MASSIVE Injury Update...This Changes EVERYTHING For The Phillies

We got major news this morning down in Clearwater in regards to Philly's starting pitcher, Ranger Suarez. And I'll say this right now, it doesn't look as good for the rotation as it did a few weeks ago. I'm going to get into all of this tonight on the newest episode of Philly's Digest. But before we do that, I do want to remind you guys, if you have not subscribed to the channel already, please do that. Myself and Sean Bernard are working really hard every single day and we want you guys to know exactly when we are uploading our videos. Over 75% of you guys that are viewing our videos every day have not subscribed to the channel. So this morning, Ranger Suarez, there was news that Ranger Suarez is dealing with low back stiffness. That's what the Phillies are calling it, mild back stiffness, stiffness. He will not start Friday as planned. The injury is not as bad as last year, Rob Thompson said. But Suarez's availability is now in question. And we did get a little more on this topic this morning from Rob Thompson in a quick interview. So I'm going to play that here. Ranger's got a little stiff back right now. So we're pulling back. That's why we haven't announced anything on that rotation and who's pitching when and who's got the home opener and all that stuff. Because we can move people around. Okay, so Ranger is similar to last year's back injury? Not quite as bad. So the next 24-48 hours will tell us a lot. So that was Rob Thompson today down in Clearwater after today's beat down that the Phillies got beat down versus the Yankees. But this is where things now start to get interesting because the starting rotation that a few weeks ago I think we were all agreeing that there's potential for them to be the best starting rotation in baseball. Now you may lose an arm and an arm might not be ready for opening day. And I think this is sort of where we start to fall back into some guys that we know could sort of find their way back into this rotation. This is from Todd Zielecki of MLB.com. This morning he said, if everybody is healthy, the Phillies' five-man rotation is set with Zach Wheeler, Jesus Lizardo, Aaron Nola, Christopher Sanchez, and Ranger Suarez. But if Suarez needs an extended amount of time to recover, Walker is expected to take his spot. Because of two off days in the season's first six days, the Phillies would not need a fifth starter until April 6th against the Dodgers. If Suarez opens the season on the 15-day injured list, it can be backdated three days. That would allow him to rejoin the team as early as April 8th in Atlanta. And I do want to get into more of this article from Zielecki, but really quick, I'm calling all of the March Madness fans really quick. We have partnered with the Hot Takes app, and here's a little snippet of that. 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This is also about the next guy that would probably step in for Ranger and that would be Tywon Walker. He said Walker had pitched well this spring until he allowed six runs in three and two-thirds innings in Wednesday's 9-7 Grapefruit League loss to the Yankees at Baycare Ballpark. Walker is going to make the Phillies' opening day roster unless he is traded in the next few days, which is unlikely. But the presumption since camp opened last month is if Walker makes the team, he will be the long man in the Phillies' eight-man bullpen. But that might change now because Suarez has a stiff back following a four-inning, 60-pitch start at the Carpenter Complex on Saturday. about that. Sorry. And he said, I haven't thought about that, Walker said. I think I've got one more start on Monday. I've started every game so far this spring. That's kind of been my focus. In regards to him possibly pitching out of the bullpen, he then goes on to say, I mean, if I'm being honest, last year was just a you-know-what show. Honestly, it was such a mess. I couldn't tell you. I was so lost last year with everything. I really couldn't tell you. I was just trying to get out at that point. And that's basically what it was for TaiwanWalker. He was basically going out there just trying to get out of every inning. Nothing was really ever working for Taiwan last year. But this is now the chance for him to possibly step back into the rotation because we do not know if Ranger Suarez will be ready because, once again, Ranger Suarez is dealing with this mild back stiffness. Obviously, Suarez dealt with this last year. He was out for around a little over a month. And before the back injury, he was the favorite to win Cy Young. And he came back, and he had a pretty bad second half. So this isn't good news for the Phillies. I don't think a lot of people want to see TaiwanWalker in the rotation to start the year. But this is where I do want to play devil's advocate here because I'd rather see TaiwanWalker in two starts in April and let Ranger Suarez get healthy than the Phillies try and rush him back. You have seven months of regular season baseball. You have four awesome starting pitchers. You have Andrew Painter, who will be here in the summer. And whether you like him or not, TaiwanWalker is making $18 million, so they're going to find a way to pitch him. There's no point in trying to rush Ranger back. Let TaiwanWalker try and handle this. I know we don't like the name. I know we don't like the pitcher. But the velocity is way up from last year. It's something the Phillies are going to have to give a shot. And it's probably not your favorite thing in the world. You're probably down in the comments section right now telling me why you hate this idea from the Phillies. Listen, I get it. I don't love watching TaiwanWalker pitch either. Would you rather watch Ranger Suarez get rushed back and re-injure his back worse? Or watch TaiwanWalker for like two starts? So once again, Walker just completely talking about everything from last year. It was just a bad year, once again. I mean, if I'm being honest, last year was just a you-know-what show. Honestly, it was such a mess. I couldn't tell you. I was so lost last year with everything. I really couldn't tell you. I was just trying to get out at that point. So what are your thoughts now? Because now after a pretty healthy spring, we've now had Marsh, Kepler, and Suarez go down. Yes, Marsh and Kepler are completely fine. They both already returned to the lineup. But it seems like the injury bug has hit the Phillies the last few days. Right now for me, I can't rush Ranger Suarez back into this rotation. He's too valuable. But once again, I do think when he comes back, I think he's going to start the year off in that fifth spot. But I think this lingering back injury just further proves my point of, I think the odd man out of the rotation once Andrew Painter is ready is probably Ranger Suarez. And I think it's probably the best for his back at this point eventually. If they want Ranger Suarez to pitch a full season and this back thing is still lingering, I think the bullpen will probably be a better option for him once Andrew Painter is ready in the summer. But for the first few months of the season, Suarez is going to need to be in the rotation. But once again, the Phillies do not need to rush him back. So we're hoping Ranger gets better. We hope Ranger can make his first start. And once again, they didn't completely rule it out. They said they're going to do more tests over the next day or so. And maybe he'll be fine as far as Suarez. But there's no reason to rush Ranger, right? Tylon Walker will probably make one or two starts throughout the first two and a half weeks of the season. I think we can deal with that and not have Ranger re-injure his back. So once again, I do want to remind you guys of two things. If you guys have not subscribed to the channel, please do that. Myself, Sean Bernard, are working really hard every single day pumping out videos. 76% of you guys that are watching our videos have not subscribed. The second thing, once again, all of my March Madness people, we have partnered with the Hot Takes app. Down in the description below, there is a link. You have about 15 hours from when this video comes out to get in. Sean's already talked about this a few times. You have about 15 hours to get in. Hit the link below, download the app on your phone, use code D-I-G-E-S-T when you sign up and join the Digest media pool. Once again, I am Luke Arcani. Happy March Madness. Hopefully Ranger gets healthy soon. I will see you next time on Philly's Digest.