The Philadelphia Phillies were dealt a major blow with Jesus Luzardo landing on the Injured List with a shoulder injury. Luzardo is an underrated name in a loaded NL Cy Young conversation, as he has a 2.87 ERA in 29 starts and 178.2 innings of work. He delivered a two-hit shutout against the Braves his last time out.
The Phillies haven't ruled Luzardo out for the postseason yet, but they need to get there first. Here's what their rotation will likely look like down the stretch as the Phillies hope for another Red October.
Phillies projected rotation without Jesus Luzardo
Pitcher | 2026 ERA |
|---|---|
Cristopher Sanchez | 2.79 |
Zack Wheeler | 3.14 |
Aaron Nola | 4.69 |
Andrew Painter | 5.54 |
Alan Rangel | 5.88 |
Losing Luzardo hurts, but this Phillies rotation is still quite good. Cristopher Sanchez has struggled lately, but he's still having an outstanding season. Zack Wheeler is looking more like himself after a recent blip. Those are two bona fide aces when at their best, and the rotation is pretty good beyond them.
Aaron Nola's ERA is high, but he has a 3.18 ERA in 13 starts since the start of July. He's allowed three earned runs or fewer in all but one of those outings, and has done so each of the last nine times he's taken the mound. Andrew Painter has a high ERA too, but he's been much better since his recall (3.58 ERA in nine starts). The Phillies have won five of his last seven outings.
They have four starters they can realistically trust to give them chances to win down the stretch, but the No. 5 spot is a major issue. That falls on Dave Dombrowski.
Dave Dombrowski's trade deadline failure has the Phillies in a tough spot after Jesus Luzardo's injury
Dombrowski did well at the deadline in acquiring Luis Arraez, but not much else has aged well. Brooks Raley has not pitched nearly as well (or as often) with the Phillies as he did with the Mets, and Caleb Kilian made just four appearances before suffering an injury of his own. A clear whiff at the time that only looks worse now, though, was Dombrowski passing on adding any semblance of starting pitching depth.
The Phillies were right to rely on Painter figuring it out at the big-league level, but they still needed a starter for depth purposes. They did not add one, and are now stuck with no real plan for the No. 5 spot. They could, and probably will, start Alan Rangel, who has seven appearances (three starts) in the Majors for the Phillies this season, but he hasn't pitched very well at the big-league level and hasn't looked great in Triple-A lately either. They could also promote top prospect Gage Wood, but is he really ready to give meaningful length in important games for the Phillies?
Depth is king in a 162-game season, and for whatever reason, Dombrowski ignored that clear need. The Phillies could very well pay the price for his negligence.
Jesus Luzardo injury could prove to be very costly for Phillies
The Phillies should still be fine to make the playoffs even if Luzardo is unable to pitch the rest of the way, but it doesn't feel like they're fully locked in as of now. I mean, their 3.5-game cushion is nice, but are we sure that'll stick, especially when given their upcoming schedule?
Dates | Opponent | Home/Away |
|---|---|---|
Sept. 15-16 | Nationals | Away |
Sept. 17-20 | Mets | Away |
Sept. 22-24 | Brewers | Home |
Sept. 25-27 | Rays | Home |
The Phillies shouldn't have much trouble taking care of a Nationals team they've owned in recent years, but what about the rest of this slate? Sure, the New York Mets have nothing to play for, but not only have they played well against the Phillies at Citi Field in recent years, they've also been playing good baseball for a while, going 22-15 since the trade deadline.
After their six-game road trip, the Phillies will return home for a six-game homestand that includes three games against the Milwaukee Brewers, the best team in the Majors, and the Tampa Bay Rays, the best team in the American League. Yikes. Sure, those teams might not have anything to play for, but there's also a realistic shot that the Brewers will be fighting for the No. 1 seed in the NL and that the Rays will be trying to win the AL East. The Phillies might need to play their best baseball down the stretch to get in.
And doing so without Luzardo, arguably the best pitcher on their roster, will be tough, especially when the No. 5 spot in the rotation is such a mess without him. It'll be interesting to see how the Phillies perform to end the regular season.
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