Phillies all-time best starting rotation based on WAR

No. 5: Curt Schilling (38.6 fWAR)

The list wouldn’t make sense without having one of the best strikeout kings of his era in Curt Schilling. After spending four underwhelming seasons mainly as a reliever for the Baltimore Orioles and Houston Astros to start his career, he began his rise to prominence after being traded from the Astros to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1992.

Schilling ended up spending almost half of his MLB career in a Phillies uniform during the '90s. He ranks seventh on the all-time list for wins with 101, eighth with a 1.12 WHIP, ninth in innings pitched with 1,659 1/3 innings, and sixth in strikeouts with 1,554. He helped the Phillies reach the World Series in 1993 after capturing NLCS MVP honors against the Atlanta Braves. However, Schilling and the Phillies ended up falling to the Toronto Blue Jays in six games, immortalized by Joe Carter's memorable walk-off home run in Game 6.

Ultimately, the bulk of Schilling's success came after leaving the organization, when he joined the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2000 to 2003, and then the Boston Red Sox from 2004 to 2007. With the Diamondbacks, not only did he finish runner-up for the NL Cy Young Award twice, he helped guide them to their first-ever World Series title in 2001. With the Red Sox, he further cemented his status as one of the best in the game, leading them to two World Series championships.

If it hadn’t been for allegations of the use of performance-enhancing drugs during his playing career, along with some of his more recent social media controversy, Schilling likely would already be a part of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Nevertheless, at least he finds himself in the Phillies Wall of Fame as an acknowledgement of his significant contributions during his time with the club.