Phillies Starting Pitchers Predicted To Make Impressive History This Season

The Philadelphia Phillies had one major goal heading into the offseason: upgrade their pitching staff.

It seemed like an odd decision given how much talent they already had on the mound. Zack Wheeler was the National League Cy Young Award runner-up in 2024. He was in the All-Star game along with Cristopher Sanchez and Ranger Suarez.

Aaron Nola, the No. 2 in the rotation, is the most reliable workhorse in the game with his durability. Every time it is his turn in the order, he is taking the ball.

What they needed was a No. 5 starter after the struggles that Taijuan Walker exhibited throughout the campaign.

To address that need, they acquired Jesus Luzardo from the Miami Marlins in a trade over the winter. His upside is immense; there isn’t another No. 5 starter in baseball that possesses his potential.

With Walker providing great depth, and star prospect Andrew Painter set to make his Major League debut eventually, there Phillies starting pitching is going to be dominant every game.

That is what Tristan Cockcroft of ESPN believes will be the case, as he shared an incredibly bold prediction about how the Philadelphia rotation will perform in 2025.

In his opinion, they are going to make history.

There have been some occasions of teammates finishing first and second in the Cy Young Award voting throughout history. In 1974, the Los Angeles Dodgers had three of the top four vote getters.

No team has ever had pitchers claim the top three spots, until 2025, with Cockcroft’s bold prediction being Philadelphia starters finishing first, second and third.

He took it a step further, predicting that Wheeler will win the award, Sanchez will finish behind him and Nola will be third. But, don’t count out Luzardo, who is off to a stellar start and he if stays healthy, will receive recognition this year.

Any time that history could be made as part of a bold prediction, it is a scorching hot take.

The Phillies starting pitchers certainly have the talent to compete for the award, but it isn’t going to be an easy task to accomplish.

There are several talented pitchers in the NL that are going to build a strong case to take home the hardware, such as Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Logan Webb of the San Francisco Giants and essentially the entire Dodgers staff, to name a few.

Health will be the determining factor in the race, which Cockcroft believes the Phillies group holds an edge over the Los Angeles staff in.