Philadelphia Phillies: 3 biggest strengths to look forward to in 2021

Improved starting pitching depth.

Since the glorious days of the early 2010s when the team employed the “four aces”, starting pitching depth has long been one of the Philadelphia Phillies biggest overall weakness. Even with two horses at the top of the rotation last season (Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler), the back-end of their staff ended up being a complete disaster.

By the end of the year guys like Vince Velasquez, Blake Parker, and David Hale were being called upon to make key starts for the team down the stretch. Not particularly ideal for a ball club that was desperately trying to sneak their way into some October baseball.

While they didn’t add any big-name starters this offseason, Dave Dombrowski and the Phillies made a conscious effort to improve upon the team’s depth at the position. Matt Moore and Chase Anderson were both signed to low-risk one-year deals, and Velasquez was retained via a pre-arbitration agreement.

Throw in the fact that Spencer Howard should be available as an option as well, and Joe Girardi’s rotation options are plentiful.

Nola, Wheeler, and Zach Eflin will do a majority of the work at the top of the starting staff, but the back-end options are noticeably better compared to last year’s team.