Philadelphia Phillies: Ranger Suarez’ struggles are understandable

Philadelphia Phillies LHP Ranger Suarez has had a rough return to pitching.

When it was announced that Ranger Suarez would be returning to the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen, there was some genuine excitement that carried around the fanbase. Suarez had been one of the few bright spots to the Phillies pen’ in 2019, and his ability to attack lefties and stretch out over multiple innings was seriously needed here in 2020.

Suarez had missed the first half of the season due to COVID-19, and his return had been much anticipated. Obviously his health and well being were of the upmost importance first, but the Phillies bullpen had deteriorated into complete shambles, and Joe Girardi was likely thrilled to hear that Suarez would be returning to the team.

After struggling a bit during his rookie season, Suarez really popped for the Phillies in 2019. He finished the year with a 3.14 ERA over 48.2 innings, going 6-1 in games where he received a win-loss decision. His WHIP was still a tad higher than one would like out of a reliever (1.315), but there was reason to believe that at just 23 years old, he could continue to improve. Considering just how bad the Phillies bullpen already was projected to be heading into 2020, there was really no room to nitpick over the fine details of Suarez’ game either.

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With no big arms signed to the team in free agency, Suarez was expected to play a crucial role during the 2020 season. The team was already running fairly light on left-handed pitching options after cutting Francisco Liriano, and Suarez was one of the few guys who has had previous success in the major leagues.

However, like previously stated, Suarez came down with a nasty case of COVID over the summer. He missed a few months worth of baseball, just now making his 2020 debut on September 5th, a full 99 days after his last MLB pitching outing.

Suarez has always been more of a finesse pitcher as opposed to a power pitcher, but as of late he can’t even locate pitches in the zone. In 2019 he thrived off clipping the outside corners and fooling pitchers with off-speed stuff down and in. Now, he can’t even throw a fastball without it spiraling into the dirt.

Suarez allowed four baserunners and two runs during his first outing, and then allowed five baserunners and three runs during his second outing. While he’s technically only pitched two full innings, Suarez’ ERA sits at a 22.50 and his WHIP is at an outstanding 4.500.

The lasting effects of COVID-19 are unknown at this point and time, and while I”m no doctor, from my perspective it doesn’t particularly look like it’s an easy recovery period for some individuals. Scott Kingery also came down hard with the virus right before Opening Day, and his struggles at the plate have been well documented this season as well.

I’m not “out” on Suarez by any stretch of the imagination, he’s still an above average pitcher who can have an impact on this Philadelphia Phillies bullpen moving forward. Having your entire offseason process interrupted by a virus is enough to make anyone pitch poorly.

However, when talking about this season and right now, he can’t be trusted. Adam Morgan is returning from the IL and JoJo Romero has been electric as of late, those two are Joe Girardi’s best two lefties in the bullpen at the moment. It’s not out of the question to shut Suarez down completely either, letting him properly heal and rest up for next season.