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Ranger Suarez Shut Down After Experiencing Some Inflammation In Elbow

Placeholder Shilloutte User Image By The Best Show Ever? and Dylan MacKinnon March 22nd
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - NOVEMBER 01: Ranger Suarez #55 of the Philadelphia Phillies delivers a pitch against the Houston Astros during the third inning in Game Three of the 2022 World Series at Citizens Bank Park on November 01, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Phillies starting rotation may be a little thin to start the season. First, it was the news that Andrew Painter had a UCL Strain that will shut him down for 4 weeks. That was a few weeks ago now. He may be able to start ramping up soon. But now it looks like they could be without Ranger Suarez too. Per Todd Zolecki, Ranger is experiencing some inflammation in his left elbow. They will shut him down for now, and see how it recovers. But it means that he will likely miss the start of the season.

The good news is that there is no structural damage. And they are saying they are not too concerned. But it is another arm they will be missing. It was already expected that Bailey Flater would have to fill one of those starter spots to start the season. Now they will need to find another arm to fill in at least to start. Nick Nelson is a possibility. Matt Strahm could also fill in, though he may not be able to go very deep in games since he usually comes out of the pen. They could also just go with a straight-up bullpen game.

Ranger has been an underrated force for the Phillies the last couple of years. He was moved from the Pen to the rotation in mid-2021 and looked like an Ace. Last year his numbers evened out a little bit, but as a 3rd starter, he was still very good. And he was perhaps their best pitcher period during the run in the playoffs. He faced one of the best lineups in Baseball and didn’t blink.

Hopefully, it really is no big deal and he could be back soon. because the Phillies badly need him to be himself this season.

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How These 6 Phillies Players Performed in The World Baseball Classic

The World Baseball Classic is over. Unfortunately, Team USA lost. They ran into Team Japan, who had this guy named Shoehei Ohtani, who is pretty good at baseball. USA trailed by one run heading into the ninth inning. It was Ohtani on the mound though. He had a pretty easy inning, closing it out by striking out his Angels teammate Mike Trout to give Japan the win. But Team USA did make it all the way to the Finals. That was thanks in large part to the Phillies on the WBC classic team.

And it wasn’t just Team USA that benefited from having Phillies players on their team. Six Phillies, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, JT Realmuto, Taijuan Walker, Jose Alvarado, and Garrett Stubbs all went out there to represent their countries. Ranger Suarez was supposed to pitch for Team Venezuela, but an injury forced him to withdraw. Gregory Soto was originally on the Dominican Republic roster. But Visa issues kept him from participating. The other 6, played very well though. In some cases, great.

We saw Trea Turner showing off his power. But the rest of the Phillies players showed up to. Giving us many reasons to be excited about the upcoming season. But how good did they all perform?

Let’s look at how all the Phillies players performed at the World Baseball Classic.

[Source: MLB.com]

  • Trea Turner- Team USA

    No one showed up more in the World Baseball Classic than Trea Turner. He clubbed 5 HRS, including 4 in the knockout stage. And over as we all know, one of those was a massive go-ahead Grand Slam that helped Team USA beat Venezuela. He slashed .391/.440/1.043/1.483. Yes, his slugging percentage alone was over 1.000. Both his slugging and OPS led Team USA. And his 5 HRs led the entire WBC. Turner is probably more known for his speed. But he wanted to remind us all he can crush a ball too.

  • Kyle Schwarber- Team USA

    Only two players hit multiple home runs for Team USA. Obviously Turner, and then Kyle Schwarber. One came in their first game vs Great Britian. The other came in the finals against Japan. And of course, it was with Yu Darvish on the mound. Schwarbers last HR off Yu in game 1 of the NLCS still hasn’t landed. This one didn’t travel quite as far. But he did hit several foul balls about 400 feet each before he finally got one to straighten out. Schwarber only had one other hit besides the two home runs, along with 5 walks. But those two shots were enough to put him 5th in slugging percentage, and 3rd in OPS.

  • JT Realmuto- Team USA

    Well, now we know who was 1st on Team USA in OPS (Trea Turner) and 3rd (Kyle Schwarber). But who was 2nd? It wasn’t Mike Trout or Mookie Betts. No, that honor belongs to the best catcher in baseball. JT did not hit any HRs like Schwarber or Turner. But he went 6-12 at the plate, with a walk. So he literally got on base more often than he produced an out. And he caught some people stealing for good measure too.

  • Taijuan Walker- Team Mexico

    Walker only pitched once in the World Baseball Classic. But man he looked good. Walker went four innings of scoreless baseball, giving up just 1 walk and 1 out. And he struck out 8 guys in those 4 innings. If Walker pitches like this, the Phillies rotation is going to be stacked. Walker is supposed to be their 4th starter. He didn’t look like a 4th starter in the World Baseball Classic.

  • Jose Alvarado- Team Venezuela

    Jose Alvarado, like Taijuan Walker, did not get a ton of play in the WBC. But he did pitch 3 innings, gave up 0 runs, and struck out 5 people. He did give up 3 hits and a walk, but none of them did any damage. This included a scoreless inning vs Team USA in the Quarter Finals. And he got the save against Nicaragua.

  • Garrett Stubbs- Team Israel

    Garrett Stubbs only played in one game for Team Israel before na injury forced him to withdraw. But he looked pretty good in that one game. Stubbs went 2-5 with a  double and 2 RBIS.

    Garett Stubbs

    (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

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