“We’re getting to the point now where we gotta get some of our bullpen guys some work,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said after the team’s homestand ended on Sunday. Starting pitcher Aaron Nola had just thrown eight innings in an 8-2 victory over the White Sox. At 91 pitches, Thomson may have considered sending him out for the ninth under normal circumstances.
But these times are anything but normal for the Phils’ starting pitchers. Consider:
– On Monday, April 15, Nola kicked off the Phillies current seven-game win streak by pitching into the eighth inning and allowing just one run. He gave up four hits, walked one, and struck out nine.
– The next night, Ranger Suarez threw a complete game shutout.
– On Wednesday, Cristopher Sanchez put up this line: 6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 K. His impressive outing would prove to be the shortest for any Phillies starter during the win streak.
– On Friday, after the team’s day off, Spencer Turnbull took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in a 7-0 Phils win.
– Not to be outdone, staff ace Zack Wheeler took a no-hitter into the eighth inning on Saturday, striking out eight and walking two as the Phillies won their fifth straight.
– Nola allowed just two runs, four hits, and one walk while striking out seven in Sunday’s effort. The two runs he allowed, on a home run in the first inning, represent the most runs a Phillies starter has allowed over the course of their streak.
– Suarez, back on the mound Monday night as the Phils hit the road, was lifted after just 88 pitches and seven innings of shutout ball. Up to 25 consecutive scoreless innings, could Suarez have gone after another shutout? Sure. But it’s a long season and relievers need work to stay sharp. RHP Jeff Hoffman, typically utilized in high-leverage relief role, ended up pitching the ninth inning of a 7-0 laugher.
The combined line for Phillies starting pitchers during the win streak:
51.2 IP, 24 H, 4 ER, 9 BB, 53 K. That’s a 0.70 ERA and a 0.64 WHIP.
Plenty of others will talk to you about the level of competition the Phils faced over the course of streak. I’m done writing about it. Every team, every season, faces soft parts of the schedule here and there. Few teams manage to put up numbers looking anything like these.
Suarez, in particular, is making some history:
But the success isn’t limited to Suarez. In fact, the success isn’t limited to the win streak. Check out these numbers. Through all 23 Phillies games in 2024:
Is that good?
Seems pretty good.
Yes yes, mm’hmm, one might even go so far as to call these numbers really really really quite very f**king good.
“I don’t have a vocabulary really to explain it properly,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said about the rotation’s success. “But it’s been great.”
Sanchez looks to keep the good times rolling on Tuesday against the Reds at 6:40 p.m. LHP Andrew Abbott (1-2, 2.70 ERA) will pitch for Cincinnati.
