Can Ranger Suarez Join Greg Maddux In This Exclusive Club?

Ranger Suarez is off to the best start of his career. He has arguably been the best pitcher in Baseball. But could he end up joining Greg Maddux, and other legendary pitchers, in a very rare club?

This will be the more difficult part. The competition is stiff, even on his own team. But the question is does he have a case? It is obviously very early. But if the season ended right now, he would deserve it.

His 1.32 ERA is 3rd in the NL, behind Reynaldo Lopez of the Braves, and Shota Imanaga of the Cubs, who each have a sub 1.0 ERA. But he has thrown the equivalent of two extra games than them. In Lopez's case that is literal, with Ranger having 6 starts to his 4. But even Imanaga, who has 5 starts, has thrown 13.1 fewer innings than Ranger.

That should matter. We saw a few years ago they gave Corbin Burnes the Cy Young over Zack Wheeler. Looking back, that was a mistake. Wheeler threw 46.1 more innings, despite only pitching 4 more games. He pretty much threw 7 extra games than Burnes. Or if we go off of how many inning Burnes pitches per game, 9 extra games.

Going later into games makes you a better pitcher. You are literally doing more for your team than one of those pitchers who only pitches 5 innings into game. It makes a difference. Well this year, Ranger is going later into games than anyone with 41 innings pitched over 6 games, just under 7 per game.

Only Tyler Glasnow has pitched more innings this season than Ranger. But that is only 2 more innings, despite one extra start. Among pitchers with 6 starts, Ranger is the leader with Innings Pitched. He has already gone at least 7 innings 3 times this year, despite doing it just 10 times in his career before this season.

His WHIP of 0.63 leads the entire league. He is allowing a baserunner every other inning. He only has 5 walks, and batters hit .153 off of him. Ranger is also 5th in the league with 40 strikeouts. He is also 1 of only 4 pitchers to throw a complete game shutout.

Some of that is getting to pitch to the Whitesox and Rockies. But in his last 2 outings, he did this against the Padres and Reds, both of whom are top 10 lineups so far. The Padres couldn't do anything against him last night. It took until the 8th inning for them to score a run off of him.

It is not an exaggeration to say he is a CY Young frontrunner. To this point, he has been the best pitcher in baseball. And that is not just me saying it, Jayson Stark said the same thing when he joined The Best Show Ever earlier in the week. And that was before he gave up 1 run over 8 innings to the Padres.

The problem may be his teammates stealing votes from him. Zack Wheeler, and even Aaron Nola, are having Cy Young caliber seasons as well. But the point is Ranger Suarez, in a small sample size, is deserving of being in the Cy Young conversation.

This one is easier. If Ranger Suarez had played a full season, he may already have a Gold Glove or 2. He makes fielding his position look easy. Just casually making difficult plays like it is nothing.

In 2022, Ranger Suarez had a DRS (Defensive Runs Saved) of 9. The next best pitcher, Taijuan Walker, was 6. The NL Gold Glove winner that year, Tyler Anderson, had 5. DRS is a cumulative stat, meaning the more you play the more it should go up. Anderson pitched 20 more innings than Ranger and his DRS was still 4 runs lower.

Ranger's glove is elite. If he stays healthy, he should finally get the Gold Glove he deserves. At the very least he will be one of the finalists. Though his own teammates may be his competition. last season Zack Wheeler and Taijuan Walker made up 2 of the 3 finalists for the NL Gold Glove. Wheeler wound up winning it.

We knew Ranger was special, he showed it every year in the playoffs. He just had never put it together for a full season. Visa issues and injuries always hampered him out of the gate.

To this point, he had never been a 3rd time through the batting order type of guy. Rob Thomson would usually pull him after 5 innings. But now, like Wheeler and Nola, he goes deep into games. We have seen him face batters 3, or even 4 times, and not blink.

Getting to Spring Training early, and being healthy, helps. For once he had a full off-season of preparation. It is also just the maturity of a pitcher though. He is not blowing people away with 100 mph fastballs. Ranger pitches smart, and he locates his pitches perfectly.

Whether or not he does join this club, or wins either award, we are witnessing Ranger Suarez turn into an Ace. He has had this level to his game all along. Now that he has unlocked it, the Phillies rotation can truly be something special.

A few weeks ago, we put together the All-Time roster of homegrown Phillies players. It featured names like Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels, and even our own Ricky Bottalico. But what about all the non homegrown guys.  We put together the All-Time roster of Phillies players who got their starts with other teams. Going back through history, some of their players did not make their debut in Philadelphia.

