Phillies preparing to face an ‘absolute animal’ in former teammate and friend Ranger Suárez
Suárez will face his former teammates for the first time this season since signing a five-year, $140 million deal with Boston in January. He'll get his turn facing Jesús Luzardo on Thursday night.
BOSTON — Bryce Harper and Ranger Suárez have experienced a lot together in seven years as Phillies teammates.
And they punctuated most of it with an inside joke.
“We had a handshake that we’d do, ... [where] we’d point at each other and say, ‘Don’t worry, be happy,’” Harper recalled Wednesday. “We’d do it every day, and I loved it because it’s so Ranger. Like whatever happens is going to happen.”
Imagine, then, the feeling that will wash over both of them here Thursday night when, weather-permitting (rain is in the forecast), Suárez is lined up to start for the Red Sox against his former team.
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Suárez, who deferred an interview request for after he pitches, signed a five-year, $140 million contract with the Sox in January. The Phillies replaced him internally with rookie Andrew Painter and on the payroll with a five-year, $135 million extension for younger, more durable lefty Jesús Luzardo.
(Proof of the existence of a baseball god: Suárez will be opposed Thursday night by Luzardo. Suárez is 2-2 with a 2.77 ERA; Luzardo is 3-3 with a 5.77 mark.)
But Suárez’s absence from the clubhouse doesn’t mean he isn’t still popular with his former teammates. He caught up before games this week with Zack Wheeler and others, most of whom remember Suárez for his icy-cool demeanor on the mound.
“No moment’s too big for him,” Aaron Nola said. “He’s probably one of the most, if not the most calm guy on the mound I’ve ever seen. Nothing fazes him. If you don’t know him, you’d be like, ‘Oh, this guy doesn’t even want to go out there and pitch or do anything.’ But that’s just kind of his personality.”
There was another side to Suárez, too. It was seldom seen in public, save perhaps for when he let loose in the Phillies’ sudsy series-clinching celebrations in the clubhouse.
But behind the scenes, teammates said Suárez can be uproariously funny. Many of them still recall a rare night off in St. Louis in 2022, when he won a players-only karaoke contest with a rendition of “Suavemente” by Elvis Crespo.
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“He was an absolute animal on the pitcher’s mound,” Harper said. “Like he went out there and did his job every fifth day, and those other four days, he had an absolute blast.”
Even if his teammates didn’t always know why. Suárez often walked through the clubhouse with a smirk, as if he was in on a joke that others weren’t.
“That’s the kind of notion I think a lot of guys get, like there’s always something else that he’s thinking about or something planned that he has,” Harper said. “And that’s how he pitches, man. He knows exactly what works for him. Didn’t matter who the hitter was. He did his job, man.”
Suárez’s job entailed a little of everything. He was an essential reliever earlier in his career, even closing out games midway through the 2021 season, before becoming a rotation mainstay.
In 194 appearances overall, including 126 starts, he is 55-39 with a 3.35 ERA. He was at his best for the Phillies in the postseason, with a 1.48 ERA in 11 games (eight starts).
Oh, and not that anyone will ever forget, he closed out the Phillies’ pennant-clinching Game 5 against the Padres in 2022 after Harper’s famed “Bedlam at The Bank” homer.
“If there’s one guy on my team that I want on the mound in that moment, it’s him,” Harper said. “Obviously Wheels is our guy and always has been. But just in that moment, if there’s one guy I want to take the ball, it’s Ranger. It was a pleasure playing with him.
“Obviously I miss him, just like having him around and his demeanor. Boston’s very lucky to have a guy like that.”
Turner sick
Trea Turner woke up feeling ill, according to interim manager Don Mattingly, and wasn’t in the lineup. The Phillies were assessing whether he would be available off the bench.
In Turner’s place, Edmundo Sosa started at shortstop. Kyle Schwarber moved into the leadoff spot.
Schwarber tied a franchise record Tuesday night by homering in his fifth consecutive game. It’s a mark shared by Dick Allen (1969), Mike Schmidt (1979), Bobby Abreu (2005), Chase Utley (2008, twice), Rhys Hoskins (2017), Odúbel Herrera (2018), and Turner (2023).
“I didn’t really know that was a thing,” Schwarber said. “I mean, it’s pretty cool. Right? Our franchise history is pretty historic, and when you have some big boppers come through our organization, it’s really cool to see that.”
Extra bases
Mattingly said top prospect Aidan Miller (back) “sounds like he’s trending in the right direction,” although he has not yet resumed baseball activities. ... Lefty reliever Kyle Backhus (elbow) initiated a throwing program. ... Nola, Cristopher Sánchez, and Wheeler are scheduled to start over the weekend in Pittsburgh. Wheeler is lined up to face Pirates ace Paul Skenes on Sunday.
Despite playing only two seasons for the Phillies, Aaron Rowand left his mark. Literally. Twenty years ago Monday, Rowand smashed into the center-field fence and broke bones in his face to make a catch. And if that didn’t instantly boost his popularity with the fan base, his answer four days later to a question about why he would sacrifice his body certainly did. Rowand joins Phillies Extra to reminisce about “The Catch,” his role in helping to change the culture around the Phillies, and a lot more. Watch here.
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