Phillies starter Ranger Suárez has been slowed the past couple weeks after experiencing some forearm tightness early in the spring. The Phils haven’t broadcast any long-term concern but the issue seems to be trending towards a season-opening injured list stint.
Manager Rob Thomson told reporters today the southpaw continues to be bothered by inflammation in his throwing elbow (link via Matt Gelb of the Athletic). An MRI fortunately didn’t turn up any structural damage and Gelb reports that Suárez could begin throwing as soon as Friday. Still, it’s another minor setback that puts his availability for Opening Day in jeopardy, Thomson acknowledged.
If Suárez has to open the year on the shelf, the Phils will be down two possible members of their Opening Day rotation. Top prospect Andrew Painter was vying for a job this spring before a UCL sprain necessitated at least a month of downtime. Suárez’s issue doesn’t appear as concerning but leaves some questions behind the top three of Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler and Taijuan Walker.
Lefty Bailey Falter, who came into camp competing with Painter for the fifth starter job, now seems assured of an Opening Day rotation spot. Lefty Cristopher Sánchez, who might have been next on the depth chart, has some triceps soreness. Righty Nick Nelson was also in the rotation mix early in camp but has been bothered by a hamstring concern. That’d leave Michael Plassmeyer as the most straightforward option to step into the #5 role.
However, Gelb suggests the Phils are likelier to turn to Matt Strahm as a starter if needed early on. The southpaw worked solely in relief last year with the Red Sox, tossing 44 2/3 innings over 50 outings. Strahm had some early-career experience out of a rotation, though, and his five-pitch mix created some speculation he could sign as a starter in free agency this winter.
That didn’t transpire. The Phillies added Strahm with the intent to keep him in the bullpen and while that seems to remain the long-term plan, they’ve stretched him out as a multi-inning arm in camp. That’ll still be the case even if he’s kicked back into relief midseason. “Once Ranger gets back, whenever that is, Strahm goes back into the bullpen,” Thomson said (via Gelb). “And he’s still lengthened out. So that would be good.”
Kicking Strahm to the rotation would subtract one lock from the Opening Day bullpen. The Phillies would still have the hard-throwing duo of José Alvarado and Gregory Soto as left-handed options late in games. Moving Strahm to the starting staff could clear an Opening Day middle relief job for someone like Yunior Marté or Erich Uelmen.
This is the most important guy in the Phillies rotation IMO. If he misses significant time, Phillies are in trouble. Hoping for a speedy recovery and avoidance of surgery. He has the potential to be a very solid #3 behind Wheeler and Nola.
This is the most important guy in the Phillies rotation
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A key guy for sure. IMO, a guy like Falter is fine, maybe even good as the #5. If he gets pushed to #4 and someone else gets promoted to #5, it get dicier. Of course, even if this stretches out to a month, there is probably no permanent harm.
Completely agree. I was pretty satisfied with the Phillies depth coming into the year, but now it’s already being tested.
LOL Phillies fans.
Yeah, no Strahm as a SP. Too many injury issues. Let Plassmeyer start and use Strahm as a 2 IP guy
That’s my hope as well.
Hope it’s not serious but I feel like the majority of the time this ends in TJS
As soon as you see “elbow”….uh oh.
Suarez isn’t a hard thrower. Most of the pitchers that tear the ucl, are. As of now there is no damage shown on the mri. That is encouraging news.
Not the news any fan looking forward to a clash of the titans NL east wanted to hear. But again – these situations tend to even out among competitors over a long season
Looking back at the Alvarado trade they absolutely stole him from the rays
This just in… Everyone is suffering from something and will start season on the injured list.
Ranger, don’t be a stranger.
Phillies signed Walker as a #4 and got bad reviews, Phillies signed Straham for 2/15 and got laughed at…..
No need for a reply, this was/is on the internet.
Maybe DD had some knowledge about his organization……
So many haters out there…..
All I want is good baseball….
Both really good signings, I don’t get the gate tbh. Walker will slot in nicely at 3 if ranger misses any time
I liked both signings, but I think they overpaid in both cases. Perhaps you have to pay a premium to lure pitchers to Philly.
His stuff looked nasty in the playoffs. It would have been great to see what he could do in a full season.
Sigh.
Carl von Clausewitz’s observations on war in the early 1800’s are still being taught today. One of his most famous observations was that you don’t prepare for what the enemy will do, you prepare for what the enemy can do. Successful business people tend to look at things that way. Which brings me back once again to Dave Domrowski……
He knows that one enemy in current baseball is injuries. An ongoing epidemic. But he or anyone on his staff can’t what injuries will occur to which players. So he had to have his staff prepare for what was possible.
It wasn’t many months ago when the Phillies signed Matt Strahm to a 2 year / $15m contract. A relief pitcher that averaged less than an inning an appearance in 2022 according to the article above. They were critized for overpaying a 7th-8th inning set-up LH specialist.
As in DD’s first 2 years it appears yet again that his projected starting staff has some injuries and other pitchers will need to eat those innings. Mr. Strahm’s projected role is changing and now his contract looks reasonable.
Branch Rickey often said: “Luck is the residue of design”.
Since becoming the Phillies POBO, Dave Dombrowski has had a remarkable string of good luck.
D D. is a brilliant baseball executive. His track record speaks for itself. Hopefully Suarez will come around, and join the rotation, sometime soon.
The assmaster should be the top option for the rotation spot. Strahm as the long man or piggybacker in the pen is best for him
We need another starter asap. The depth is just not there. The Phillies bullpen us stacked, but a lot weaker if they have to start doing a bullpen game every 5 or 6 days. Not to mention the extra stress a shallow rotation will put on the guys who are healthy.
I don’t currently have the Phillies in the playoffs.
Who makes it over them? The Brewers? The Cubs? I see the Phils being better than both those clubs. I’m not being sarcastic. I’m just curious to hear your opinion. I have a hard time seeing the playoff picture in the NL being different from last year. Division winners and Wild Cards will shift, but I think it’ll be the same teams.
@von i agree outside of a team collapse or everyone getting seriously hurt i don’t see how phil doesn’t make into oct somehow. while i have alt winning the nle it’s only by a razors edge and i’m only giving them that edge because until there knocked off i give div winners in all tb’s. lets say the phil’s end up fighting for a wc the not teams i see with a realistic shot are arz, sf, and maybe mil but that is dependent if yelich’s back issues are behind him and he can regain some of his mvp form. imho i see the nl playoff picture the same as last year and the same gauntlet, lad, sd, nym, alt, phil, and stl all are ws caliber teams now some teams have a stronger case than others but if any of them 6 teams won the ws i’m not gonna sit here and go wow wasn’t expecting “team x” to win
SARCASM ALERT: I bet those 20-30 early extra innings from Strahm as a starter won’t come back to bite them in the butt in August/September/OCTOBER!?
Just go with Plassmeyer as your fifth SP to start the season.
Wheeler is a ticking time bomb. At least they can plug Taijuan into the #2 hole LOL