2024 Phillies Season Discussion

[zambonir]

actually I meant to type "Astros"

[jimbomill]

One win so far against a team that currently has a winning record.

Perhaps one reason some of those teams don't have a winning record is because we keep beating them

[zambonir]

Murphy:

How hot are the Phillies? Well, as of Thursday, they were on pace to win more games than any NL team since 1906...

So, yeah, the Phillies are playing at an historical pace. With a 31-13 record heading into Thursday and a three-game series against the Washington Nationals this weekend, they had a legitimate chance to finish the week on track for 118 wins. Seven of nine regulars have an OPS of at least 10% above league average. Their rotation has combined for what is basically a Cy Young-caliber line: 6.0 innings per start, 9.2 strikeouts per nine, and a 2.60 ERA. Jeff Hoffman and Matt Strahm have suddenly become two of the best relievers in the game.

He argues a team that good should still make a big move, but there probably isn't one to make. Instead, pretty obvious suggestions: a corner OF (whether to replace or enhance Whit or Nick or both), catching depth, and that one additional reliever.

The trade deadline is more important than ever for the red-hot Phillies. Here...

[andyb]

What we do at the deadline depends on our goal. Depth will be important if we decide winning the division is the regular season goal. Quality (i.e. upgrading from Nick) would be the goal if winning the World Series is the priority (i.e. a backup catcher is pretty useless in the postseason if JT plays every inning).

I would wait till closer to the deadline to assess where we are versus the Braves. We obviously get a catcher in any scenario if JT gets hurt but I do nothing until then (assuming Marchan gives us the 3rd catcher depth we need). I guess the other big decision besides Nick could be Rojas and just deciding his play is uneven enough to go get another OF to replace him down the stretch. I am nowhere near that point yet though as I think the defense will improve and the offense is acceptable.

[Callison]

The Phillies, in my opinion are in need of another dependable reliever, who that is, I have no idea if that will be a trade or if someone like McGarry puts it together in the next couple of months, but they need someone.

If we had to pick one position to upgrade the Phils, dependable reliever is the right answer ...since they can't undo the Merrifield fiasco.

[EDmuch]

I believe that DD sees the need for another reliable reliever and that he will work his magic to obtain one.

[bkox]

We could hope that Texas falls out of the pennant race... David Robertson is pitching pretty well for them..............

[andyb]

Nice column about Bryce and Joey Gallo playing together as kids. All the talk is usually about Kris Bryant, but they only played together for a couple of months.

Perspective | Bryce Harper, Joey Gallo and a bond forged by baseball since they...

[Dirk41]

Any interest in Jo Adell? He's having a decent bounce back season and would provide some insurance for the outfield. Although, having three players trying to do one job is a little much.

[zambonir]

I suppose that in the end, if you assume the Phillies will never waive Merrifield, they will replace Pache with a LHB OF. If they would replace Merrifield with Clemens that opens to the door to a RHB OF.

I could see them optioning Clemens when Turner returns and giving him more time in LF, which they said they were going to do. That buys them another six weeks to eventually include Pache in a trade and make the bigger call (Clemens over Merrifield or trade acquisition or both).

We will probably see a similar acquisition to the Robertson or Lorenzen trades (but a pure reliever), perhaps Pache plus a similar prospect gets that done.

[julio]

Any interest in Jo Adell? He's having a decent bounce back season and would provide some insurance for the outfield. Although, having three players trying to do one job is a little much.

I guess my reaction is, “It ain’t broke. Don’t try to ‘fix’ it.”

[bkox]

Phillies are 12-3 since Turner went on the IL. Even with the competition we have faced, not sure any of us would have expected that.

[allentown]

That's for sure. There were seasons between the last golden age and when the Phillies first made the playoffs again in which our season was ruined by not being able to beat the weak teams. Enjoy the Phillies being on a roll. Likely down times before the season ends, but the Phillies are building a cushion to set against a down part of season.

[Callison]

Before today's game, was reading the predictions, and one scribe was saying that Trevor Williams is just dominant so bet the Nats. Like Nola's shutout didn't even count. No respect.

Casty's interview was fun. If you'd never heard him before, now you know Casty is no dope. But the one thing that he emphasized is that everybody on this team is focused on here and now.

The will to win is pretty high on the Phils. Phils/Dodgers tickets are already trading like stock.

I must take some vile, foamy liquids to calm me.

[bkox]

Way too early to look at standings.. but I love that we have a 5 game lead over the Braves.

Only 5 teams in the NL over .500. Only 12 teams out of 30 in the MLB over .500

[Austinfan]

Clemens is doing what AAA plus guys have to do, take advantage of an opportunity and run with hit. If he keeps hitting, being able to play 2B, 3B, 1B? and hopefully LF can keep him in the Show a long time. Would fill a big hole for this team as a power LH bat off the bench.

[kmc1019]

I find this stat to be mind-blowing as well as humbling, regarding how easy the Phillies schedule has been so far:
https://mlb.com/standings

The Phillies have played just 6 games against teams with a .500 or better record. The average for all major league teams is 23. Channeling Jayson Stark, the Phillies have played 74% fewer games against winning teams than the MLB average.

The team that has played the most games against .500 or better is Chicago (AL): 38 games (again, vs 6 for the Phillies). The next closest team to the Phillies in terms of fewest games against .500 or better opponents is 15, meaning the Phillies have played 60% fewer games against winning opponents than the next closest team. That is a staggering statistic.

Among teams with the best records, here are the numbers of games against .500 or better:
Phillies 6
Yankees 22
Orioles 19
Dodgers 17
Guardians 20
Braves 20

The schedule absolutely will get harder. Maybe the Phillies will continue to play .700 ball against stiffer competition. As fun as the ride has been, hope the team and fan base can stay grounded and maintain perspective.

[zambonir]

It's not really too early to look at the standings because historically a team with this record and this lead almost never misses the playoffs. And even if they only play .500 the rest of the way against tougher teams they'll have topped last year's record.

And it will be nice to get through the London trip and see the Braves get through a few of those games in hand. Hopefully they can win both of those games. I wonder if either team will send their starting pitchers over early.

I'm as surprised as anyone, but even with the caveat about the record, the premise of this team - that they could figure out how to play at a 100+ win on April 1 instead of June 1 has proved out. Whatever slumps and swoons are ahead, they merely need to "regress" to the normal performance of a good team - win 2 of 3 at home as often as possible and go .500 on the road and against the winning teams and they are still probably headed for 100.

I would certainly like to see them win the division and have the best record in the NL and MLB but at the same time, I'd be a lot less disappointed if they blow the NL East than I would be if they win 103 games and go out like the Braves and Dodgers have the past two years.

[andyb]

Only 5 teams in the NL over .500.

That's because we're beating them all the time....

Our schedule has been a little easier than average, but most of those stats suggesting the Phillies have played almost no games against teams over .500 are colored by the 3 or 4 really good teams beating up on teams at the bottom AND in the middle.

We are just in a cycle of lots of bad teams. Competitive balance is an issue and the ways MLB tries to fix that are not working. There is too much incentive to be bad and that incentive is not the draft. It is trading your players like Miami has already started to do in order to get prospects.

[zambonir]

FWIW Jim Bowden says Adell - who is not a free agent until 2028 - is not available. He'd be rather costly if he was.

MLB teams that will be sellers at the trade deadline and the players they will...