Rob Thomson has hinted that he may want to split up the righties and lefties in the Phillies’ starting rotation, and it seems that’s what he’ll do: Jesús Luzardo, Aaron Nola and Cristopher Sánchez, in that order, will likely follow Opening Day starter Zack Wheeler to begin the regular season. Thomson made the announcement during an in-game TV interview on Friday.
Game 5 will be either Ranger Suárez’s or Taijuan Walker’s. The former is dealing with back stiffness that seems, as of now, less severe than last year’s. The latter was putting together a solid spring before a six-run outing against the Yankees on Wednesday.
The configuration means Phillies fans won’t have to wait long to see the biggest fish (pun slightly intended) of the offseason make his regular-season team debut. Luzardo, traded from the Marlins in December, had a six-run outing of his own in early March, but he — and his upper-90s velocity — have looked solid. He has a 4.22 career ERA at Nationals Park.
The third game of the season will Nola’s latest debut since 2017, the year before his breakout and, career-best, 2018 season. He started six straight Opening Days from that year on, with Wheeler taking the mantle last year. An extremely unimportant fun fact: Assuming he goes five innings on March 30, he’ll have thrown more innings at Nationals Park than any other road stadium. Now you know. His ERA there is 3.93.
Sánchez as the No. 4 starter doesn’t, at all, mean the Phillies see him as their fourth-best starter, obviously. It’s very possible he winds up as a top-two arm in their rotation this year. Home-road splits are the determinant in giving him the Citizens Bank Park opener as opposed to Luzardo: Sánchez pitched to a 2.21 ERA in Philadelphia last regular season and a 5.02 mark elsewhere. (It, among other factors, is part of why he started Game 2 of the NLDS against the Mets.) Sánchez faced the Rockies twice last year and allowed two runs in 11 1/3 innings.
The Nationals and Rockies both haven’t set their starting rotation yet for the opening week, but it’ll be MacKenzie Gore opposite Wheeler on Thursday.
