April 29, 2024
Orlando Ramirez/USA Today Sports
Ranger Suárez might be the best starting pitcher in the majors right now.
In case you haven't noticed: the Phillies are red hot.
The club has won 11 of its last 13 games, has so far hit the second most homers in baseball, and boasts two of the 10 highest offensive performers in the majors in Alec Bohm and Trea Turner.
And then there's the pitching.
Across the board, at least until a fateful seventh inning undid a solid debut from Taijuan Walker on Sunday afternoon, every Phillies starter has been pitching like an ace. It's no exaggeration to say that the starting five — well, six with the rotation currently (temporarily?) in place — is the best in the majors right now.
A look at what they've done through 29 games this season:
| Category | Stat | MLB Rank |
| ERA | 2.36 | 2nd |
| Wins | 15 | 1st |
| IP | 175.1 | 1st |
| WHIP | 0.970 | 1st |
| SO | 186 | 1st |
| BAA | .189 | 1st |
| OPS | .552 | 1st |
Those are outrageous statistics. In 2023, the best starting pitching ERA in MLB was held by the Padres at 3.69. The best WHIP was the Mariners at 1.145. Philadelphia's strikeout rate at the current time puts them on pace for 1,039 Ks, which would be 79 more than last season's leader. And their innings pitched would also put them more than 70 frames ahead of last season's leaders there too.
This can't keep up, right?
The rule of large numbers suggests it won't, though with the upcoming schedule looking the way it does, there's a chance this could continue for a while. And with some extra rest built in now that Walker has joined the team, the Phils have some new-found flexibility and depth.
Here's a look at the next few opponents on the schedule, and their offensive WAR ranking so far:
| Team | W-L | WAR |
| at Angels | 10-18 | -1.0 (24th) |
| vs Giants | 14-15 | 0.6 (12th) |
| vs Blue Jays | 14-15 | 0.8 (11th) |
| at Marlins | 6-23 | -6.0 (30th) |
| at/vs Mets | 14-13 | -0.4 (19th) |
| vs Nationals | 13-14 | 0.4 (13th) |
| vs Rangers | 15-14 | 2.5 (6th) |
| at Rockies | 7-21 | -3.5 (28th) |
| at Giants | 14-15 | 0.6 (12th) |
| vs. Cardinals | 13-15 | -3.2 (27th) |
That takes us all the way into June, with the Phillies facing just one top-10 offense. The Rangers and Mets, each one game above .500, are the only teams with a winning record right now that they'll play in May.
Will Ranger Suárez still be a leader for an NL Cy Young Award by the time summer officially arrives? With the Phils slated to pay Zack Wheeler $42 million a year through 2027, and Aaron Nola $24 million through 2030, they could have another gargantuan salary to pay a starter soon.
Suárez is making a tick over $5 million this season, and has one year of arbitration remaining before he's a free agent in 2025. He currently leads the majors in pitching WAR, wins, WHIP and is second among starters in innings pitched and ERA – plus just had a stretch of throwing 32 scorelessinnings. Wheeler is also among the leaders on most of those lists.
The bottom pair of starters — whom many expected could be an issue — have been light's out as well. Cristopher Sánchez has a 2.96 ERA in five starts and Spencer Turnbull has a 1.33 ERA in five as well. He's earned a sixth turn to pitch even with Walker back in the fold.
There's a decent chance the staff is revelatory into June. If it can last into the dog days of summer is anyone's guess, but with the Phillies' bats almost always sharpening in the humidity of late summer, the Phillies and their 19 wins project them to be in a very good place.
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