The Philadelphia Phillies have their starting rotation for the 2026 MLB season.
After a full offseason of question marks, uncertainties, and a variety of possibilities, the Philadelphia Phillies know what their rotation will be on Opening Day. Rob Thomson shared on Friday what Philadelphia’s pitching plan will be for the first five games of the season.
The Phillies’ rotation will look like this:
- Christopher Sanchez vs. Texas Rangers
- Aaron Nola vs. Texas Rangers
- Jesus Luzardo vs. Texas Rangers
- Taijuan Walker vs. Washington Nationals
- Andrew Painter vs. Washington Nationals
This iteration of Philadelphia’s rotation has a nice blend of veteran presence, an ascendant star, and a top prospect who has the potential to grow into the Phillies’ ace at some point in his career.
With that, there truly are no real surprises with the Phillies’ plan to open up the season. This was the group that was projected to be in the rotation when Spring Training began, and now that’s exactly what has come to fruition.
Jun 14, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Cristopher Sanchez (61) throws a pitch against the Toronto Blue Jays in the fifth inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn ImagesHaving Sanchez be named the Phillies Opening Day starter is something that Thomson said his ace earned, and the track record speaks for itself.
“Runner-up in Cy Young last year. I’m biased, but I would have said he should have won the Cy Young. It’s an honor, and he’s earned it, and he was pretty fired up about it,” said the Phillies skipper.
Possibly the most interesting part of the order is choosing to have Aaron Nolan in the middle between Sanchez and Jesus Luzardo, but Thomson gave a very good rationale for this.
“You get them [Sanchez and Luzardo] back-to-back in the same series, it's a little bit easier for the hitters, though, so putting Nola in between is a different look,” explained Thomson. “You got two power lefties, not that he [Nola] is not a power guy, but he's a pitcher in between, and I think it keeps them a little bit off balance.”
Even though the Phillies will open up the year with these five pitchers in their rotation, the looming question on everyone’s minds is, when will Zack Wheeler be ready for his season debut?
Once the veteran ace is ready to rejoin the rotation, Walker feels like the most obvious candidate to move to a bullpen role.
Until then, the group that will be the Phillies will rely on to start the season.
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