When will Phillies Starter Ranger Suárez's Struggles End?

Although the Philadelphia Phillies seemed all but untouchable during their nine-game winning streak, some players still struggled.

One of those players was starting pitcher Ranger Suárez who has come into a bit of a slump as of late. In his previous five starts, Suárez has gone past four innings just once, while holding an ERA of 5.48 and a FIP of 3.57.

His lack of late performances may have something to do with his lack of efficiency on the mound. In his most recent start against the Arizona Diamondbacks, it took Suárez 40 pitches to get through the first inning. 

The 40-pitch first inning is a season-high for Suárez, as it sways 18 pitches above his average first inning pitch count of 22. Suárez's average first inning is longer than any other Phillies starter, with the second closest being Zack Wheeler who averages 16 pitches per first inning.

Suárez's inefficiency from the mound doesn't stop in the first inning, he's thrown the second-most pitches only trailing Aaron Nola while pitching the second-lowest amount innings.

It is one of the issues which lies at the heart of his struggles this season, which is on pace for being one of his more difficult seasons yet. 

Going into mid-June, Suárez places in the bottom 50 percentile for categories such as xwOBA, xERA, xBA, K%, as well as BB%.

All of these metrics help measure a pitcher's effectiveness from the mound. These rankings are more than enough to show that Suárez is not where he needs to be, but if history can repeat itself, he can break through this rough patch.

Those doubting him may not know about his triumphs last year, which appear to be a total turnaround from where he is now.

Instead of placing in the bottom 50 percentile for those categories, the lefty placed in the top seven-percent of pitchers in xSLG, wOBA, xwOBA, xwOBACON, and xERA.

Even in categories where he wasn't in the highest-rated, he was astonishing. Take his .205 xBA, which placed him in the top 13% or even his 25.6 K%, which helped him crack out the top 63% of pitchers.

Even though being in the 63-percentile may not sound impressive, taking that stat for its raw meaning, Suárez fanned nearly 26% of all the batters he faced in 2021. 

Although analytics and all the stats in the world can't help determine when he will break out of his slump, they help show that he has more than enough talent to do it.

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