While the Philadelphia Phillies’ 2024 season ended sooner than expected, it was an overall solid campaign for starting pitcher Ranger Suarez. As he enters his final year of arbitration in 2025, will president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski explore a contract extension with the homegrown All-Star?
Dombrowski chose his words carefully during an end-of-season press conference following Philly’s NLDS exit at the hands of the New York Mets.
“We like Ranger a lot,” Dombrowski said, via Destiny Lugardo of Phillies Nation. “We liked the Ranger of the first half of the season better than the second half. There was a lot that was involved in that from his own perspective, but he’s a good pitcher. We’re all very open-minded to having Ranger in the organization for a long time.”
The 2024 season was Suarez’s third straight year exclusively pitching out of the starting rotation. He earned his first All-Star Game selection while posting career-best marks in ERA (3.46) and strikeouts (145) in 150.2 innings. The southpaw earned $5.05 million this past season. Spotrac is estimating a $11.3 million salary for him in 2025, which would be a 123% raise.
Ranger Suarez Had Two Seasons in One for the Phillies in 2024
Suarez’s 2024 campaign was very different when comparing his first-half performance to what he did following the midsummer classic. He went 10-4 with a 2.76 ERA through his first 114 innings before posting a 5.65 ERA over his final 36.2 frames.
It was even more drastic when comparing his first two months to the rest of the season. Suarez compiled 72 innings through the end of May. He produced a 10-1 record with a 1.75 ERA and 77 strikeouts within that period. Opposing hitters posted just a .497 OPS against him.
The southpaw couldn’t keep that pace down the stretch and spent time on the injured list with back issues. After posting a 3.48 ERA through 31 innings in June, Suarez failed to post an ERA below 5.00 in any of the final three months of the regular season, per Baseball-Reference.
The Phillies Love Having Ranger Suarez in the Postseason
Suarez was the NLDS Game 4 starter for Philly, a contest the Mets ultimately won to eliminate them from the postseason. Although he didn’t last long, the lefty did all he could to give his squad a chance to win. He allowed five hits and four walks across 4.1 innings. However, he also struck out eight hitters without allowing a run in his appearance.
The 29-year-old has gotten a lot of postseason experience over the past three years with Philly. He’s proven to be quite effective on the game’s biggest stage. He’s accumulated 37.2 career postseason innings, resulting in a 1.43 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 40 strikeouts. That kind of production during high-stress situations isn’t easy to come by.
If the Phillies and Suarez don’t agree to an extension this winter, what kind of payday could the lefty be playing for in 2025? Spotrac’s current market-value projection for him settles in at five years and just shy of $95 million. Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter thinks his next deal could land in the $70-80 million range.
That’s likely because of the struggles he experienced following a torrid start in 2024. If he finds more consistency in 2025 without signing an extension this winter, his next deal could approach the $100 million plateau.
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Phillies Are ‘Open-Minded’ on Extending 2024 All-Star Projected for 123% Raise