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  • Trouble in Paradise: Will a Rash of Injuries Spoil the Phillies’ Hot Start? – Philadelphia Sports Nation

    Trouble in Paradise: Will a Rash of Injuries Spoil the Phillies’ Hot Start? – Philadelphia Sports Nation

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    Let’s check the standings. As of Monday, June 3rd, the Philadelphia Phillies are technically the second-best team in all of baseball with a 41-19 record, a half game behind the New York Yankees after Sunday night’s extra inning loss to St. Louis. They are 6.5 games up on their N.L. East rivals the Atlanta Braves in the divisional race and enter tonight’s game against Milwaukee with their ace Zack Wheeler on the mound. So everything’s great right? 

    Eh maybe not. The Phillies’ bubble finally burst last week on their road trip out West. They started by losing two out of three to the far inferior Colorado Rockies. Unfortunate, but annoying for a team playing as well as they have been. Then they lost two out of three to the more adequately matched Giants. Both series saw the team’s signature offense fall flat, their ability to hit with runners in scoring position diminish and their pitching, both from the rotation and the bullpen, struggled. This weekend they rebounded with a series win over the visiting Cardinals, however, those victories came with a cost. 

    On Saturday night, starting pitcher extraordinaire Ranger Suarez took a 106.1 mph line drive to the left forearm with two outs in the bottom of the second inning. Suarez, in his calm, cool, gunslinger fashion, completed the play before exiting into the clubhouse in apparent pain. The Phillies ‘pen dominated the rest of the way and the crafty left-hander escaped without any major injury, but the extent of his injury, a left-hand contusion, is unknown. For now, Suarez is just as likely to pitch in London on Saturday as he is to miss his next three starts. 

    Sunday’s extra-innings loss to the Cardinals brought another casualty to the team’s roster. Outfielder Brandon Marsh came up limping after he rounded second base in the bottom of the eighth inning, clutching his right hamstring and signaling immediately to the dugout for the trainer. Marsh, who was hitting .304 against right-handed pitching, left the game and presumably will miss some time. The exact prognosis of his right hamstring strain is unknown, but the feeling is all too familiar for Phillies fans. Superstar shortstop Trea Turner left May 3rd’s contest against San Francisco after injuring his hamstring and has not seen the field since. Although all news surrounding Turner’s recovery has been positive, a timetable for his return has not yet been announced. 

    So here it is. For the first time all year, the Phillies are facing a little bit of adversity. This month it comes in the form of injuries, a wonky trip across the pond and a tougher schedule. This is baseball, teams don’t live permanently on Cloud 9, they merely rent a house on it for a matter of weeks until they come back down to Earth. The question is, if the Phillies do fall back down, how far will they fall? 

    From all reports, Ranger Suarez’s left arm will be fine in a couple of weeks, so his absence for a start or two shouldn’t be the end of the world. Brandon Marsh’s prolonged absence from left-field, however, does prompt some more significant concerns about the roster. The Phillies have been fortunate that in the wake of Turner’s absence, utility man Edmundo Sosa has filled in superbly, slashing .304/.373/.576 with four triples and four home runs on the season. There isn’t as quite a clear replacement in the outfield, however. Earlier today, the team brought up David Dahl, a 2019 All-Star who leads Lehigh Valley in hits and home runs on the season. The 30-year-old Dahl is a left-handed bat–something that could prove crucial for a number of reasons. One, Kody Clemmons, the seemingly obvious choice to hit from the left-side has been placed on the 10-day IL with back spasms. Clemmons, who has thrived in a utility role this season, isn’t quite as natural in the outfield as he is in the infield, however. Two, bench bats Cristian Pache and Whit Merrifield have both struggled mightily at the plate this year. Merrifield, an $8 million free-agent acquisition, has hit just .176 with two homers across 114 plate appearances. Originally thought to be the stand-in at second base for Trea Turner–with Bryson Stott sliding to shortstop–Merrifield’s offensive shortcomings have paved the way for Sosa to see increased time at short. 

