The Philadelphia Phillies placed All-Star lefty Ranger Suárez on the 15-day injured list with lower back soreness prior to Saturday’s game against the Cleveland Guardians, the club announced. The move is retroactive to July 24.
Suárez missed out on a chance to pitch in the All-Star Game because of lower back spasms. This isn’t a reaggravation of that injury, though. Phillies manager Rob Thomson said Saturday afternoon that Suárez woke up Friday with left lower back tightness.
“He thought he could work through it in his bullpen, and he couldn’t,” Thomson said. “He was still tight afterwards, so we’re gonna be super precautious and give him a little rest.”
The Phillies don’t anticipate Suárez missing an extended period of time, with Thomson saying that the hope is that the lefty will return during the four-game series in Arizona Aug. 8-11.
Suárez pitched 5 1/3 innings in his first start after the break, allowing seven hits and three earned runs in a 7-2 loss against the Minnesota Twins on July 22. On the season, he’s 10-5 with a 2.87 ERA across 119 1/3 innings pitched.
To take Suárez’s spot on the 26-man roster, the Phillies recalled LHP Kolby Allard from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. A former first-round pick by the Atlanta Braves, Allard is 2-7 with a 5.60 ERA over 72 1/3 innings pitched between Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley this season, but has a 2.86 ERA over 44 1/3 innings for the IronPigs since the start of June. He will start Sunday in the series finale against the Guardians.