In fact right now, this current team are mostly non-homegrown guys. Some guys are home grown. Bryson Stott, Alec Bohm, Ranger Suarez, and Alec Bohm all got their starts here. But otherwise Trea Turner, Bryce Harper, JT Realmuto, Zack Wheeler, and Kyle Schwarber all started with other teams. Making all of them eligible for this list. But did any of them make the All-Time team?

I know the headline says Free Agents. But this article also includes guys they traded for, or selected in the Rule 5 Draft.. It is just a bit too wordy of a headline to say "The All-Time Roster Of Phillies Players Acquired In Free Agency,  Via A Trade, Or As A Rule 5 Pick". As long as they didn't make their debut in Philadelphia, they are eligible for this list.

Is Bryce Harper already the best Right Fielder? Who joins Steve Carlton in the pitching rotation? Which free agent closer was the best for them? We went through every position, and picked the best at each one. Starting with the best catcher, though all 3 outfield positions, and then 3 starters, and a closer.

.273/ .330/.456/.785 

154 HRs, 589 Runs, 578 RBIs, 94 Steals 

If we were going best catcher overall, I would still take Chooch. But since Chooch, he wasn’t available for this list.

You could argue JT Realmuto is better than both of them though. It's hard to argue he is better with the bat. Chooch called a much better game than JT, but few catchers can contend with Realmuto’s arm.

He fell off a bit in 2023. But it seems he reworked his swing this offseason to fix a hole that pitchers were exploiting. So maybe we will see a resurgent year from the former “Best Catcher In baseball.” The early returns have been good.

The Phillies acquired JT via a trade in 2019 with the Marlins. They have up prospects Sixto Sanchez, Jorge Alfaro, and Will Stewart. Sixto has barely played since they made the trade due to injury. So at least right now, it seems like a great deal for the Phillies.

.276/.402/.554/.956

612 HRs, 1583 Runs, 1699 RBIs, 19 SBs

Thome is one of the greatest 1st basemen period. He is a member of the 600 HR club and a Hall of Famer.

He was great in his short time with the Phillies. The problem was the team around him was bad. And his presence was blocking Ryan Howard. Still, he gave us some memorable moments. Like hitting his 400th HR at Citizens Bank Park.

He came to the Phillies via a 6-year $85 million contract. Before that, he had spent his whole career with Cleveland.

.283/.334/.358/.692

21 HRs. 732 Runs, 426 RBIs

Finding a great free agent or traded Second Basemen was tough. It is a weak position historically for the Phillies as it is. The few notable players they have had, Chase Utley and Juan Samuel, were homegrown. It makes a solid dependable player like Dave Cash stick out.

Cash was only here for 3 seasons, but it was his best 3 seasons. He made the All-Star game every year and hit nearly .300 in his time here. In 1975 he led the league with hits. He didn't have much power to speak of, and his speed was solid, but not elite. But he racked up hits with the Phillies.

The Phillies acquired Cash via a trade with the Pirates.

.296/.348/.481/.829 171 HRs, 776 Runs, 572 RBIs, 279 SBs

Turner’s first season in Philly did not go well. He saved it a bit at the end of the year. But in the first 4 months, he was genuinely one of the worst players in the league. His fielding was terrible, and his bat wasn’t much better. In August, September, and the first two series in the playoffs, he was one of the best players in the league. He regressed to his early season form vs the Diamondbacks though. But there is a reason they paid him what they did.

With the Nationals and Dodgers, he was one of the best players in the league. He showed a bit more of his old self in the 2nd year but has still yet to match his hype. That said, even with a slight regression from his time with the Nats and Dodgers, he is still a very good player, with the potential to be great. 

.297/.343/.397/.740

104 HRs, 1009 Runs, 723 RBIs, 81 SBs

Polanco is very similar to Dave Cash. He doesn't have much pop, and his speed was only okay. But he was a hitting machine.

Like some of the infield positions, there was a lack of good options here. The best 3rd basemen, all came up with the Phillies. Mike Schmidt, Scott Rolen, Dick Allen, all were homegrown players. Polanco was the best of the bunch when you only look at free agents or trades.

He came to the Phillies via the infamous Scott Rolen trade. Before that, he had spent the first 4 years of his career in St. Louis.

.272/.335/.465/.801

305 HRs, 1055 Runs, 1207 RBIs, 50 SBs

I feel like we underrate how good Ibanez was here, especially in that first season. Similar to the way we underrate his predecessor, Pat Burrell.

In 2009, Ibanez had a slash line of .272/.347/.552/.899. It fell off in his other two seasons here, but he was a special part of that 2009 team that almost won a 2nd straight World Series.

There is also the fact there is not much competition among free-agent Left Fielders for the Phillies. The best left fielders, all started with the Phillies. The only other option was Kyle Schwarber. But because we were able to slot him in at another position, Raul still made the list.

