Over the course of the offseason, one of the Red Sox’s main priorities was improving their pitching rotation. As the saying goes, pitching wins championships. So, they spent time upgrading, getting names such as Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo. The only multi-year free agent deal given out by GM Craig Breslow was also to a pitcher. Former Philadelphia Phillies star Ranger Suarez signed a five-year, $ 130 million deal in January. After a rough WBC stint with Venezuela, he made his Red Sox debut against the Astros on Monday. Here’s how it went, by the numbers:
Ranger Suarez By The Numbers: Should Fans Worry After Debut?
17.55
The average number of pitches per inning it took Suarez to get through. Seeing as he only got one out in the fifth inning, it’s more of a decimal than a whole number. When compared to the red of the Red Sox starters so far, it surprisingly ranks 2nd-lowest per inning (Garrett Crochet had around 13 per inning on Opening Day). This, however, may say more about the disappointing start for the rotation than Suarez having a good outing.
87.9
The average velocity of his cutter, the most thrown pitch from his outing. Its speed is slightly faster than his 2025 cutter, which was clocked at 86.4. He threw the cutter a total of 24 times on Monday, and the results went like this:
- Seven balls
- Seven strikes
- Seven outs (one double play)
- Three hits (two home runs)
He threw a mix of five pitches throughout, but the cutter was his most often used. However, his curve was his most successful. It was only thrown nine times, and not once did anyone hit it; his curve had a 75% whiff rate. At 74 MPH, the slow speed fooled some batters, striking out two with that pitch.
.368
Houston’s batting average against Suarez last night. It may look bad on the surface, but aside from the two home runs (which unfortunately is what matters), there were no other extra-base hits. It was Oviedo who let up the doubles. For Suarez, it was the five singles that killed him, most of which came in the first inning. He did hold batters to a .256 average over the course of last season, so this may be a one-off, and he gets better, but given his struggles in the WBC, there is some cause for concern.
Should Fans Be Worried?
With the good and bad that happened with his start against Houston, and given the recent disappointment in the Classic, there’s one question. Should fans be worried about this signing and debut? And the short answer is no. But there should be some caution. During the 2025 season, he started rough, letting up seven runs in less than four innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks in his season debut in May. He then followed that up with seven innings of shutout ball, in addition to a 1.30 ERA in June.
The excuse for the rough start was that he suffered a back injury in March of 2025, so he was coming off it. Suarez wasn’t coming off a major injury going into Spring Training or the WBC. So this start could be a fluke, and he could be dominant the next time around. But given his 11.57 ERA in 4.2 innings in the tournament, there should be at least a little caution, especially given the value of the contract. Whether or not he bounces back will likely be seen against the Padres this weekend.
Main Photo Credits: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
