Phillies Reveal Their Plans for Starting Rotation Entering Important Stretch

Some more changes are coming to the Philadelphia Phillies starting rotation as they get ready for an important stretch on their calendar.

Aug 8, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Kolby Allard (49) pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning at Chase Field / Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Even though the Philadelphia Phillies have one of the top rotations in all of baseball, that has come in spite of their No. 5 spot being a complete disaster.

Entering the season, they were hoping Taijaun Walker would find some of his past form that caused them to hand him a four-year, $72 million contract ahead of 2023 in the first place.

Those plans were quickly shifted when he started out on the injured list, but when Spencer Turnbull valiantly filled in until Walker was activated off the IL, it seemed like the Phillies had more than enough starting pitching options to get through the long regular season.

Fast forward to now, and that couldn't be further from the truth.

Walker has been awful throughout the year, relegating him to a bullpen role for the rest of the season. Turnbull is currently on the injured list and everyone else Philadelphia has turned to has not been able to stick as part of this rotation.

That includes top prospect Seth Johnson who made his debut on Sunday, something that quickly turned into an outing to forget about.

While manager Rob Thomson offered some words of encouragement, he clearly is not ready to face Major League hitters at this point in his career.

So, the Phillies have made some more changes to their rotation.

Phillies have Tyler Gilbert in their bullpen tonight. He replaces Seth Johnson on roster. They'll call up Kolby Allard to start Saturday against Mets. By not skipping No. 5 spot, they have Suárez, Wheeler Nola to pitch at Milwaukee next week.

— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) September 9, 2024

Many fans and analysts have been wondering why Kolby Allard hasn't just been the fifth starter the entire time since Walker began to struggle.

Philadelphia brought in the left-hander on a one-year, $1 million contract this offseason for this exact reason since he is someone who has racked up multiple Major League outings and innings throughout his career.

While the former No. 14 overall pick hasn't wowed in his seven years in the MLB, he's been productive during his four outings and three starts for the Phillies with a 3.50 ERA.

That's all this team is really looking for at this point in time.

Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suarez, and Cristopher Sanchez are going to be the starting pitchers in the playoffs, so all they need their No. 5 guy to do is eat up innings to spell their bullpen coming down the stretch.

Allard is getting that opportunity again, and he'll have a chance to show the organization that should be his role when the Phillies face the New York Mets in a matchup that has some NL East division ramifications.

Getting a huge performance from him will go a long way in wrapping up this race.

Looking ahead, Matt Gelb also revealed in his social media report that the move to recall Allard for his start on Saturday against the Mets will allow Philadelphia's three best starting pitchers to be available for their massive series against the Milwaukee Brewers.

As it stands right now, the Phillies lead the Brewers by three games in the standings which would give themselves a first round bye in the playoffs.

Philadelphia has to take care of business before they begin their three-game slate in Milwaukee on Sept. 16, but having this plan mapped out should help them avoid the Wild Card round they've been forced to play in the past two years.