for a solo homer, the only run in a 1-0 Phillies loss, a game that did nothing to lessen the shine on Suárez.
'He pitched his ass off,' Kennedy said.
An artist at work 🎨 pic.twitter.com/UKWFvz0eQr
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) June 25, 2025
Here is Suárez, 10 starts into his season, with a 2.08 ERA. There have been certain assumptions about the 29-year-old lefty all year. He's bound for free agency after the season, and after hiring Scott Boras over the winter, he must be seeking a massive payday that could preclude him from the Philadelphia Phillies' plans. The Phillies have a projected five-man rotation for 2026 without Suárez. And for that reason, Suárez has always been a logical choice to head to the bullpen later this summer when Aaron Nola returns and Andrew Painter graduates to the majors.
Maybe both things require some deeper thought.
Suárez has pitched at least six innings in nine straight starts. He has lasted seven innings in each of his previous four starts. Here's the list of pitchers who have a four-start streak like that in 2025:
• Tarik Skubal
• Ranger Suárez
No Phillies pitcher has had as long a streak of seven-inning starts since Nola in 2022, when he strung together eight in a row. There are no immediate plans, of course, to remove Suárez from the rotation. But when the Phillies are expected to apply a rotation surplus to bolster the bullpen later this season, it would be difficult to shift a pitcher so effective at going deep into games.
'He's been huge,' Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. 'You can pretty much book six or seven innings every time. That's how you feel going into the game. He's just been incredible. He really has.'
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Suárez did it Tuesday night in his typical way; he used five pitches against a lineup of nine right-handed hitters. Teams have been doing this to Suárez all season. He has faced 256 batters in 2025. Only 31 (12 percent) have been left-handed.
He needed just 50 pitches in five no-hit innings to begin the game. After a one-out walk to Isaac Paredes put Houston's first runner on base in the fourth inning, Suárez snared a line drive bound for his crotch to turn a double play.
Lol nothing fazes this man@Toyota x #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/dW9gsDbDkd
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) June 25, 2025
'I was praying for one hit,' Astros manager Joe Espada said.
Though Suárez has proved he can adapt to a bullpen role — he did, after all, throw the pennant-clinching pitch in October 2022 — there is a grace with which he has carved through opposing lineups this season. He cracked 92 mph only five times in Tuesday's outing. But Houston's hitters were confused, even the second and third times they faced Suárez.
'Man, we tried,' Espada said. 'We tried, but he kind of shifted his approach also. The cutter in, changeup, then he started throwing a slow breaking ball. We were geared up, trying to (go) middle (and) the other way, but he'd bust us in. Tried to turn the approach. 'OK, now let's look in.' And he went back away. Good pitching. J.T. Realmuto is pretty smart calling games.'
Suárez has financial incentives to keep starting in 2025; the more innings he pitches, the more money he'd make as a free agent this offseason. But he enjoys starting because there is an art to it.
The Phillies are the only team he has ever known; he signed with them as a Venezuelan teenager. He has started in the World Series for them and forged a reputation as a calming presence on the mound. They have a massive payroll and decisions to make on Kyle Schwarber and Realmuto after this season. They have committed major resources to their rotation. Still, Suárez's departure should not be considered a fait accompli.
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There was chatter about his role during his five-week stay on the injured list to begin the season. Now, this is a rotation that needs Suárez's volume and consistency.
'That's a conversation that was never brought up to me,' Suárez said through a team interpreter. 'I always wanted to be a starter this year. That's my usual role, and that's what I wanted to do. But that being said, what I want is for this team to win. I'm open to do whatever it takes to help this team win — if that's relieving or whatever. But I'm just always open and willing to help this team.'
His team didn't help him Tuesday night. He made one mistake. It was the difference. As Thomson emerged from the dugout, the infielders converged on Suárez. Alec Bohm tapped the pitcher on his chest. Other teammates patted him on the butt. Suárez dropped the ball in Thomson's hand, then shouted an expletive after he stepped off the mound.
'I felt good about sending him back out in the eighth,' Thomson said. 'He still had pitches left. I thought he was in command of the game. He just left a cutter up in the zone, middle of the plate. That's the way it goes.'
There was no tactical misstep. The Phillies just failed to score a run or two for Suárez. So, he wore the disappointment afterward.
'It's just baseball,' Suárez said. 'I mean, you can't miss pitches at this level. I paid for it.'