The Red Sox Ranger Suarez Signing Surprised Everyone

Suárez is an impressive pitcher who generates strikeouts and ground balls, limits damage contact, and is coming off two seasons with excellent command.

Suárez is coming off a 3.20 ERA season in which he struck out 151 batters in 157.1 innings and 26 starts.

Suárez has a six-pitch mix, as he throws a sinker, changeup, cutter, curveball, four-seam fastball, and slider.

The sinker is his main pitch, as he threw it 28.5% of the time this past season. The batting average against it was .310, as he gave up nine extra-base hits and only had a 7.4 whiff percentage in 693 pitches.

The changeup is Suárez’s secondary pitch, as it had a .203 batting average against, a 33% whiff rate, and allowed five extra-base hits on it on 464 pitches.

Suarez’s tertiary pitch was his cutter, which came in at a .303 batting average against, allowed 13 extra-base hits on, and a 20.2% whiff rate on 422 pitches.

Suarez’s fourth most-used pitch is his curveball, which had a .192 batting average against, a 24.5% whiff rate, and seven extra-base hits allowed on 393 pitches.

The penultimate pitch that he used was his four-seam fastball, which got hit at a .278 clip, allowed two extra-base hits on, and 20.7% whiff rate on 356 pitches.

Suárez’s least utilized pitch is his slider, which had a .174 batting average against, an absurd 55.8% whiff percentage, and allowed 2 extra-base hits on 102 pitches.

Suárez is also a playoff riser with a career 1.48 ERA in the last four postseasons in 11 appearances and even locking down a save in 2022.

This is the guy that the Red Sox have been clamoring for behind Crochet in the rotation, and he slots ahead of Gray, Brayan Bello, and Oviedo, according to Roster Resource.

Connelly Early and Payton Tolle are also two more intriguing lefties that might be currently out of the rotation, and it wouldn’t be surprising if either one of them is dealt for an infielder.

What Are The Concerns About Suárez?

Suárez has seen a velocity dip in three consecutive seasons, as he went from 93 miles per hour to 91.2 mph, and then 90.5 mph this past season.

Suárez has also dealt with his fair share of injuries, maxing out at 157.1 innings this past season.

In 2023, he spent time on the Injured List with an elbow strain in his pitching hand. Suárez also missed time in 2023 due to a hamstring injury.

In 2024, Suárez was back on the IL with lower back soreness that caused him to miss the start of the season.

In 2025, he was on the IL with the nagging back soreness injury to begin the season. Suárez also had a left inner-thigh contusion after taking a 106 mph comebacker in his last regular-season start, but he was fine and didn’t miss a single start.

The Red Sox are paying Suárez from his early 30’s all the way up to his mid-30’s.

The End Of My Red Sox Ranger Suárez Rant

It’s good to see Boston acting like the big market team that they are. Owner John Henry and General Manager Craig Breslow have been heavily scrutinized, and here they are. It’s not the most flashy name, but Suárez is really good.

This is a pitcher who will be a reliable constant for them as long as he can stay healthy and his velocity dips don’t come back to bite.

As aforementioned, this also helps the Red Sox, as they can now trade one of their many starting pitchers for an infielder after losing Bregman to the Cubs.

The laundry list of starting pitching options that Boston possesses includes Crochet, Gray, Bello, Oviedo, Early, Tolle, Kyle Harrison, Patrick Sandoval, Kutter Crawford, and now Suárez.

This was a nice signing for the Red Sox, but now they must address their outfield logjam and their plan at second and third base.

Currently, they have Roman Anthony, Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Jarren Duran with three outfield spots open. At least they have the designated hitter position wide open in this scenario, though.