The Philadelphia Phillies are preparing for an important offseason, and the team will be looking for ways to improve. Fortunately, one area that they don’t need to do much for is their starting rotation.
Coming off another early exit in the postseason, the Phillies will be hoping to find ways to improve while keeping their title window open. This is a team that has a lot of talent still, but this group has struggled to get over the hump in the postseason.
For the last three years, Philadelphia has been eliminated far earlier than they would have liked, and what the plan going forward will be interesting. The Phillies will have a few notable needs to address, and with a payroll that is massive already, how they look to improve will be interesting.
Philadelphia is no stranger to being active in free agency, but pursuing star players and top free agents this winter seems a bit unlikely. One area that the team is heavily invested in is their starting rotation.
This group is without a doubt one of the best in the league when everyone is healthy, and it was key for their success this season. One of the pitchers who really impressed was Jesus Luzardo. Even though he got off to a slow start, he was fantastic for the team down the stretch.
Luzardo Could Be NL Cy Young Candidate in 2027
After landing a nice contract extension, it was a tough start to the year for Luzardo. The left-handed pitcher totaled an ERA of 9.00 in a terrible first start of the season in March, and then had a 4.76 ERA in April.
However, he really got going after that and looked like one of the best pitchers in baseball at times. August was arguably his best month of the 2026 campaign, totaling a 1.31 ERA in 34.1 innings pitched.
September looked like it was trending toward being even a better month, but a shoulder injury ended his regular season a bit early. Overall, he finished the year with a 14-5 record, 2.86 ERA, and 221 strikeouts.
In the postseason, he came up big for the Phillies in a start against the Atlanta Braves. Despite missing multiple weeks down the stretch and certainly not being prepared, he came through with a gutsy performance to give the team some innings when they needed it.
Now, as they head into 2027, Luzardo has to be a player to keep an eye on as a pitcher who perhaps is getting ready to go to another level. If he can sustain how he performed in the second half, being an NL Cy Young candidate next year is certainly possible.
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