Ranger Suarez will try to help team Venezuela keep playing at the World Baseball Classic.
Despite a difficult loss against the Dominican Republic on Wednesday night, Team Venezuela has advanced to the quarterfinal round of the World Baseball Classic in Miami.
In that quarterfinal, they'll meet Japan, the defending tournament champions. That game will be played on Saturday at 9 p.m. ET. Other quarterfinals include Team USA against Canada, the Dominican Republic against Korea and Italy against Puerto Rico.
Venezuela went 3-1 in the preliminary round while Japan went 4-0 and showed why they are one of the tournament favorites.
And according to Venezuela manager Omar Lopez, Boston Red Sox hurler Ranger Suarez will be the one to try and shut down a potent Japanese lineup.
Suarez allowed one earned run in two innings earlier in the tournament.
Working in his favor against Japan?
The Japanese lineup features a lot of signature lefties, including Shohei Ohtani, Masataka Yoshida and Munetaka Murakami, so the hope is that Suarez can neutralize some of its power.
Of course, Seiya Suzuki and Kazuma Okamoto are right-handed, so the lineup is extremely balanced.
About Suarez
Now 30 years old, Suarez is an eight-year veteran of the Philadelphia Phillies who helped them get to the World Series in 2022. He is 53-37 lifetime with a 3.38 ERA and he made the All-Star Game in 2024.
He signed a five-year, $130 million deal with the Red Sox this offseason as the team elected to dive into a pitching and defense-first model.
He'll pair with Garrett Crochet, Sonny Gray and Brayan Bello to make up a rotation that should be among the best in the entire sport.
Something interesting to note? He's never thrown more than 157.1 innings in a season, and he doesn't miss many bats: He only had 151 strikeouts in those 157.1 innings in 2025, so it will be interesting to see how he fares in the American League East, which is full of potent lineups, including a bevy of right-handed power hitters from Aaron Judge to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to Junior Caminero to Pete Alonso.
Other Red Sox still playing in the World Baseball Classic
(as compiled by @BOSSportsGordo)
Red Sox moving onto the WBC quarterfinals:
Roman Anthony (USA)
Garrett Whitlock (USA)
Brayan Bello (Dominican Republic)
Willson Contreras (Venezuela)
Wilyer Abreu (Venezuela)
Ranger Suarez (Venezuela)
Masataka Yoshida (Japan)
Greg Weissert (Italy)
Mickey Gasper (Italy)
Jovani Moran (Puerto Rico)
Eduardo Rivera (Puerto Rico)
Back to the Fort:
Jarren Duran (Mexico)
Ceddanne Rafaela (Netherlands)
Nate Eaton (Great Britain)
Jack Anderson (Great Britain)
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