Phillies rotation looks like baseball’s best in dominant homestand
Aaron Nola logged eight innings in Sunday afternoon’s win over the Chicago White Sox, limiting opposing hitters to just four hits and two earned runs, while striking out seven batters. Given that he only threw 91 pitches, Nola very easily could have gone back out for the ninth inning under different circumstances.
And yet, Nola might have turned in the worst start of the weekend by Phillies pitchers, which is saying something.
Friday night, Spencer Turnbull took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, ultimately allowing just one hit over seven innings pitched in a shutout victory over the White Sox. Turnbull — signed for just $2 million guaranteed in February — has a 1.23 ERA after his first four starts in red pinstripes, the fifth-lowest mark among all qualified starters in baseball.
Saturday night, Zack Wheeler didn’t allow his first hit until his 106th and final pitch of the night, which came with one out in the top of the eighth inning in a 9-5 Phillies win. There’s a strong case to be made that Wheeler’s been the best pitcher in the NL so far. Among senior circuit pitchers, only Tyler Glasnow of the Los Angeles Dodgers has logged more innings than Wheeler’s 31 1/3. The 1.1 WAR that Wheeler has posted so far is tied with Kutter Crawford of the Boston Red Sox for the best mark among all starting pitchers, according to FanGraphs.
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Houston Astros Starting Rotation Suffers Another Injury
Houston, we have a problem…an injury problem. Injuries continue to plague the Houston Astros rotation as Cristian Javier is now the fifth Astros starter on the IL.
Right-hander Cristian Javier was scratched from Sunday’s scheduled start with neck discomfort. Astros manager Joe Espada later confirmed that Javier would be placed on the 15-day injured list. Hunter Brown started in Javier’s place on Sunday against the Washington Nationals, and Spencer Arrighetti will be called up in a corresponding move.
