Philadelphia left-hander Ranger Suarez will start the season on the injured list due to ongoing lower back soreness, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters Monday at the team’s spring training facility in Clearwater, Fla.
“I don’t think it will be long, long,” Dombrowski said ahead of an exhibition game against the Tampa Bay Rays. “But we’re going to be slow. We’re not going to bring him back until he feels good. And he feels good now, but now, we’re in that stage where we have to build him up.”
Suarez, 29, underwent testing after feeling tightness on March 16, one day after pitching in an intrasquad game. He has not pitched since.
Manager Rob Thomson had said Wednesday it’s “not as bad” as last season, when lower back soreness sent Suarez to the 15-day injured list in late July.
Taijuan Walker will take the fifth spot in the rotation in Suarez’s absence, which Dombrowski called a “great opportunity” for the 13-year veteran.
“It’s good to have somebody like that,” Dombrowski said. “I hope he pitches like he did a couple years ago. I don’t see why he can’t with what he has now.”
Walker, 32, is in the third season of a four-year, $72 million contract.
He posted a career high for victories when he went 15-6 with a 4.38 ERA in 31 starts in 2023, his first campaign with the Phillies. But Philadelphia didn’t use him once in the postseason — the club played in three rounds — and that drew Walker’s ire.
Last season, he missed nearly two months with a right index finger injury and never got things going. Walker served up 18 homers in just 70 2/3 innings before being demoted to the bullpen in late August after a particularly rough outing where he was torched for six runs and 13 hits in six innings in a 10-0 loss to the Houston Astros.
Walker owns a 72-63 record and 4.19 ERA in 217 appearances (209 starts) with the Seattle Mariners (2013-16, 2020), Arizona Diamondbacks (2017-19), Toronto Blue Jays (2020), New York Mets (2021-22) and Phillies. He was an All-Star for the Mets in 2021.
Suarez was an All-Star last season and finished 12-8 with a 3.46 ERA in 27 starts. He has a 41-29 career record with a 3.42 ERA in 161 games (93 starts) for the Phillies since making his debut in 2018.
