Stars Align for Phillies Pitching Rotation

Pitching has been both the bane of the Philadelphia Phillies' season but also one of its best features. Now, it seems it's lining up to give the team a much-needed boost.
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One thing the Philadelphia Phillies and a badly-painted wall have in common is they're both streaky.

They suffered a six-game losing streak, then won five games in a row, and now have lost the last two. 

Six Flags would like a word about this roller coaster.

Now that they're on a road trip and their second game against the San Francisco Giants, they have a chance to stop this ride. 

The rotation has aligned, like good chakras or the planets in summer. 

Starting Tuesday will be right-hander Zack Wheeler. Taijuan Walker, Ranger Suarez, and Aaron Nola will start the next three games. It's the first time all season that Philadelphia's top four starters lined up like ducks in a row. 

Bonus points: Suarez and Nola will start after an extra day's rest on Thursday. 

Over 51.0 innings pitched, Wheeler is 3-3 with a 4.06 ERA, 1.196 WHIP and 61 strikeouts. 

Remember those control issues that Walker was having in the past six outings? For now, they seemed to have temporarily ended. In his last two outings, both wins by the way, he pitched six innings all walk-free. And his best pitch, his splitter, in those two starts, threw it over 48 percent of the time up from 32 percent. 

Coors Field wasn't the BEST place for Suarez to make his return. It did not go well as he allowed eight runs over four innings. 72 pitches were thrown in those four innings and he's going to be pushed to 85+ when he starts over the weekend. 

Nola rounds out the mysteriously perfect lineup. The righty sits at 3-3 in nine starts with an ERA of 4.53, a WHIP of  1.11, and 43 strikeouts in 55 2/3 innings pitched. Yet he's showing encouraging signs. 

He is durable and one of the best pitchers the team has in its rotation. Nola is throwing a higher rate of curveballs and the fastball is consistently getting about 90 miles per hour. 

After their visit to  San Francisco, the Phillies play a six-game homestand against the Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks.

After that, they leave on a 10-game NL road trip. Time to fix the streakiness. 

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Regina Ham
REGINA HAM

Regina Ham is an editor and writer for Inside the Phillies. As an alumna of the University of Maryland-College Park, she studied both broadcast and multimedia journalism. A six-year veteran of the sports industry, she's worked in radio, television, and online media. You can follow her on Twitter @regina_ham or Instagram @reginamariesports.  Upon her undergraduate education, Regina went to work in 2016 for Sirius XM-Satellite Radio on College Sports Nation/ESPNU for two years.  During her time in school, Regina interned at a variety of Washington, D.C.-area media organizations, including NBC Sports Washington and WTOP. There she assisted in coverage of local MLB and NHL teams. She also interned down at WAAY 31 in Huntsville, AL and worked on stories regarding the local Minor League Baseball affiliate and SEC football.  Regina worked in international sports television for almost four years, covering sports from MLS to the KHL and the KBO. She joined Philly Sports Network in 2022 and covers both the Phillies and Philadelphia Flyers before joining the Sports Illustrated network in 2023.  You can follow her on Twitter @Regina_ham or on Instagram @reginamariesports. If you have any questions or comments, she can be reached at regina.ham28@gmail.com.