Padres' Robert Suarez Scaring Opponents Whenever He Enters Games

Can he keep this up for the rest of the season?

The San Diego Padres sit with a record of 22-22 on the season, currently 5.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West. While the start isn't exactly the way the Padres would have liked, they have been hanging around, ready to pounce, able to close the gap in the standings with a run of modest success.

After acquiring infielder Luis Arraez from the Miami Marlins, San Diego feels much more like a contender in the NL. However, the bullpen has been a bit of a problem for the Padres — other than right-hander Robert Suarez.

Suarez has been a saving grace for the Friars this season, posting an ERA of 0.49 over 17 appearances. Overall the Padres' bullpen has a 3.91 ERA through Monday, 15th in MLB. By Win Probability Added, which measures (positively or negatively) how much closer a bullpen moves its team to victory, the Padres rank 28th. Suarez has been worth 1.83 WPA; the rest of the team has been worth -2.43 WPA combined.

It seems that Suarez has gone back to his dominant 2022 production (2.27 ERA) after a rocky 2023 season (4.23 ERA). He has posted 12 saves for the Padres, and opponents just can't seem to hit him so far. Batters are hitting .250 against his changeup and .093 against his four-seam fastball.

Suarez has been so impactful, he even has some opponents dreading everything when he enters the game. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts spoke about what makes Suarez so difficult to hit whenever he steps onto the mound.

“It’s got the ride, the characteristics, and he’s pitching at the top of the zone,” Roberts said. “You know what’s coming, but a lot of the swings, (batters) just can’t catch up to it. I don’t like when he comes into the game.”

The right-hander has worked with Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla on using analytics more this season, and it has translated to overall success. His execution has been on point, showing that all the work being put in has yielded results.

“I’ve been helped a lot by (Padres pitching coach) Ruben Niebla in using all sorts of analytics towards my pitches, primarily the spin rate,” Suarez said recently through team interpreter Pedro Gutiérrez. “That’s allowed me to execute a little bit more.”

While it remains to be seen if Suarez can keep up this level of production, the Padres likely will need him to keep going strong if they want to remain competitive. San Diego is looking to get back to the postseason after missing out last year. Suarez is a massive part of that dream.