Postseason riser Ranger Suárez is set to become a free agent after latest October effort with Phillies

LOS ANGELES — As the tiny visitors’ clubhouse began to clear out and Phillies players started to leave Dodger Stadium last Thursday night, Ranger Suárez and team interpreter Diego D’Aniello were ushered into a nearby hallway to speak to the handful of reporters that remained following the devastating end to the National League Division Series for Philadelphia.

Suárez, a hero in Game 3 and one of the best postseason performers in major-league history, has been with the Phillies organization since signing as a 16-year-old in 2012. But the left-hander is destined for free agency for the first time this winter after the season finished much earlier than Suárez and his teammates expected.

A ballpark employee briefly turned out the corridor lights as Suárez reflected during what might have been his final interview as a Phillie.

“Obviously, we didn’t want this to happen today,” Suárez said in Spanish after Philadelphia’s 2-1, 11-inning loss in Game 4. “I mean, it’s baseball. Things happen like that. I don’t want it to be the last year with the team, but it’s not up to me right now. It’s more about the team itself and my agent right now.”

Suárez and agent Scott Boras chatted for a while on Thursday afternoon by the first-base dugout in Los Angeles. The night prior, the 30-year-old pitcher threw five crucial innings in relief to help keep the Phillies alive in the NLDS. He lowered his playoff ERA to 1.48 in 42 2/3 innings, the seventh-best mark of any pitcher to throw at least that many innings in the postseason. That type of October production should be attractive to teams in need of rotation help this offseason.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson made a surprising move to start veteran Aaron Nola in Game 3 and use Suárez out of the bullpen. The plan was executed to perfection as Nola tossed two scoreless and Suárez took the ball through the seventh while allowing just one run in an 8-2 Phillies win.

It was impressive stuff from Suárez, who exited his last start of the regular season early after taking a comebacker off the thigh. He didn’t pitch in the team’s intrasquad scrimmage before the NLDS, then did not enter Game 1 or Game 2 of the series despite being available to pitch out of the bullpen. Suárez navigated his uncertain schedule and delivered with yet another gem.

“I think everybody knows Ranger,” Thomson said before Game 3. “There’s not too much that bothers him. I have full confidence he’s ready to go.”

With a 3.20 ERA in 26 starts, Suárez will hit free agency coming off a strong year. He did get a late start to the season due to a back issue, and durability will be a bit of a concern about the starter. But the soft-tossing, slick-fielding lefty can stifle hitters with pinpoint control when he’s on, and he’s shown to be a big-game pitcher in a variety of roles.

The Phillies have a talented starting staff, which could lead to them letting Suárez walk away this winter as they fill other holes. Maybe some questions about ace Zack Wheeler’s status in the aftermath of his surgery to correct his thoracic outlet syndrome and whether or not top prospect Andrew Painter will be ready after a disappointing season would make a reunion a bit more likely than previously thought. But there seems to be a good chance Suárez will be wearing a different uniform in 2026.

“A lot of time with this team,” Suárez said of the Phillies. “I got to know everyone around the team, and, obviously, all the love that I shared with my teammates. I love the coaching staff and the team staff as well. So it’s a little tough and it’s a little hard right now to not know where to next, right?”

If his time is up in Philadelphia, Suárez will have a lot of accomplishments to take with him. He debuted in 2018, established himself as a contributor in 2021 and emerged as a true postseason weapon in 2022. The Phillies won all five games Suárez pitched in that October, and he delivered the pitch that sent the team to the World Series as he closed out the clinching Game 5 of the NL Championship Series.

Suárez will remember the times like that — and the people he shared them with — in the event that he signs with another club.

“It’s the love for everyone here: the staff, the team members, the teammates and the good moments that we had from the 2022 playoffs and onward,” Suárez said. “And before that, all the preparation that came and that led us to this run of going to the playoffs. A lot of great things with the team happened to me, and a couple bad things happened to me, too, during these years. But that’s what I take from them.”