Philadelphia Phillies Breakout Starting Pitchers Gives Team Even Higher Ceiling

Coming into the 2025 MLB regular season, the biggest strength for the Philadelphia Phillies was their starting rotation.

Zack Wheeler is the ace, coming off his second National League Cy Young Award runner-up campaign. Aaron Nola is as reliable of a workhorse as there is in baseball, taking the ball whenever it is his turn in the rotation.

What was going to set this rotation apart from everyone else was the upside that two of their lefties, Jesus Luzardo and Cristopher Sanchez, possess.

An All-Star in 2024, Sanchez was someone many fans and analysts pegged as a breakout candidate in 2025.

He entered spring training armed with an improved arsenal, throwing the ball harder than he ever had. It has resulted in some incredible production on the field.

His ascension beyond All-Star is in full blossom, with his strikeout rate being taken to elite levels. That, combined with his pinpoint control, is the ingredient to become the ace of the staff.

Sanchez’s changeup looks to also be one of the best pitches in baseball.

The San Francisco Giants would agree with that sentiment after he used it to dice them up in a start last week.

According to David Schoenfield of ESPN, 11 of his 12 strikeouts came because of the changeup and he got them to swing and miss 22 times, the most whiffs on a changeup in a single game in pitch-tracking history.

Luzardo’s form has also been incredible, thus far.

He is looking like the best version of himself, showcasing increased velocity similar to what he was doing in 2022 and 2023, the best stretch of his young career to this point.

Health has been the only thing that has held him back. Staying on the mound has been a challenge, but he looks good through his first five starts with the Phillies.

He has a 2.08 ERA through 30.1 innings, recording 36 strikeouts. His 1.4 WAR is the best amongst pitchers in the NL, realizing his immense potential before everyone's eyes.

Part of the reason for the success is the expansion of his repertoire.

Not only has his fastball been taken to another level with increased velocity, it is playing even better because he has added another breaking pitch to the mix, a devastating sweeper that is generating a 44% whiff rate thus far.

If there was any debate over who had the best rotation in baseball, Luzardo and Sanchez are helping put that to rest in the early going.

Philadelphia can go toe-to-toe with any starting five, still having Ranger Suarez, Taijuan Walker and eventually Andrew Painter as other pieces to rely on to take the ball at the beginning of games.