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The Phillies May Not Need Starting Pitching if Bryce Harper is Hitting 440-Foot Moonshots
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Bryce Harper, you are the man! –
The Phillies wrecked Logan Gilbert on Monday night. He’s been one of the best pitchers in MLB this entire season, chased out of Citizens Bank Park after two innings of six-run ball on nine allowed hits. It was his worst start of the season.
For Harper, it’s his third multi-hit game over the last four. He had been having a relatively quiet August until the Washington series, just nine hits in the four prior series with five RBI. That’s over the course of 12 games against the Reds, Rangers, Orioles, and Tigers. His numbers are still below what he typically puts up in a season, but he’s pushed his OPS up to .866 and if he gets hot down the stretch, then the Phillies are winning the NL East for the second year in a row.
Obvious takeaways aside, somebody made a good point the other day on Twitter. This person is usually an idiot, but it was a good point by them, and it was regarding Aaron Nola’s blowup the other day. It’s less about Nola’s individual implosion and more about the larger optics, the fact that Zack Wheeler had just been ruled out with a blood clot and there was an opportunity for a veteran pitcher to step up and have a big game and make everybody feel good, and he couldn’t get the job done. Mind you, it was Nola’s first MLB start in three months, coming off injury, but indeed there was a chance there to do something good and it didn’t happen.
Maybe it’s Harper, then, who steps up and responds with Wheeler out. Maybe it’s the hitting that locks in to make up for the absence of the team’s best pitcher. You take a little bit of the burden off the starting rotation if you’re hammering opposing pitchers for 12 runs on a nightly basis. The Phillies have put up 23 runs in their last two games, so suburban dads would say you have to save some for the rest of the week.
As much of a rollercoaster as this season has been at times, the Phils are 5.5 games out in front on August 19th. They have the second-best winning percentage in the National League and are right there with the Blue Jays and Tigers. It’s anybody’s title to go out and win.
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