Phillies All-Star pushes back on Rob Thomson’s excuse for persistent struggles

The Philadelphia Phillies have the most wins in baseball and hope to enter the playoffs with its deepest rotation.

Between Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suárez and Cristopher Sanchez, the Phillies have four starters who have been dominant throughout the season. But ever since Suárez hit the injured list with lower back soreness in late July, that depth has faced some new questions.

Suárez returned to the mound in late August without making any rehab starts in the minor leagues and he hasn’t looked like the same pitcher who earned his first All-Star nod earlier in the season. Excusing his pitcher’s struggles to the press, manager Rob Thomson has called his recent outings “rehab starts,” noting that Suárez came straight back to the big leagues from the injured list.

But Suárez has pushed back on describing his latest games as “rehab starts.”

“No, I’m not calling it that,” Suárez told The Athletic’s Matt Gelb. “And I think that there was a reason why I didn’t go on the rehab assignment and it’s because I didn’t need it.”

After Suárez gave up three earned runs in five innings in his most recent start, a loss against the Milwaukee Brewers, Thomson told reporters that he’s confident the lefty will bounce back, describing it “like his third rehab start.”

But Suárez threw 104 pitches in that loss and asserted that he feels healthy, raising questions about whether his struggles might continue beyond the typical rehabilitation timeline. With less than two weeks until the regular season ends, time is running out for Suárez to regain his All-Star form before the team puts their rotation depth to the postseason test.

“It’s a matter of when — not if” the Phillies clinch the division title, Gelb added. “They cannot say the same about Suárez returning to form. If he does, the path is clearer. But that is not guaranteed.”

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