Ranger Suarez has been everything the Phillies have needed and more during his tenure. But will he stay in red pinstripes?

That’s the question that Suarez and the Phillies must decide on at some point in 2025 or the beginning months of 2026. Suarez, 29, will hit free agency following this season. He’s never known another professional baseball team other than the Phillies, who signed him as an international free agent in 2012 when Suarez was just 16 years old.

The 2nd longest-tenured Phillie truly started to turn heads in 2021, when he had a 1.36 ERA in 106 innings and logged a 5.6 WAR. He followed that up with a 3.65 in 2022, a 4.18 in 2023, and a 3.46 in 2024.

Suarez was in Cy Young talks through the first three months of last season, but a lower back injury sidelined Suarez throughout parts of the summer and he wasn’t the same when he returned. But in typical Ranger fashion, he grinded through four and a third in Game 4 against the Mets after logging a 6.04 ERA in September.

If there’s one thing the Phillies have prioritized over the last 3-4 years, it’s pitching. They signed Zack Wheeler ahead of the 2020 season. They developed Cristopher Sanchez into one of the best left-handed arms in all of baseball. Although it didn’t work out how they planned, they gave Taijuan Walker, who was a good arm at the time, a hefty contract, and they traded for Jesus Luzardo this past offseason.


They’ll head into the 2025 season with arguably the best starting rotation in the entire sport:

  • Zack Wheeler
  • Aaron Nola
  • Cristopher Sanchez
  • Jesus Luzardo
  • Ranger Suarez

Andrew Painter, the top Phillies prospect, is set to join the rotation in “July-ish,” per Rob Thomson on a recent 94 WIP appearance. He mentioned that the Phillies would probably go to a six-man rotation once Painter is ready. Zack Wheeler has noted in the past that he doesn’t love 6-man rotations because it throws him out of his routine.

The other option for the Phillies, who have made it a note that Painter will be a starter once he’s ready, is to move one of the current five starters to the bullpen.

It won’t be Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, or Cristopher Sanchez. I don’t expect it to be Jesus Luzardo, either. That leaves Ranger Suarez.

We’ve seen Suarez thrive in the “Swiss army knife” role the last few years. He pitched in just about every scenario back in 2022, including recording the final out against the Padres to clinch the pennant. But Ranger Suarez and his camp know that he is a starter at heart. With the way the Phillies rotation is set up for the future, there’s not an immediate spot for Suarez once Painter is ready, assuming Luzardo works out how he should.

But Suarez made it heard a few days ago that he wants to remain with the Phillies for the rest of his career, saying this in Clearwater (Todd Zolecki at MLB.com) –

“This is my childhood club, my childhood organization. I’ve played here since I was young, really young. All I think about is staying here. I want to pitch here for the rest of my career. It’s about going through the season, and going after that after the season is over. We’re going to see what happens.” 

Suarez, a new Scott Boras client, will gauge some serious interest across the league after this season. He’s a playoff warrior with nasty stuff. Any team in baseball should want him in their rotation.

But he wants to stay in Philadelphia forever. Is that in the Phillies’ plans? We’ll see…because Suarez becomes a free agent in the same offseason as Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto.