Starting Pitcher Evaluation for the Phillies 2023 Baseball Cards
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Who was dependable and who was expendable for the Phillies’ pitching staff during a rollercoaster year?
Looking back on the Phillies’ 2023 season, the offense is clearly the most important aspect. The Phillies’ new “ball goes boom” catchphrase has deflected attention away from the pitching staff’s strong performances and overall seasons. How did the rotation fare after an unexpected and disappointing finish?
The Phillies’ starting rotation finished the season 15th in the league in overall ERA (4.30), down from 3.80 last year. While the overall league ERA increased by nearly.4 run, it still reflects the team’s deficiencies during the regular season.
They did, however, do a decent job of suppressing baserunners, registering a 1.22 WHIP, good for fifth in the league. The starters’ postseason ERA was an astounding 2.19, which was first in the league and.75 runs ahead of the next-best squad. It was an unsustainable mark that occurred in a limited number of games, but nothing matters more for our grades and in concept than the postseason.
The rotation performed admirably in the postseason, demonstrating that they could, for the most part, live up to the moment when it counted the most. But, over the course of 162 games, where did the starters fall short? What changes were made? What should be modified for the upcoming season?
Six starters had a significant effect in 2023. Let’s dig down and analyze each starter’s season, as well as recall their greatest and worst moments.
Zack Wheeler
Zack Wheeler was easily the Phillies’ best starter in 2023. He covered 192 innings, tallied 212 strikeouts, and allowed only 77 earned runs. His strong showing throughout the regular season led to him finishing sixth in National League Cy Young voting, even receiving all the way up to third-place votes. If there were still any questions about who the Phillies’ ace is, they are put to rest now.
Throughout the regular season, Wheeler was the Phillies’ primary hitter. You expected a win every sixth day when Rob Thomson passed the ball to the 33-year-old. That was accurate in the majority of cases. He started slowly in the first half of the season, pitching to an ERA of just over 4.00 in 18 games, but showed his true prowess down the stretch and into the postseason.
In his 14 games during the second half of the season, Wheeler compiled 9.5 strikeouts a game and brought home a 3.08 ERA.
In the postseason, Wheeler had a 3-0 record, 1.95 ERA, 35 strikeouts, and team wins against Jesús Luzardo, Spencer Strider, and Zac Gallen (twice).
Wheeler carries himself with a different demeanor than most. Not a cockiness, but confidence in his stuff and ability to throw it. In the playoffs, he attacked the strike zone more than ever, going ahead 0-1, 0-2, 1-2 in counts and keeping the hitters guessing. When you have a 100 mph fastball, a sinker that drops off the table, and a sweeping slider that can range from low 80s to low 90s in velocity, it’s tough for a hitter to guess right.
Grade: A
Aaron Nola
What can you say about Aaron Nola? He has been the guy for eight-plus years now in Philly. He is Philly. Fresh off his recently agreed-upon contract, we’ll get to see him in red pinstripes for the foreseeable future.
His 2023 was a very interesting one, to say the least. Nola surrendered a career-high 32 home runs over the course of 32 starts — not good. Nola ended the season with a 1.151 WHIP — very good. Aaron Nola has stuff, durability, and poise; that’s what makes him a great pitcher.
Obviously, Nola was not what everyone had hoped for or expecting this year. His sniper-like two-seamer, which was usually finding the edge, sailed over the plate. His deadly 12-6 Curveball, which he would bury in the dirt, hung around a little too long. Late in games, his velocity was routinely low. Despite this, he finished the season with a 4.46 ERA, close to 200 innings pitched, and 200 or more strikeouts.
Everyone has hiccups or off periods. Thankfully it wasn’t during the postseason.
Nola pitched to a 3-1 record with a 2.35 ERA with over 20 strikeouts in his four starts in the postseason. He was a huge piece of the carefully crafted puzzle Caleb Cotham and Rob Thomson created.
The postseason matters most. If he hadn’t performed so well during the postseason his grade would be a C. Instead, he receives a B.
Grade: B
Ranger Suárez
Ranger Suárez is a difficult player to understand. He missed considerable time due to an injury sustained at the World Baseball Classic. He also missed a few starts down the stretch due to a hamstring issue. But there is a catch: he washed the field.
