Phillies Should Be Concerned About Rotation as Postseason Nears

Phillies Should Be Concerned with Rotation Depth

Since Wheeler went on the injured list on August 16, Suárez has stepped up to fill the void. In that time, Suárez has a 1.09 ERA along with a 1.05 WHIP in four starts. He has a 9.00 K/BB rate and a 1.96 FIP in that span as well. During that stretch, Suárez has the sixth-best ERA and FIP in baseball among qualified starting pitchers, along with the fourth-best K/BB rate. With Wheeler out, the Phillies needed all of their starting pitchers to step up, and Suárez has risen to the occasion. Meanwhile, Sánchez has a 1.37 FIP since Wheeler went on the injured list, which is the best among qualified starting pitchers in that span. Sánchez has struggled in other stat areas in that span, though.

Lack of Right-Handed Options

Aaron Nola has struggled for most of the year and could be left out of the postseason rotation. Buehler and Taijuan Walker are their other right-handed starting pitching options. The Phillies will be utilizing a six-man rotation in the short term once Buehler is called up. It remains to be seen how long they will stick with a six-man rotation. Buehler is expected to make his Phillies debut on September 12 against the Kansas City Royals. Currently, Buehler is with the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs and will need to be added to the 40-man roster. Outside of these three, the Phillies do not have other right-handed starting pitching options that are consistently reliable. The minor league arms they could turn to are largely ineffective. Nola rebounding is the best path forward.

Organization in a Postseason Series

With Wheeler unable to pitch again this season, Sánchez will inherit the role of being the Phillies’ Game 1 starter in a postseason series. Currently, Suárez is in line to be the Phillies’ Game 2 starter. Luzardo is probably not going to pitch out of the bullpen in October at this point. In the Wild Card Series or NLDS, the Phillies would need three starting pitchers. However, if they advance to the NLCS or World Series, they would need to utilize a fourth starting pitcher. The third starting spot will probably be a decision between Luzardo and Nola. While Nola has had a rough season, he has extensive postseason experience. It also would not make much sense to exclusively use left-handed starting pitchers in a postseason series. This is especially the case for a hypothetical best-of-three Wild Card series.