The left-handed veteran has more than lived up to his high price tag in 2026.
When the Boston Red Sox signed left-handed starter Ranger Suarez to a five-year, $130 million contract in late January, they were looking for the 'Robin' to Garrett Crochet’s 'Batman'. Thus far, Suarez has more than lived up to his billing.
Suarez carried a no-hitter into the seventh as he tossed 6.2 shutout innings in the Red Sox' 6-2 win on Friday night over the Seattle Mariners, featuring stuff that, according to interim manager Chad Tracy, “had no-hit feel.” The 30-year-old lefty has been one of the best pitchers in baseball in June, allowing only three earned runs on 13 hits in 18 innings. His 1.50 ERA ranks 11th-lowest among all starters in the month.
After a rough start to the season, where he allowed eight earned runs on 13 hits in 8.1 innings in his first two regular-season starts in a Boston uniform, Suarez has dominated. Since April 11, the 30-year-old has allowed only 17 earned runs on 49 hits in 68.1 innings across his last 12 starts, good for a 2.24 ERA that ranks seventh best in baseball in that stretch. While his home runs per nine innings of 0.26 is the second-lowest, only to Milwaukee ace Jacob Misiorowski.
A throwback style pitcher
The 30-year-old has never been a flamethrower reliant on racking up strikeouts like most modern-day starters, though he is capable of the occasional high strikeout night. Instead, he’s a ‘pitcher rather than a thrower’, relying on generating soft contact to get outs.
Suarez is among the league’s best in limiting hard contact, ranking in the 84th percentile in hard hit rate at 32.5 percent, while his soft contact rate of 18.7 percent is seventh among pitchers with at least 70 innings of work.
Despite relying on soft contact, Suarez is striking out a fair number of batters as well. His 24.2 percent strikeout rate and 8.80 strikeouts per nine innings are both the second-highest marks of his now nine-year career.
While Suarez has been without his Batman in Garrett Crochet since April 29, the 2025 Cy Young Award runner-up works his way back from left shoulder inflammation. The big-ticket free agent signee has done an admirable job anchoring the Boston rotation in his absence.
After Friday night’s win, the Red Sox will look to clinch a series win over the Mariners on Saturday night. Rookie lefty Connelly Early (5-5, 3.81 ERA) will look to bounce back from the worst start of his major league career when he gets the start for Boston opposite Emerson Hancock (5-3, 3.28 ERA) for Seattle. First pitch from T-Mobile Park set for 10:10 p.m. ET.
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