The Red Sox announced Thursday that he is a lefty Guard Suárez was placed on the 15-day injured list (backdated to July 6) due to a groin strain. Striker Brett Harris moves up from Triple-A Worcester to take his place on the roster.
Suárez, 30, signed a five-year, $130MM deal in free agency and has so far reached his end of the program. The longtime Phillies southpaw has pitched to a 3.15 ERA with a career-high 25.8% strikeout rate, a solid 6.9% walk rate and a 40.4% groundball rate. Suárez won’t continue to see just 6% of his fly-balls become homers — his career mark is 11%, league average 12% — but metrics like xFIP (3.30) and SIERA (3.57) still feel like he’s really good.
Suárez left his most recent start after recording just eight outs. The team announced the injury at the time as a strain on his left adductor. Since then they’ve been hoping he can avoid the trip to IL, but that won’t be the case. He was named to the American League All-Star team but will now be unable to participate in that game due to injury. Suárez will miss at least the first two games – one this Saturday and the other coming off the break. It is unclear whether he will ever be sidelined. The team has yet to provide a timetable for his return.
The Sox will probably go back to the righty Brian Bello on Saturday, when Suárez’s spot in the rotation rises next. Boston optioned Bello, a former best player and former regular, to Triple-A earlier this season after posting an ERA north of 6.00 in his first 12 appearances. He has looked his best in 18 2/3 Triple-A innings since being demoted. Bello’s 4.34 ERA isn’t particularly impressive, but he’s struck out 27% of his opponents against a 5% walk rate and kept half of the batters hit against him on the ground. Considering he was sitting at a career-low 15.6% before the pick, the significantly higher strikeout and swing rate (11.1% in Boston, 13% in Worcester) is a welcome improvement.
Suárez is the latest Red Sox pitcher to land on the injured list. He joins ace Garrett Crochet – out since April – and a little southpaw Connelly Early such as the integral rotation arms on the shelf. The Sox went with them Sonny Gray, Payton Tollea rooster Jake Bennett and newly minted veterans Patrick Sandoval in circulation at the moment.
Boston’s performance in the coming weeks will determine the team’s approach to the trade deadline. That makes Suárez’s loss, even in the couple’s debut, especially notable. The Red Sox have won 10 of 12 games, moving back into the mud and the Wild Card spot in the American League. The Sox are twelve games back in the AL East, so there is no real thought of a run in the division, but even at 42-48 they are only three games back of the Rangers for the last Wild Card spot.
If the Sox end up trading, there will be a lot of talk surrounding veterans like Sonny Gray, Aroldis Chapman and Sandoval (among others). As such, Suárez’s injury has some ramifications not just for the Red Sox but for the entire league, given the added importance of every Boston win or loss.
