The strength of the Philadelphia Phillies roster heading into the 2025 season is going to be their pitching staff.
They have done an excellent job building up the starting rotation with arguably the best five-man group in baseball. Zack Wheeler is the ace followed by Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sanchez, Ranger Suarez and Jesus Luzardo, their biggest offseason acquisition.
There are a few questions about the bullpen after losing Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez in free agency to the Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals respectively.
But, the team still has what could be an incredibly strong quartet to work with at the end of games with Jose Alvarado, Orion Kerkering, Matt Strahm and Jordan Romano.
While the Major League roster looks set, organizations can never have too much pitching. During the marathon regular season, it is good to have contingency plans in place in case any issues arise.
The Phillies have that, as top pitching prospect Andrew Painter will be joining the Big League club at some point during the summer.
A little further down the pecking order the team has another stellar prospect: Moises Chace.
Projected to be a starting pitcher in Double-A, he was optioned to minor league camp on Saturday.
The last impression that he made at Major League camp against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Mar. 7 was an incredible one.
The 21-year-old fired a scoreless inning, registering one of the best fastballs anyone has showcased in Grapefruit League this year.
As shared by Pitch Profiler on X, Chace’s four-seamer registered an elite 143 proStuff+ score with a 33.3% whiff rate.
With average velocity of only 92.6 mph it is far from the hardest fastball being thrown. But he makes it work, playing off of his slider, changeup and curveball with excellent results.
He is worth keeping an eye on as a future piece of the Philadelphia starting rotation.
Another player who turned heads with his raw stuff against the Pirates was reliever Guillo Zuniga.
Like Chace, his fastball was elite with a 123 proStuff+ score, averaging 96.9 mph. He didn’t miss any bats with that offering, but generated swings and misses with his other three pitches.
His sinker, changeup and slider all had whiff rates of at least 33.3%, giving him a very solid 37.5% rate overall. The Pirates didn’t find the barrel once against him, as Zuniga had a 0.0% barrel rate.
