The MLB offseason headlines will inevitably focus on drama surrounding Bryce Harper, whether or not the storyline impacts the superstar next season. Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto will also draw constant attention as the two highest-profile free agents.
However, conversations about the “core” lineup pieces and criticism of Dave Dombrowski for his “run it back” mentality too often ignore the real strength of the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Phillies have built and restocked their pitching pipeline as the foundation of a franchise in consistent World Series contention. The staff has achieved exactly the type of success that the offense hasn’t.
The development of Cristopher Sanchez and Jesus Luzardo into top-of-the-rotation starters with Andrew Painter waiting behind them is the best hope the Phillies have for sustaining a long-term window of contention. The staff’s success somehow pales in comparison to the club’s shortcomings at the plate.
Starting Pitching
Dombrowski built the Phillies on the back of a strong starting rotation that performed as well as any big league staff last season.
The Phillies finished second in the majors in starters’ ERA behind only the Texas Rangers. However, their incredible durability outweighed the slight difference in the most general pitching stat. Phillies starters led the majors in innings pitched by a margin of 41⅔, which was greater than the distance between the second and 14th-place MLB clubs.
Photo by Caean Couto/Getty Images
They similarly made baseball traditionalists gush with 84 quality starts, and the distance ahead of the Boston Red Sox with 72 quality starts equaled the margin between the second and 13th-place MLB clubs.
Philadelphia’s first-place finishes in WAR, FIP, and strikeout rate will also make the new-age analytics crowd gush about the rotation’s isolated impact. The dominance translated to the playoffs, as pitchers who spent the season primarily as starters threw 27⅓ innings in the National League Division Series and allowed only seven runs for a 2.30 ERA.
2025 Starting Pitching RanksERAInnings PitchedQuality StartsWHIPStrikeout RateWalk RateWARPhillies3.53929 ⅔841.1825.3%6.4%21.5MLB Rank2nd1st1stt-4th1st2nd1stSource: FanGraphs
The numbers themselves don’t properly credit the mix of starting pitchers that’s become the real hallmark of the organization.
Zack Wheeler ascended into the top tier of MLB starters after signing with the Phillies entering the 2020 season. He joined the rotation’s previous stalwart Aaron Nola, a dependable rotation piece whose accomplishments outweigh most MLB starters during his 11-year career in the big leagues.
The era of Wheeler and Nola at the top of the Phillies staff aligns with the streak of four consecutive playoff berths with Harper, Schwarber, Realmuto, and Trea Turner as the lineup centerpieces. However, as the two veteran right-handers ease into their twilight years at different rates, the Phillies will transition into dependence on two younger left-handers at the top of their rotation.
Phillies ‘Core’ Pitchers
Despite the Phillies losing Wheeler for the season in August 2025, Rob Thomson somehow still handed the ball to an undisputed ace in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Cristopher Sanchez has developed one of the best changeups in the game. The 28-year-old lefty built on a breakout 2024 season by posting new career bests in starts, innings pitched, ERA, and strikeouts on the way into Cy Young contention in 2025.
“The development of his changeup, the command, the power, the poise, he’s (Sanchez is) just a complete pitcher right now. That’s been an evolution over the last couple years, really, but when Wheels went down, we told everybody ‘Just be yourselves. It’s good enough.’ And they were, especially him. He didn’t try to do too much. He went out and did his business.”
-Rob Thomson
Dombrowski struck out in his attempts to remake the lineup entering 2025. However, his pivot to improving the starting staff became an overlooked success of an underwhelming offseason.
The Phillies unexpectedly acquired Jesus Luzardo after most available big names were off the board by December 2024. Other contending teams balked at the young left-hander’s health concerns, but Dombrowski cashed in big when Luzardo established himself as a long-term building block in his age-28 season in 2025.
Andrew Painter didn’t meet the high bar the organization set for him in his first season coming off Tommy John surgery in 2025. The Phillies aggressively chased a trade for Garret Crochet in 2024, but Dombrowski wouldn’t loosen his grip on the organization’s top pitching prospect.
Painter will turn 23 early in the 2026 season. While the Phillies shouldn’t dub a minor leaguer a core player, Dombrowski still envisions a future comparable to his past aces like Josh Beckett and Justin Verlander.
Pitching coach Caleb Cotham has helped starters who began in other MLB organizations ascend drastically during their tenures with the Phillies. Wheeler has gradually adjusted his arm angle since his less dominant early seasons with the New York Mets. Luzardo developed an effective sweeper as a dependable putaway pitch last season after the trade, and Sanchez has blown away all expectations since Cotham joined the staff in 2021.
The Phillies will hope for Wheeler and Nola to age gracefully through their 30s, but the lineage of the franchise’s starting pitchers indicates a more promising and secure future on the mound than in the batter’s box.
Phillies Lineup & Franchise Future
The Phillies lineup hasn’t progressed in recent seasons the way that a top-tier MLB organization hopes.
Dombrowski hasn’t restocked the middle of their order with a young franchise cornerstone to supplement Harper, Schwarber, Realmuto, or Trea Turner.
The future Hall of Fame executive has instead loaded up arguably the best collection of starting pitchers in the majors, even if Ranger Suarez leaves the Phillies in free agency.
Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images
Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott, and Brandon Marsh haven’t developed into offensive centerpieces. Prospect Justin Crawford didn’t reach the majors in 2025. The lineup doesn’t boast the same potential of players in their prime MLB seasons as the starting rotation.
While Dombrowski has shouldered intense criticism in Philadelphia for running back the same roster multiple offseasons in a row, the scrutiny too often discounts the highly consequential Luzardo trade. It also ignores the in-season pitching move to acquire Jhoan Duran with two remaining seasons of club control and the opportunity to become another one of the organization’s core players.
Dombrowski will operate without lucrative resources this offseason. He faces the tough task of tweaking a playoff roster by retaining its big names and trying to correct the weaknesses that have prevented them from winning a World Series in their current run of sustained contention.
Question marks on offense will control most of the conversation during the MLB offseason. However, that shouldn’t discredit an advantage the Phillies pitching staff has over nearly every other team in the major leagues.