I love Twitter. It’s the absolute best. It is the perfect way to get information, share thoughts, and interact with others who share similar interests. As sports fans, Twitter is great because it also provides us with a front-row seat to the insights and online interactions of current and former athletes. And sometimes, if we’re really lucky, we get to witness the insights and interactions between two absolutely BATSHIT crazy lunatics who feed off attention. I’m talking about like, say, a former Eagle first-round bust asking a former 1993 NL MVP runner-up and convicted felon why his former employer doesn’t like him batshit crazy.

Thus, I present to you, with commentary, the budding friendship playing out before our eyes via Twitter between Freddie Mitchell and Lenny Dykstra. Here is the tweet that got our attention:

@LennyDykstra why do the @Eagles hat me so much?

— Freddie Mitchell (@FMitchell84) September 20, 2017

As Chris Jastrzembski asked last night, why the Hell would Freddie Mitchell ask Lenny Dykstra, of all people, why the Eagles hate him so much? Because I fancy myself the people’s reporter, I decided to find out. Although yesterday’s bizarre exchange marked the bulk of interaction between the two, it seems the pair actually began bonding last week when Dykstra fired off this timely and nuanced tweet about Hurricane Irma: Continue Reading

“LOL.”

-Any pitcher facing the Phillies between 2012 through, like, July of this year.

Well, well, well. It appears times have changed. Fast forward to last night, and here was a much different Phillies’ lineup, bolstered by exciting young talent, absolutely bludgeoning old friend Vance Worley off the mound at Citizen’s Bank Park. Poor bastard never stood a chance.

It took the Phillies all of four outs to bang out 10 hits and push nine runs across the plate. The rout underscores something that has gone basically overlooked as we’ve all marveled at Rhys Hoskins (more on him in a bit) for the past six weeks, which is that this entire offense is suddenly legit. It’s not hard to see why.

The lineup just doesn’t have many holes. Guys like Cesar Hernandez (four hits last night) and Freddy Galvis aren’t players that you want anchoring your lineup, but paired with dynamic bats in the middle of the order (Nick Williams, Aaron Altherr, Hoskins), they become nice complementary pieces. And when there is a guy who can do this out of the 8-hole, well, that’s pretty damn good:

Jorge Alfaro just KILLED a baseball. This team is fun again. #Phillies pic.twitter.com/YiHoVKH2mF

— BWanksCB (@BWCrossingBroad) September 14, 2017

“Shit. This guy is pretty good, too.”

-Any pitcher facing the Phillies between last month and 2027, probably.

Check out the following sequence from last night’s game:

That’s a relentless attack, and the data supports what we believe we’re seeing with our eyes. Here is how the Phillies’ offense stacks up against the rest of the National League since the All-Star Break:

Runs: 290 (3^rd)

Hits: 556 (2^nd)

Doubles: 116 (3^rd)

Triples: 17 (1^st)

Total Bases: 919 (2^nd)

RBI: 276 (3^rd)

Average: .269 (3^rd)

Slugging %: .445 (3^rd)

If you’re skeptical, you probably have thought A) Well, it’s only a 59-game sample size. B) There is expected regression, given the fact that the lineup is facing watered down pitching thanks to expanded rosters. C) Opposing pitchers will most certainly adjust to the approaches of the Phillies’ young hitters.

Valid points, I suppose. At the same time, shut up. Just enjoy this right now. At the very least, it appears the Phillies have the makings of what could be an above-average, if incomplete, lineup heading into next season. How general manager Matt Klentak handles a surplus of infielders (there’s only four spots to play Galvis, Hernandez, J.P. Crawford, Maikel Franco, and Scott Kingery) will be one of the more compelling storylines of the offseason.

With that out of the way, it seems ridiculous to write 350+ words about the Phillies’ offense and not get in my daily slobber of Rhys Hoskins. So without further ado, BOOM: Continue Reading

Rhys Hoskins continues to do crazy shit on a baseball field. I guess that’s a somewhat elementary way to describe what we’re witnessing right now, but, I mean, come on, we’re out of superlatives here.

Last night, Hoskins saw 10 total pitches during his first two plate appearances, didn’t swing at a single one, and drew two walks.

Did he demonstrate a patient and mature approach that’s completely disproportionate to his actual experience? Indeed. But what he really did was lull the unsuspecting Marlins into a false sense of security. By the time the rookie strolled to the plate in the 7th inning, Miami reliever Dustin McGowan actually convinced himself that Hoskins wouldn’t become the fastest player ever to hit his 15th career home run.

Whoops. Continue Reading