Philadelphia Phillies midseason report card: The starting rotation

Currently at the unofficial midway point of the regular season (the All-Star break), the Philadelphia Phillies sit at a clean 44-44 when it comes to their record. They’ve largely underperformed for a majority of the 2021 campaign, but are actually coming off a rather impressive stretch of series wins over the Padres, Cubs, and Red Sox leading into the break – vibes are good at the moment!

With that said, it’s midseason report card time, beginning with the team’s starting staff.

Handing out midseason grades for the Philadelphia Phillies starting rotation:

Zack Wheeler: A

Currently In Colorado for his first career All-Star Game, Zack Wheeler has arguably been the best pitcher in the National League this season. He really should’ve started the ASG over the likes of Max Scherzer, and currently ranks second in all of baseball in terms of pitching fWAR.

Wheeler leads the majors in innings pitched with 119.2, and ranks third in total strikeouts. He’s been absolutely incredible this season, and would’ve gotten an “A+” from me if I was doing +/- on my report card.

Aaron Nola: C

For his standards, Aaron Nola has been downright bad this season. Compared to the rest of baseball, he’s still be an average-to-above-average starting pitcher, hence the “C” grade.

Nola’s 4.53 ERA is obviously not something you want to be seeing if you’re a Philadelphia Phillies fan, but he still ranks top-20 in all of baseball in terms of pitching fWAR. Nola’s gotten knocked around far too often this year, but the lack of a reliable defense behind him has also inflated his numbers. We’ll stick with a “C” and hope he returns to his Ace form in the second half of the season.

Zach Eflin: B

A player who many thought would take a monumental leap forward in terms of his development this season, Zach Eflin has only really taken a medium sized leap forward. He did enter the All-Star break with an ERA below 4.00, which is solid, and also currently ranks 24th amongst pitchers in total fWAR, which is also solid.

If Eflin would have launched himself into the All-Star conversation that many were predicting during the offseason, he would’ve received an “A”.” Instead, a “B” grade feels pretty appropriate for a player who’s really established themselves as a longterm building block this year.

Vince Velasquez: D

Currently possessing a 5.35 ERA, Vince Velasquez‘ lack of production over the past few weeks is worthy of an “F.” However, he did provide the Phillies with a handful of good starts back in June, which is worth something. Ultimately speaking though, Vince isn’t a serviceable rotation arm – we’ve all known this for quite some time. Finding a way to replace him should be a priority moving forward.

Matt Moore: D

He’s been serviceable as of late, but Matt Moore has yet to come close to justifying the $3 million that Dave Dombrowski paid to acquire him during the offseason. Moore has a negative fWAR, and a 6.23 FIP that screams disaster waiting to happen. Another player that needs to be replaced moving forward.

Chase Anderson: F

The Chase Anderson experiment was a complete and utter disaster. $4 million for a 7.43 ERA across eight starts and three relief appearances. I see little reason to bring him back onto the main roster once he’s finished with his current rehab assignment. The guy isn’t good.

Spencer Howard: N/A

This might be a controversial grade, but I’m personally not putting a ton of stock into the few starts that Spencer Howard made for the Philadelphia Phillies this season. He was being restrained to a pitch count, making it hard to assess his value as a future starter, and he clearly needed more “ramp up” time. Howard is currently back down in AAA lengthening out to the 100 pitch range, which is more so where we expect him to be when he does join the rotation full-time in 2022.

In the meantime, he gets an “N/A.”

Related Story. Everything you need to know about new Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter. light

Make sure to check out my midseason report grades for the bullpen and the entire offense, which will be dropping later this week.

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