Phillies, Blue Jays Could Consider Six-Man Rotations

Both the Phillies and Blue Jays are hoping to bolster their starting rotations by reinstating an All-Star right-hander from the injured list later this month. Aaron Nola has not pitched for Philadelphia since mid-May, when he hit the IL with a sprained ankle. While he was originally expected back in June, he suffered a stress reaction in his rib cage that prolonged his IL stint. He is now finally nearing his return. Earlier this month, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki reported that Nola could rejoin the Phillies after three rehab outings; he has since made his first two, striking out six over 6 2/3 total innings at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, giving up one earned run on seven hits. Per Lochlahn March of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Nola is expected to make his next (and possibly final) rehab start this Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Shane Bieber has been recovering from Tommy John surgery since last April. A free agent over the winter, he re-signed with the Guardians, but Cleveland flipped him to Toronto ahead of last month’s trade deadline. He had already begun a rehab assignment in the Guardians system, and he picked up right where he left off with his new team, tossing five innings of two-run ball for the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons last weekend and 5 2/3 yesterday afternoon. Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters (including Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi) that Bieber will most likely require one more rehab start before he’s ready to make his 2025 debut.

When Nola and Bieber return, their teams will have to figure out how to integrate them into rotations that have been functioning just fine in their absence. Since Nola last pitched on May 14, Phillies starters rank second in MLB in ERA but first in FIP, xFIP, SIERA, strikeout-to-walk ratio, innings per start, and FanGraphs WAR. Their current starting five includes Cy Young contenders Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Sánchez; Ranger Suárez, who might have been a Cy Young candidate himself if he hadn’t missed the first five weeks of the season; Jesús Luzardo, whose peripherals have stayed strong, even though his ERA has shot up after a hot start; and Taijuan Walker, who has bounced back from a dreadful 2024 campaign to post an ERA in the mid-3.00s as both a starter and a reliever.

Nola had a rough stretch of starts to begin the season, pitching to a 6.16 ERA in his first nine outings. Yet, it’s important to consider that a nine-run blow-up outing two days before he hit the IL significantly affected his surface-level…