Philadelphia Phillies: Predicting the 2020 starting rotation

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The Philadelphia Phillies have a lot of talent yet again going into the 2020 MLB season, so what will the starting rotation look like?

Joe Girardi was hired to be the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, and he will have a lot of great players in the lineup. Didi Gregorius was added to a squad that includes Bryce Harper, Rhys Hoskins, and J.T. Realmuto. But what about the pitching?

The back end of the rotation will be up for grabs in Spring Training, so without further ado here are the five starters who I believe will be in the Opening Day rotation at the end of March in Miami.

6. . . . Vince Velasquez. 5. player

The fifth spot in the rotation in my mind is going to come down to Vince Velasquez and Nick Pivetta. Velasquez would be the guy I would go with because he is more durable than Pivetta.

Nick Pivetta had a lost season in 2019, as he had an ERA above five and started just 13 games after being named the #2 starter at the beginning of the 2019 season.

The Phillies would go with Velasquez because of his potential. Despite some inconsistency, he does have a good fastball and if he could work on his breaking ball he could be a reliable pitcher.

I think that the Phillies have a good enough lineup that all the five starter in the rotation has to do is keep his club in the ballgame for five or six solid innings.

Zach Eflin. 4. player. 6. . .

The 25-year-old righty is going to be in the rotation in 2020 and it probably will be in the four spot. Eflin has been a little more consistent than Velasquez and Pivetta while pitching over 163 innings in 2019.

A positive note for Philadelphia Phillies fans is that Eflin had the lowest ERA of his career, and it has gotten lower and lower every season. He has brought it down almost two full points while pitching in more games as the years go by as well.

I think Eflin should have a great year because he will not have to worry about producing at a high level every stat because the rotation is deeper at the top.

. . Jake Arrieta. 3. player. 6.

Jake Arrieta carried the Chicago Cubs starting rotation all the way through the 2016 postseason and eventually would win the World Series, but he has not been that same type of pitcher with the Philadelphia Phillies.

He was not terrible in 2018 as he had a 3.96 ERA in 31 starts but in my opinion, it just didn’t seem like he was the same guy that he was a year earlier and throughout his tenure with the Cubs.

Last year he made seven less starts but his ERA was over 4.6 in almost 40 less innings.

The one worry for Phillies fans going into 2020 is if he will be able to bounce back from an arm injury. His season was cut short due to a nagging injury that involved a bone spur in his elbow.

The Phillies will certainly want him to bounce back because they will be paying him $20 million in 2020 and another $20 million in both the 2021 and 2022 seasons (club contract options).

6. . . . Zack Wheeler. 2. player

More from Call to the Pen

Zack Wheeler is the Phillies big addition this offseason, and the upside was the big driver in ownership giving him $118 million. Philadelphia has been needing to upgrade the rotation to assist Aaron Nola for years, especially after the Jake Arrieta signing has not worked out the way the organization envisioned.

Wheeler has an above-average fastball that impressed a lot of teams in free agency. A big aspect that I touched on was the potential that he has. I have written multiple times that I believe Wheeler has the ability to morph into a Gerrit Cole-type ace if he is paired with the right pitching coach. Cole was not as amazing as he was with Houston when he was originally a starter with the Pirates, but when he was paired with Brent Strom that was when he became the best starter in the game.

Bryan Price is someone that can help Wheeler like how Strom helped Cole.

player. 6. . . . Aaron Nola. 1

Aaron Nola is the ace of the staff and will be for the foreseeable future. He was able to pitch in over 200 innings for the second straight season following his All-Star year in 2018 and led the National League in games started with 34.

Nola can give up the home run at times, as he gave up nearly 30 last season but I wouldn’t read too much into that after the league-wide jump of homers in 2019.

Next. Angels interested in trading for Mike Clevinger. dark

Whenever Aaron Nola steps on the mound, he gives the Philadelphia Phillies a very good chance winning ballgames and that is what you want in your ace.

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