    The outfield has been the team’s weakest unit to date. With the ongoing experiment of Johan Rojas in center, Nick Castellanos’ struggles in right field, Marsh’s up and down performance in left and the less than stellar performance of their two bench bats, the team’s outfield has ranked in the bottom five on the league offensively through the first 60 games. Since the team’s been winning, the group’s poor performance hasn’t been much of a conversation. If the Phillies falter, however, then the outfield is going to be viewed with a far more critical eye. 

     

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    Dylan Campbell

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  • Phillies quick hits: Homestand begins with series win over Cardinals

    Phillies quick hits: Homestand begins with series win over Cardinals

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    Over the course of an 162-game regular season, even the greatest baseball teams experience adversity at some point. For the 2024 Phillies, riding high through 50 games or so, that adversity finally struck when the team struggled in a six-game west coast road trip, winning only two out of their six games against the Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants.

    The team returned home for a six-game homestand before it departs for a two-game set against the New York Mets in London, and got right back to their winning ways. Here is what jumped out from their three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals:

    Back of bullpen flexes muscles in series opener

    The Phillies have had one or two weak links in their bullpen at most points of this season — which is the case for just about all clubs every season — but what is much more important than who a manager’s least-trusted bullpen weapons are is who their most reliable options are. Phillies manager Rob Thomson has the remarkable luxury of utilizing three different relief pitchers who would be the no-doubt-about-it closer for the majority of major-league teams.

    That was never more evident than during Friday night’s 4-2 victory over St. Louis. Aaron Nola threw 6.1 innings of two-run ball, only allowing three hits. Nola was at 96 pitches and could have tried to complete the seventh inning, but because Thomson has three horses, he decided to not take any chances. Thomson needed eight outs from his three highest-leverage relievers, and they did the job without allowing a single runner to reach base.

    First was Matt Strahm, who in 2024 — his first full season as a relief pitcher after being forced into an unplanned starting role at the beginning of 2023 — has been the best left-handed reliever in baseball by just about any metric. Despite not having a triple-digit fastball in his back pocket, Strahm has become a master at striking out hitters, and he has done so with impeccable command. He constantly pounds the strike zone and 

    Up next was José Alvarado, who went from being demoted to Triple-A to the most dominant left-handed reliever in just a few months during 2022 and has since established himself as a mainstay at the back of Thomson’s bullpen. The hard-throwing southpaw had a disastrous Opening Day in 2024, allowing five earned runs in 0.2 innings pitched. But since then he has been lights out.

    While Alvarado’s strikeout numbers have normalized a bit in 2024 — for the prior year and a half or so, they were outrageous; this season they are simply very good — the flamethrower has still done an outstanding job pitching in almost exclusively high-leverage situations. Alvarado has kept right-handed hitters in check, while left-handed hitters are essentially automatic outs against him right now.

    Alvarado went onto make a true web gem Sunday night:

    The ninth inning belonged to Jeff Hoffman. In 2022, the Phillies’ front office and pitching coaches found a diamond in the rough in Andrew Bellatti, who gave them solid innings as a middle reliever and occasional setup man. Last season, as Bellatti’s production waned, an even more impressive scouting success became apparent in the signing of Hoffman. Initially signed to a minor league deal, Hoffman became Thomson’s most relied-upon right-handed reliever by the time the 2023 Postseason was underway — and the former first-round pick, just a handful of months away from hitting free agency as a coveted arm, has gotten even better in 2024.

    In addition to the best starting pitching rotation in the majors, the Phillies have the best bullpen trio in baseball with Strahm, Alvarado and Hoffman. It is a recipe for success all summer long, and it is certainly a recipe for success in October.

