Philadelphia Phillies Left-Handed Starter Normalizes Velocity in Latest Spring Start

The Philadelphia Phillies' left-handed pitchers put worries to bed in his latest spring training start.

Mar 4, 2025; Clearwater, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Ranger Suarez (55) throws a pitch against the New York Yankees in the fifth inning during spring training at BayCare Ballpark. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies took down the Baltimore Orioles Sunday afternoon. Starting pitcher Ranger Suarez earned the win in the game.

Suarez threw three strong innings, allowed one hit, one run and struck out two batters while not walking anybody.

This start marks his second great outing of the spring, so he is looking like he is ready for the regular season. All he has to do is ramp himself up.

The left-handed pitcher was much better in terms of velocity against the Orioles, as well.

Suarez hit 92.4 MPH with his fastball on Sunday after topping at 90.8 MPH in his first game this spring. His sinker reached 91.9 MPH, which is more than two miles per hour higher than what it was in his first outing.

Management might have been worried by the lack of velocity in Suarez's first two innings this spring, but the lefty was never concerned.

"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. I'll just get stronger, so I wasn't worried about that," Suarez told reporters, including Paul Casella of MLB.com via his interpreter.

Last season, the 29-year-old made his first All-Star game after having a Cy Young-caliber first half of the year. He made 19 starts before the break, threw 114 innings, struck out 112 batters, walked just 26 and opponents had a low .219 batting average off him.

Per Baseball Savant, his average fastball velocity was 91.2 MPH, which was lower than what is was the season before. He is a sinker heavy pitcher, though, so he relies on weak contact and getting batters to chase out of the zone.

"Just remember, I never threw fast," The Venezuelan pitcher said.

He is one of the rare pitchers nowadays that is not worried about what the radar gun says, but rather how he is going to get hitters out and give the Phillies a chance to win. Having his velocity return to normal should be a relief for Philadelphia, though.

The Phillies starting rotation will feature Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sanchez and Jesus Luzardo to go along with Suarez. If they each pitch to their potential, Philadelphia will have one of the better pitching staffs in the MLB.

Suarez is not going to increase his velocity much as spring training continues. His strength is in his ability to pound the zone and create that weak contact. As long as he continues to do that, the lefty is going to be valuable once again in 2025.