Philadelphia Phillies: Pros and cons of Ranger Suarez being named closer

An ongoing conversation over the past few years, the Philadelphia Phillies have really struggled to find a closer who they can routinely trust in the biggest of spots. Hector Neris has been the longstanding guy at the position simply due to his veteran status with the organization, but his tenure at closer has not been without quite a number of hiccups.

Upon being named the full-time closer in 2017, Neris’ production has fluctuated at a somewhat impressive rate. He’s finished 2018 with an ERA north of 5.00, but then also concluded 2019 with an ERA of 2.93, to go along with a career-high 28 saves.

Neris has never quite recaptured that 2019 form, and his tenure under current manager Joe Girardi has specifically been a bad one. He was relieved of closer duties in 2020 for the likes of Brandon Workman (an experiment that did not go particularly well), and was recently moved of the role here in 2021 following his sixth blown save of the season. The Phillies first tried Jose Alvarado out as Neris’ replacement, before moving to Ranger Suarez following a handful of shaky outings from the before mentioned Alvarado.

Considering just how many saves the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen have already blown this year (they’re on track to set a new franchise record), moving Suarez to the closer spot feels like a pretty cut-and-dry decision. Suarez has undoubtedly been the team’s best reliever in 2021, boasting a 0.85 ERA through 19 appearances.

However, such a move doesn’t come without a few “cons” attached to it.

There’s both pros and cons to Ranger Suarez being named the Philadelphia Phillies new closer.

Right off the bat, transitioning Suarez into a permanent closer role withdraws Girardi’s ability to rely on him as a length option out of the bullpen. The Phillies have repeatedly called upon Suarez to take down 2-3 innings at a time (following an early exit from a starter), a job that Suarez was doing quite well this season. Bailey Falter looked like a potential long-man replacement following a few sharp innings to kick off his major league career, but his recent disaster of an outing against the Cubs could be a predecessor for worse things to come.

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There was even some brief talk of Suarez being moved into the starting rotation due to his previous background as a starter in the minor leagues. Instead, it looks like Matt Moore and his 5.60 ERA will continue to hold down the #5 starter job.

Suarez becoming the team’s closer also reflects somewhat poorly on some of the new additions that Dave Dombrowski made to the ‘pen this past offseason. Jose Alvarado and Sam Coonrod have been serviceable this year – but nothing too great, Brandon Kintzler is on the brink of being DFA’d, and Archie Bradley has not been as good in high-leverage spots as advertised.

On the flip side of the discussion, Suarez – a homegrown talent – blossoming into a longterm high-leverage arm for the Philadelphia Phillies would be a pretty big win for the organization as a whole. Suarez has had a hectic past two years due to COVID-19 – many were unsure if he would even be able to pitch this season. The young lefty finally stabilizing the 9th inning role for the Phils moving forward would be quite the feel-good story.