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Phillies Off to Best Start in Franchise History – Cool Story, but Not the Focus of the Team’s Concentration
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The 2001 Seattle Mariners won 116 games, matching a major league record for wins set by the Chicago Cubs way back in 1908.
They were a fun team. They hit .288 as a team, led by Ichiro Suzuki, who hit .350. They had three guys crack 100 RBIs (Bret Boone led the way with 141) and a fourth, John Olerud, who just missed hitting the century mark (he had 95).
The rotation was solid. Jamie Moyer won 20 games. He, Freddy Garcia, and Aaron Sele all had ERAs in the threes, which was above average in that era of baseball. And the bullpen was buoyed by closer Kazuhiro Sasaki, who had 46 saves, and a nasty trio of setup guys in Arthur Rhodes, Jeff Nelson, and Norm Charlton, who combined for a 0.993 WHIP and 219 strikeouts over a span of 180 1/3 innings.
“What did they do,” asked Phillies manager Rob Thomson when he was told the Phillies were the first team to win 36 of their first 50 games since that Mariners team, following an 11-4 drubbing of the defending World Champion Texas Rangers.
When the questioner reiterated that they won 116 games, Thomson asked the same question again, although with slightly more specificity.
What did they do in the end?
They didn’t win the championship.
“That’s right,” Thompson said. “You gotta keep going. Keep grinding. Keep pushing, all the way through.”
His point was clear. The Phillies know their start is historic. It’s the best 50-game start in franchise history. They are one of just 25 teams to have at least 36 wins through 50 games (in the World Series era, which dates back to 1903).
But the Phillies focus is clear. Regardless of the number of wins they finish with in the regular season, they want their season to end the same as the 11 teams who got off to this fast a start and won a World Series and not the 13 teams, like the Seattle Mariners, who came up short in the end.
Otherwise, this will all be for naught.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” said Bryce Harper, who hit his 12th homer of the season Wednesday. “You play a full season for a reason, so we just have to stay the course, stay confident and just keep doing our thing.”
Seemingly, that’s what they do. Game after game, after game.
“They’re very confident,” Thomson said. “Right now, it really doesn’t matter what type of game we’re in. They feel like somebody is going to do something to get it done – and that’s a good feeling to have.”
They’re doing it and re-writing record books with each additional win. And it’s keeping the team communication staff busy.
Almost nightly they are sending out alerts about the team, or a player, being the first to do something in quite some time, or joining a small list of people to ever do something.
On Tuesday the first alert came right after J.T. Realmuto did this:
J.T. Realmuto’s 6th home run of the year gives the @Phillies the lead! pic.twitter.com/fEQLfKfsZY
— MLB (@MLB) May 22, 2024
The note from the communications department: Realmuto became the first Phillies catcher to have a hitting streak of at least 12 games since Mike Lieberthal had a 16-game streak in 2004.
Pretty good.
It was also the third 12-game hitting streak of Realmuto’s career, but he hadn’t had one since 2018 when he was with the Miami Marlins.
Realmuto has been a bit of an unsung hero for the Phillies this year, especially since Trea Turner was lost to a hamstring injury a few weeks ago.
The Phillies are 14-3 without Turner. Realmuto has been the primary No. 2 hitter in Turner’s absence and picked up right where Turner left off.
In 12 games in that No. 2 spot in the lineup, Realmuto is slashing .377/.411/.528 for a .939 OPS.
“I’m just staying within myself, staying within my approach, getting a good pitch to hit and not trying to do too much,” Realmuto said. “I’m trusting in the guys behind me. You know, there are so many good hitters in this lineup that I know that if I just get on base, there’s a good chance I’m going to score, so it just relaxes me.”
The second note from the Comms team came later, after Matt Strahm relieved starter Taijuan Walker in the fifth inning and then pitched a clean sixth inning too. It read:
Matt Strahm is the first Phillie in the Modern Era to have a 20-game span in which they allowed no runs, struck out at least 29 batters and issued two or fewer walks. Strahm is now the sixth major league pitcher to accomplish this and first since Sean Doolittle who, from May 7th (Game 1) to June 27th, 2014, posted 22.1 scoreless innings while striking out 35 batters and walking one. The only other pitchers to have done so are Koji Uehara, Craig Kimbrel, Aroldis Chapman, and Robb Nen.
“This Phillies team has done something no other Phillies teams have done, won 36 of your first 50” – Scott Franzke
“Yeah, but other teams have won the World Series” – Matt Strahm pic.twitter.com/GSZg40Pi6v
— Luke Arcaini (@ArcainiLuke) May 23, 2024
(You’re starting to see a pattern in what everyone on this team is saying about this early success, right? This laser focus is very rare in sports and the Phillies are exuding it profusely. The question will be if they can sustain it for another five-plus months.)
Strahm has been nothing short of remarkable. He doesn’t want to talk about his streak – superstition and all that – but everyone else has no problem heaping effusive praise on the guy for the work he’s done out of the Phillies bullpen.
“He’s attacking the strike zone,” said Realmuto. “He’s mixing his pitches well and he’s throwing them where he wants to. He’s always had that really good stuff, but it seems like this year he’s taken that execution to a whole other level.”
The third note came following this bloop double by Alec Bohm:
RBIs 45 and 46 for Alec Bohm. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/qzHFKWaowg
— SPORTSRADIO 94WIP (@SportsRadioWIP) May 23, 2024
Bohm is now on pace for 149 RBI, which was last accomplished by Ryan Howard in 2006. The franchise record is likely safe (Chuck Klein – 170) but one never knows….
Anyway, here was the note:
Alec Bohm hit his 20th double of the season, which makes him the fifth Phillie (sixth instance) to hit 20 or more doubles in their first 49 games of the season and the first since Chase Utley (did so twice) had 22 in 2014. Other Phillies to do so were Jayson Werth, Lenny Dykstra and Virgil Davis. It is also the first time in his career he has had a three-game streak with multiple RBI.
(Note: Bohm has only played in 49 games. He missed one earlier this season).
There have been other great plays in the game. Brandon Marsh nailed a runner at third base on a perfect throw from the left field corner. Edmundo Sosa crushed a three-run homer to right field. Kyle Schwarber walked three more times and now leads the National League in walks with 37.
The beat just keeps going on, but the Phillies want everyone to know that they aren’t getting ahead of themselves. They know what the ultimate goal is and that is their target. How many wins they get in the regular season is irrelevant to them.
But it sure gives us plenty to talk about every day.
Anthony SanFilippo writes about the Phillies and Flyers for Crossing Broad and hosts a pair of related podcasts (Crossed Up and Snow the Goalie). A part of the Philadelphia sports media for a quarter century, Anthony also dabbles in acting, directing, teaching, and strategic marketing, which is why he has no time to do anything, but does it anyway. Follow him on Twitter @AntSanPhilly.