Should they break up the lefties?
The order of a starting rotation really only matters three times a year. First on Opening Day, then after the All-Star break, and finally in the postseason. Other than that, the order of starters is constantly in flux due to a bevy of factors such as injuries, off days, and rain outs.
Considering how one of those three times a year is quickly approaching, that gives us an excuse to debate the order of the Phillies starters. You would be in the majority if you feel that the rotation order will be Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sánchez, Ranger Suárez, and Jesús Luzardo. But you may not realize that this order would mean that the Phillies would have three left-handed starters in a row, a bit of an odd wrinkle for most rotations. That could mean that there will be series where the Phillies will use nothing but lefties as starters. There’s a good chance they will want to avoid that.
Therefore, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to slide one of the lefties ahead of Nola in order to break up the rapid succession of south paws, at least to start the season. If this were to be done, Sánchez would be the early favorite. He had a breakout year last year and looked dominant in his only Spring appearance this far, even showing a few miles per hour extra on his fastball.
So now we put our question of the day to you: How would you align the Phillies Opening Day rotation?