    Edmundo Sosa’s revenge

    When Edmundo Sosa caught the final out of the 2022 National League Wild Card Series at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, the Phillies poured out of their dugout and rejoiced a playoff series victory. But it had to have been a bit sweeter for Sosa, who had been traded by the Cardinals to the Phillies just a few months earlier. Sosa fell out of favor in St. Louis, was shipped to Philadelphia and instantly became a key bench contributor for Thomson’s club.

    Since Trea Turner went on the Injured List, Sosa has not just been a viable replacement: he has been so good that the team may consider moving him to the outfield — where he has very rarely played during his professional career — once Turner returns from injury just to keep his bat in the lineup.

    On the first pitch of his first at-bat of the series, Sosa demolished a slider that Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas left over the middle of the plate. It landed onto Ashburn Alley, a true rarity these days. Sosa absolutely obliterated this ball, the longest home run of his major-league career:

    When the Phillies acquired Sosa back in 2022, it seemed like a minor move. But he kept finding ways to help the team through its playoff run. Now, someone once believed to have the ceiling of a platoon player is making a strong case that he needs to play on an everyday basis.

    Finally, some right-handers

    Because of the makeup of the Phillies’ lineup and roster, there is a certain way opposing teams are going to attack them: showing them as many left-handed pitchers as humanly possible. With Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper entrenched in the top three of the order and Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh in the middle of it — with right-handed alternatives like Whit Merrifield and Cristian Pache largely struggling at the plate this season — it makes sense to challenge them in that way.

    Entering Saturday, the Phillies had 784 plate appearances against left-handed pitching in 2024 — the second-highest total belonged to the Miami Marlins at just 722. Some of it is bad luck, but some of it can certainly be attributed to teams identifying their best chance of limiting Thomson’s high-powered lineup.

    In the Giants series, southpaws started all three games for San Francisco. But, in a change of pace that the Phillies surely welcomed, they faced three right-handed starters in the series against the Cardinals: the struggling Mikolas, a star in Sonny Gray and grizzled veteran Lance Lynn. They are expected to face right-handers in at least the first two games of their upcoming series against the Milwaukee Brewers, if not all three.

    The biggest winner here is Marsh, who may have speculated struggles at times due to a lack of consistent at-bats. Marsh’s production against left-handers has gone from bad in 2022 and 2023 to worse in 2024, and Thomson has frequently opted to play Merrifield or Pache in left field when his team is facing a lefty. 

    While the cries for Marsh to see more consistent playing time have some merit, it is awfully difficult to blame Thomson for not wanting to start the fan favorite outfielder against southpaws. In 46 plate appearances against left-handed starting pitchers in 2024, Marsh is slashing .129/.196/.175, striking out 20 times and drawing just four walks. 

    In any case, truly playing on an everyday basis — even for just one homestand — could be quite helpful for Marsh. However, the 26 year-old outfielder left Sunday’s game after suffering a right hamstring strain rounding second base.

    Taijuan Walker hit hard again

    Since returning from the Injured List and making his 2024 regular season debut on April 28, Walker has been the lone weak link of the Phillies’ starting rotation. The veteran right-hander’s ERA was 5.51 entering his second start on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” this season, and it only grew in the series finale. Cardinals manager Oli Marmol’s lineup was aggressive, and were rewarded with plenty of hard-hit balls.

    In the first inning, Walker allowed three balls to be put in play, and all three of them were hit at an exit velocity of at least 103 miles per hour — including a two-run home run by Cardinals slugger Nolan Gorman that came off the bat at 108.6 MPH. In the third inning, Walker put the Cardinals’ leadoff man on with a walk before allowing another two-run shot — this one hit by Alec Burleson at 105 MPH. In addition to allowing plenty of hard contract Sunday night, Walker also struggled with command. 

    Walker’s final line Sunday: 5.0 innings, five hits, four runs (all earned), five strikeouts and three walks on 93 pitches (56 strikes). As has often been the case during his Phillies tenure, he received good run support, ultimately receiving a no decision. With seven starts and 37.2 innings now in the books, Walker’s ERA is now 5.73. 

