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Crap Series in Atlanta, but the Phillies are Sending a Franchise-Record Seven Players to the All-Star Game
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The Phillies lost 2 of 3 in Atlanta and weren’t competitive on Saturday or Sunday. Oh well. They still have baseball’s best record and an eight-game division lead. Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and J.T. Realmuto will be back.
Meantime, the All-Star rosters were announced on Sunday and the Phils are sending a franchise-record seven guys to the game. That includes Harper, Alec Bohm, Trea Turner, Ranger Suarez, Zack Wheeler, Matt Strahm, and Jeff Hoffman. Harper, Bohm, and Turner are starters.
It’s kind of ridiculous when you look down the MLB list and juxtapose the bad years with 2024:
They can barely fit all the names in that row. But look at some of those other years. Pat Neshek. Odubel Herrera. Jonathan Papelbon. Even last year they only had two All Stars.
If you go back 15 years to the golden era, there were two seasons in which the Phils had five in the ASG. 2011 you can see on the graphic above, but in 2009 they sent Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez, Chase Utley, Shane Victorino, and Jayson Werth. Zero pitchers. Maybe a foretelling of the World Series that year. They also had five All Stars in 1995 – Darren Daulton, Nails, Tyler Green, Mickey Morandini, and Heathcliff Slocumb. Same thing in the late 70s and early 80s. There were a couple of seasons with five All Stars, guys like Bob Boone and Pete Rose and Mike Schmidt.
But first, the Dodgers. They’re 4-5 in their last nine and haven’t been playing particularly amazing baseball lately. If the Phils can win 2 of 3 at home to go 3-3 in this Atlanta/LA stretch, down three starters, that’s fine. We accept that.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com