Rob Thomson wasn’t managing in Wednesday’s intrasquad game at Citizens Bank Park behind closed doors. So he took the opportunity to take in a part of the game from a different vantage point.
As Ranger Suárez took the mound to throw two innings against his Phillies teammates, Thomson sat behind home plate. It gave Thomson a better of view of Suárez’s command.
He liked what he saw. Suárez, who started the game for the home team, Team Harper, threw 21 pitches over two innings. He sat 92-93 mph with his fastball. The breaking ball looked good.
“I saw big improvement in him,” Thomson told reporters on Zoom from his office at Citizens Bank Park.
Keeping everyone healthy is priority No. 1. Getting Suárez right is priority No. 2.
We won’t know for sure if Suárez is right until the next time he takes the ball when it matters, but the 12 days in between Suárez’s dreadful final outing of the regular season against the Washington Nationals and a potential Game 4 of the NLDS is a chance for Suárez to work to get back to something resembling his early season form.
Suárez, an NL Cy Young candidate earlier in the year, missed the All-Star Game and officially went on the IL with back issues on July 27. His first start off of the IL on Aug. 24 against the Kansas City Royals went well, but he posted a 6.49 ERA over his last six starts. His velocity dipped dramatically on Sept. 5 against the Marlins, but has slowly crept back up since. He did not make it out of the third inning of his last start against the Nats on Friday.
Did Suárez’s outing today ease concerns about him going into the postseason?
“I think so,” Thomson said. “You never know, but I felt really good about it. Talking to Caleb [Cotham], he felt the same way. I got a really good vantage point sitting behind the plate and it was coming out of his hand really good, command was there. Talking to the hitters, the movement was there. Curveball was sharp. So yeah, it eased my mind.”
Few expected Suárez to be in this position based on how the first three months of the season paned out. He won nine straight games from April 6 to May 21. As Cristopher Sánchez signed his extension in June in the midst of his own breakout, some wondered if Suárez, who is a free agent at the end of 2025, was next in line. He looked like a Game 2 starter.
Now Suárez is behind Sánchez, Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola in the starting pitching depth chart. Thomson has not officially announced his NLDS rotation, but it’s Wheeler for Game 1 and a toss-up between Sánchez and Nola for Game 2. The one who doesn’t start Game 2 will pitch in Game 3.
Suárez will start a Game 4 if necessary, but he’ll likely have a short leash considering his performance down the stretch and the Phillies having an off day the following day.
It’s a formula that has worked before for the Phillies. He was pulled in the fourth inning in each of the last two opening games of the NLDS against the Braves. The Phillies were able to bullpen their way to victory. He hasn’t thrown more than five innings in a postseason start.
Whether things change or stay the same this time around will depend on how Suárez looks in the first inning of his first outing.
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