    As Burleson rounded the bases following his no-doubt homer, a noteworthy portion of the crowd began chanting “we want Turnbull,” in reference to Spencer Turnbull, who dazzled as the team’s fifth starter for the first month of the season in Walker’s absence before being moved to the bullpen once the veteran was activated.

    After Ranger Suárez was forced to exit Saturday’s game after just two innings, Thomson turned to Turnbull for bulk innings. The 31 year-old right-hander, who initially struggled in his transition to a relief role — Turnbull had never appeared in a major-league game out of the bullpen before 2024 — threw three lights-out innings, allowing no runs, hits or walks while striking out six. 

    It remains to be seen if the Phillies will be willing to pull the plug on Walker in the starting rotation — it would be difficult to do in the second year of a four-year, $72 million contract. All evidence that exists to date suggests Turnbull is this team’s fifth-best starting pitcher.

    The big questions remains: how long is Walker’s leash going to be?

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    Adam Aaronson

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  • Five thoughts: Phillies drop first series since March to lowly Rockies

    Five thoughts: Phillies drop first series since March to lowly Rockies

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    The Phillies bats cooled off in the thin Colorado air this weekend, as they dropped just their second series of the entire season to the Rockies. A few big mistakes — on the field and on the mound — cost the team in their two losses in the three-game set, but it was their lack of offense that ultimately decided this one.

    After leading the majors in runs during the best ever 51-game start to a season, 37-14, they mustered only two runs Friday and two runs Sunday. And that was really that as they dropped those games this weekend.

    Before they head further west to play the Giants for a trio of games starting Monday at 5 p.m., here’s a look at five thoughts to be mindful of as the Phillies leave Denver:

    1. Suarez is human after all… but still awesome

    Ranger Suarez has been superhuman this season and had the chance to get to 10-0 against the worst team in the National League. So of course he had his worst start of the season, walking four and struggling through the first two of his six innings. 

    He was still solid, however, tossing four perfect frames after relenting five runs in his first two. He struck out nine Rockies hitters too, flashing the nearly unhittable stuff he’s used to feast on hitters this year. Suarez bent but didn’t break which is admirable. There will be starts like this all season long. No one pitches seven shutout innings every five days. 

    Personally I am quite interested to see how he’ll perform the next time out — likely back at home against the Cardinals next weekend. Will he be wobbly and have control issues like he did against the Rockies? Or will he show that this outing was a simple fluke. A true ace — a guy like Zack Wheeler — can forget a bad start. That’s one of the characteristics the Phillies hope to see from Suarez this summer.

    2. Stay the course

    It’s interesting to me that when the Phillies struggle, it’s the offense that is stuck in neutral, not the starting pitching. They never take a night off. On Friday, Cris Sanchez grinded through 5.1 innings and allowed a lone run. On Saturday, it was Aaron Nola who battled through six innings with two earn runs (and one unearned) blemishing his line. Each hurler kept the Phillies in their respective games and each actually lowered their ERA in the no decisions.

    And even Sunday, with Suarez showing struggles for the first time, the starter was able to keep his pitch count low in his last few innings to give the bullpen some rest. But the run support wasn’t there — proving that getting reliable and consistent offense is much more variable.

    Phillies hitters only struck out three times in the middle game of the series, an unusual occurrence in this day and age. And yet through the first seven innings Saturday night their scattering of six hits produced two runs. There is always an element of luck in baseball and Philly’s offense has had a lot of it so far. 

    3. Open the floodgates

    There was an eerie, familiar — yet unfamiliar feeling in the early part of the Phillies series in Denver, with the offense mustering just four total runs through 19 straight innings (including an 11-inning extra innings loss in the opener). Bryce Harper was controversially ejected in Game 1, and things just felt off. 

