NEWS: Phillies pitcher Ranger Suarez named NL Player of the Week

There are plenty of reasons why the Philadelphia Phillies have been atop the NL East for much of the 2025 season — pitching being the main one.

And a lot of the credit for the likely play-off bound Phils’ performance goes to pitcher Ranger Suarez, whose 2.66 ERA this year has gone a long towards easing the loss of injured staff ace Zack Wheeler.

Suarez was named the NL Player of the Week on August 25 after going 2-0 with a 1.32 ERA — giving up just 2 earned runs in 13.2 innings pitched with only seven hits, no walks, 21 strikeouts, a .146 opponents’ batting average and averaging nearly 14 strikeouts per nine innings.

For the week, the Venezuela native, 29, led both leagues in strikeouts. Suarez punched out 11 Washington batters on Sunday, allowing just 3 hits in 7 innings. That followed hurling 6.2 innings against Seattle in his previous start, when he struck out 10 batters and notched his 50th career win.

It was the first time a Phillies southpaw had 10 Ks and recorded a win in consecutive starts since Cole Hamels in September 2006.

Suarez has only allowed one or zero runs in 10 of 20 starts this season and two or less in 13 of his 20 starts.

Meanwhile, first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino of the Kansas City Royals was named AL Player of the Week.