Opening Day is almost here, and the Philadelphia Phillies will open the 2025 MLB season on Thursday by beginning a three-game series with the Washington Nationals. Unfortunately, a handful of injuries will prevent certain Phillies fan favorites from participating in the season-opening action — including a veteran pitcher who's now expected to begin the year on the injured list.
Phillies Place Ranger Suarez on IL to Begin 2025, Expected to Miss At Least 3 Weeks
On Monday morning, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski announced that starting pitcher Ranger Suarez will begin the 2025 season on the IL with a back injury. The expectation is that the veteran hurler should return to the lineup "sometime in April."
"You’re talking three weeks or something at least," Dombrowski revealed, according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.
Ranger Suárez will open the season on the IL.
— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) March 24, 2025
Dave Dombrowski said if things continue to progress that Suárez “would pitch sometime in April.” But he needs to be built up again. “You’re talking three weeks or something at least.”
Taijuan Walker will be No. 5 starter.
With Suarez heading to the IL, the Phillies have also confirmed that Taijuan Walker will be taking the former's spot as the No. 5 starter in the pitching rotation.
Suarez has been hampered by back tightness throughout the last three or so weeks. The 29-year-old southpaw told MLB reporters that he was feeling "better now" and seemed optimistic about his Opening Day odds, however, it's clear that the Phillies' medical staff felt different about the situation.
Even though Suarez knows his body better than anyone else, sometimes a team has to prevent a player from being his own worst enemy. The Phillies will be in a better place if they take some extra time to ensure that the 6-foot-1 lefty is completely healthy rather than risk reaggravating his back.
Hopefully, Suarez picks up from where he left off whenever he returns to the mound. The Venezuelan LHP is coming off his first-ever All-Star campaign that saw him rack up a career-best 12 wins while tallying a 3.46 ERA and 1.201 WHIP while accumulating 145 strikeouts across 150 2/3 innings in 27 starts.
He did a solid job at capitalizing on that momentum this spring, recording a 1.80 ERA with four strikeouts in five innings between his two appearances.
Maintaining a similar performance throughout the 2025 campaign is crucial if Suarez wants to remain in Philadelphia. It was only earlier this month when he confessed that he can't imagine playing anywhere else as he's slated to hit free agency next offseason.
"I don’t want to think about leaving (Philadelphia) ever," Suarez said. "I want to keep believing that I’m going to stay here and that I’m going to stay here for a long time. Because that’s all that I want."
The Phillies need Suarez (and the rest of the pitching staff) to be completely healthy if they want to capture back-to-back division titles for the first time in over a decade. For now, Rob Thompson's club will head into the new season with the second-best NL East odds (+195) on FanDuel Sportsbook, only trailing the rival Atlanta Braves (+125).
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