Philadelphia Phillies Fantasy Baseball Sleepers and Breakout Players
The Phillies' starting rotation has two proven veteran arms. Their success hinges on two potential starters in 2025 who fall into the breakout and sleeper categories.
Deep Sleeper: Orion Kerkering, Philadelphia Phillies
Sometimes, a fantasy drafter has to take a stand on a rising player. In this case, Kerkering is the arm I want to roster in this bullpen. His ceiling is immense, and no saves on his 2025 resume will keep many competitors off his scent this draft season. I expect his ADP to rise this spring, but I would prefer to see Jordan Romano on the mound to create the illusion that he will close for the Phillies this season. I view Kerkering as a must-roster in NL-only formats.
Sleeper: Jesus Luzardo, Philadelphia Phillies
In his time in the majors, Luzardo had underachieved his minor league resume (17-9 with a 2.94 ERA, 1.083 WHIP, and 278 strikeouts over 242.0 innings). His arm trended up in 2022 and 2023 (3.48 ERA, 1.151 WHIP, and 328 strikeouts over 279.0 innings). Trusting his health is a significant part of his higher ADP in 2025.
At age 27, Luzardo enters the prime of his career with a risk/reward feel. Over the past three years, batters hit .227 against him, a sign of better days when paired with command stats. He is the right kind of gamble with no injury news, as long as his spring reports are positive and his ADP doesn’t rise.
After three starts this spring, Luzardo served up four home runs over eight innings with one walk and eight strikeouts.
Sleeper: Bryson Stott, Philadelphia Phillies
I still believe Stott has a breakout ceiling once he figures out his power stroke. His success on the base paths (63-for-69) over the past two seasons invites more chances. He ranked 85th in FPGscore (-0.42) for hitters last season while coming off the board this year as the 103rd hitter. Buy the discount, and hope for a push past his 2023 outcomes in all five categories.
Breakout: Cristopher Sanchez, Philadelphia Phillies
Sanchez is an interesting backend starter in 2025. His added velocity gives him a sneaky ceiling if he can continue to throw strikes at a high level and locate his four-seamer better in and out of the strike zone. His hard-hit rate against (34.2) was favorable, and he kept the ball down, helping him avoid disastrous innings via the home run. I’d take a 3.50 ERA with an uptick in strikeouts. Last season, he ranked 45th in FPGscore (-0.46) for starting pitchers. I’ll be watching his fastball velocity this spring.
Over his four spring stats, Sanchez has 17 strikeouts over 11.2 innings while allowing three runs adnd 10 baserunners. His fastball in his clocked games sits at 96.5 mph, almost two mph faster than in 2024, If you can't see the green light, fooball season is just around the corner.
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