Philadelphia Phillies 2022 Fantasy Baseball Preview – Pitchers

Aaron Nola

What a mess. I’m seeing all across the fantasy landscape that Aaron Nola is a hot target this year, based on how bad his numbers ended up in 2021. The advanced stats say that he pitched way better than his soul-crushing 4.63 ERA indicated. I buy it to an extent, but I’ve seen enough of Nola by now to form the opinion that his flaws outweigh what he brings to the table to be the ace of a fantasy team. So I’m happy to let someone else take him in the fourth or fifth round while I load up on quality bats and can nab some pitchers later who might give me more wins and a better ERA. If you are personally inclined to take Nola, you have to get an ERA under 4.00 and 200 strikeouts to make him worth your while.

Ranger Suarez

I can’t believe the strides that Ranger Suarez has made, but I’ll definitely take it. You can bet that the Phillies will be careful with his innings, but Suarez looks like a solid bet for a double digit win total, an ERA around 3.75, and 175 strikeouts or so. He was ridiculous last year, so don’t expect a Cy Young season out of the guy, but you can draft him confidently as early as the 12th round and should be ecstatic if he falls to you any further along in the draft than that. All signs point to him registering a top-50 season among starters.

Kyle Gibson

A big dropoff here, as we have to discuss boring veteran Kyle Gibson. The move didn’t work out great for the Phillies last year, as Gibson was pitching way over his head in Texas but then predictably came back down to earth for his new team. Still, he can have utility for the real club if the offense mashes the way it’s supposed to. As such, your fantasy team can benefit by rostering Gibson if he can give you 10-12 wins, 150 strikeouts, and keep his ERA under about 4.30. In the 20th round and beyond, you could do worse.