Phillies' Ranger Suárez Looks to Bounce Back From Shaky NLDS Start

The Philadelphia Phillies are set to send Ranger Suárez to the mound in NLCS Game 3 against the San Diego Padres.

Lauren Amour | Oct 21, 2022

Phillies' Ranger Suárez Looks to Bounce Back From Shaky NLDS Start /

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Ranger Suárez's first postseason start did not go exactly as planned. The left-hander threw 86 pitches in just 3.1 innings of work, but quite frankly, it could have been much worse.

After all, the 27-year-old was presented with a daunting task: start Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the reigning World Champions on the road.

After the Philadelphia Phillies gave Suárez an early lead, he loaded the bases the following inning. He was able to escape the jam, inducing a double-play to end the Atlanta Braves' scoring threat.

That would pretty much be the summary of Suárez's first playoff outing. While he allowed just one run on three hits, it was supplying free bases that killed him, having walked five batters in the game.

Now, Suárez will be handed the ball in Game 3 of the NLCS, with the series tied at one game apiece. Luckily for the Phillies, the 27-year-old seems to thrive under pressure, hence his keen ability to finagle his way out of bases-loaded jams in NLDS Game 1.

Fresh off of 10 days rest, Suárez is up to the challenge of facing a red-hot San Diego Padres team that scored seven unanswered runs in NLCS Game 2.

"I feel good. I feel pretty strong. I feel fresh," Suárez said on Thursday. "Like I said before, all I want to do is be better than my last time out and really help this team win."

Ranger Suarez throws a pitch against the San Diego Padres earlier this year. — Ranger Suarez throws a pitch against the San Diego Padres earlier this year / © Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

The Venezuelan recognizes that his last start wasn't his strongest, but he did allow minimal damage despite that. However, the time off helped him to hone in on what went wrong for him, and what he can do better this time out.

"I think it's been, like, pitch location has been a problem for me, especially that last start," Suárez continued. "Lack of control of the strike zone. But I think that the rest that I've had these last few days is going to help me."

Suárez faced San Diego once in the 2022 regular season—on June 23—and he held them to just two runs across seven innings. Although, that Padres team looked a bit different than the one he will be facing on Friday. The team had yet to acquire Juan Soto and Josh Bell from the Washington Nationals, and Manny Machado was on the injured list.

"They weren't the same team as they are now," acknowledged Suárez. "They didn't have Soto. They didn't have Machado. Bell wasn't there either. So, my plan is to attack them, just attack the strike zone. I don't want to go deep in counts. I think that's really going to help my game."

As if his outing couldn't get any more crucial, Suárez also won't have the comfort of knowing that Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola were to follow his start as he did in NLDS Game 1. This time, a bullpen game is the plan for Game 4 on Saturday, meaning it's all the more pivotal that he pitches as deep into the game as he can.

"I want to go as deep as possible in the game because I think the more I pitch, the more I'm going to save the bullpen for the next day."

One thing in Ranger's favor is that the home crowd will be behind him. The team cited the Philadelphia faithful at Citizens Bank Park as a large reason why they were able to win the NLDS on their home turf last weekend.

"A game like this is pretty exciting," said Suárez.

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Published Oct 21, 2022

LAUREN AMOUR

Lauren Amour is Deputy Editor for FanNation's 'Inside the Phillies,' part of Sports Illustrated. Lauren formerly covered the Phillies for SB Nation's The Good Phight. Lauren is a graduate of Rider University in New Jersey.