Philadelphia Phillies: Should Ranger Suarez be the team’s fifth starter?

Can lefty Ranger Suarez make a push for the Philadelphia Phillies fifth starting pitcher job?

For better or for worse, the Philadelphia Phillies first four starting pitcher jobs are all locked up heading into 2020. Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler make up one of the best one-two punches in the league, whereas Jake Arrieta and Zach Eflin leave a little bit left to be desired through the middle of the rotation.

With that in mind, quite a bit of conversation has been drummed up when discussing who should be the fifth man in Joe Girardi’s new-look pitching unit. Names like Vince Velasquez and Nick Pivetta have been commonly thrown around, however I’m here to present a new candidate to the discussion.

Having rejoined the main roster halfway through the season last year, lefty Ranger Suarez was one of the team’s few bright spots coming out of the bullpen. Appearing in 37 games and 48.2 total innings, Suarez recorded an astonishingly low ERA of 3.14. He struck out 42 batters, posted a win-loss record of 6-1, and even finished 8 games. Suarez’ unique versatility coming out of the bullpen, being able to operate in short stints and in extended outings, was one of the biggest reasons he was so successful in 2019.

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Suarez uses a four pitch arsenal, relying heavily on his sinker and his four seam fastball to generate ground balls. Both his changeup and his slider clock in at around 85mph, providing a decent enough change in pace from the 92-93 that his sinker and fastball sit at. Suarez isn’t going to blow anyone away at the plate with velocity or “stuff”, but his above average control has proven more than effective in getting outs.

Suarez turned 24 last August, and has just 41 games of major league experience under his belt, making him a prime candidate to quickly develop and grow as a pitcher.

In all reality, whoever ends up landing the fifth rotation spot in 2020 is just a placeholder for Spencer Howard (Phillies #1 pitching prospect). Once Howard is ready, he will almost surely get a permanent starting job moving forward.

Even with that in mind, Arrieta’s contract is complete after 2020 and Eflin has shown extreme bouts of inconsistency during his career. Not only would Suarez be a valuable starter going forward into 2021 and beyond, but he could be a super important insurance policy later this season if Eflin and/or Arrieta start to falter.

Suarez was a starter pretty much all throughout the minor leagues, and he deserves a chance to get back into that position. While the organization has been desperately trying to make Pivetta and Velasquez work, at some point there needs to be an honest open competition for that fifth spot. If there is, Suarez will likely be the one to win it.