The Philadelphia Phillies have had countless questions with their roster. The lineup draws attention when the bats go cold. The bullpen has played well below expectations before they finally traded for a real closer in Jhoan Duran. One place that Phillies fans felt the safest for most of the season was the starting rotation. Now, maybe not so much.
The Phillies have a rotation they've built to be proud of. The number of quality innings their starters give them night in and night out has been unprecedented. The Phillies were riding that wave of success for a while, but the feeling has changed a little bit when it comes to the stability of the Phillies' pitching staff.
Staff ace Zack Wheeler is receiving treatment for a blood clot on the 15-day injured list. The Cy Young contender will be sidelined, but it's unknown how long he'll miss. According to MLB.com's Paul Casella, Wheeler underwent a successful thrombolysis procedure on Monday. That now leaves a ton of heavy lifting to the rest of the rotation, which has been shaky as of late.
Phillies' rotation offers more questions than answers in final weeks of regular season
If anyone has been a beacon of hope, it's Cristopher Sánchez. He was competing for the NL Cy Young before Wheeler went down, but he's now the ace of the staff until Wheeler returns. Through 25 starts, he has an 11-4 record, a 2.46 ERA and 169 strikeouts in 157 innings pitched. He'll surely be the one to lean on going forward.
Left-hander Ranger Suárez had a sensational start to the season, posting a 1.99 ERA over his first 12 starts. That even includes the seven runs he allowed in his season debut on May 4. Whether it's resulting from his back issues again or something else, Suárez has really slipped in his last six appearances.
Before Monday's start, Suárez had pitched to a 6.11 ERA while allowing a .313 batting average against over the last month. He did, however, come out and pitch 6 2/3 innings while allowing four hits, two earned runs and tieing his career high in strikeouts with 10, per Casella. So maybe Suárez can be his old self down the stretch.
Ranger Suárez ties his career high with his 🔟th K of the night! pic.twitter.com/mz7aWUDwu7
— MLB (@MLB) August 19, 2025
Aaron Nola made his first appearance since May 14 on Sunday. It would have been refreshing to see him turn his terrible season around, but he allowed six earned runs over 2 1/3 innings. That brought his season ERA up to a whopping 6.92 over 10 starts.
Jesús Luzardo was the prize of the offseason when they traded for him from the Miami Marlins, but his strong start flamed out in dramatic fashion when he allowed 20 earned runs in a two-start span. Over his last 14 starts, he has struggled with a 6.13 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. There are flashes of a great pitcher, which have been special to witness. The Phillies just need him to be more consistent.
Taijuan Walker has really struggled at times with the Phillies since he signed in 2023. He has been hard to rely on, even as the fifth man in the rotation. He's had a solid 2025 season with a 3.34 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP, jumping between the rotation and bullpen, but there's still doubt about how much you can really trust him in high-leverage situations.
Every rotation in MLB has questions and shortcomings to some degree. The Phillies may truly be one of the few rotations that can come even close to filling Wheeler's shoes. The Phillies will miss him, but they have to figure out a way to win without him until he hopefully comes back into the fold.