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Don't look now, but seven games into the Major League season, the Phillies starting rotation isn't a tire fire.
After Aaron Harang pitched six innings of one-run ball against the New York Mets on Monday afternoon, the Phillies starters have an ERA of 3.43. Through seven games, they have given up 15 runs, 31 hits, 14 walks and 32 strikeouts in 39.1 innings. For Harang, it was his second straight solid outing, raising his early season ERA to 0.73.
Not too shabby when you take a look at the names in the rotation after Cole Hamels.
| Player | W | L | ERA | G | GS | IP | BB | SO |
| Aaron Harang | 1 | 1 | 0.73 | 2 | 2 | 12.1 | 3 | 9 |
| Jerome Williams | 0 | 0 | 1.50 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 6 |
| Sean O'Sullivan | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 5 |
| Cole Hamels | 0 | 1 | 3.75 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 5 | 11 |
| David Buchanan | 0 | 1 | 18.00 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
Buchanan's rocky outing his first time out, as well as Hamels' four solo homer performance on Opening Day, are the only two blemishes so far for a pitching staff that leaves quite a bit to be desired.
However, the team could see Chad Billingsley hit the rotation at some point in the near future, and everyone is obviously anticipating the arrival of Aaron Nola at some point this year.
And for a Phillies team that is in full-on rebuild mode, this staff is kind of what you would expect. Veterans on short-term deals who can soak up innings and, hopefully, keep the team in baseball games.
There is no reason to get excited here. This is only seven games' worth of material and it's likely most of the players not named Cole Hamels here will get hit around at some point this season.
But for the most part, the starters have been a nice surprise so far. We'll see how long it lasts.