The offseason moves to help the Philadelphia Phillies return to the World Series
By Nick Butler
What about the Philadelphia Phillies pitching?
Dave Dombrowski has another long-time Phillie on the end of his contract. While it is uncertain whether or not Aaron Nola will return, one thing is for certain — this pitching staff needs another ace and a closer. A bullpen arm would be nice, but focus on bringing in some aces first.
I think the Phillies fanbase is currently torn on whether or not they want Nola to wear the red pinstripes again. If Nola isn't brought back, there are two names the Phillies should keep an eye on: LHP Blake Snell and RHP Sonny Gray. As for relievers, Matt Moore, Jordan Hicks or Wendy Peralta are names to watch. As for the closer, Josh Hader is the name here.
The Phillies should consider moving Chris Sanchez back to the bullpen and bringing in two more starters, especially since we didn't see Walker pitch a single game through out this postseason, even though he was available. Yes, he was struggling towards the end with a dead arm, but the guy is a workhorse. Making him your number five and Suarez your number four would give Rob Thomson so much depth moving forward.
Another big reason to getting two aces would be the playoffs. It just seems like Dombrowski has been searching for a number four pitcher for the playoffs and has struck out every time. First was Kyle Gibson, then Noah Syndergaard and now Michael Lorenzen. The Phillies need a guy they can trust to go deep into a game.
Blake Snell might be on his way to receiving a Cy Young for this season. The southpaw pitched extremely well this season even with a "bad team" behind him. Snell went 14-9 with a 2.25 ERA. He pitched 180 innings with 234 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.189. The one big area of concern was his walk rate, which was at an all-time high with 99.
If a righty is what you desire, Sonny Gray is a great option. While Gray is heading towards the wrong side of 30, his numbers have been going down for the past couple of seasons, including this year with an 8-8 record with a 2.79 ERA. Gray threw 184 innings with 183 SO and 1.147 WHIP. Only giving up eight homers this season is a really nice number to see for 32 games pitched.