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Red Sox’ Ranger Suárez on dominant start: ‘Extremely pumped after that outing’
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- Red Sox’ Ranger Suárez on dominant start: ‘Extremely pumped after that outing’
ST. LOUIS — As reporters approached Ranger Suárez ’s locker for his postgame interview Saturday night at Busch Stadium, one asked how he was feeling.
“Amazing,” said a smiling Suárez.
That answer was no surprise after Suárez’s first good outing in a Red Sox uniform, a dominant showing in which he held the Cardinals scoreless for six innings in a 7-1 Red Sox win . After two shortened starts against Houston and San Diego in which the lefty allowed eight earned runs and 13 hits in 8 ⅓ innings, he showed signs of why the Red Sox gave him $130 million in the offseason and led Boston to just its fifth win of the year.
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“Extremely pumped after that outing, but mostly because we needed the win,” Suárez said (through interpreter Daveson Perez). “Everybody came in and did their jobs.”
Entering Saturday’s outing, the Red Sox blamed Suárez’s strange spring training build-up — which was interrupted by struggles in the World Baseball Classic — and a lack of execution for the lefty’s struggles. He threw just 76 pitches in his Red Sox debut March 30 in Houston and 75 on Sunday against San Diego. With the offense reeling, the pressure was on Suárez to deliver, especially after Boston lost the series opener in St. Louis on Friday. He did exactly that, holding the Cardinals to three hits and striking out six (while walking two batters) in six innings.
“He moved the ball around,” manager Alex Cora said. “It seems like his arm was a lot quicker than the first two (outings). It tells me he feels better.”
The Red Sox can only hope Saturday’s outing will be a microcosm of Suárez’s season, as he overcame a slow start to take over the game. The lefty struggled with his command — while showing visible frustration on the mound — in a slog of a first inning in which he threw 27 pitches and walked two. From there, though, he was equal parts efficient and effective, needing 57 pitches to get the next 15 outs while retiring 15 of the last 17 batters he faced (including the last eight in a row).
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“I was definitely trying to be too fine with my pitches,” Suárez said. “After that inning, I was able to reset and pitch the way I normally do.”
In order to be more effective (and protect a 2-0 lead once Willson Contreras smoked a two-run double in the fourth), Suárez turned to a specific pitch: his sinker. After throwing the pitch 21 times (28%) in Houston and 12 times (16%) against the Padres, Suárez relied on it at a 46% clip (39 of 84 pitches) against St. Louis. The lefty threw his cutter less — and reaped the benefits.
“He thought it was really good today. It was diving at the end,” said Cora. “The action, the arm, the way he was moving on the mound was good, so that was a good sign.
Added Suárez: “I just felt like they weren’t hitting it. Why change things if they’re not able to get ahold of it?”
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Two weeks into a five-year contract is not the time to judge a player’s value, but considering how Boston’s offseason went — with Suárez representing a high-profile pivot after the Red Sox lost Alex Bregman – there was some pressure on the ex-Phillie to start turning things around. Contreras, who experienced a similar adjustment when he bolted the Cubs for the Cardinals in 2023, can sympathize.
“We played against each other for six years, seven years and he’s always been good,” the first baseman said. “I think it was a matter of time for him to feel comfortable. From my experience, I know it’s really hard when you’re a free agent and you want to do everything right and everything goes south, but you have to be patient and trust your stuff that you can do everything you’ve done before.”
Suárez told Cora he felt more grounded in his mechanics Saturday with his back leg feeling more comfortable than it had in two previous starts. That allowed him to reach a season-high in pitches, a reality that might allow Cora to stretch the lefty out further in his next start, which is likely Friday when the Red Sox open their second homestand against the talented Tigers.
“Definitely,” Suárez said when asked if it felt good to make a good impression. “Especially since I wasn’t able to have a full spring training, to go out there and have positive results. I threw 84 pitches today so that’s going to help me as I go on, to keep getting better and better.”
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The Red Sox know that if Suárez can join Garrett Crochet and Sonny Gray in dominating opponents, they’ll find their way into plenty of games.
“We need him to go deep into games,” Cora said. “If you look at what has happened the first few weeks of the season, when we pitch, we win games. When the starters go deeper into games, we have a better chance of winning games.”
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