    But then in the eighth inning Saturday, Edmundo Sosa hit a triple, scoring Brandon Marsh from first and the floodgates opened in a six-run frame that kept the Phillies from potentially losing back-to-back games for the first time in a month’s time.

    There will be stretches where this team falls asleep. It’s inevitable. The season is really long. But having them remind everyone why they’re the best team in baseball in a comeback win a mile high is also something that fans can expect. 

    4. A Turner setback

    On the road in Colorado, the Phillies had Trea Turner with them and were hopeful the star shortstop would be close to making a return to the field from a hamstring injury. But a setback might be pushing back that date.

    After running the bases Sunday he felt stiffness and soreness in the leg for the first time. The Phillies will understandably err on the side of caution with their $300 million man — thanks in large part to the extremely solid play the team has exhibited in Turner’s absence. 

    Backup infielder Edmundo Sosa is hitting .324 this season and has been a very solid bat at the bottom of the lineup over the last few weeks.

    5. An unexpected test?

    Much has been written about the Phillies easy schedule, and how they haven’t technically played a team above .500 since the season started in March with the Braves in town. It’s possible an unexpected challenge awaits in San Francisco, as the Giants are suddenly red hot, fresh off winning eight of their last ten games. They are exactly at the .500 mark.

    The Phillies dominated San Francisco in four games in Philly earlier this season but since then they have started to figure it out and are right in the middle of the NL Wild Card race. 

    This could be a welcomed test. Next week the will host the first place Brewers before playing the Mets in London. They’ll return home to face the contending Red Sox and first place Orioles in mid June. The Padres and Diamondbacks are also not far ahead on the ledger. We’ll learn a lot more about this baseball team over the next few weeks.

    Follow Evan on Twitter:@evan_macy

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    Evan Macy

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  • By the numbers: Ranger Suárez and his dominant 7-0 start

    By the numbers: Ranger Suárez and his dominant 7-0 start

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    Ranger Suárez mowed through another lineup Friday night down in Miami and collected another win as the Phillies went on to thrash the struggling Marlins, 8-2. 

    The 28-year old lefty is now 7-0 on the season, and the Phillies remain at an MLB-best 27-12 going into Saturday afternoon’s next game.

    Suárez has been a highly effective third starter in the rotation for a while now, but this season? He’s been something else. 

    “I think this is the best run he’s been on, no doubt about it,” manager Rob Thomson said postgame Friday night (via NBC Sports Philadelphia). “He’s really been focused and locked in and very consistent.” 

    Here’s a look at that run by the numbers…

    8

    Suárez’s starts this season so far and the number of starts it took him to reach 7-0. The only other pitcher in Phillies history to do that: Hall of Fame lefty Steve Carlton in 1981. 

    41

    Days and counting since Suárez has gotten any decision other than a win. He got a no-decision in the opening series finale against the Braves back on March 31 – a 5-4 Phillies victory. He’s rung off seven straight wins in heavily dominant fashion since. 

    How dominant?

    4

    Suárez’s number of scoreless appearances so far. That’s half of his starts and of which he’s gone at least six innings in each.

    9.2

    Suárez’s strikeouts per nine rate, which is second among the Phillies’ starters behind ace Zack Wheeler at 11.5 and a major contributing factor to the club’s overall 9.57 strikeouts per nine rate that trails only the Minnesota Twins at 10.24.

    0.72

    Suárez’s minuscule WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched), which leads all of baseball among qualified pitchers. 

    32

    The number of scoreless innings Suárez threw up until the eighth inning of April 27’s 5-1 Phillies win over the Padres out in San Deigo. That streak put him in the company of notable to outright great Phillies pitchers in Cliff Lee, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Steve Carlton, Robin Roberts, Ken Heintzelman, and Larry Andersen throughout the franchise’s history.

    And speaking of Cliff Lee…

    Man, is that calm demeanor sure familiar.

