Off to a strong start, Ranger Suárez will face a tough task Friday night

Kid Cudi’s “Mr. Rager” will play, and Ranger Suárez will throw his warmup tosses as he prepares for a tough task. That’ll be part of the scene Friday night at Citizens Bank Park just before the Blue Jays and Phillies face off.

Suárez, slated to start Friday’s game for the Phillies, will face a Blue Jays lineup that’s been one of the hottest in baseball in recent weeks. It’ll be a good test for the left-hander, who’s off to a strong start to 2025.

Since making his season debut on May 4, Suárez leads Phillies pitchers with 1.3 wins above replacement, according to FanGraphs. The left-hander’s been one of the National League’s better starters, too, sporting a 2.70 ERA across 43 1/3 innings. He’s not walked many batters; his walk rate is 6.2%. He’s also keeping the ball in the yard, allowing 0.42 home runs per nine innings. He’s controlling what he can. Suárez’s FIP is 2.75.

His 2.70 ERA includes the worst outing of Suárez’s major-league career. He started his year by allowing a career-high seven earned runs against the Diamondbacks in 3 2/3 innings. Since then, in six starts, the 29-year-old southpaw has allowed just six earned runs.

Since making his second start of the year on May 10, Suárez ranks fourth in the NL and Major League Baseball in innings pitched (39 2/3). His 1.36 ERA ranks second in his league and third in the majors. He’s gone at least six innings in each of his last six starts. He’s completed seven innings thrice.

Suárez has gone a bit under the radar so far. There are more flashy starters in the Phillies’ rotation. Following a strong May, there have been major issues over the last couple of weeks for the club, pushing Suárez’s success out of the spotlight. But he’s put his team in a position to win in each of his previous six starts. His last two were wasted.

After winning four consecutive games started by Suárez, the Phillies have lost his last two. He was handed a no-decision on June 1 against the Brewers. He was undeservingly the losing pitcher last Saturday against the Pirates. Combined, Suárez pitched 13 innings in those two appearances, allowing four runs (three earned). Late-game defensive miscues and lack of offense hurt the Phillies against the Brewers. Limited offense and coming up short in a big spot in the top of the seventh hurt them against the Pirates. Both times, Suárez pitched well enough to earn a win.

In today’s game, Suárez is a throwback. He doesn’t throw hard; neither his sinker nor four-seam fastball average more than 92 mph. Swing-and-miss stuff is all the rage today. Suárez doesn’t have that. This season, he’s inducing a whiff 21.4 percent of the time. Per Statcast, that falls in the 21st percentile among major-league pitchers, meaning he’s well below the league average in getting hitters to swing and not make contact.

But what Suárez is doing better than nearly every other pitcher is what matters more than throwing hard or having top-shelf swing-and-miss stuff. The lefty doesn’t let hitters make quality contact:

Statistic	Total	Percentile Ranking
Groundball Rate	54.3%	90th
Average Exit Velocity	85.7 mph	96th
Hard-Git Rate	27.6%	98th
Barrel Rate	1.6%	99th
xwOBA	.263	92nd

Hitters are not making consistent hard contact when facing Suárez. And even when they do, they’re not hitting the ball at ideal angles. Instead, they’re putting the ball on the ground — the opposite of what most hitters aim to do.

Facing the Blue Jays won’t be simple for Suárez. Not only are they one of the hottest offenses in baseball right now, but as a lineup, they’re one of the best against left-handed pitching. On the year, Toronto ranks second in the majors in batting average against left-handed pitching (.273); they’re fifth in OPS versus lefties (.776). On Wednesday, they plated five runs on eight hits against Cardinals left-hander Matthew Liberatore.

Toronto manager John Schneider will likely load his lineup with right-handed hitters on Friday. It’ll be a familiar look for Suárez. Of the 177 plate appearances against him this year, 151 have been taken by right-handed hitters. So far, righties are hitting .237/.293/.345 against Suárez.

What makes the Blue Jays so good against southpaws is that they hit well against fastballs and non-fastballs from those pitchers. Against left-handed fastballs, Toronto is fourth in batting average (.297) and eighth in slugging percentage (.443). Against left-handed non-fastballs, they’re sixth in average (.240) and fifth in slugging percentage (.392).

Coming off a series win against the Cubs, who are one of baseball’s best teams, the Phillies will see another tough opponent this weekend in the Blue Jays, a club that took two of three from them just last week. The series will kick off with a challenge for the Phillies’ starting pitcher. But with the way Suárez has been pitching this season, it may be just as difficult a task for the Blue Jays and their lineup.