.275/.340/.425/.765

108 HRs, 731 Runs, 489 RBIs, 231 SBs

The Flyin’ Hawiian was up there amongst my favorite Phillies from that era. He started his career as a disappointing player for the Padres. So the Phillies snatched him up in the rule 5 draft, and he went on to be a key piece of the 2008 team.

At times he could be frustrating. But he also played Gold Glove defense in Center and gave them a great power speed option behind J Roll and ahead of Utley.

.281/ .38/ .52/ .911 336 HRs, 1082, 976 RBIs, 140 SBs

There was no other option here. Harper has a chance to go down as one of the greatest Phillies of all time. He already feels like a lock to be a Hall of Famer. He is going to get to 400 HRs here, and there is a good chance he will get to 500 as well. Harper signed with the Phillies in 2019. It took a couple of years, but he eventually pulled them out of the dark ages. He already has multiple legendary moments, including Bedlam at the Bank, his walk-off Grand Slam, and the stare-down in the 2023 NLDs, just to name a few. Harper is a Phillies legend. To the point, that in a few years, if we remake this list, he might surpass Jim Thome at 1st base. That is how good he is.

He is a 1st baseman now. But he has said that he would move back to the Outfield if it meant adding a great 1st basemen to the team. In the context of this article, Jim Thome is that great 1st basemen Harper is moving back to the OF for. 

.230/.343/.491/.834  284 HRs, 698 Runs, 652 RBIs, 27 SBs 

There are not many options at DH. This is only the 3rd season the NL has had a DH. In that time, Harper spent a lot of time as the DH as he battled an elbow injury. When it wasn't him, it was usually Kyle Schwarber. We already put Harper in Right Field. Now he is a 1st baseman, and he will probably spend the rest of his career at 1st, barring a full-time move to DH. 

That leaves Schwarber as the default answer. Just because he is the default though does not make him unworthy. He hit 45+ HRs in his first 2 seasons here and followed that up with a 38 HR campaign. In 2023, he had the 2nd highest OPS leading off games in Phillies history. Only Jimmy Rollins MVP season was better. Despite the debates about Schwarber leading off, he has undeniably been one of their most productive hitters these past 3 seasons. in fact, in those 3 years, he has the most runs. HRs, and RBIs for the Phillies. He also led them in all 3 categories last season. 

3.22 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 329 Wins, 4136 Ks

Lefty was a lock to be this team’s Ace. He is far and away the best pitcher in Phillies history. His 4 Cy Youngs, 10 All-Star appearances, and his place in the Hall of Fame tell you that. He even got the Triple Crown for Pitchers in 1972.

He is not just the Phillies best pitcher, he is one of the best LHPs period.

3.38 ERA, 1.178, 203 Wins, 2117 Ks

Doc is by far the best pitcher I have ever seen pitch for the Phillies. The two-time CY Young winner was dominant as it gets in his first 2 seasons here. Including pitching a Perfect Game and throwing the 2nd ever playoff No-Hitter.

His time here was unfortunately short. Injuries caught up to him, and he did not look like himself in his final 2 seasons here. But I will always remember him for how amazing he was in 2010 and 2011.

3.34 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 103 Wins, 1625 Ks

Picking the 3rd starter was tough. When I made the Homegrown list, I only had 3 starters, because I didn't think there was a 4th guy worthy of being listed among Robin Roberts, Cole Hamels, and Aaron Nola. I wasn’t going to stick Brett Myers on there just because.

But that means I was limited to 3 here as well. So who made it? Do I go with Cliff Lee? He has a strong case given how amazing his 2009 run was. There is also Curt Schilling. Numbers wise he is worthy, but much like the HOF voters don't want to honor him, neither do I. Wheeler and Lee get the edge because they didn't ruin a small town in Rhode Island or reveal private details about Tim Wakefield's battle with cancer against the families wishes. I went with Zack Wheeler. Wheeler has been nothing short of dominant in his time here. And after signing a massive extension recently, he will have more longevity here than Lee had. But it was a really tough choice between the two. 

3.38 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 184 Saves, 921 Ks 

It was close between Bedrosian and Brad Lidge. Lidge had the perfect season, that ended in him getting the final out to give the Phillies their 2nd ever World Series. But he was a bit of a 1 year wonder.  

Bedrosian meanwhile had multiple great seasons. Including him winning the Cy Young as a Relief Pitcher. For me, that gave him the edge. I never got to watch him play, but the numbers tell the story of a dominant relief pitcher, worthy of a spot on this list.  

He is still 3rd on the all Time Phillies Saves list.