The Philadelphia Phillies have two of the top-five starting pitchers in baseball, according to MLB Network.
The Philadelphia Phillies have plenty of question marks at the back end of the rotation, but the top has a legitimate one-two punch and two of the best pitchers in all of baseball.
MLB Network’s “The Shredder” revealed its top-10 starting pitchers heading into the 2026 season, and the Phillies had two members of its rotation land on this list.
No. 3 - Zack Wheeler
No, we don’t know exactly what Zack Wheeler will first pitch for the Phillies in 2026 because of injury. But what we do know is that when Wheeler is on the mound, he’s easily one of the top pitchers in MLB.
In 2026, before his season was cut short due to thoracic outlet syndrome, Wheeler had a 2.71 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, and a strikeout rate of 33.3 percent in 24 starts. Those are simply elite numbers from the 35-year-old.
Wheeler isn’t getting any younger, and there are some valid concerns about how he’ll look once he does return from injury. That said, with how consistent the veteran has been throughout his career, and how well he was pitching before being shut down, he deserves to be on this list.
Jul 6, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler (45) reacts after a strike out during the ninth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn ImagesNo. 5 - Cristopher Sanchez
The other Phillies starting pitcher who appeared on this elite ranking was Cristopher Sanchez, who came at No. 5 on MLB Network’s top-10 list.
What Sanchez really has going for him right now is that he’s gotten better each of the last three seasons, and at 29-years-old is showing that he’s just entering his prime. In 2025, the left-hander logged a 2.50 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP, both of which were career-bests.
Sanchez was able to produce such elite numbers, especially thanks to his dramatic increase in strikeout rate. In 2024, the left-hander was punching batters out only 28 percent of the time, but that jumped to 26 percent in 2025.
If Sanchez continues tending in the right direction in 2026, he has a good chance of being not just a top-five pitcher in MLB, but possibly even a top-three pitcher.
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