The Philadelphia Phillies exploded on Monday afternoon racing out to an 8-1 lead over the hapless San Diego Padres. It should’ve been smoothing sailing for the Fightins on Labor Day, but instead it nearly turned into a disaster. Part of the near disaster was perpetrated by the Phillies bullpen, a bullpen that has been leaking oil since August 1. Other than when Jeff “Trevor” Hoffman pitches, fans and management watch every ‘pen performance with clenched…teeth.
It’s easy to look at the stats and proclaim the Phillies bullpen as “okay.” In fact, statistically speaking, they’re a Top 10 bullpen in baseball for ERA –9th overall- and middle of the road in almost every other major stat category. But that’s stats. Watching the Phillies tells a completely different and potentially concerning story as the team races towards the 2023 MLB Postseason.
Since August 1, which ironically is when the Phillies’ offense decided to wake up, the bullpen has been pitching to a 4.00 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. Walks are up, 3.72 BB/9, and batting average on balls in play (BABIP) is .293. Three pitchers, Andrew Bellatti, Craig Kimbrel, and Gregory Soto, have ERA’s north of 4.00 in that span. Soto’s an outrageous 7.94, Belatti’s is 6.00, and Kimbrel’s 4.85. It’s easy to write off Bellatti’s 8-innings pitched in the month of August, but Soto and Kimbrel are key parts to the ‘pen. Again, leaking oil.
Yes, the Phillies are hoping Jose Alvarado and Seranthony Dominguez return to form, and maybe they will. That would be a huge boost to the overtaxed bullpen. But the Phillies cannot rely on “hope” with the MLB Postseason approaching. The Phillies need a solution, and the solution is in house.
Enter, Ranger Suarez.
Yeah, everyone remembers Suarez becoming a Swiss army knife for the Phillies down the stretch in 2022. Suarez was famously on the mound when the Phillies clinched the 2022 National League pennant. He pitched 1.2 innings out of the ‘pen in the 2022 MLB Postseason allowing no runs, striking out one, and earning a save. But Suarez has a long history as a reliever outside of last year’s run.
Outside of a few spot starts, Suarez spent the better part of 2018-2021 as a reliever for the organization. In fact, it wasn’t until 2022 that Suarez made the move to the rotation full-time. As a reliever, Suarez is 11-5 with a 2.91 ERA, 4 SV, 86 K, and a 1.219 WHIP in 96.0 innings pitched. When comparing roles, Suarez is actually a better reliever statistically speaking.
Ranger Suarez Starter vs. Reliever Comparison
| I | Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | SB | CS | BB | SO | SO/W | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | TB | GDP | HBP | SH | SF | IBB | ROE | BAbip | tOPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| as Starter | 62 | 1416 | 1280 | 143 | 328 | 68 | 5 | 31 | 7 | 4 | 119 | 298 | 2.50 | .256 | .321 | .390 | .711 | 499 | 41 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 11 | .311 | 103 | |
| as Reliever | 68 | 401 | 357 | 37 | 86 | 13 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 31 | 86 | 2.77 | .241 | .308 | .361 | .669 | 129 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | .288 | 91 |
| I | Split | W | L | W-L% | ERA | G | GS | GF | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | IBB | SO | HBP | BK | WP | BF | WHIP | SO9 | SO/W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| as Starter | 16 | 16 | .500 | 3.42 | 62 | 62 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 334.1 | 328 | 143 | 127 | 31 | 119 | 1 | 298 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 1416 | 1.337 | 8.0 | 2.50 | |
| as Reliever | 11 | 5 | .688 | 2.91 | 68 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 96.0 | 86 | 37 | 31 | 10 | 31 | 5 | 86 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 401 | 1.219 | 8.1 | 2.77 |
Moving Suarez to the bullpen gives manager Rob Thomson a lot of flexibility. As a reliever, Suarez was routinely used in two-to-three inning situations earlier in his career and he was obviously used as more of a late inning pitcher in his 2022 MLB Postseason relief appearances. Suarez is a cool, calm and collected pitcher, and his stats in clutch moments back that up.
Ranger Suarez Clutch Stats
| I | Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | SB | CS | BB | SO | SO/W | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | TB | GDP | HBP | SH | SF | IBB | ROE | BAbip | tOPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 outs, RISP | 92 | 205 | 175 | 58 | 38 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 29 | 36 | 1.24 | .217 | .332 | .354 | .686 | 62 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | .246 | 97 | |
| Late & Close | 35 | 135 | 116 | 10 | 23 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 36 | 2.40 | .198 | .290 | .336 | .626 | 39 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .250 | 79 | |
| Tie Game | 76 | 623 | 564 | 51 | 139 | 25 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 52 | 138 | 2.65 | .247 | .311 | .355 | .665 | 200 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 5 | .306 | 90 | |
| Within 1 R | 88 | 1069 | 968 | 92 | 247 | 44 | 4 | 22 | 7 | 3 | 84 | 221 | 2.63 | .255 | .314 | .377 | .692 | 365 | 24 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 10 | .308 | 97 | |
| Within 2 R | 103 | 1325 | 1194 | 118 | 298 | 53 | 4 | 26 | 8 | 5 | 111 | 276 | 2.49 | .250 | .314 | .366 | .680 | 437 | 34 | 4 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 11 | .303 | 94 | |
| Within 3 R | 114 | 1505 | 1354 | 138 | 338 | 62 | 5 | 32 | 8 | 6 | 126 | 318 | 2.52 | .250 | .315 | .374 | .689 | 506 | 42 | 6 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 13 | .303 | 96 |
Again, that’s stats but the eye test tells us the same. Suarez is CLUTCH. So, when it comes down to it, wouldn’t you feel more comfortable with Ranger Suarez taking the ball to send the Phillies to the World Series? Yup, thought so.
