Suarez shows signs of fatigue as All-Star break approaches Originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia
ATLANTA — He’s thrown nearly twice as many innings as he did a year ago. Is Ranger Suarez feeling fatigue?
After winning 13 of Suarez’s first 14 starts through mid-June, the Phillies have lost three of their last four, falling 5-1 to the Braves on Saturday night to tie the weekend series at one game apiece.
“I think there’s probably a little bit of fatigue and I think all of our guys have it,” manager Rob Thomson said. “But I don’t think it’s a concern. None of the numbers we measured really stand out to us.”
Suarez was coming off his worst start of a season — six runs and 10 hits in 4⅔ innings against the lowly Marlins without a strikeout for the first time in his career — and the Braves pounced on him early Saturday. Jarred Kelenic doubled down the right-field line, scored on Ozzie Albies’ single and Atlanta led the rest of the way, with Marcell Ozuna hitting a two-run homer after called strikeouts of Austin Riley and Matt Olson.
Suarez retired seven in a row after Ozuna’s homer, then escaped a fourth-inning jam with two runners in scoring position and no one out by striking out Sean Murphy and Adam Duvall to set up an inning-ending flyout.
But Albies did more damage in the fifth inning, hitting a two-run homer to left field after a Kelenic single. The Braves second baseman is 5-for-8 in the series with two homers, four RBIs and five runs scored.
Suarez has one more start before the break — Friday at home against the Athletics — and will almost certainly be a part of the All-Star break after his fantastic first half. But it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s dealing with some arm fatigue.
“No, I don’t think it’s that,” he said. “They made three or four bad pitches today and they hit them and scored the runs. I feel good. I think that’s important now.”
He’s thrown 108 innings this season. A year ago, at this point, he was throwing 56⅓. The most Suarez has thrown to this date is 79. And keep in mind that he also had the first full spring training workload of his career this year.
Suarez (10-3) allowed five runs in five innings. His ERA has risen in his last two starts from 1.83 to 2.58.
“When you have bad outings, it’s normal to worry about your performance and that’s what happened today,” Suarez said when asked about showing some frustration on the mound. “When the team falls behind by so many runs, it feels like you’ve been knocked down and it’s hard to get back up. I’m not giving them a fighting chance by keeping the game close. That’s what I’ve been thinking about.
“I’ve had three bad performances in a row and I started to get a little bit worried about that. It’s just the course placement, that’s what I mean when I say I’m worried about the next performance. I’ll just try to focus and work on the course placement for the next one.”
Trea Turner drove in the Phillies’ only run with an RBI single in the top of the third inning off rookie Spencer Schwellenbach after flying out to the right-center field wall in the first inning. The All-Star shortstop is 12-for-27 (.444) over the past six games with four homers, 11 RBIs and 11 runs scored.
The Phillies failed to record an extra-base hit for the fifth time this season and the first time since May 26 at Colorado. They are 58-31 and have a nine-game lead over the Braves entering Sunday’s series finale at 1:20 p.m.
Rookie Michael Mercado will make his second career start, while the Braves will turn to right-hander Reynaldo Lopez. Lopez has a 1.83 ERA that would lead baseball if he met the team’s one-inning-per-game requirement, but he’s three short.
Sunday should be the Phils’ final game without Kyle Schwarber (groin strain), who is on track to rejoin the team Tuesday when he is eligible to be activated from the injured list.
The Phillies will find out after the final game of the series how many of their players made the National League All-Star team as pitchers and reserves. Suarez, despite his recent struggles, should be included in the team.
“After these couple of starts, I don’t think so,” he joked, “but whatever happens, I’ll take it. My main goal for this year is to stay healthy throughout the season. I’ve been doing that and I just want to stay healthy throughout the year. We have our goals set.”