PHILADELPHIA -- Just about the only thing that could slow down Matt Strahm on Thursday night was his pitch count.

Strahm, who is still stretching out after pivoting to the rotation late in Spring Training, racked up a career-high 11 strikeouts in the club's 5-0 loss to the Rockies at Citizens Bank Park. The left-hander managed to register the highest strikeout total by a Phillie this season -- the previous high was just seven by Zack Wheeler on April 1 -- despite pitching only 5 1/3 innings.

“It is what it is,” Strahm said of being held back by a limited pitch count. “Obviously, the build-up came a little late in the spring, so [I’m] just riding it out these first four.”

Restrictions aside, Strahm seemed to have the Rockies off-balance on all but one of his 82 pitches. He not only forced 14 swings and misses, but he also pumped in another 17 pitches for called strikes. That means 37.8% of his pitches (31 of 82) were either whiffs or called strikes, the highest percentage by any Philadelphia starter this season.

The one mistake, however, was a big one.

With one on and two outs in the first inning, Strahm tossed a 3-1 slider that caught a bit too much of the plate. Rockies first baseman C.J. Cron made him pay with a no-doubt two-run shot that proved to be all the offense Colorado needed.

Strahm responded by retiring 11 of the next 12 batters, including seven via strikeout. His night came to an end when he allowed Ryan McMahon to reach on an infield single with one out in the top of the sixth. Though Strahm wasn’t showing any signs of slowing down at that point, his 82 pitches were 15 more than the season-high 67 he threw in his last outing.  

“That was basically his pitch count right there,” manager Rob Thomson said. “I just have to go get him. The player's health is the most important thing to me.”

Unfortunately for the Phillies, even one mistake was too many on a night when they were shut out -- partly thanks to 5 2/3 scoreless innings by Rockies starter Ryan Feltner, who entered with an 8.78 ERA -- for the third time in the past six games. They've managed just 12 hits in those three contests, while piling up 46 hits and 26 runs in the other three (all wins).

“It's baseball. That's just the way it rolls sometimes,” Thomson said. “You'd like to have six or seven [runs] every night -- that would be the ideal thing. But baseball doesn't allow you to do that. We just have to come back tomorrow and have consistent at-bats."

While the offense has lacked consistency, Strahm certainly has not.

A late addition to the Opening Day rotation following injuries to Ranger Suárez and top prospect Andrew Painter, Strahm leads the Phillies with 27 strikeouts -- despite pitching fewer innings than fellow starters Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Taijuan Walker and Bailey Falter. Strahm also leads all Philadelphia starters in ERA (3.00), WHIP (0.94), opponents' batting average (.156) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.9).

With Suárez yet to even begin a rehab assignment -- he’ll throw another live batting practice session on Saturday -- the Phillies are still at least a few weeks away from having to make a decision regarding Strahm’s status. But he’s certainly making his case to stick in the rotation.

“We'll see what happens,” Thomson said. “I mean, we're a ways away from getting Ranger back, but [Strahm] is pitching extremely well. Tonight, he was outstanding.”

As for Strahm, who spent some time as a starter earlier in his career, he remains open to pitching in whatever role the Phillies need.

“I enjoy starting. I also enjoy the bullpen. I enjoy pitching,” said Strahm, who has 29 career starts and 183 relief appearances. “As a starter, you get to do it longer, but you've got to wait four days for it every time. Again, pros and cons to each -- I love them both. I'll throw the ball until my arm falls off.”

Though Strahm is two innings shy of qualifying for official leaderboards at this point, his 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings trails only two qualified starters: the Braves' Spencer Strider (14.7) and the Rangers' Jacob deGrom (13.9).

So has Strahm given any thought to what those numbers might look like if he can simply empty the tank in one inning of relief?

“My tank's always flooding out there,” Strahm said. “So I just empty it all the time.”