Steve Carlton. Cole Hamels. Cliff Lee. Adam Morgan.
OK, maybe not Adam Morgan, but over the years, the Phillies have featured a handful of outstanding left-handed starting pitchers but, once again this year, they appear ready to begin another season without a southpaw projected as part of their five-man rotation.
Since 2017, 30 games have been started by left-handers for the Phils, around 5.5% of their total games. Drew Smyly (12) and Jason Vargas (11) lead the way, which is crazy when you consider both were acquired in the middle of the 2019 season. Cole Irvin (3), Ranger Suarez (3), and Jose Alvarez (1) started the remaining seven, and in most of those cases, were relievers selected to begin a bullpen game.