Ranger Suarez named NL Pitcher of the Month after an insane April

Ranger Suarez is 5-0, he has the second-best ERA (1.32) and best WHIP (0.63) in Major League Baseball, he leads both leagues in innings per start, and on Thursday he was named NL Pitcher of the Month for April.

The 28-year-old lefty has been the most impressive arm in a rotation that put up gaudy numbers in the opening month. The Phillies have won all six of his starts. Suarez has allowed just one run in his last 30 innings on an eighth-inning solo homer Saturday in San Diego.

Suarez has gone nine, seven and eight innings his last three times out and is on pace for 218 innings. His career-high was 155⅓ innings in 2022. It seems unlikely the Phillies would let him rocket past 200, but they do want him to take a step forward with his workload and he's poised to do so.

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Suarez' next start will be Saturday at home against the Giants. The Phillies got both Suarez and Aaron Nola two extra days of rest by starting Spencer Turnbull on Tuesday after Taijuan Walker made his season debut 48 hours prior.

The Phillies, who won a franchise-record 20 games in April and are 21-11 after completing a long road trip, have been stacking accolades. Alec Bohm was NL Player of the Week from April 22-28 and Trea Turner was NL Player of the Week from April 15-21.

The Phillies’ rotation has a 2.50 ERA which trails only the Red Sox. It leads the majors in WHIP (0.99) and innings per start (6.0) with the game’s lowest opponents’ batting average and on-base percentage. In 32 games, the Phils have 18 quality starts, one off Seattle’s MLB lead.