PHILADELPHIA -- Ranger Suárez will learn on Sunday if he has made his second consecutive NL All-Star team.
He is a worthy choice, even though he missed the first five-plus weeks of the season because of a back injury. Suárez has an MLB-best 1.23 ERA in 11 starts since May 10, including Saturday’s 5-1 victory over the Reds at Citizens Bank Park.
He allowed one run in five innings against Cincinnati to improve to 8-2 with a 1.99 ERA.
“You can see why his numbers are what they are,” Reds manager Terry Francona said.
But Suárez raised red flags on Saturday, when he left the game after throwing a season-low 80 pitches with his velocity down for a second consecutive start.
“It was [by] design,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said about the early hook.
Thomson explained that Suárez made six starts in June, and that he pitched seven-plus innings in his last five.
He threw at least 94 pitches in each of his last nine starts.
“We went into today just trying to pull back a little bit,” Thomson said.
Suárez’s health has been a focus since last season, when he pitched like a NL Cy Young candidate in the first half, making his first NL All-Star team, but broke down with injuries in the second half and struggled.
Suárez’s stuff in his last start on June 29 in Atlanta re-raised those concerns. His sinker averaged 88.6 mph, down 1.9 mph from his season average. His four-seam fastball averaged 89 mph, down 3 mph from his season average.
Suárez is not a high-velocity guy, but those are notable drops.
“My body wasn’t feeling 100 percent,” Suárez said through the team’s interpreter. “So, the pitch limit [Saturday] was because of that, just to see how we progress and how we go forward. … It was my shoulder and my back overall [in Atlanta], I felt it a little bit. But that’s why they told me they were going to have a pitch limit today, but today I felt good overall. I felt way better.”
Suárez’s velocity bounced back a bit against Cincinnati. The sinker averaged 89.7 (down 0.8 mph from his season average) and the four-seamer averaged 91.1 mph (down 0.9 mph).
“I don’t really concern myself with that because he pitches,” Thomson said. “We’ll see how he comes out of this. We’ll see how he feels. If we have to do it again, we’ll do it again.”
Suárez will get an extra day of rest before his next start on Saturday in San Diego. It will be his final start before the All-Star break.
“I think I’ve felt pretty good overall throughout the season,” Suárez said. “Obviously, I didn’t feel as good during my last start in Atlanta, but I think that’s just one thing that held me back. I think we’re going to be able to go forward. Obviously, last year at this same point I had more innings pitched, so I think it’s more about being careful than trying to rush it to the end of the season.”
Suárez has thrown 77 innings this season. At this point last year, he had thrown 103.
It certainly affected him down the stretch. He had a 6.54 ERA in his final 11 starts.
The Phillies are trying not to repeat history because when Suárez is healthy he is one of the best pitchers in baseball. And with an inconsistent offense and bullpen, the Phils need their starting pitching to be on point to win in October.
Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sánchez and Suárez have been on point all season. Each could be All-Stars.
“When the season starts, one of the goals you have is to go to the All-Star Game,” Suárez said. “On that end, I’m a little hopeful. If that happens, I’ll be excited about it. But the main thing is just to focus on just finishing the season as healthy as possible.”