If ‘starting pitching wins championships,’ Phillies should feel great with Wheeler, Sánchez at the top

PHILADELPHIA — It helps to have two National League Cy Young candidates pitching on back-to-back days.

A day after Cristopher Sánchez struck out 12 and walked one over seven innings, Zack Wheeler one upped him. He punched out 13 Marlins hitters without allowing a free pass in the Phillies’ 7-2 victory over the Miami Marlins.

It’s the first time Phillies starters have struck out 12 hitters in back-to-back games since 2011, when Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee punched out 14 and 12 batters respectively on April 24-25.

Wheeler’s 13 strikeouts were one off his career high of 14 set on May 29, 2021. It’s the first time he has struck out 13 without allowing a walk. He’s the only pitcher in baseball to record at least 20 swing-and-misses in multiple starts.

Wheeler credits his turnaround to a mechanical adjustment that allowed him to get his front landing leg over better. He allowed nine earned runs over his last two starts, pushing his ERA above four for the first time since July 2023.

He threw four-seam fastballs 42% of the time. Of his 20 swing-and-misses, 11 came on the heater.

“Fastball was playing a little different,” Wheeler said. “It was spinning nice and true. The way you want it to be.”

This time last year, the Phillies were in the early stages of a 29-6 stretch that propelled them to their first National League East crown since 2011. Phillies starters threw seven innings 17 times in that 35-game span in 2024. Nine big league clubs, including three that made the postseason, did not receive as many seven-inning starts over the course of the entire season.

As most of the league struggles to find quality starting pitching, the Phillies have doubled down on dominating through the rotation. Wheeler is now signed for three years at the third-highest average annual salary in MLB at $42 million. Sánchez is under contract through 2030 at an extraordinarily team-friendly rate. Aaron Nola and Taijuan Walker, the Phillies’ No. 4 and 5 starters, are making a combined $244 million. The Phillies also traded a top-three organizational prospect in Starlyn Caba to the Marlins for two years of Jesús Luzardo. They also have Andrew Painter, one of the best starting pitching prospects in baseball, slated to make his debut in the summer.

So far, the rotation is off to an excellent start. Nola’s 6.55 ERA and Ranger Suárez’s unavailability have been the only blemishes, but Sánchez and Wheeler have looked like a two-headed monster. Luzardo, who is scheduled to start Easter Sunday against his former team, comes with durability concerns, but he has a 2.31 ERA through his first four starts. They have even gotten production from Walker, who many believed could be a camp cut if all five starters began the season healthy.

“Starting pitching wins championships,” Bryce Harper said. “Having a guy like Sánchez go in yesterday and do what he did. Twelve punchies. Throwing strikes. He’s special. He’s fun to watch. I think the whole starting staff did pretty dang good. It’s been fun to watch.”

With Walker on the mound, the Phillies will head into Saturday with a well-rested bullpen.

“Competition is a good thing sometimes,” Rob Thomson said with a smile.