Dominant Rotation Raises Phillies Pitching Staff to Top of MLB Rankings

The Philadelphia Phillies may not be as dominant a force this season as they were through the first half of 2024, but they have still played to a 25-18 record through their first 43 games. That record ranks fourth in the National League and seventh in all of MLB.

The offense has not been clicking as well this year as it did last season, with a team OPS in 2025 of .737, .013 lower than their .750 for all of 2024.

While the offense has struggled to find consistency, the same can not be said about the starting rotation. It entered the year as one of the best rotations in MLB on paper, and now through the first quarter of the campaign, has lived up to that billing. The dominance of the rotation alone has the Phillies' pitching staff ranked third in MLB in a recent article from Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report.

Philadelphia Phillies Pitching Staff Ranks Third in MLB

"The trio of Zack Wheeler, Jesús Luzardo and Cristopher Sánchez has been so good that it makes up for the other shortcomings," writes Miller. "And with Ranger Suárez going seven scoreless innings against Cleveland this past Saturday in what was just his second appearance of the season, the Phillies may be seizing that No. 1 ranking soon enough."

Zack Wheeler, the ace of the rotation, has continued his run as one of the best pitchers in all of baseball this year. The ace enters Friday with a 2.95 ERA across a Major League-leading 58 innings through his first nine starts. He has tallied 74 strikeouts to this point in the year, just one shy of MacKenzie Gore for the Major League lead.

While there are pitchers with lower ERAs than Wheeler's this year, it does not tell the whole story. It is elevated by two rough outings earlier in the year, and over his last five starts he has pitched to just a 2.14 ERA across 33 2/3 innings with 46 strikeouts.

A rising tide floats all ships, and that is certainly the case for the pitching staff's ranking being so high. The bullpen, while not terrible, has still experienced issues that have plagued the team for the better part of the last five years, but it has still not been bad enough to outweigh how dominant the rotation has been.

Pitching wins championships, and if Philadelphia can find consistent success at the plate to pair with their elite rotation, it will be off to the races for this team.