    1.50

    Suárez’s ERA on the season so far, which is second in the majors among qualified pitchers only to the Cubs’ Shota Imanaga, who has pitched just under 13 fewer innings. Suárez has pitched 54.0 and Imanaga has 41.2.

    27.5

    Suárez’s sweet spot percentage, per Baseball Savant, which ranks ninth among qualified pitchers in baseball. He’s made solid contact really hard to come by for opposing lineups. 

     .240

    Which makes it really hard for opposing lineups to get on base, as Suárez’s .240 xwOBA (expected weighted on-base average) – also per Baseball Savant – ranks third in all of baseball. 

    1

    The lone complete game Suárez has thrown – a masterpiece of an eight-strikeout shutout of the Rockies back on April 16 – yet only one of seven complete games thrown in the majors so far this season. 

    MORE: Regular season crowds have been revitalized at CBP

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    Nick Tricome

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  • What’s Next for Ranger Suarez? – Philadelphia Sports Nation

    What’s Next for Ranger Suarez? – Philadelphia Sports Nation

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    After his scoreless inning streak finally ended at 32, what’s next for the Phillies’ crafty lefty?

     

    Make no mistake about it, Ranger Suarez is not a number three. At least not on most teams in Major League Baseball. Through six starts this season the Phillies’ left-hander is 5-0 with a 1.32 ERA in 41 innings pitched. In yet another dominant start on Saturday night, Suarez finally relinquished a run, the first in 32.2 consecutive innings. 

    Suarez has always been a fascinating pitcher from the time he broke out as a hybrid reliever/starter role in 2021. A lovable lefty with an unflappable demeanor, Suarez has stood out for what he is not: a prima donna, a power pitcher, a liability on the field. His four-seam fastball averages just a tick under 93 mph, yet without overpowering stuff, he attacks the strike zone with reckless abandon. He induces soft contact from the sport’s most powerful hitters, relying on a dastardly six-pitch mix, all of which he can throw for strikes in any count. He is calm, cool and collected, the epitome of a gamer and clutch on the biggest of stages: he has a 1.62 ERA in the postseason. 

    And yet, until 2024, Suarez’s career has been limited to just fascinating. Stretches of brilliance have been mired by injury, he has never thrown over 156 innings in a single season and his 2023 campaign was disappointing to say the least. Which is why in March, when he came to Spring Training fully healthy and posted a 0.00 ERA over 15 innings, his highest mark in Spring Training to date, there was reason to be excited. Perhaps no one expected Suarez to have as dominant a start to the season as he’s had, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of surprise. The talent has always been there. The health and execution has not. 

    So what should the expectations for Suarez be for the rest of the season? An All-Star nod? Dare I say Cy Young votes? It’s only April, but Suarez’s dominance warrants even those all-too-early considerations. However, continuous growth is perhaps the most logical hope for Suarez. We’ve seen do that already–this past off-season he changed his fitness regimen and throwing program to be healthier and more effective. His curveball, which he first incorporated in 2022, has made him a more complete pitcher. Ever since, it’s grown more effective with increased usage: in 2024, he’s thrown it 19.9% with a .115 BAA, up from 7.5% with a .250 BAA in 2022. 

    The maturation of his arsenal is one thing, but upping his innings is another realistic goal for Suarez. While he might not maintain his 1.62 ERA, fans can hope that his in-game longevity – he’s averaging roughly 6.2 innings per outing, an inning more than MLB average – will translate to a higher innings total on the year. Real success for Suarez, it could be argued, would look more like an ERA in the low-three’s or even high-two’s over 175-plus innings. He’s conquered big games, he’s conquered opposing hitters – Suarez’s next conquest is shattering his previous career-high 155.1 innings pitched in a season. 

     

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    Dylan Campbell

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  • The Phillies’ 2024 rotation is 2011 levels of dominant

    The Phillies’ 2024 rotation is 2011 levels of dominant

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    The Phillies’ starting pitching has stormed out of the gate as one of the best in baseball in the early part of the season. 

