Phillies Have Pair of Early National League Cy Young Contenders This Season

The Philadelphia Phillies are off to a good start to the season, with their starting rotation leading them to early success.

Coming into the year, the Phillies had high expectations after a great campaign in 2024, which resulted in winning the National League East.

Even though they might not have had the playoff success that they were hoping for, the Phillies had a successful regular season.

One of the reasons for their success last year was the performance of their starting rotation. The unit was one of the best in baseball, with Zack Wheeler leading the way.

The veteran right-hander was the runner-up for the NL Cy Young, losing out to Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves.

While the rotation was a strength of the team last season, it improve quite a bit this winter with the decision to trade for a talented southpaw.

Now, the Phillies might have two NL Cy Young contenders.

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently wrote about the excellent start to the season that Jesus Luzardo is on, and that he could be in the mix for the NL Cy Young award.

“The 27-year-old has faced 163 batters without giving up a single round-tripper, boasting a 1.94 ERA for the year and the best bWAR among all pitchers in baseball," wrote Miller.

Even though the need for Philadelphia this offseason was to add a fifth starter to replace Taijuan Walker, Luzardo has been much more.

The talented southpaw was injured and ineffective for the most part in 2024, but he flashed some high upside in 2023 with the Marlins.

Now, the left-hander has seemingly taken his game to another level. So far this campaign has, he has totaled a 3-0 record, 1.94 ERA, and 47 strikeouts in 41.1 innings pitched. With the highest bWAR among starting pitchers, he certainly in the early mix to be the best pitcher in the league.

This type of production from Luzardo wasn’t to be expected, but has been very helpful for the team.

With a bit of a slow start to the year for Aaron Nola and Ranger Suarez on the injured list to begin the season, Luzardo stepping up has been key to early success.

In addition to Luzardo being a contender for the NL Cy Young, Wheeler will also be in the mix. The talented right-hander continues to be a workhorse for the rotation, but he has some competition with the young southpaw.

Once again, the rotation is emerging as the strength of the team. However, the emergence of Luzardo as an ace could help take the rotation to the next level.