Jun 18, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Ranger Su‡rez (55) pitches in the first inning against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images Jim Rassol
One of the problems with citing All-Star Game appearances when evaluating a player's legacy is it's such a flawed process.
It's less flawed for pitchers in the sense that the player ballot and the commissioner's office determine the arms in the Midsummer Classic, as opposed to fans for position players. Still, it's treated like a full-season accomplishment when really it's just based on the first half of the season. You can have a disastrous second half of the season after competing in the All-Star Game, but history will still remember you as an All-Star for that year.
The other flaw is that if you miss time or have one really bad start in the first half, there may not be enough time before All-Star Game rosters are determined to overcome that. Over the course of the full season, you can recover and still wind up having elite numbers.
Ranger Suárez missed the first month of the 2025 season with low back stiffness, and then had a clunker in his first start of the year, allowing seven earned runs over 3 2/3 innings pitched in a loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 4. His odds of being an All-Star at that point might have been less than 0%.
But Suárez has been so dominant over his last eight starts that you have to at least have the conversation about whether he's worthy of being selected for the second year in a row.
After limiting the Marlins to four hits and one run over seven innings Wednesday, Suárez has a minuscule 2.20 ERA. Eight of his nine starts have been quality ones (at least six innings pitched, three or less earned runs allowed). He's pitched seven innings in five of his nine outings. Since Suárez made his season debut, his 1.7 WAR trails only Paul Skenes (2.0) and Chris Sale (1.8) among NL starters, per FanGraphs.
Ranger Suárez through his first nine starts of the season: 2.20 ERA, 2.72 FIP, 1.7 WAR and eight quality starts.
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So could Suárez actually make the NL All-Star team? A year ago, 12 pitchers were on the NL All-Star roster, seven of whom were starters. If it's a similar formula this year, Suárez will be fighting for one of the final spots. Skenes, Sale, Zack Wheeler, Logan Webb and MacKenzie Gore are probably locks among NL starting pitchers. Suárez would likely find himself in the mix with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Cristopher Sánchez, David Peterson, Nick Pivetta, Robbie Ray and Freddy Peralta for one of the final spots.
The guess here is that Suárez won't get picked on the first time through. However, there are always a few pitchers who withdraw either because of injury or starting on the final day of the first half. Suárez was one of them last year, as a back injury forced him to miss the game. Wheeler didn't pitch in the exhibition because he started on the Sunday two days before the All-Star Game. Ultimately, Sánchez, Max Fried and Hunter Greene were added to the NL All-Star team. History won't remember that they weren't on the original roster.
Suárez's best bet is probably to be selected as a replacement. It would obviously be a welcome honor for him in a contract year. It may also give him a chance to actually pitch in the game, which he didn't get to do last season.
In any event, it's remarkable that Suárez has pitched so well since coming off of the IL that this is even a discussion. And with one or two more tremendous outings, it could become a reality.
