How the Phillies plan to use the bye week to get Ranger Suárez back on track: ‘He’s really close’

WASHINGTON — A few hours before game time Saturday, Ranger Suárez walked out to left field. Pitching coach Caleb Cotham was waiting for him. Suárez began his catch play, but with a special emphasis on his lower body.

It will continue to be an emphasis for Suárez as he heads into the bye week. After another rough outing on Friday night, the Phillies left-hander has a 5.74 ERA over his seven starts since returning from the injured list, following a bout of lower back soreness. He’s striking out hitters at a 20% clip over that span, and allowing walks at a rate of 9.7%.

It’s a far cry from his other 20 outings this season, when Suárez posted a 2.87 ERA, with 116 strikeouts to 27 walks. Cotham and the Phillies pitching coaches reviewed tape of Suárez’s recent outings, and his outings last year, after his start on Friday night. They remain convinced that the lefty’s recent struggles are a by-product of his delivery — mainly, that he isn’t using his lower half enough, and coming down the mound as quickly as he should.

So, they will use the bye week to give Suárez as many reps — using the proper delivery — as possible.

“I think it’s someone that’s pitched a lot and pitched through a lot of things, and he hasn’t found yet — I think it’s really close — what the work is to solidify the delivery,” Cotham said Saturday. “And not having to think about it. It’s all symptoms of the same thing, which is ... it’s part of dealing with injury and things start moving differently in your body, your delivery changes to accommodate, and then, he came back, and just has had to fight through it.

“It’s not like he’s throwing completely different, but if something’s bothering someone, you’re going to swing the bat differently, you’re going to throw the ball a little differently. So, unwinding that and getting back to him moving in a way that he can pitch free and not have to think about his delivery.”

On Friday, Cotham saw a pitcher who was thinking too much — but not about execution or location. Suárez was thinking about delivery. He allowed six earned runs on seven hits in just two innings, with two walks. His velocity dipped down about 0.8 mph on his four-seam fastball, and his trademark command wasn’t there.

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The pitching coach sees this week as a blessing, because Suárez won’t have to think about his delivery as much. The Phillies will have him do more dry work — going through his delivery without throwing the ball — so he can create some muscle memory, without exhausting his arm.

“It’s not necessarily always going to be throwing the ball,” Cotham said. “He’s going to throw off the mound, but there’s things we can do without the ball in our hand, in the weight room, training room, to make sure that he’s in a good spot physically. Make sure he’s got all of the components needed to pitch the way he wants to pitch.

“All roads leading to making decisions on what to throw, when to throw it, and where to throw it, versus how do I move down the mound? What should my front leg do? What should my arm do? It’s not a good recipe. But he’ll be fine.”

Suárez had the opportunity to practice his delivery in a low-pressure environment during a rehab assignment, but he didn’t feel it was necessary.

“I don’t think that [I could have benefited from it] at all,” Suárez said in early September. “If I didn’t go to a rehab assignment, it’s because I didn’t need it. If I go out and do this every fifth day [in the majors], it’s because I didn’t need a rehab assignment at all.”

Time will tell if that decision impacts him in the playoffs. Regardless, Cotham is going to use the bye week to his advantage.

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“I think it’s a blessing to kind of have an opportunity to do multiple mound sessions, whether it’s bullpen, facing some hitters, or touch and feel,” Cotham said. “Just to work on his delivery and really solidify those things that we’ve been working on. We worked on some of it today. He’s really close.

“What I know about Ranger is even if he’s not moving perfectly, which no one is, he can still get outs. There’s a good learning point where the more we think about the delivery when we’re pitching, the less it probably works. So we need to have presets. You can’t be thinking about how to throw pitches. You need to be thinking about where to throw pitches.”

Austin Hays was scratched from the lineup Saturday because he felt back soreness after Friday’s game. The soreness worsened overnight. He was evaluated on Saturday in Washington, and Thomson said he “can play to tolerance.” Hays was feeling better Saturday afternoon, and the tests showed no structural damage, but it’s unclear if he’ll play Sunday. … Johan Rojas is not in Washington because he is sick. If he feels better, he will rejoin the team Sunday for game 162. … Spencer Turnbull (right lat strain) threw 52 pitches at the Phillies’ triple-A ballpark in Allentown on Friday. He came out of it well. The tentative plan is for him to pitch in the intrasquad game at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday.