Suarez set for 2025 big-league debut against Diamondbacks

Suarez set for 2025 big-league debut against Diamondbacks  originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Ranger Suarez has a big-league green light. 

Following a bullpen session Wednesday ahead of the Phillies’ 7-2 win over the Nationals, Suarez was formally cleared to make his 2025 major league debut. 

Phillies manager Rob Thomson said Suarez will pitch Sunday vs. the Diamondbacks at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies will open the series Friday with Jesus Luzardo on the hill and start Aaron Nola on Saturday. 

Suarez was brilliant to begin 2024 and named an All-Star. He went 9-0 with a 1.36 ERA over his first 10 starts, but back trouble popped up and Suarez struggled in the second half. The 29-year-old lefty had a 6.54 ERA over his final 11 outings.

In mid-March, Suarez was sidelined by lower back stiffness. He made four rehab starts — two for Single A Clearwater, two for Triple A Lehigh Valley — and threw 16 2/3 total innings. Suarez allowed just two runs, struck out 24 hitters and walked five. 

Thomson said Tuesday the Phillies are discussing the possibility of turning to a six-man rotation. Taijuan Walker will get his sixth start of the season on Thursday against Washington. Entering that game, he sits at 1-2 with a 2.78 ERA in Suarez’s absence. 

Cristopher Sanchez started Wednesday’s victory, returning from a left forearm issue. He tossed five innings, conceded two runs and watched the Phillies’ bullpen handle the rest. 

“Looked a little rusty,” Thomson said of Sanchez. “It’s been a week since he’s pitched. The command was off a little bit, but the stuff was really good. The changeup looked normal, the slider looked normal, the fastball velocity was good. I’m pleased with it.”

Sanchez said he felt “great” and expressed no lingering concern about his forearm. 

“That’s what I was looking forward to today, feeling like my best self, as I always do,” he said. “And just go out and compete.”