Blake Snell
Blake Snell, the former AL Cy Young winner in 2018, has certainly battled through some rather tough seasons. However, in the past year with the San Diego Padres, Snell has regained some of that Cy Young form once again as he went 14-9 with an impressive 2.25 ERA, a league-leading 182 ERA+, 1.19 WHIP and a whopping 234 strikeouts in just 180 innings pitched.
Despite the dominance, he did issue a career-high 99 free passes, so he did encounter some slight control issues along the way. Nevertheless, he'll be only 31 next year and should have plenty left in the tank to be a solid option for the Phillies. In particular, if he could continue to maintain his dominant form shown this past season, he could potentially even provide greater value than Nola in the long run.
Marcus Stroman
Finally, there’s the intriguing option of Marcus Stroman. In his case, he has an opt-out clause that he can utilize if he wishes to enter free agency for this upcoming offseason. If he does exercise it, then he'll definitely be a hot commodity in the coming weeks. After all, Stroman has been one of the more consistent and electrifying performers in the league in the past few seasons.
In 2023, Stroman, unfortunately, tailed off somewhat at the end of the season after starting the year strong but still ended up with a 10-9 record with a 3.95 ERA, a 1.26 WHIP, along with 119 strikeouts in 136 2/3 innings of work.
Throughout his career, he has always been a front-end starter and looks to continue his success in that role for the foreseeable future. In addition, with his unique personality and attitude, he would definitely add some voice and character to the Phillies’ clubhouse, which could be a key to inspiring the ballclub to reach that next level and win it all.
There are other potential starting pitching options as well. But these six pitchers would provide the most significant impact for the Phillies if they were to add them to their starting rotation if a Nola deal cannot be reached.