Phillies Star Pitcher Setting Himself Up for Massive Payday

The Philadelphia Phillies knew that their biggest strength coming into the 2025 MLB regular season was going to be their starting pitching.

They had the hard part out of the way, possessing one of the true aces in the game with Zack Wheeler anchoring their rotation.

However, they are receiving ace-like production from other pitchers in the rotation behind him, including Ranger Suarez.

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An All-Star in 2024, there has been no denying the talent that he possesses. He has been truly dominant for periods, but there always seems to be something that pops up, derailing his productivity.

Back ailments have haunted him throughout his career, sometimes limiting his availability. That occurred to start the 2025 campaign, as lower back soreness had him on the injured list to kick the year off.

But, since getting back on the mound, Suarez has been mowing opponents down with regularity, setting himself up for a massive payday this upcoming winter when he hits free agency.

“With Suárez, the often-brilliant but often-injured 29-year-old left-hander for the Phillies, the rest of the sport looked at his incredible first half in 2024 and said: Let’s see him do that again. OK then. He’s sitting on a 1.99 ERA with one start left before the All-Star break. So they’ve seen it! The question is how attractive is a 30-year-old left-hander with a history of streaks of brilliance but iffy volume,” wrote Jayson Stark of The Athletic (subscription required) in a recent piece highlighting 10 takeaways at the midsummer point of the season.

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In his 12 starts, Suarez has already recorded 3.6 bWAR and an ERA+ of 215 with 73 strikeouts through 77 innings. An average of 6.4 innings per outing is stellar in this day and age, regularly working deep into games to help save the bullpen.

If he can remain healthy throughout the remainder of the season, it will strengthen his case to become the next player to earn a nine-figure deal in free agency.

The production is there; the only thing missing is whether or not be can sustain that level of performance throughout an entire campaign.

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Yet to reach 30 starts in a single season of his career, some franchises will hesitate to give him the kind of lucrative long-term deal he is seeking.

However, on top of the brilliance he has shown in the regular season, Suarez has proven he can get the job done when it matters most in the postseason as well.

Under the brightest lights, he has stepped up, making 10 appearances in the playoffs, throwing 37.2 innings with 40 strikeouts and a 1.43 ERA.

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His experience as both a relief pitcher earlier in his career and a starting pitcher more recently will be attractive to some teams as well.

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