Ranger Suárez shuts down the Marlins
Imagine if the Philadelphia Phillies didn’t have Ranger Suárez.
How many more blown saves would there have been in 2021? Who would’ve taken Zach Eflin’s place in the starting rotation? Would the Phillies have finished their first winning season since 2011?
Without Suárez, 2021 would have been a mess, or rather, an even bigger mess than it was.
Last season, Suárez had one of the more astoundingly good seasons in recent Phillies history, and while those numbers don’t count towards the current campaign, it still bothers me how little fanfare Suárez received outside of the Phillies universe. He navigated the chaos of moving from the bullpen to the rotation midseason with aplomb and worked himself up from averaging 22.11 pitches per appearance as a reliever, to throwing a complete-game shutout as a starter in September.
Bryce Harper told the world that his teammate deserved to win NL Comeback Player of the Year but to no avail.
Over 27 appearances out of the bullpen between May-July, Suárez posted a 1.12 ERA. Opposing lineups hit a meager .152/.244/.239 and had a .483 OPS against him. Across 40 1/3 innings, he struck out 42 batters, issued 14 walks, and only allowed five earned runs. He finished 13 games and earned four saves.
Then, manager Joe Girardi threw Suárez a curveball of his own, moving him to the starting rotation to start the month of August. The 26-year-old southpaw’s last turn in the rotation was back in 2018, and he’d only made three starts.
He started off slow but quickly ramped up to making legitimate starts. Over 12 total, he compiled a 1.51 ERA. The 260 batters who faced him hit .219/.282/.265 with a .547 OPS, and the Phillies went 7-5 in his games.
The aforementioned complete-game shutout against the Pittsburgh Pirates was one of only 29 complete games and just 18 shutouts in the National League last season. Rotation-mate Zack Wheeler led MLB with three complete games and two shutouts; he also did not get enough recognition for his work.
The 2022 season is long, and it’s unclear how Suárez will fare as a full-time member of the rotation. More batters will get familiar with how he works now, and the Phillies will need to manage his starts to ensure he doesn’t overdo it. But he looked great in his first four innings of work against the Miami Marlins on Saturday. Four shutout innings, to be precise.
Hopefully, the rest of the world begins to see what Phillies fans have been seeing.
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