Where Do the Phillies 1-2-3 Pitchers Stack up in the NL?
With Aaron Nola bouncing back, Ranger Suarez regaining his 2021 form, and Zack Wheeler being Zack Wheeler, the Phillies have a very formidable 1-2-3 punch. But just how good is it? Can the combo of Wheeler, Nola, and Suarez stack up against the other pitching rotations in the NL come playoff time?
I looked at the top 3 pitchers on every NL team in the playoff picture. The Phillies, Mets, Dodgers, Brewers, Padres, Braves, and Cardinals. Here is how each of those staffs stack up.
| Team | ERA | IPs | ERs |
| LAD- Urias, Gonsolin, Kershaw | 2.35 | 336.1 | 88 |
| Mets- Scherzer, DeGrom, Bassit | 2.73 | 267.1 | 81 |
| Phillies- Wheeler, Nola, Suarez | 3.09 | 399.2 | 137 |
| Brewers- Burnes, Woodruff, Lauer | 3.13 | 371.1 | 129 |
| Braves- Fried, Strider, Morton | 3.22 | 369.1 | 132 |
| Padres- Darvish, Musgrove, Snell | 3.29 | 360.2 | 132 |
| Cardinals- Mikolas, Wainwright, Quintana | 3.31 | 419.2 | 154 |
Of these 7 teams, the Phillies have the 3rd best ERA among their top 3 starters. Only the Mets and the Dodgers are better. And with those two teams, you could actually say they go 4 deep. The Mets also have Carlos Carrasco, and the Dodgers have Tyler Anderson. There is a good reason those two teams are ahead of everyone else in the NL.
But among the other teams, it is hard to argue against the Phillies. They have two former Cy Young finalists and Ranger Suarez who is pitching great right now. The numbers do not lie, and the Phillies have the best numbers outside the Dodgers and the Mets. All of these teams have good staffs. That’s why they are in the playoffs. But if you have the Phillies going against the Cardinals, and its Wheeler vs Wainwright, Nola vs Mikolas, and Suarez vs Quintana, you like your chances if you are the Phillies.
Since the All-Star Break
It may also be worthwhile to look at how these staffs have pitched recently though. Because Ranger Suarez was not good in the first half. Here are what the stats for each staff look like since the All-Star Break.
| Team | ERA | IPs | ERs |
| LAD- Urias, Gonsolin, Kershaw | 1.87 | 91.2 | 19 |
| Mets- Scherzer, DeGrom, Bassit | 1.96 | 96.1 | 21 |
| Phillies- Wheeler, Nola, Suarez | 2.32 | 89.1 | 23 |
| Braves- Fried, Strider, Morton | 2.7 | 76.2 | 23 |
| Padres- Darvish, Musgrove, Snell | 3.12 | 98 | 34 |
| Brewers- Burnes, Woodruff, Lauer | 3.22 | 95 | 94 |
| Cardinals- Mikolas, Wainwright, Quintana | 4.54 | 85.1 | 43 |
As you can see the Phillies numbers are much better. Unfortunately so have the Mets and the Dodgers. But it has improved between the Phillies and the other teams bigger at least.
In a 3 or 5 game series, the Phillies will be able to outduel anyone except the Mets and Dodgers pitching-wise. We haven’t even talked about how good the Phillies bullpen has been. They will have the advantage against most of these teams. When it gets to a 7 game series, and you have to expand to 4 starters, it is a different story. None of these other teams, besides the Mets and Dodgers, can go 4 aces deep. Phillies will have to rely on Kyle Gibson or Noah Syndergaard then. But at least on paper, the Phillies 1-2-3 can be stacked up against anyone.
