All-Star break coming at good time for Suárez, rotation

PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies will play two more games before they scatter across the country for the All-Star break.

It’s coming at a good time.

Everybody could use the rest, of course, but the Phillies have been leaning heavily on arguably baseball’s best rotation since Opening Day. Phillies manager Rob Thomson has been thinking about ways to use the break to help his starters finish the season strong.

Thomson said before Friday night’s 6-2 loss to the A’s at Citizens Bank Park that right-hander Zack Wheeler will make his first start of the second half in Minnesota, which will give him at least three extra days to rest his ailing back.

He said a few hours later that they might push left-hander Ranger Suárez's first start of the second half a few extra days, too.

“Extra days are good for everyone,” Suárez said through the team’s interpreter. “Nobody has been bad having extra rest. I’m not here to do that, or decide whether or not to pitch on that. Whatever the team decides is the best option, I’ll be ready to go.”

Suárez struggled for a fourth consecutive start on Friday night, allowing six hits, four runs and three walks over six innings. Suárez had a 1.75 ERA in 15 starts through June 19 en route to his first All-Star nod, but has a 7.06 ERA (17 earned runs in 21 2/3 innings) over his past four starts and an 8.62 ERA (15 earned runs in 15 2/3 innings) in his past three.

He said he isn’t tired. He has said he doesn’t have a dead arm.

The Phillies said they think he is healthy, too.

“I think the break is going to be good, I think it’s going to be good for everybody,” Thomson said. “Velocity is down a little bit, but not too bad. He can still pitch at that.”

Suárez’s sinker averaged 90.0 mph on Friday, down from his season average of 91.0 and the lowest mark of his career as a starter. He averaged a previous low 90.1 mph on Aug. 16, 2018, which was the second start of his career.

“I don’t think so,” Suárez said, when asked if his arm might be tired. “I just think I’m trying to be too sharp on the mound. [I’ve been] trying to be too sharp on the mound for the last couple outings. I just have to let go of that, locate the pitches where I want and I think that I’ll be better.”

Suárez’s command hasn’t been there, either. He had walked more than two batters only once this season -- he walked three on Friday.

He also hasn’t been generating as many swings and misses. He has gotten four or fewer whiffs in only four of his 85 career starts, two of which have come in this four-start stretch.

If Suárez is fatigued, it would be understandable. He enters the All-Star break having thrown 114 innings. He had never thrown more than 84 innings before the break, which happened in 2022.

He said his first-half workload hasn’t affected him.

“I worked for this during the offseason,” he said. “I worked toward the goal of having a full season. I knew that I was going to pitch a lot of innings this season. I’m ready for it. I feel good.”

He said the other day he hopes to pitch in the All-Star Game on Tuesday in Texas. It shouldn’t be taxing for him. It should be fun. Then, he can rest up and prepare for the second half.

“Look at what we’ve been able to do as a team,” Suárez said. “I think we’ve had a tremendous start of the season, a tremendous first half. If we keep this pace, I think we’re going to have a pretty good chance of reaching that goal that we’ve set.”