Even when their expected fifth-man returns from injury, the Philadelphia Phillies should still keep their surprising starting pitcher in the rotation.
The top four starters in the Philadelphia Phillies’ rotation are arguably the best in Major League Baseball.
Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suarez and Cristopher Sanchez give the Phillies a chance to win on almost every night.
The fifth starter was a major question mark in spring training, and that was before Taijuan Walker began the season on the injured list.
Enter Spencer Turnbull.
In the unpredictable world of MLB, Turnbull has been Philadelphia’s best starter so far this year. Amazingly, he wasn’t even signed until Valentine’s Day.
Through two starts – 11 innings — he hasn’t allowed an earned run.
According to MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki, it marks the longest streak by a Phillies starter to begin a career since Vince Velasquez tossed 15 scoreless innings in 2016.
Who saw this coming?
“I’m very happy, I’m very pleased with it,” Turnbull told reporters. “It’s a very satisfying feeling. Hopefully we can just keep it rolling.”
His consistency has been huge considering Philadelphia’s slow start once again.
Turnbull struggled with the flu in spring training which makes his solid start even more surprising.
“At the start of spring training, we weren’t really sure what he was going to do,” manager Rob Thomson said. “Was he going to be a long man in our bullpen? Was he going to be a starter in Triple-A to give us depth?”
Yes, it’s only two starts.
But Turnbull’s emergence has to be encouraging since he went through injury-plagued seasons from 2021-23 with the Detroit Tigers.
Walker is unlikely to move to the bullpen. The Phillies also owe him a bit less than $54 million.
President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski might have to make a tough decision moving forward.
If Turnbull continues to excel, it will be hard not to run him out to the mound every fifth day.
Not when he’s looking like an ace.
