Phillies promote prospect Ranger Suarez to AAA

Another big name Phillies prospect is making his way up the Phillies farm system

Phillies ninth-ranked prospect Ranger Suarez has been promoted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Signed out of Venezuela in 2012, Suarez has a career 2.22 ERA in the minors. He will replace former prospect and Phillies starter Ben Lively, who went on the disabled list with a right shoulder sprain.

Moving up with Suarez was LHP Tyler Gilbert, who was 4-1 with a 2.86 and two saves in 23 games for Reading.

Suarez had made 12 starts for Double-A Reading this season before receiving his promotion Tuesday afternoon. In 10 of those 12 starts he allowed two runs or fewer, and pitched with a 2.76 ERA.

MLB Pipeline projects Suarez’s changeup to be his best pitch along with a fastball, curveball, and slider. Turning 23 this summer, Suarez is projected to reach the Major Leagues within the next two years. He’s projected as the organization’s second-best left-handed pitching prospect behind JoJo Romero.

Suarez joins a strong Lehigh Valley starting rotation along with prospects Enyel De Los Santos, Cole Irvin, Jake Thompson, and Thomas Eshelman. De Los Santos, acquired in the Freddy Galvis trade last offseason, leads the International League with a 1.73 ERA in 14 starts. Irvin is right behind him with a 2.61 ERA, fifth-best in the league.

Either De Los Santos or Irvin could see time with the Phillies should a starter go down with an injury this year or Jerad Eickhoff fails to return from a finger injury. Both have improved and honestly surprised this year as they work their way up through the minor league system.