Suárez, a five-to-six-inning pitcher, pitched to contact and searched for the corners as he typically does, resulting in a 1.416 WHIP. This prevented him from progressing further in games, resulting in some stupid or unearned runs. Having said that, he finished with a 4.16 ERA and made some strong starts along the way.
Suárez is a Gold Glove infielder with one of the sport’s calmest demeanors. This is why he is and was trusted in crucial playoff situations. He pitched five innings of one-run ball in the ultimately series-clinching Game 4 against the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS, allowing only three hits and walking none.
Suárez, who is entering his final year of arbitration, must remind the Phillies front office of the heroics he is capable of if he is to earn the long-term contract he must be seeking. He is a valuable lefty starter with bullpen versatility and postseason experience. While he is an excellent pitcher, he appeared a little off throughout the majority of the regular season.
The grade is B-.
Taijuan Walker
With a 15-6 record, Taijuan Walker is why they don’t decide the Cy Young based on record anymore.
Walker was Captain Rollercoaster during his rookie season with the Phillies. He had a 5.00 ERA through his first 11 starts. He went 5-1 with a 1.50 ERA in June. In July, he was 3-1 with a 3.86 ERA. He was never the reason this team won games, but he was always a factor in how they won (or lost) them.
Walker’s splitter was used for the majority of his starts. He was going if his splitter was going. His splitter was swung at with a whiff rate of 24.5 percent and a putaway percentage of 18.2 percent. He could use it to steal a strike when he was behind in counts and could keep it on the corner. He got into trouble when his splitter came into contact with more than a small amount of plate. He could also use it to get swings and misses in the strike zone. Again, he was successful when he kept it down.
Walker struck out 138 batters while pitching to a WHIP of 1.309, which was close to the league average.
Walker’s slow starts were another issue. He was known for allowing numerous runs in the first one or two innings before settling in for the next three or four. In the regular season, when you’re trying to consume innings and keep games tight, that’s fine. It becomes a problem down the stretch and into the playoffs.
This is why Walker spent the entire postseason on the top step of the bench.
The grade is C-.
Cristopher Sánchez
Cristopher Sánchez had to be the surprise of the year for this Phillies pitching staff. After showing flashes of a pretty impressive changeup in 2022, Sánchez missed some time to begin the season and only made one start before June, but once he was back, he was outstanding.
Sánchez continued to demonstrate how good that changeup was, classifying it as a top three pitch in total movement on FanGraphs. His above-average sinker running the opposite way was an ideal set-up delivery for the wipe-out changeup. In addition, he used a slider 21% of the time.
Throughout the season, Sánchez improved his consistency and went further and deeper into his intro starts. In 13 of his 18 starts, he went five or more innings, and in eight of them, he went six or more innings. His antics on the road were an underappreciated aspect of his game. As a young pitcher in the MLB, he had a 2.08 ERA in six road starts this season.
Sánchez has earned his spot in the rotation after his performance in limited action in 2023. When looking forward to possible rotations, Sánchez will get his shot unless the Phillies front office spends incredibly this winter. Look for him to settle into his role as a Major League starter and work on his tertiary pitches to set up that changeup better.
Grade: A-
Michael Lorenzen
The tragic fall of Michael Lorenzen. From no-hitter hero to giving up nothing but hits, his season was a weird one.
Lorenzen began the season with the Detroit Tigers, where he pitched well enough to earn an All-Star selection (although as the Tigers’ lone representative). There wasn’t a lot of expectation when he was dealt to the Phillies. Lorenzen, who was traded for a low-level prospect and slotted in as the fifth or sixth starter, got on the mound and changed everyone’s opinion inside two starts.
He pitched 17 innings in his first two starts for the Phillies, allowing only two runs, six hits, and, of course, a no-hitter. Lorenzen would go on to surrender 27 runs in his following six starts once the enchantment wore off, and he was eventually pushed to the bullpen as a piggyback starter or low leverage reliever.
Lorenzen pitched well in the first half and in a few starts, but the collapse was unavoidable. He gave a rating of %40. The sophisticated analytics had been telling the story all along. Lorenzen pitched to contact, threw batters off balance, and attacked with his off-speed stuff. He runs into difficulties when he depends on his fastball, which he did near the close of the season.
Grade: C-
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