Phillies Mid-Season Grades - Part 2: Pitchers

As we did with the position players in Part 1, Part 2 will dive in deeper on the pitching staff. We are in unfamiliar territory right now as Phillies fans because the pitching staff, and more specifically, the bullpen is really the strength of this year's team.

Dave Dombrowski made it a point to add to the bullpen when he traded for All-Star Gregory Soto, Matt Strahm and signed future Hall of Famer Craig Kimbrel. While keeping the core and breakout stars from last year, Jose Alvarado and Seranthony Domínguez, the Bullpen seemed to be solidified. Going into the year, the Phillies were relying on the stability of the top four in the starting rotation of Zach Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Taijuan Walker, and Ranger Suárez. This has remained true as we are half way through the season.

The 7-8-9th innings have been lock down for the most part and as of late the starting pitching has come alive. According to Fangraphs, the Phillies have the number one (!) pitching staff ranked by WAR with a WAR of 12.8 which is 0.6 more than the second-place team. It was definitely expected that the offense would carry this team going into the year but the arms have carried the majority of the weight so far. If the pitching can keep this up and the offense comes alive like expected, this Phillies team can be very dangerous come September.