Ranger Suárez made his spring training debut on Tuesday. He got off to a good start, throwing two clean innings against the New York Yankees. He allowed one hit and registered a pair of strikeouts in relief.
Afterward, he spoke about his goals for the season and his future with the Philadelphia Phillies. It’s a future that, as of now, looks ever so murky.
The 29-year-old left-hander is embarking on a contract year, with pending free agency looming after the season. He prepared for the possibly life-changing payday by swapping agents this past offseason, hiring the infamous Scott Boras to handle his affairs. With not much hope of an extension being offered or signed, Suárez will hope his 2025 season resembles more of the first part of his 2024 campaign, rather than the second half.
It would be surprising to see Ranger Suárez back with Phillies in 2026, despite his heart-warming sentiment
Suárez said all the right things on Tuesday, speaking about wanting to stay in Philadelphia, per MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki.
“It’s about staying in Philly,” Suárez said, per Zolecki. “This is my childhood club, my childhood organization. I’ve played here since I was really young. All I think about is staying here. I want to pitch here for the rest of my career.”
The sentiment is nice, and he, in all earnest, probably feels that way. But baseball is a business and Suárez, no doubt being guided by Boras, must know that the writing is on the wall for his time with the Phillies. Ranking the team’s pending free agents, Suárez appears to be lower on the totem pole of importance behind catcher J.T. Realmuto and slugger Kyle Schwarber. Both veterans feel more integral to the Phillies’ window of contention than the home-grown fan favorite, unfortunately.
At the moment, the Phillies have an embarrassment of riches in their starting rotation. Acquiring lefty Jesús Luzardo this winter feels like a shrewd move to combat the loss of Suárez in free agency. Luzardo is under contract through 2026. And with top prospect Andrew Painter hopefully making the jump to the big leagues this season, the starting rotation could be quite full heading into next season. Suárez, all of a sudden, looks expendable.
He finished 2024 with a 12-8 record, a 3.46 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP in 150 2/3 innings. Since debuting with the Phillies in 2018, he's 41-29 with a 3.42 ERA in 161 games (93 starts). He solidified himself as a rotation piece in 2022 when he made 29 starts, but he has struggled to get through a full MLB season physically over the last two years. He dealt with back issues last season that derailed his second half.
Staying healthy is one of his focuses in 2025, as Zolecki reports — an unsurprising goal with a lucrative multi-year contract on the table in free agency.
“It’s about being healthy for the whole year,” Suárez said, per Zolecki.
We'll all be rooting for him to stay healthy this season because he'll be a big part of the Phillies' success if he does. After that, it's anyone's guess where he'll be pitching next year.