Ranger Suárez was the Phillies’ unexpected hero in 2021
Without a question, the biggest surprise of the Phillies season has been the emergence of Ranger Suárez. After missing the bulk of 2020, Suárez came into spring training as more of an afterthought.
With a 1.36 ERA, 9.1 strikeout rate, and allowing just 0.3 home runs per nine, Suárez became the second-best pitcher on the staff.
Ranger filled every role they could’ve asked him. At first, he was a low-leverage reliever mainly sent out to the mound to eat innings. In his first 6 games of the season, he had average championship leverage (acLI) index of .44, a stat where 1.0 is the average leverage situation.
As the season went on, he became a high-leverage stopper, and later, a closer; if they needed outs, the ball was going to him. From June 19th to his last outing as a reliever on July 29th, Ranger had an acLI of 2.29 in 14 appearances.
Suárez would then move to the rotation for the first time since 2018. He got even better, quickly pitching deep into games. By September, he’d thrown a complete-game shutout on less than 100 pitches, known in baseball as a Maddux. In 12 starts overall, he delivered: a 1.51 ERA, 2.35 FIP, and opponents hitting just .218.
With a 3.0 fWAR, Suárez has been the most surprising story of the entire season.