Ranger Suárez's record-breaking season somehow keeps getting better and better

Ranger Suárez continued his outstanding season in his latest start on Tuesday. The Philadelphia Phillies left-hander allowed one earned run, five hits and two walks versus the Texas Rangers. He had a season-high 10 strikeouts in Philly's 5-2 victory.

Across MLB, several starters are off to a surprisingly dominant year. The Chicago Cubs have two pitchers, Shota Imanaga (5-0, 0.84 ERA) and Javier Assad (4-0, 1.70 ERA), who have played a significant part in the club's success during its first 49 contests. The Kansas City Royals' Seth Lugo (7-1, 1.79 ERA) and the Detroit Tigers' Tarik Skubal (6-0, 1.80 ERA) are the AL's two leading starting pitchers.

Suárez is among the other four starters pitching at an ace-worthy level over the first quarter of the regular season. It has come to be expected that he will pitch like a No. 1 starter the longer he keeps performing at this extraordinary level. Only Imanaga (five) and Atlanta Braves starter Reynaldo Lopez (eight) have fewer earned runs than the Phillies starter among pitchers with a minimum of eight starts.

Ranger Suárez's record-breaking season somehow keeps getting better and better

According to MLB.com's Sara Langs, the Venezuela native's 1.36 ERA is the lowest by a Phillies pitcher through 10 starts since earned runs became an official statistic in the NL in 1912. Grover Alexander had a 1.31 ERA after 10 appearances in 1915. He had a lower ERA of 1.24 after the same amount of starts the following year.

Langs also notes that Suárez is also now one of four pitchers in MLB history to go 9-0 or better with an ERA under 1.50 in the first 10 starts of a season since 1913, joining Juan Marichal (1966), Eddie Cicotte (1919) and Cy Falkenberg (1913).

Paul Casella of MLB.com posted several facts about Suárez's historic start to 2024. The 28-year-old is the first Phillies pitcher to win nine straight games since Earl Moore during the 1910 season. Like Langs, he noted that Suárez is the first pitcher to begin the year with a 9-0 record with an ERA below 1.50 through 10 starts since Juan Marichal did so in 1966 with the San Francisco Giants.

Per NBC Sports Philadelphia's Paul Hagen, Suárez maintains an even-keeled approach despite his amazing start.

"I just try to go do the best work I can," Suárez said through interpreter Diego D'Aniello, per Hagen. "Keep the game close so the team can try to get a win. That’s the most important thing."

"Each time I go out on the mound, I enjoy my outings. I enjoy the results that we get. I enjoy the wins we get as a team. But the day after that, I forget about everything because I have to focus on my next start, the next thing I have to do.”

Stats Perform's official X (formerly Twitter) account posted that Suárez is the only MLB pitcher with an undefeated record and 65 or more strikeouts over his first 10 appearances in a season since 1913, the year that ERA became an official stat in both the American and National League.

Suárez doesn't seem concerned about the level of recognition he's receiving from the national media for his start to the 2024 season. He has the right approach: only being concerned about his next start and trying to remain in the moment when he is on the mound.

Still, what he is doing is astounding. Suárez has a good chance of making the All-Star Game for the first time in his seven-year career. The Phillies' first eight weeks of the 2024 season have been exciting for the fan base to watch, and the left-hander's performance is a big reason for the club's success.