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The Phillies move Ranger Suarez, who served as their closest, in the starting rotation.
Suarez will start for the Phillies on Monday in DC against the Nationals, a team manager confirmed.
Ian Kennedy, acquired by Friday’s Rangers trade deadline, will be the closest. The 36-year-old right-hander has had a strong season saving Texas games, going 16 for 17 with a 2.51 ERA and an opponents’ base percentage of 0.270.
The Phillies’ rotation has been shaken up considerably. Chase Anderson is also replacing Vince Velasquez, who has allowed 42 earned runs in his last 45 innings.
Kyle Gibson, acquired an hour before the deadline with Kennedy and 22-year-old pitcher prospect Hans Crouse in exchange for Spencer Howard and two minor league pitchers, will start in Pittsburgh on Sunday.
The next round of the Phillies’ rotation, starting with Aaron Nola on Saturday, will be:
- Saturday: How? ‘Or’ What
- Sunday: Gibson
- On Monday: Suarez
- Tuesday: Zack Wheeler
- Wednesday: Anderson
And then Nola again on Thursday.
The Phillies are hoping to have Zach Eflin (knee tendonitis) back by mid-August, but there is no specific timeline just yet.
“I’m hopeful Zach will come back because otherwise (Gibson) is just replacing Zach,” Phillies president of baseball operations David Dombrowski said Friday. “Hopefully within two to three weeks Zach will be back and all of a sudden we’ll be leading four established starting pitchers who have been successful at the big league level.”
Suarez, who turns 26 next month, has held a variety of roles for the Phillies. He came in as a starter and made three starts in 2018 before moving on to a paddock role. Out of the pen, he found success both as a longman and as a high leverage lifter. He has a 1.12 ERA and 0.87 WHIP in 27 appearances spanning 40 innings this season. In 108 career big-league innings, his ERA is 3.33.
Suarez won’t be entering the games anytime soon. His season high in throwing is 47, so his pitch count will likely be built up gradually as if it were spring training. Howard averaged less than 3 innings in his 13 big-league starts with the Phils before being traded and Matt Moore was averaging 4 since returning to the rotation, so it’s not like that. they would lose length. If Suarez averages 13-15 shots per set on his first start, he could make four and go from there.
His ninth inning replacement Kennedy is an experienced goal-pitcher who saved 30 games two seasons ago for the Royals in his first year as a reliever. He spent the previous 12 seasons as a starter, starting his career with the Yankees under Joe Girardi. Kennedy’s best season was 2011 when he went 21-4 with a 2.88 ERA for the Diamondbacks and was fourth in the vote for NL Cy Young. Phillies fans will remember his three-hit shutout against the 102-game winning team this season.
Five out of six throws, Kennedy throws his mid-90s four-seam fastball. It’s not elite speed but it’s good enough, and any team would take 94 with an end of life and would order 96-97 directly.
He spots him masterfully both just above the strike zone and in the outside corner. He is not scared. In the two full seasons he’s been closer, he’s only walked 24 batters in 95 innings.
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