Starting Rotation Listed As Philadelphia Phillies' Reason for Optimism

The 2025 season has been a mixed bag for fans of the Philadelphia Phillies.

A struggling bullpen and inconsistent core of hitters has held the team back from reaching its full potential in the early going. The Phillies entered Saturday with a 14-13 record and were 4.5 games behind the New York Mets in the National League East before their much-needed win over the Chicago Cubs.

But despite those struggles, the team has still remained above .500 due to the excellence of its starting rotation.

Writing in The Athletic (subscription required), former MLB executive Jim Bowden stated that unit is the biggest reason for fans of the team to be optimistic, singling out the team's signature offseason acquisition as particularly impressive.

"Jesús Luzardo has given the Phillies another front-line starter and arguably the best and deepest rotation in the division," Bowden wrote. "The rotation is led by Zack Wheeler, a two-time second-place finisher in the NL Cy Young Award voting, who is my pick to win the award this year, followed by the emerging Cristopher Sánchez and Luzardo to form a dominant top trio."

He has been a revelation for the Phillies since the beginning of the campaign after joining the club in a winter trade with the division rival Miami Marlins.

The hard-throwing lefty crafted another gem on Saturday, as he worked six innings without allowing an earned run in a convincing win over the Cubs, who declined to acquire him due to concerns over his health.

Chicago's loss was Philadelphia's gain, as Jesus Luzardo has elevated the Phillies' group to the top of the National League.

Ace Zack Wheeler has been phenomenal as always, striking out 50 hitters in 37.1 innings of work while allowing a 3.62 ERA. That number will surely come down, but Wheeler has some work to do to get into NL Cy Young contention like he normally does.

Cristopher Sanchez has taken the leap towards the elite ranks of MLB's starting pitchers. His 3.42 ERA is encouraging on its own, but his ability to combine his already-excellent hard contact suppression skills with a newfound penchant for strikeouts is the most promising development.

In the first three seasons of his career, he struck out 7.9, 8.7 and 7.6 batters per nine innings, respectively, but he's upped that rate to 11.3 during his phenomenal start to 2025.

With this core and some positive regression on the way for veteran Aaron Nola, the starting rotation has the ability to power Philadelphia back into the division race and possibly on a deep playoff run.