Phillies

There are Four MLB Teams that Would be at Least .500 if You Removed Their Losses to the Phillies

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: May 22nd, 2024 · 4:00 PM EDT

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The Phillies have the best record in baseball and continue their torrid start to the 2024 season.

Yet still pervasive is the narrative that they haven’t won a series against a decent team, playing a schedule that has so far seen them avoid the Yankees, Dodgers, Orioles, Guardians, Royals, and Brewers.

Oftentimes, the retort to the retort is that a schedule seems weak because the “overrated” ballclub in question beat those teams a bunch of time. It’s kind of like a baseball “chicken or egg” situation. Are the Phillies winning because they beat shit teams? Or are those teams shit because the Phillies handed them a bunch of losses?

I put that counter-narrative to the test by looking through the Phillies’ 1st half results and seeing how many teams would actually be .500 or better if you removed all of the times they lost to the Phillies.

The results:

• Washington Nationals: 21-26, 1-5 against the Phillies, would be 21-21 with Philadelphia losses removed
• San Francisco Giants: 23-26, 0-4 against the Phillies, would be 23-22 with losses removed
• San Diego Padres: 25-26, 0-3 against the Phillies, would be 25-23 with losses removed
• Texas Rangers: 24-25, 0-1 against the Phillies, would be 24-24 with losses removed

There’s your ammunition. If you get into an argument with someone who says that the Phillies haven’t beaten enough teams currently over .500, tell them that there are FOUR that would be at least even if they didn’t lose so many games to the Phillies in the first place. The Rangers sample size is admittedly small, and the defending champs haven’t played great baseball this year, but depending on what happens in games 2 and 3 of the series, our baseball RIPOSTE may be strengthened.

Go Phils.