Ranger Suárez has bounce-back outing vs. Orioles; sore shoulder keeps Matt Strahm out
The left-handed starter averaged 90.2 mph on his sinker and 91.2 mph on his fastball.
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Ranger Suárez looked more like himself in the Phillies’ 12-2 win over the Orioles on Sunday afternoon. After an outing on March 4 in which his velocity dipped significantly, his numbers inched up a bit.
The left-handed pitcher averaged 90.2 mph on his sinker (after averaging 90.8 mph on that pitch last year) and 91.2 mph on his fastball (compared to 91.8 mph last year). The hardest pitch he threw clocked in at 92.4 mph.
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Suárez threw 38 pitches, of which 27 were strikes. He pitched three innings, allowing one earned run on one hit with two strikeouts. After the game, Suárez said he felt good.
“I located all of my pitches, I threw every pitch that I wanted,” Suárez said. “I threw more changeups today, because I was working on something with that. Overall, it felt really good.”
Added manager Rob Thomson: “I thought he was good. Second inning he gave up some hard contact, but third inning he put it all together. He was landing his breaking stuff, changeup looked good. Command of his fastball. Changed speeds behind in the count really well, so, pitched well.”
It was a good day overall for the Phillies. The bullpen allowed only one earned run (on a hard-hit RBI double off Joe Ross), the lineup combined for 12 runs (and just four strikeouts) and some of the younger players impressed.
Who stood out: Aroon Escobar, who is in minor league camp, hit a home run in the seventh. It traveled 382 feet and came off his bat at 108.2 mph. Aidan Miller, who was also brought up from minor league camp, got his first hit of big league spring training, a line double to center field.
Strahm has a sore shoulder: Left-handed reliever Matt Strahm has a “little bit of a sore shoulder,” according to Thomson. He hasn’t pitched in a game since Wednesday. Thomson said he went out for testing and the results showed “no concern.”
“Nothing wrong with him,” Thomson said. “We’re just going to back him off for a few days.”
Quotable: “That was pretty exciting,” Thomson said of the two minor leaguers. “Escobar… I hadn’t seen him before. He’s 20 years old. I guess he’s going to rookie ball. If he’s going to rookie ball we’re in pretty good shape.”
On the mound: José Alvarado looked particularly sharp. He threw a quick 12-pitch inning, with two strikeouts, and hit 100.4 mph. Nine of his 12 pitches were strikes.
On deck: The Phillies play the Twins in Fort Myers, Fla., at 1:05 p.m. Monday. The game can be streamed on MLB.com. Right-handed pitcher Seth Johnson will start for the Phillies and right-hander Pablo Lopez will start for the Twins.