Ranger Suarez left Sunday night’s series finale at Anaheim in the bottom of the third inning with a leg injury, turning what began as a routine play into a sudden concern for the Red Sox. He took a sideways hop while trying to field a choppy comebacker from Jo Adell, landed oddly and then tried to throw a warmup pitch before walking stiffly back to the visitors’ dugout.
The timing made the exit harder to ignore. Suarez had been named to the 2026 MLB All-Star Game the night before, and he was in the middle of one of his better seasons, with a 3.15 ERA over 17 starts, 97 strikeouts and 91 1/3 innings. In Sunday’s outing, he allowed three earned runs on six hits over 2 2/3 innings, with zero walks, five strikeouts and 53 pitches, 37 of them for strikes.
That line matters because the Red Sox already have little margin left before the break. They have six games remaining after Monday’s off-day, with three games in Chicago against the White Sox and three in New York against the Mets, and any rotation injury can ripple quickly through a stretch that short. The club also placed Connelly Early on the injured list Wednesday with elbow inflammation, and he will fly to Arlington, Texas this week for a second opinion from Dr. Keith Meister.
For now, the size of Suarez’s problem is the story no one can finish yet. A player who could not finish a warmup throw after the injury is not the same as a pitcher ready to take his next turn, and the Red Sox may have to lean on Triple-A Worcester options such as Patrick Sandoval and Brayan Bello if the issue lingers. The All-Star honor still stands, but what happens next is whether Suarez is healthy enough to make his next scheduled appearance before the break or whether the rotation has lost another arm at the worst possible moment.