    Between Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suárez, Cristopher Sánchez, and a resurgent Spencer Turnbull, the five-man rotation has been shutting club after club down, racking up strikeouts in bunches, eating up innings, and even flirting with no-hit bids. 

    They’ve been dominant, which has helped push the Phils to a 15-9 start and compensated for points where the bats and bullpen were searching for their footing. 

    And they’ve been so dominant, in fact, that maybe it isn’t too far-fetched to compare the 2024 rotation so far to the last truly assembled Philadelphia powerhouse: the four-ace lineup of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt, and Joe Blanton from 2011. 

    Wheeler, Nola, Suárez, and Sanchez – after his three-inning, five-run setback Tuesday night in Cincinnati – have each made five starts, while Turnbull has been through four and will likely make his final one on Wednesday night before moving to the bullpen to make way for Taijuan Walker. 

    Using those as the barometer, here is how the Phillies’ 2024 starting rotation compares to that of the 102-win 2011 club at the same point in the year:

    2024  GS  W-L  ERA  IP  CG  SO  HR 
    Wheeler, R  5  1-3  2.30  31.1  0  38  2 
    Nola, R  5  3-1  3.16  31.1  0  26  6 
    Suárez, L  5  4-0  1.36  33.0  1  32  2 
    Sanchez, L  5  1-3  2.96  24.1  0  28  0 
    Turnbull, R 4  2-0  1.23  22.0  0  22  1 
     2011 GS   W-L ERA   IP  CG SO  HR 
     Halladay, R 5  3-1  2.41  37.1  1  39  1 
    Lee, L  5  2-2  4.18  32.1  1  39  4 
    Hamels, L  5  3-1  3.13  31.2  0  34  1 
    Oswalt, R  5  3-1  3.33  27.0  0  21  2 
    Blanton, R  4  0-1  5.92  24.1  0  17  2 

    Numbers via baseball-reference

    And by that point, the 2011 Phils were 16-8, were well on their way to the best regular season in franchise history, and were heavy World Series favorites the whole way through – you know, until that damn squirrel had something to say about it…

    Anyway, a few other points…

    • If you’re wondering where Vance Worley is in the 2011 table, he didn’t come into the picture until the end of April, when Blanton went on the injured list and the Phillies looked to him to take on the fifth-starting role upon his call-up – a role he ended up pitching well enough in to hold on to for a good while. 

    • Suárez has taken a massive leap as the third starter so far this season and has been so dialed in that he’s on a 25-inning scoreless streak, the longest such streak for a Phillies starter since…Cliff Lee in 2011 (per MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki)

    That calm and effortlessly cool composure on the mound sure looks familiar, too.

    • Complete games feel like a rarity anymore when not considerably all that long ago, it wasn’t surprising at all to see someone like Halladay go the full nine. Suárez has pitched one of the just four complete games so far in 2024. 

    • Wheeler’s record right now isn’t ideal, but a lack of run support through his first three starts, some rotten luck, and a grand slam on his part against the Pirates on April 14 didn’t do him any favors. He bounced back in a major way though with a scoreless 7.1 innings against the White Sox last go around that he was also pushing a no-hit bid for. 

    • A notable difference in the makeup of the 2024 rotation compared to 2011, other than that 2024 isn’t as star-studded of a group: Only Wheeler and Turnbull are the arms in the current rotation who were brought in from the outside. Nola, Suárez, and Sanchez are all homegrown. 

    With 2011, Halladay was acquired via trade; Lee through trade, trade away, then sign back; Blanton through trade; and then Oswalt through trade. Hamels was the only homegrown talent there up until Worley joined him for a bit. 

    The Dave Dombrowski-led Phillies of today do spend a lot of money, but they’re built from within a bit more than most would think at face value. 

    MORE: How a group of Phillies fans are using every triple this season to give back

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    Nick Tricome

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