Philadelphia Phillies' Biggest Strength So Far In 2016 Is Starting Pitching

By Nick Vorholt

The Philadelphia Phillies entered 2016 with low expectations. They are trying to hold a goodbye tour for Ryan Howard while rebuilding on the fly. In the midst of all of this, their starting pitching has kept them in the playoff picture despite having a negative run differential.

The Phillies are fifth in the National League in ERA and second in WHIP. The only starting rotation that has walked fewer batters this season is the New York Mets. That, combined with holding the opposition to a .238 batting average, is how the Phillies have maintained such a low ERA. Having that low WHIP makes up for the middling effort the starting staff has in home runs allowed and strikeouts. They have also supported their bullpen by throwing the sixth most innings of any NL staff to date.

Over a quarter of the way into the season, the Phillies have only had six starters pitch for them so far. Lefty Adam Morgan has stepped into Charlie Morton‘s spot with some issues when Morton was placed on the DL. Through five starts of filling in for Morton, Morgan has the highest ERA, WHIP and batting average of any starter. The other four spots in the rotation have been fantastic.

Among the other four starters, no one has and ERA over 4.00, a WHIP over 1.25, or a batting average over .265. Jerad Eickhoff has the highest batting average allowed of the four and is the only one who is striking out less than one batter per inning. If this keeps up, we’re talking about a playoff caliber rotation.

Few expected the Phillies to have such a great start to the 2016 season. If their pitching can maintain this pace, they will stay close. Better yet, if their offense improves, the rebuild may just be ready to turn the corner.

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