Phillies

Rob Thomson Explains Why Ranger Suarez Was Pulled in Saturday’s Win

By Luke Arcaini

Published: Jul 5th, 2025 · 7:11 PM EDT

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Ranger Suarez was pulled today after 5 innings of 1-run ball on 80 pitches. It was a confusing move at first. Suarez has been dealing as of late. He was dominating again today, other than one pitch to Will Benson. It caused a bit of a scare of potential injury, but Suarez is completely healthy. Rob Thomson discussed the gameplan following Saturday’s 5-1 win.

Ranger Suarez is completely healthy. Rob Thomson said the plan today was 85 pitches for Ranger heading into the game. Suarez knew that and was completely on board.

The Phillies are trying to avoid what happened last year. They don’t want to burn Ranger out too early. pic.twitter.com/DUMAKkMeYD

— Luke Arcaini (@ArcainiLuke) July 5, 2025

“It was designed. So in June he had six starts. Five of them 7 innings, one of them 6 innings, all of them 94 pitches or more. We went in today just trying to pull back a bit, so he had an 85-pitch limit” – Rob Thomson postgame

Suarez spoke to reporters following the game, and said that he wasn’t feeling 100% after his last start, specifically in his shoulder and back, so the Phillies had the 85 pitch limit. He said he felt great pregame today, and completely healthy once he was on the mound.

Ranger Suarez said he wasn’t feeling great after his last start in Atlanta (shoulder, back) so the Phillies had him on an 85-pitch limit. Said he felt much better today. He’ll have an extra day off before his next start.

— Anthony SanFilippo (@AntSanPhilly) July 5, 2025

The Phillies don’t want 2024 to happen again. Ranger Suarez was a Cy Young candidate through the first two months of the season, and then the innings caught up to his back and arm. They’ll monitor his innings, specifically before the All-Star Break. Thomson and Suarez both confirmed that he’ll have an extra day of rest before his next start.

Ranger Suarez is now down to a 1.99 ERA on the season. He’s looked truly remarkable on the mound in 2025, and the Phillies are smart to want to keep it that way.

The Phillies strung together five runs on five hits, three of them being home runs from Kyle Schwarber, Edmundo Sosa, and Alec Bohm. The bullpen combined for four scoreless innings, pushing the Phillies to their 52nd win of the season. They’ll go for the series win on Sunday afternoon with Zack Wheeler on the mound.