Philadelphia Phillies Pitching Staff Still Considered Behind Star-Studded Dodgers

It must be difficult to have a starting rotation that goes five-deep with potential Cy Young candidates and not be considered the best in MLB, but that is the reality that the Philadelphia Phillies are living right now.

MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince recently released a ranking of the top-10 pitching staffs in baseball. The Phillies finished in second place behind, unsurprisingly, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Dodgers already had Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Adding in the likes of Roki Sasaki, Blake Snell and Tanner Scott makes it almost unfair.

Philadelphia did get it's due however, as it would not be a huge shock for them to end up with the league's best rotation by year's end.

"They don’t have the crazy amount of depth that Los Angeles possesses. But pound for pound, a healthy Phillies staff could outpitch the Dodgers and anyone else.

Philadelphia has a star-studded rotation of their own in Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sanchez, Ranger Suarez and Jesus Luzardo.

Wheeler and Nola are undoubtedly one of the best one-two punches in all of baseball. They have been pitching at an elite level for a long time.

Even Suarez had his own Cy Young campaign for a while last year, before the wheels started to fall off down the stretch.

The X-factors that could push this group to the next level are Sanchez and Luzardo.

Sanchez has looked like his game has gone to the next level this spring with has sinking fastballs eclipsing 97 regularly, almost out of nowhere. It was averaging 92.1 MPH just two years ago and 94.5 last season.

If he can keep that going into next year, he will be dangerous for opposing batters.

Luzardo was the big offseason acquisition, bringing hime over from the Miami Marlins. His career has sort of been derailed by injuries as of late, but his potential is sky high.

Moving over to the bullpen, their key relievers were highlighted as Jordan Romano, Matt Strahm, Orion Kerkering, Jose Alvarado and Tanner Banks.

Romano is another X-factor that could re-establish himself as one of baseball's best closers.

Between 2020 and 2023, he had a 2.29 ERA with an ERA+ of 184. He had three straight years of at least a 248 ERA+.

He pitched just 13.2 innings last year due to injury, though, and gave up 10 runs. The Toronto Blue Jays non-tendered him and now he is with the Phillies in hopes of resurrecting his career.

The Philadelphia bullpen underperformed last year and could be the key to pushing this entire team to the next level if they are able to live up to expectations this year.