Padres News: Embattled Pitcher Gets Untracked By Being Unpredictable

Maren Angus-Coombs | 3 Hours Ago

Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

Robert Suarez has been working through some difficult times recently.

The San Diego Padres closer pitched a scoreless ninth inning on Sunday, marking his first outing since surrendering a two-run homer on Friday. That was the third time in six games he had given up a game-tying or go-ahead home run in the ninth.

Suarez's altered pitch mix was notable, and the effectiveness of those pitches made all the difference. His unpredictability could be key moving forward.

While he still leaned on his four-seam fastball more than any other pitch, his 13 total pitches included three sinkers, three changeups, and a cutter. Before this outing, Suarez had only thrown three cutters all season.

Additionally, his changeup usage had been under 10 percent over his last five games, and he had been relying on his four-seam fastball between 63 and 95 percent of the time across his previous 12 appearances.

Suarez recorded the first out of the ninth inning with just one pitch, a sinker.

He began the next at-bat with a changeup and wrapped up the strikeout using a four-seam fastball.

After giving up a single on his cutter, he closed out the game with a strikeout, throwing two consecutive changeups.

“I think he’s got to be able to mix in … something else occasionally to righties,” manager Mike Shildt said. “He’s got the changeup. The ability to throw another pitch is going to be important for him. The fastball velocity is a plus. He made a lot of good pitches. He’s one strike twice from being able to bring it home but wasn’t able to. But, you know, my concern with Robert is not very high.”

The need to diversify pitch selection and the necessity to consistently hit his spots are both important, and they go hand in hand.

Throughout the year, Suarez has relied heavily on his four-seam fastball, throwing it nearly three-quarters of the time. When well-placed, his 101-mph fastball with that late movement has proven effective, and it certainly worked for him for much of the season.

“I think that there is a mix that needs to be there,” pitching coach Ruben Niebla said. “If you go back and (see) what’s happened here in the last few weeks, it’s like more changeups are showing up, more two-seamers (sinkers) are showing up. So that’s going to be part of the mix.”

The other factor that could be affecting Suarez is his workload.

Suarez ranks sixth in innings pitched among primary closers this season, having logged 62 innings — more than double his total from last year (27.2). This is also his highest total since he pitched 62.1 innings in Japan in 2021, where he logged 80.2 innings in 2019.

“I feel good,” Suarez said. “I’ve been able to maintain my velocity. On the mound, I feel good. At the end of the day, he hit the pitch out, but we won the game. So that’s all that matters.”