1:30pm: Suárez tells Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer that he has a Grade 1 strain and hopes to return in around 15 days.
12:20pm: The Phillies announced today that left-hander Ranger Suárez has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to August 16, with a right hamstring strain. Right-hander Andrew Bellatti was recalled in a corresponding move.
Suárez, 27, hits the injured list for the second time this year. He dealt with some forearm tightness in March and began the year on the IL, with the club describing that injury as an elbow strain. Despite that ominous-sounding diagnosis, he was able to return in mid-May and has since made 17 starts. He has a 3.88 earned run average in 97 1/3 innings, along with a 21.3% strikeout rate, 8.4% walk rate and 51.2% ground ball rate.
It’s unclear how long Suárez will be out of action this time, but the Phillies will have to proceed without him for at least a couple of turns through the rotation. Thankfully, they have been running a six-man rotation since acquiring Michael Lorenzen at the deadline and should be able to get by without worrying about replacing Suárez.
Matt Gelb of The Athletic reported a week ago that Cristopher Sánchez was likely to just get one more start before bumped either to the bullpen or the minors. He’s having a solid season with a 3.39 ERA in 11 starts, but the Phils just have a lot of established starters in Suárez, Lorenzen, Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler and Taijuan Walker. But with Suárez set to sit things out for a while, Sánchez can stick around.
That’s fine for the time being but will leave the club a bit thin on depth until Suárez can return. Prospect Andrew Painter was supposed to be in the mix this year but required Tommy John surgery and won’t be back until late 2024 at the earliest. Bailey Falter was dealt to the Pirates for Rodolfo Castro, subtracting another depth starter. Griff McGarry is one of the club’s top pitching prospects but he was recently put on the development list at Triple-A after some struggles. His last start saw him face just seven batters, walking six and hitting another, all of them eventually coming around to score and leaving him with a shocking 50.62 ERA in two Triple-A outings this year. Nick Nelson is probably the next man up since he’s on the 40-man and has a 3.82 ERA in 14 Triple-A starts this year, but his major league work has resulted in a career ERA of 5.38.
The Phils are in good shape overall, currently sporting a record of 66-56 and in possession of the top Wild Card slot in the National League. Even without Suárez, they have a strong group of five starters that can hopefully keep them afloat for the six remaining weeks of the season. Another rotation injury would start to make things feel a bit shaky but hopefully Suárez can return before that becomes a reality.
Ranger is on the IL 🙁
Bellatti is coming back 😀
Hope you guys like more Dylan Covey
Covey has a 1.59 ERA over his last 17 innings back to June 20th. Hes literally been one of the better reliever arms lately. Granted — hes only used in mop up duty. Hes earned his stay for now
One bad start this year, and it’s all you can still obsess over?
…
Remember when MLB now had Ranger as a top 10 pitcher. I would have love to have been in that meeting. Coffee enemas and ayahuasca passed all around
get lost
In Rhys Hoskins lovely eyes??
Sounds like a Ranger to me
Well at least Nelson threw 6 decent innings the other day. My guess is that he’s brought up for a spot start, cause it looks like the whole starting staff is a bit off.
Wonder how the Phils compare to other teams (except the braves) when it comes to starters, because it seems like 1/2 of the near playoff teams are scuffling these days?
looks like the end is near for the Phillies. last year was a dream
I like your sarcasm Bump. either that or try watching a few Phils games or just look at their record since June 1—-its 42-26
That’s great and all but they play games starting the end of March. The Oakland A’s can go on a 42-26 streak but they aren’t even getting to the first round
Right, but the Phillies will definitely be in the 1st round.
Lol. They are significantly better than last year, and won again today, increasing their WC lead. They are the 3rd best team in the National League.
Have no fear though. The great Rhys Hoskins was running sprints in the outfield the other day.
Rhys Hoskins had a 6 homerun postseason and fans still hate him. Us Phillies fans are a bizarre bunch.
My favorite player