After contentious discussions, the MLB lockout is over and teams have begun their spring training schedules. Opening Day has been pushed to April 14, which gives teams some extra time to finalize their rosters and rotations. In this series, TGH will be summarizing each team’s 2021 season and predicting their Opening Day pitching rotation. Here is the projected Philadelphia Phillies pitching rotation for 2022.
Summary
The Phillies finished 2021 with a record of 82-80, which was good enough for second in the NL East. The NL East winners, the Braves, would go on to win the 2021 World Series. They missed the playoffs for a tenth-straight season, but did finish with a record over .500 since exactly a decade earlier, in 2011.
Here is a projected pitching rotation for the 2022 Philadelphia Phillies.
1. Zack Wheeler
Wheeler had an excellent year in 2021. He earned an All Star selection and was second in National League Cy Young award voting. He led the MLB in shutouts (2), batters faced (849) and complete games (3). He also led the NL in strikeouts with 247. His ERA was 2.47 last season.
2. Aaron Nola
Next year will be Nola’s eighth, all of which have been with the Phillies. He had a bit of a down year in 2021, with an ERA at 4.63 in 180 innings pitched. Surprisingly, he went 9-9 in 32 starts. He was also a big strikeout pitcher, fanning 223.
3. Kyle Gibson
Gibson was traded to the Phillies last season, but he pitched only 69 innings in Philadelphia. This skewed his Phillies ERA to 5.09, but his total ERA in 2021 was 3.71. The Phillies offense along with his pitching earned him just a 4-6 ERA in 12 appearances (11 of them starts).
4. Ranger Suarez
Perhaps the biggest gap in ERA from 2020 to 2021 belongs to Ranger Suarez. In 2020, his ERA was 20.25 (in just four innings, though), and in 2021 he had a 1.36 ERA in 106 innings. Surprisingly, he did not receive placement in Cy Young voting despite that tiny ERA.
5. Zach Eflin
Eflin pitched 105 innings last season, collecting a 4.17 ERA. He started in all 18 of his appearances last year, but had a win-loss record of just 4-7. This is the Phillies’ best option to round out their five-man rotation, but things could shift as the season progresses.
Featured image courtesy of Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
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