That Balls Outta Here
FanSided

Re-evaluating Phillies pitching staff after rough start to season

By John Town

PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 09: Aaron Nola #27 of the Philadelphia Phillies walks to the dugout against the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park on April 9, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 09: Aaron Nola #27 of the Philadelphia Phillies walks to the dugout against the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park on April 9, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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PHILADELPHIA, PA – APRIL 10: Pitcher Nick Pivetta #43 of the Philadelphia Phillies reacts in the dugout after getting pulled from the game in the fourth inning against the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park on April 10, 2019, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images) /

The Phillies pitching staff has struggled since the 2019 season started. What has gone wrong and where do they go from here?

Pitching was the Phillies strength last year. A rotation anchored by Cy Young finalist Aaron Nola and bullpen boosted by rookie Seranthony Dominguez combined for the fourth-most Fangraphs wins above replacement (fWAR). They were the only team with 80 or fewer wins in the top five and just one of two in the top ten.

Considering the rotation’s success and the bullpen’s offseason improvements, many expected similar strong results this season. However, that has not been the case at all, especially in the last week.

As a whole, Phillies pitchers rank 21st in fWAR, 20th in ERA, 22nd in fielding-independent pitching (FIP), 17th in expected FIP (xFIP), 19th in strikeout-to-walk ratio, 21st in WHIP, 24th in opposing batting average, and 25th in home runs per fly ball rate. After a 15-1 shellacking Wednesday night, they rank 22nd in runs allowed per game.

The offense has started off the year red-hot but can’t be expected to make up for the pitching staff’s deficiencies every night. We saw that in losses against the Nationals on April 5 by a 9-8 final score and again Tuesday night by a 10-6 score.

While it is still very early in the season, these issues with the pitching staff cannot continue if the team wants to contend for the playoffs. Every team that made it to the division series last season had a pitching staff that ranked in the top half of the league in fWAR. If the pitching issues persist all season, you can kiss any playoff hopes goodbye.

Here I’ll take a look at the starting rotation, the bullpen, and what the team can do from here to make things better.

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