PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies have a problem on their hands.
It’s a good problem, but even good ones need to be solved. The Phils will have six healthy starting pitchers beginning on Sunday, when Ranger Suárez returns from the injured list to make his season debut against Arizona at Citizens Bank Park.
Suárez has been sidelined since the spring because of a sore back, but he said on Thursday it hasn’t bothered him since March.
“Everything is going according to plan,” he said through the team’s interpreter.
But the Phillies are unlikely to employ a six-man rotation upon Suárez’s return, which means somebody is going to the bullpen next week.
The most likely candidate is right-hander Taijuan Walker, who started Thursday night’s 4-2 loss to the Nationals. Walker has resuscitated his career following an abysmal 2024, going 1-3 with a 2.54 ERA in six starts as Suárez’s replacement.
“I mean, obviously, I want to be a starting pitcher,” Walker said. “I feel like I’ve done my job well enough to be in the rotation, still. But ultimately it’s not my decision, so we’ll talk to them and see what happens.”
Walker allowed four runs (one earned) on four hits and three walks to go with two strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings on Thursday.
“We’ll see what they say,” Walker said. “Ranger coming back is such a bonus for us. He’s such a good pitcher. I know we miss him in our rotation. We’ll see what happens. It’s always a good problem to have when you have guys throwing the ball well, especially in the starting rotation.”
Ironically, Walker finds himself in the same position as Spencer Turnbull was last season. Turnbull went 2-0 with a 1.67 ERA in six starts at Walker’s replacement, but when Walker returned from the IL, the Phillies moved Turnbull to the bullpen, even though his performance did not warrant a demotion.
Walker, like Turnbull, has pitched well enough to remain in the rotation.
It’s obvious that Zack Wheeler, Jesús Luzardo, Aaron Nola and Cristopher Sánchez aren’t going anywhere. But people keep asking about Suárez, even though the Phils have said repeatedly for weeks that they have had no conversations about moving him to the bullpen.
Yes, Suárez has been a reliever in the past, but they want him to start because he has shown when he is healthy, he can be one of the best pitchers in baseball. Teams don’t take a pitcher like that and make him a reliever in May, even with the bullpen struggling early.
Suárez smiled when asked if he would be open to pitching out of the bullpen at some point later this year. Suárez will be a free agent after the season, so there are millions of reasons why Suárez personally would want to remain in the rotation.
“Obviously, it’s going to depend on the context,” Suárez said. “That’s a tough one. I obviously want to be in the rotation all the time. I want to be a starting pitcher all the time. But if it’s for the team’s sake, if it’s to win something, if it’s to get to the World Series, then I’m willing to do anything.”
One of the reasons the Phillies are unlikely to use a six-man rotation is because they would go from an eight-man to a seven-man bullpen. A seven-man ‘pen would need the flexibility to shuttle pitchers to and from Triple-A Lehigh Valley because they would be leaning on fewer relievers, meaning less rest for them.
The current bullpen has only two relievers with options: left-hander Tanner Banks and right-hander Orion Kerkering.
The Phillies are trying to address that. On Thursday, they acquired right-hander Daniel Robert from Texas for pitching prospect Enrique Segura. Robert was optioned to Triple-A. But he gives Philadelphia another potential optionable reliever, along with others on the 40-man roster like Seth Johnson, Max Lazar and Brett de Geus.
But that’s down the road. Next week, the most likely move is Walker joining the ‘pen.
“We’re still walking through it,” manager Rob Thomson said.
Thomson said the only thing they really know is that Wheeler will start on Tuesday against the Rays in Tampa.
“Beyond that we’re kind of up in the air,” Thomson said.
But is there a role for Walker as a long reliever?
“Absolutely, absolutely,” Thomson said. “But I’m not saying that’s what we’re going to do.”