Not something you want to hear with a little more than a week until Opening Day.

Ranger Suarez is dealing with “mild back stiffness,” according to Rob Thomson. Suarez will not start on Friday.

The stiffness was discovered in a four-inning start at the Carpenter Complex a few days ago:

Suarez suffered a back injury last season that kept him out more than a month. Luckily for the Phillies, Thomson and Suarez both said that his back is “not quite as bad” as last year, but it’s still not a good sign for the Phillies.

The Phillies had arguably the best rotation in baseball heading into the 2025 season. Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola, the aces. Cristopher Sanchez, the rising star. Jesus Luzardo, the new guy with nasty stuff. And Suarez, the guy who was the Cy-Young favorite in June of last season.


But now, things get a little dicey. The Phillies will know more about Ranger’s injury in the coming days, but this sets up Taijuan Walker’s return to the starting rotation for the start of the season.

Yes, I know a lot of you probably don’t want to see Taijuan Walker out there. But the Phillies have no reason to even try and rush Suarez back from an injury that’s obviously lingering for over six months.

Walker had a few really good starts before getting blown up by the Yankees Wednesday. His spring ERA is now 6.92. But the velocity is up around 4 mph from this time last spring. How much can you look at Spring Training stats at this point? That’s up to you to decide.

Hopefully, Suarez is OK. But Andrew Painter isn’t ready yet, so that leaves Walker to hold down the 5th spot in the starting rotation until Suarez can return, if he even misses time.

This spring has been surprisingly healthy for the Phillies. Even with Marsh and Kepler’s injuries over the last few days, both are fine and have already returned to the lineup. Now? This is the Phillies’ first big one.