Philadelphia Phillies Ace Remains One of the Best in Baseball Entering Season

The Philadelphia Phillies have one of the best starting pitchers in baseball anchoring their staff.

Mar 4, 2025; Clearwater, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler (45) throws a pitch against the New York Yankees in the first inning during spring training at BayCare Ballpark. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

If the Philadelphia Phillies are going to remain amongst the elite teams in baseball in 2025, it will be on the back of their starting pitching.

Their five-man rotation can go toe-to-toe with any other in baseball after adding Jesus Luzardo in an offseason trade with the Miami Marlins to take over their No. 5 spot in place of Taijuan Walker.

Their top prospect, Andrew Painter, is going to be joining the mix at some point during the summer as well, giving manager Rob Thomson an embarrassment of riches to work with when it comes to starting pitching.

Cristopher Sanchez and Ranger Suarez were both All-Stars last year operating as the No. 3 and No. 4 pitchers. Aaron Nola remains as reliable a staff anchor as there is in baseball with his durability as the No. 2.

Atop the staff is Zack Wheeler, the 2024 Cy Young Award runner-up behind Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves, who is showing no signs of slowing down as he readies to enter his age-35 campaign.

In 2024, he went 16-7 with a 2.57 ERA across 32 starts and 200 innings. He struck out 224 batters and recorded a 6.1 WAR, leading the National League with a 0.955 WHIP and 6.3 H/9.

That would be more than enough reason for Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report to justify Wheeler’s lofty spot in the ace power rankings; he has him at No. 2 behind only Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers entering the year.

But it is his consistent production and longevity that has helped put him at such a high spot in the rankings as well.

“Since joining the Phillies in 2020, Wheeler is second among all pitchers in innings pitched (829.1) and first in WAR (24.7). He's managed to strike the rare balance between being a power pitcher and a horse,” Reuter wrote.

On top of the regular season success he has experienced with the Phillies, Wheeler has also been dominant when the lights are brightest during the postseason.

Across 70.1 playoff innings, he has a 2.18 ERA with 77 strikeouts. In his most recent October outing, he dominated his old team, the New York Mets, in the 2024 NLDS with seven shutout innings.

Wheeler allowed only one hit with four walks, striking out nine. Alas, it wasn’t enough to get his team a win, as the bullpen imploded in what ended up being a 6-2 loss.

The only thing missing from his resume right now is a Cy Young Award, as he has finished second twice; the first occurrence was in 2021 when he was beaten out by Corbin Burnes of the Milwaukee Brewers.