Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Ranger Suarez is certainly making up for lost time.
The 29-year-old left-hander opened the 2025 season on the 15-day injured list after suffering lower back soreness midway through spring training. After a few rehab outings, Suarez made his 2025 debut on May 4 against Arizona, but it did not go well, as he gave up seven runs on seven hits and two walks in 3.2 innings.
However, Suarez has pitched at a Hall of Fame level since then.
Tuesday night at Houston, Suarez took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and allowed just one run on four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in 7.2 innings. Unfortunately, he took the loss, as Philadelphia was held scoreless on four hits in a 1-0 game, but Suarez looked ridiculously good against the right-handed-heavy Astros.
“He was phenomenal,” said Phillies manager Rob Thomson.
Just like Suarez has been in every game since his regular season opener.
Ranger Suarez Enjoys Stretch of Dominance Rarely Seen
Over his last night starts, Suarez has allowed a total of nine runs, eight of them earned, on 51 hits and 14 walks through 61.1 innings, good for a 1.17 ERA during that stretch. It’s a level of dominance rarely seen by Phillies pitchers.
In fact, since the mound was lowered in 1969, only Cliff Lee (2011) and Hall of Famer Steve Carlton (1972) have thrown that many innings with a similarly-low ERA over a nine-start stretch while wearing a Phillies uniform.
“He’s been huge,” Thomson said. “You can pretty much book six or seven innings every time. He’s just been incredible, he really has.”
And by the way, Suarez has now enjoyed such a rare dominant stretch twice as a Phillies pitcher. Last season, Suarez jumped out to a 9-0 record with a 1.36 ERA through 10 starts, again earning comparisons to the legendary Carlton.
Ranger Suarez Will Be Due for Huge Payday After 2025
This season, Suarez is 6-2 with a 2.08 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. In 10 starts, he has allowed just 15 earned runs on 51 hits and 16 walks through 65 innings, with 59 strikeouts. As the co-hosts on “The Phillies Show” podcast stated on Wednesday, Suarez, currently pitching on a one-year, $8.8 million contract, will be due for a huge payday after this season.
“Ranger Suarez is on an incredible salary drive and I expect it to continue over these final months,” said CSNPhilly.com reporter Jim Salisbury.
“Somebody’s going to pay this man,” agreed former Phillies general manager Rubén Amaro Jr.
But will it be the Phillies?
There are several key members of the team’s roster who will become free agents after this season, including Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto, and given Suarez’s injury history, the podcast hosts said they still need to see more innings from Suarez before they would be willing to commit the high salary it will undoubtedly take to keep him in Philadelphia.
“I’d love to bring him back,” Amaro said. “He’s a great pitcher, he’s fun to watch. He’s done it in the in the tight [moments], he’s done it in the playoffs, he’s done it as a closer, he’s done it as a starter. There’s no reason why I wouldn’t want to bring him back, except that, you know, I’m not sure if he’s going to be durable enough to put those kind of dollars into this man, and he’s going to have to prove that through the end of the year.”
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