This Stat Separates The Phillies Rotation From The Other Elite Staffs

The Phillies Rotation has been their strength to start the 2024 season. They are 2nd in ERA (2.7), 2nd in K/9 (9.31), 2nd in WHIP (1.05). 1st in WAR (5.9), and 1st in Batting Average Against (2.09). There is something else they are doing though, that tends to be underrated in today's game, that seperates them even further from the other elite pitching staffs. They are going deep into games.

For some reason, teams don't value starters going deep into games the way they used to. That is evident by the fact only 2 of the last 6 Cy Young Winners pitched more than 200 innings.

It's a trend across the league. Starters going 5 innings, and then coming out of the game. That is not the case for the Phillies though. Ranger Suarez averages 6.75 innings per game, 1st in the league. Aaron Nola averages 6.12. Wheeler fell under 6 this weekend but is still at 5.93. All 3 are in the top 10 among starting pitchers.

As a rotation they average 5.94 innings per game, 1st in the league. The Phillies Rotation is not just pitching better than every other staff, they are pitching more.

In an age where teams pull their starter after 5 innings, they are bucking the trend

So why does it matter? Because they literally give you more value. Would you rather have 160 innings of great pitching, or 200? The answer is obviously 200.

Also that 1 extra inning, is one less inning the bullpen has to pitch. By the end of the season, that is 162 fewer innings of wear and tear on your bullpen arms.

So how do they stack up to their competition? The Dodgers are probably the "best team in the league" right now. Their rotation is one of their strengths. Their starter's ERA is 3.18, 3rd in the League. But they only average 5.13 innings per game. That is 20th in the league.

The next closest team to the Phillies in Innings Per Game is Seattle at 5.75 innings per game, but they arent exactly a threat to the Phillies. The Braves are 3rd at 5.69.

But that means the Phillies starters average nearly an extra out per game. That may not seem like much, but it adds up over the course of the season. If it keeps up, that is 54 extra innings.

The same goes for every other competitive team behind them. The Orioles, Yankees, Red Sox, all the other top-end rotations, fall way short of the Phillies in terms of innings pitched per game.

More than anything else, this separates them from the other staffs. It gives the Phillies a major advantage. not just game to game but over the whole course of the season.

What lets the Phillies Rotation go deeper into games? It's because they buck the trend of velocity being the most important thing in the world.

Wheeler can light up the radar a bit, but Ranger and Nola both have fastballs that sit in the low 90s. All 3 do something more important than throwing hard though. They pitch. All 3 locate their pitches well. A 92 MPH fast that peppers the corners of the strike zone is more effective than a 99 MPH one that hangs over the plate.

It took 8 games for Ranger Suarez to get into his first 3-0 count, and he turned that at-bat into a double play.

They avoid letting their pitch count get inflated by working fast. When all you have is power, that pitch count is going to skyrocket. It also leads to injuries, but that is a different conversation.

This Phillies pitching staff works fast. They move through the lineup quickly, and it lets them go deeper into games. It is why we often see them still in the game long after the other team has already gone to the Pen.

The Phillies rotation is great. But not just because of how well they pitch, also because they pitch deeper into games than any other staff.

The Philadelphia Phillies will play nine full series on their schedule during the month of May. Five of them will come at Citizens Bank Park. The other four will come on the road.

The early months of the past two seasons haven’t been kind to Philadelphia. However, Rob Thomson’s squad has reversed the narrative.

The Phillies enter the month of May after one of the best Aprils performances in franchise history because of their ability to take advantage of a weaker schedule. They swept lesser opponents in the Colorado Rockies and Chicago White Sox before traveling west to do the same to a more formidable San Diego Padres team.

The May 2024 schedule includes three National League East rivals. The Phillies and the New York Mets will play consecutive series with two games apiece at each respective team’s home park. It will provide a nice tune-up before the MLB London Series in June.

The Washington Nationals will host their former star Bryce Harper, and the Miami Marlins will look to stay afloat against a World Series contender in what’s been a disastrous start to 2024.

The Toronto Blue Jays might not have Joe Carter anymore, but they still provide a good draw in Philadelphia. The defending champion Texas Rangers will also visit the City of Brotherly Love.

Road series include trips to the Bay Area to face the San Francisco Giants and a Memorial Day Weekend set at Coors Field in Denver. 

The Phillies will also face the St. Louis Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park for one game on May 31 in the first game of a weekend series that stretches into the month of June.

The Phillies return to Citizens Bank Park after a 10-game road trip for an extended weekend set. The uncommon Friday-Monday schedule includes the featured game on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.

Fans also receive the ironic Alec Bohm “I Love This Place” t-shirt on Saturday.

Gabe Kapler had been the storyline in recent Phillies-Giants series, but veteran skipper Bob Melvin replaced him this offseason.

The Giants added reigning NL Cy Young Blake Snell during spring training, but the Phillies will miss the nasty lefty during an IL stint.

The Blue Jays have a good developing group of core players led by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. They’ve cracked the playoffs in three of the past four seasons.

The strangely controversial Hatfield Phillies Franks BOGO Night (NOT Dollar Dog Night) will draw a crowd for the two-game set in Philadelphia.

What percentage of the home crowd is passionate enough to hold a grudge against the visiting Jays for a fateful series loss 31 years ago?

The Phillies will get back on the road for a weekend set in Florida on May 10. The Marlins have had a disastrous start to the 2024 season that’s buried them in last place in the NL East.

Speculation surrounding Jesus Luzardo and other potential trade chips will draw more attention than the ballclub this season. A World Series hopeful team like the Phillies should push themselves to dominate a last-place team like the Marlins.

The Mets have impressively stayed in reach in an NL East race with two elite teams like the Phillies and Braves at the top. First-year manager Carlos Mendoza has squeezed some wins out of a flawed roster.

The Phillies play the front half of a four-game series at Citi Field before returning to Philadelphia. It’s the only matchup between the two division rivals before the MLB London Series on June 8 and 9.

The Phillies will make the quick drive south for the second half of the four-game set. Another New York franchise recently dominated a Philadelphia venue.

Mets fans have shown up at Citizens Bank Park in recent seasons with big numbers and passionate noise in regular-season matchups. Will they follow the precedent set by the Knicks fan base at the Wells Fargo Center?

The Nationals made it through the first month of the season with a respectable record. Many MLB analysts picked them to finish at the bottom of the NL East, but they’ve at least kept pace in what looks like a powerhouse division in 2024.

Strong starts from CJ Abrams and Jesse Winker deserve some recognition. However, the Phillies have an unquestionably stronger roster than Washington.

The defending World Series champs will travel to Citizens Bank Park for their only matchup against the Phillies in a three-game weekday set. Corey Seager didn’t get off to his strongest start in 2024. Fellow centerpiece Adolis Garcia has helped the Rangers linger toward the top of the AL West.

The Phillies will close out the homestand with two night games and a Businessperson’s Special on close-out day.

The Phillies dominated the hapless Rockies in Philadelphia in an April sweep. Weaker opponents on the early-season schedule provide an opportunity for a playoff contender to build an advantage at the top of the standings. That’s not easy to do with the regular-season juggernaut Braves in the mix.

A Memorial Day Weekend series in Denver offers the chance for a trip to one of the most beautiful downtown ballparks in the majors, if you have the means.

The series at Citizens Bank Park in early May gives both teams an opportunity to learn the competition. The Phillies will travel back to the Western time zone for the final full series of the month.

San Francisco will return the favor of uncommon start times. They’ll play two afternoon games in the City by the Bay. Monday’s game will start at 5:05pm EST, and Wednesday’s game starts at 3:45pm EST.