Phillies left-hander Ranger Suarez pitches Wednesday against the San Diego Padres in Philadelphia. For the first time in Suarez’s major league career, he was able to pitch in front of his wife and his two children after his wife was granted a visa to travel to the United States from Venezuela. Matt Slocum/Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — Ranger Suárez never had spent a Father’s Day with his two young children. Stuck in Venezuela because of a complicated visa process, his wife never had left the country nor watched the left-hander pitch in person with the Philadelphia Phillies.
His family missed out on watching Suárez rise from a little-known teenage prospect that signed with the Phillies as an international free agent in 2012 to an ace and potential All-Star for the team with the best record in the National League.
No more.
At last, the family has been reunited in the United States.
Suárez picked up a no-decision and tossed six solid innings for the Phillies, who lost 5-2 to the San Diego Padres on Wednesday. The outcome almost didn’t seem to matter to Suárez.
That’s because his family was there to cheer him on at Citizens Bank Park.
His wife, Joseany, and their two young children, Sofia and Dominick, sat behind the plate and gave Suárez all the reasons he needed to smile in the clubhouse following a start nearly a decade in the making.
“I am very excited to go home and see them, hug them, talk with them, play with them,” Suárez said through an interpreter.
“I saw them before the game and it’s a totally different feeling. Very cool,” he said.
The 28-year-old Suárez, who was raised in Pies de Cuesta, Venezuela, has enjoyed a breakout season with the Phillies and helped lead them to a 49-25 record.
He is 10-1 with a 1.75 ERA – one of just four Phillies starting pitchers since the stat became official in 1912 to boast an ERA of 1.75 or lower through their first 15 starts.
Suárez has been touted as a front-runner to start the All-Star Game for the National League next month in Texas.
“If they call me for the All-Star Game, I would definitely go and bring my family,” he said. “That would be a great experience to play my first All-Star Game and bring them.”
Suárez and Joseany were married in the offseason, in part to aid the process of her obtaining the visa needed to bring the family to the United States. The couple share 6-year-old Sofia and 3-year-old Dominick. Joseany and the children watched the Phillies play on TV and cheered on Suárez as helped lead the team to the World Series in 2022 and the NL Championship Series last season. Suárez knows how much it would mean to everyone if the entire family could enjoy another postseason run.
“Every time I pitch, and even when I don’t, they always watch Phillies games and are cheering for us,” he said. “The little one really likes it, they both do.”
The only part better for Suárez than having his family at Wednesday’s game was having it all together for the first time on Father’s Day.
“Happy, very happy. We were excited because they arrived (in time for) Father’s Day,” he said. “Since they were born, I have never been with them on Father’s Day, so it made me very excited when they arrived at the house. Very happy.”
YANKEES: Aaron Judge was out of the starting lineup Wednesday against the Baltimore Orioles, one night after he was hit on the left hand by a pitch.
Yankees Manager Aaron Boone said Judge was feeling better, though, and even took swings in the indoor batting cage.
“I think it’s day to day,” Boone said. “It was probably close today.”
Judge was struck by a 94.1 mph fastball from Baltimore starter Albert Suárez during New York’s 4-2 win Tuesday night. The slugger left the game an inning later, but X-rays and a CT scan were negative, so it appears he avoided serious injury.
GUARDIANS: Nick Sandlin, a key member of the American League’s best bullpen, was placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to Monday, because of low back inflammation.
The right-hander has ranked among the American League leaders in appearances all season, posting a 5-0 record and 3.49 ERA in 33 games.
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