Philadelphia Phillies Lock In Their No. 3 Starting Pitcher Against Braves

The Philadelphia Phillies have chosen their No. 3 starter for the opening series.

With Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler both locked up for the foreseeable future, the Philadelphia Phillies already have their top two rotation spots spoken for. 

The All-Star duo will start the Phillies' first two games of the year against the Atlanta Braves when the season kicks off next week, and there was never any doubt about that.

There was more uncertainty around who the team's No. 3 starter would be, however, and who would start the series finale against the Braves.

It looks like that question has now been answered as well after Tuesday's Spring Training game against the Detroit Tigers.

Phillies were quite happy to see Ranger Suárez reach five innings for the first time in a Grapefruit League game in his career. He is ready. He'll start the third game of the season against Atlanta. It'll be Wheeler, Nola, Suárez.

— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) March 20, 2024

Ranger Suarez officially clinched the third spot in the rotation with his stellar outing on Tuesday, firing five innings of one-hit ball against the Tigers. He allowed just one baserunner on a single and struck out four, needing just 58 pitches to get through five innings.

That continued his dominant Spring Training.

The 28-year-old lefty has been lights-out this spring, racking up 16 strikeouts over 15 scoreless innings with a 0.60 WHIP.

It's hard to do much better than that.

Suarez took a small step back last year, going 4-6 with a 4.18 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP in 22 starts, but he already looks to be in midseason form and could be poised for his best year yet.

Cristopher Sanchez had a shot at the No. 3 spot as well, but Suarez quickly shut down any competition.

He earned the job fair and square, but hopefully he saves some of those scoreless frames for the regular season.