Friars Insider Expects Robert Suarez to Be Friars’ Closer in 2024

The entire 2023 season was rough for the San Diego Padres organization. They came into the year with high hopes to compete for a World Series title but fell flat of even reaching the postseason. 

It was an extremely frustrating year all around for this team, and it saw multiple players regress through the year. One of those players was hard-throwing relief pitcher Robert Suarez, who saw his production in 2023 drop from what it was the year prior. 

In 2022, Suarez posted an ERA of 2.27 and showed out in the late innings. He was a key piece to their playoff run to the NLCS a season ago, but he dealt with numerous factors against him this year that saw him fail to duplicate his efforts.

"The likely ninth-inning successor to Hader, Suarez did not inspire much confidence in the first year of a five-year, $46 million contract. Elbow inflammation sidelined the hard thrower until July. A little more than a month later, Suarez received a 10-game suspension after a sticky-stuff check."

Per Dennis Lin of The Athletic

It was a tough year for Suarez, but 2024 promises to be better. He hopefully won’t start the season with an injury, and he can build himself up this offseason to work on his game. The key for him will be finding a nice rhythm, so getting off to a good start to open the year will be huge.

“He finished his shortened season with a 4.23 ERA. Still, because of his contract, his upper-90s velocity and Hader’s expected departure, the Padres have little choice but to plan on Suarez closing games in 2024.”

Per Dennis Lin of The Athletic

The Padres may have no choice but to rely on Suarez for the 2024 season as their closer. The hope is that he can get back to his 2022 self, and be the dominant pitcher that the team knows he can be.

This offseason will reveal a lot for the Padres moving forward, and maybe they go after another closer. But it seems that in all likelihood, Suarez is the guy for them moving forward.