The Phillies have not had an ace on the roster since they traded Cole Hamels to the Rangers in 2015. You could even say they haven’t had one since Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay’s careers came crashing down due to injuries. Without any ace, the starting rotation has been piecemeal with an arrangement of traveled veterans and inexperienced youngsters.
The struggles of the rotation have come to a head this season. Phillies starters have the second-worst ERA (5.25), fifth-lowest strikeout rate (17.2%), and sixth-highest WHIP (1.43) in all of baseball this year. They have allowed the third-most home runs (48) and logged the sixth-fewest innings (269.