Ad Disclosure
Maybe the Phillies’ Offseason Wasn’t that Bad After All
Published:
The Phillies swept the Rays on Thursday night despite finding themselves down 5 to 1 after seven innings. Adding three runs in the top of the 8th, they scratched out one more in the 9th, sent the game to extras, and knocked in two more runs to complete a gritty, 7-6 comeback win.
They’ve won 9 of 11 to move within two games of the Mets atop the NL East.
After the game, a good stat from Jeff Kerr at CBS:
All three of the new guys have been playing well.
Luzardo threw five and a third innings of six-hit baseball on Thursday night, allowing two runs while striking out four and walking two. He hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs since April 15th, a home start against San Francisco.
Kepler scored the tying run Thursday night with a ground out to third. He finished the Arizona series with 4 RBI, three hits, and three runs scored in eight plate appearances. He has a higher OPS at this point in the season than Nick Castellanos, Bryson Stott, J.T. Realmuto, and Alec Bohm, and is third on the team in walks.
Ross has the third-best ERA among relief arms, having not allowed an earned run in his last six appearances. He’s dropped his ERA from a high of 9.39 to 3.93 while allowing just two hits in four innings this month.
What’s more is that the Phillies as a team are executing at a high level in general, for instance, scoring on a safety squeeze Wednesday night and then picking up an insurance run Thursday with a sacrifice bunt that allowed Trea Turner to plate Brandon Marsh in the top of the 10th. That run ended up being the game winner when Matt Strahm allowed Tampa to nick one back before closing out the series.
The bats are hot and will likely cool off at some point, because you aren’t going to hit the over on the Phillies team total five times a row with much frequency. But if they’re walking and laying down bunts and hitting into the gaps and doing the discipline things well, then it’s a great boon for the postseason, assuming they get there.
What’s more is that we knew the Phillies already had a lot of talent on the roster going into the season. This has been a top-five payroll for several years now, so the thought of going out and signing Juan Soto or one of the superstar Japanese guys that always ends up in Los Angeles was never a real thing to begin with. The Phils’ success was contingent on the core of Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Bryce Harper, Turner, Kyle Schwarber, etc, and the offseason additions were always going to be on the fringes. They could still use a bullpen arm, for sure, and losing Jeff Hoffman was a big deal, but they’ve settled after a rough patch and are playing some of their best baseball.
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