'I'll just get stronger': Suárez's velocity building up as spring continues

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Ranger Suárez has a well-earned reputation for being unflappable.

Good or bad, he's rarely shown emotion in his nearly 13 years in the Phillies organization.

So, of course the veteran lefty wasn't worried about his diminished velocity in his spring debut last Tuesday -- but that doesn't mean others weren't watching his outing on Sunday afternoon against the Orioles a bit closer.

Turns out, there was indeed no reason to worry.

Suárez's velocity was far more in line with last season's numbers over three innings of one-run ball in a 12-2 win at BayCare Ballpark. His four-seam fastball, which peaked at 90.8 mph in his debut, reached 92.4 mph on Sunday. His sinker topped out at 91.9 mph, up from a max of 89.3 mph against the Yankees.

"As I said before, last start was my first one, so as you move on from that and keep working, you gain more strength in your arm," Suárez said via team interpreter Diego D'Aniello. "I'll just get stronger, so I wasn't worried about that."

It will certainly come as a relief to many to see Suárez's velocity normalize a bit. But as he succinctly pointed out after his last start: "Just remember, I never threw fast."

Suárez was an NL Cy Young Award frontrunner for the first three months of last season and he's been one of the most consistent pitchers in the big leagues for the past four years.

High velocity certainly wasn't the main contributor to any of that -- but many of the reasons for that success were on full display Sunday.

Suárez pounded the strike zone, throwing 27 of his 38 pitches for strikes (including seven called strikes). He limited hard contact, with the lone hit he allowed coming on a ball with a 92.3 mph exit velocity (95 mph is considered hard-hit, per Statcast). He did not walk any batters and he struck out two.

"It went well," Suárez said. "I located every pitch that I wanted, I threw every pitch that I wanted and located it in the strike zone wherever I wanted, too. Overall, I felt really good today."

Even the lone run allowed by Suárez likely could have been prevented. Emmanuel Rivera hit a leadoff double in the second, then advanced to third on a routine fly ball to the warning track in left-center that Kyle Schwarber -- making his second appearance of the spring in left field -- caught flat-footed. That allowed Rivera to score one batter later on a sacrifice fly.

Schwarber logged just five starts and 41 total innings in the outfield last season. He certainly won't be a regular in the field this year, but Thomson does hope to use Schwarber when he wants to get another one of his regulars a DH day -- whether that’s in left or at first base.

“He looked fine; moved around fine. Just get him out there, get him on his feet,” Thomson said. “I’m planning on, possibly, when we [play] New York on Friday, he might go back to first base.”

It stands to reason that Schwarber’s spot starts in the outfield would ideally come behind either Suárez or Cristopher Sánchez, given their propensity to keep the ball in the infield. Suárez ranked seventh last season in ground-ball rate (53.2%), while Sánchez ranked fourth (58.3%).

But neither Schwarber the left fielder nor the Phillies need Suárez to be the otherworldly pitcher he was to start last season, when he posted a 1.75 ERA over his first 15 starts. Anything close to the guy who put up a 3.27 ERA over the past four seasons -- even with last year's 5.65 second-half mark -- would be more than enough for a rotation that also features Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo.

And shockingly, Suárez has little concern that he’ll be back to his usual self in 2025.

“I never lost confidence in myself,” Suárez said. “As in every sport, baseball has its highs and lows, so I think it was just a part of that. It’s just about working and going at it this year.”