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The Phillies are up to the task for now, just after a three-game sweep against the division rivals Mets.
While an 8-9 start to the season is not optimal, it certainly could have been worse. And there are several reasons to believe this team has a real shot at making the playoffs at the end of the 60-game season.
Aaron Nola
Let’s start at the top of the rotation. After a 2019 season that didn’t live up to his or anyone’s expectations, Nola started 2020 on fire. Three consecutive starts allowing three or fewer hits and eight or more strikeouts. No Phillies pitcher has seen a streak like this since 1893, when the pitcher’s mound was only 50 feet from home plate. If he continues to dominate at this level, not only could the Phillies lead Nola to the playoffs, but he could help them be a real problem once they get there.
JT Realmuto
Fans call him BCIB – Best Catcher In Baseball – and he’s definitely looking at the role at the plate so far. He leads all MLB catchers in races, circuits and the RBI, despite the Phillies playing fewer games than all but two of the MLB teams. He also leads the slugging percentage (.717) and OPS (1.071), and eliminates 50% of potential base thieves.
Bryce harper
As good as an attacking season that Realmuto has had so far, this is arguably not the best on the team. It may belong to the $ 330 million man, Bryce Harper. He’s reached base in every game this season and leads all baseball with a .493 base percentage. Throwing 17 points in 17 games and an OPS that ranks 2nd in MLB (1.165), and the 3-4 spots in the roster are as strong as they’ve been since Utley / Howard’s heyday.
Mount on the base
Realmuto and Harper aren’t the only ones fueling the attack. The team as a whole is putting itself together with remarkable efficiency. The Phillies have a 0.343 team OBP, good enough for 3rd in all of baseball. They don’t cross out either. Their strikeout percentage of 18.7 is the high point of the game at this point. Put the bat on the ball, good things happen, like….
Dig the long bullet
Led by Realmuto’s eight dingers, the Phillies already have 25 as a team, which equates to almost 1.5 per game. That’s a 10% increase over their HR / G rate from last season. Rhys Hoskins has not yet reached a single home run, and he’s starting to find some rhythm at the plate (.308, 3 doubles in his last 7 games). It’s hard to sled when a team so dependent on the home run doesn’t get any of a power position like the first goal in that long stretch, but Hoskins can recoup his power stroke, it’s a trio. really scary at the heart of this training. .
Starting rotation holding
Including Nola, the starting rotation has been impressive overall this season. His collective ERA of 3.59 ranks 8th overall, 3rd in K / BB (4.27) and 8th in K / 9 (9.1). It is imperative that the starters carry the courier this season, but even still …
The enclosure can’t stay that bad all season
Can they? No, they can’t. Even though their 8.77 ERA is over TWO RUNS higher than the next worst team, they need to improve. Manager Joe Girardi will put some guys in roles they can handle, and if they can’t, it’s up to Matt Klentak to find players who can handle him. Honestly, the fact that the team is close to 0.500 with the bullpen throwing badly at this point is a wonder.
Bigger playoff party
Remember, each league will send not five, but eight teams to the playoffs this season. Right now, with that paddock shaking, as Hoskins is barely starting to strike, the Phillies are the 9th seed in the National League, and just two games off the top of the division. With 43 games to go (if they play them all), they’re a hot week away from being in the thick of the postseason. And once the playoffs start, throw the records, the logic, and everything in between out the window.
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