Phillies Wrap Up 5-1 Roadtrip Behind Wheeler, Suarez; Schwarber, Turner Stay Hot
Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Ranger Suarez delivers against the Cleveland Guardians during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, May 10, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long)
Coming into Cleveland after a series sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays, the Phillies were feeling good, but perhaps a bit tired in their first game. It was an offensive mash in their second game, and Sunday, the Phillies rode the coattails of Zack Wheeler‘s brilliance and Kyle Schwarber‘s red-hot bat. They took home the series with a 3-0 win on Sunday Night Baseball, which also finished up their road trip with a 5-1 record.
It may not have looked good in game one, but they turned it around with the help of their starting pitchers, Ranger Suarez and Wheeler. Both 2024 All-Stars delivered seven innings of shutout baseball, giving their offense plenty of slack to win their respective games. It was a nice change of pace from Suarez’s last start.
Return of the Ranger
In Suarez’s first start of the year, he looked like he returned to his early 2024 form for two and a third innings. He blanked the top of the Diamondbacks order and had four strikeouts through two innings of work. But it fell apart from there, and he was removed in the fourth inning after giving up seven runs.
He looked fatigued and out of character; Saturday was a different story, though.
Suarez shut down the Guardians’ offense, which has produced 23 wins through their first 39 games, in seven innings of work with only 82 pitches.
One of the keys to his shutout was handling the traffic on the base paths. The Guardians managed to get four runners on base in the seven innings Suarez pitched. Only one of them reached second base, though it was not the fault of the calm and collected southpaw.
The fourth inning went much smoother. He went three up three down, striking out Jose Ramirez. Suarez maintained his dominance in the fifth and sixth innings by facing the minimum number of batters in those innings as well.
So, what changed for Suarez to go from a seven-run start to a seven-inning shutout? From a sabermetrics perspective, not much. All of his pitches, except one, averaged the same spin as they had in his first start, and his velocity was actually lower on Saturday.
The only pitch that had increased metrics was his changeup, which had a 200 revolutions per minute uptick from his previous start (1146 to 1378). It generated three whiffs, only one more than it had against the Diamondbacks.
Advanced metrics may not fully explain Suarez’s drastic difference in starts, as all of his numbers were similar. Sometimes baseball doesn’t need to be explained metrically, but instead watched and enjoyed. The eye-test would tell you he commanded the zone and got quick outs, much like his early 2024 outings. It would also tell you that his confidence on the mound is unmatched, as displayed by his signature nonchalant throw over to Bryce Harper.
BaseballSavant wouldn’t be able to comprehend, but perhaps “Mr. Rager” just felt a little looser, and a little more sexy this time around. One thing is for sure, though: he was dominant.
Chasing Schmidt
It’s starting to get a little redundant at this point, but Schwarber has been having himself a phenomenal year. He has cemented himself as the backbone of this offense with his clutch home runs and continuous ability to get on base. His streak is up to 46 games of reaching base safely, which puts him at fourth all-time in Phillies on-base streaks. Schwarber will need to get on safely in ten more games in order to tie Mike Schmidt‘s record of 56 games.
Outside of his streak, Schwarber leads the National League in home runs with fourteen, tied with Aaron Judge for the home run title. He also provided the only run support for Wheeler’s start on Sunday night with a solo home run to lead off the second inning. And who other but himself to provide the rest of the runs? Schwarber launched a two-run home run in the eighth to give the Phils some insurance.
When there isn’t much offense going on, you can trust that Kyle Schwarber is going to provide a spark.
Hot Trea
There have been peaks and valleys of Trea Turner‘s tenure in the red pinstripes, much of it amplified by the media and fans. Even during the hot streak Turner is on right now, there are complaints about his power. But let’s not be silly, Turner is playing elite baseball right now.
Since the start of the Marlins series, April 18th, Turner has racked up 33 hits in 89 at-bats (.371 batting average) and has a .865 on-base plus slugging. He has also swiped five bags in that time frame while playing well above average defense, which has placed him in the 70th percentile of defensive run value. Pretty good.
Before the 2025 season, Rob Thomson talked to Turner about a change in approach. “‘We got plenty of guys that can [hit home runs]. I want you to get on base, and .380 is the goal. I want you to steal bases. I want you to get 40. I want you to score 100 runs.’ If he does that, I don’t care about anything else.”
It seems the Phillies’ shortstop has fit perfectly into the mold that Thomson proposed earlier in the season. Turner is using all sides of the field; His pull% has gone down 6%, which has increased his rate of balls put in play up the middle. Sure, his hard hit rate has gone down, but he’s hitting the ball where it’s thrown, instead of trying to pull everything for a home run.
Turner has been exciting to watch; he’s been passing the baton down to Harper and Schwarber by getting on base in any way. Some will still complain, but this is the scrappy Turner that many Philadelphians have been wanting for years.
Sean Regenye
Sean Regenye is a sophomore broadcast journalism major at Penn State University. He is a die-hard Philly sports fan and loves baseball, especially the Phillies.
