Suárez makes first start of spring training
Debut, delayed by visa issues, is a rocky one against Baltimore
Phillies left-handed starter Ranger Suárez, who was held up with visa issues and missed the beginning of spring training camp, made his first Grapefruit League start on Friday against the Baltimore Orioles. It was bumpy; Suárez threw 35 pitches in two innings and struck out three but allowed two earned runs (one home run) and two walks in the Phillies’ 3-2 loss.
He said after the game that he feels physically fine, and ready, in terms of preparation, despite his delayed start.
“I just have to keep throwing to find myself, but for it being the first time, I thought it was good,” he said through a translator.
“Look, it’s going to be short, but I feel good about him being able to make that start [on April 11],” said Phillies manager Joe Girardi.
Suárez will get another start in before the season opener against the A’s on April 8, and Girardi estimates he’ll throw 50-55 pitches. Starter Zack Wheeler, who has also been behind schedule — because of a sore shoulder he dealt with earlier in camp — will make his first Grapefruit League start on Saturday at the Blue Jays in Dunedin, Fla.
A Bohm bomb
Alec Bohm, who got the start at third base on Friday, hit a solo shot to center field in the top of the first inning. Bohm followed that up with a single to shortstop in the top of the fourth. Girardi said earlier in the week that Bohm and hitting coach Kevin Long have been working on an adjustment in his stride, which he believes is starting to click.
“It was better today,” Girardi said. “That’s why he got 14 at-bats in the last two days [on the backfields]. You’ve got to feel it. You can do it in the cage, you can do it under a controlled circumstances, but you’ve got to feel it in a game. And he looked better today.
He has a good swing. And we believe he’s really going to hit. It’s just cleaning up a few things. It happens to hitters who have had a lot of success over time. Sometimes they get a little off and you’ve got to clean them up.”
Long said earlier this month that he didn’t intend to change Bohm’s approach at the plate, only to get him closer to the hitting position, and make his swing a little bit shorter than it was last year.
“Alec is going to be a little bit more spread out, he’s going to have a little less load, and everything he’s going to do is going to be shorter and more precise to get to the ball,” Long said in early March. “The more that you add on and the more pieces that you have involved in your swing, the harder hitting becomes. The more your head moves, the more your body moves. They’re throwing the ball harder than they’ve ever thrown it, so I really want my hitters to have less movement as opposed to more movement.”
A few pitching notes
Girardi said on Friday that the door for left-handed reliever José Alvarado to start the season with the club is “ajar.” Alvarado pitched an inning in a simulation game on Friday. Reliever Connor Brogdon, who has struggled to hit the 96 mph velocity he had last season, is scheduled to pitch against the Blue Jays on Saturday, depending on his health (Girardi said that Brogdon was dealing with a minor cold). Girardi says that he could see the Phillies’ lingering roster decisions being decided as late as Wednesday of next week, because of the uncertainty surrounding Brogdon and Alvarado.
16 pitchers on the roster?
MLB announced Thursday that from opening day through May 1, the 26-man MLB roster will increase to 28 players (29 for any doubleheaders over that span). The limit on the number of pitchers a team can carry on its active roster (13) will not apply from April 7-May 1. Girardi said that because of that temporary adjustment, the Phillies are contemplating carrying 16 pitchers for the first month of the season, since he anticipates that pitchers won’t be able to make back-to-back appearances.