April 11, 2024
The Phillies are right at .500 on the season after taking two of three from both the Nationals and Cardinals over the last week. It's the first time the Phillies have had a winning record on their opening road trip since their 102-win 2011 season.
Last week, I wrote about five Phillies thoughts that were dancing around my head, including the need for Brandon Marsh to be playing every day. Here are five more for Phils fans out there as Pittsburgh comes to South Philadelphia for a four-game set...
The shift in the Phillies' typical batting order goes along with the need for Marsh, the team's most consistent hitter so far in this short season, to be a constant presence in the lineup. In Wednesday's win in St. Louis, manager Rob Thomson went with the following card:
1. Kyle Schwarber, DH
2. Trea Turner, SS
3. Bryce Harper, 1B
4. J.T. Realmuto, C
5. Alec Bohm, 3B
6. Brandon Marsh, LF
7. Nick Castellanos, RF
8. Bryson Stott, 2B
9. Johan Rojas, CF
I'd have taken it a step farther and put Marsh fifth ahead of Bohm, giving him more chance of driving in runs while alternating lefties and righties for the first six batters.
Marsh made the most of his new opportunities with the lineup configuration, ripping a 2-RBI single in the Fightins' 4-3 win:
Marshy comin' thru ☝️ pic.twitter.com/rJbo7zNQLP
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 10, 2024
He's hitting .333 with an OPS of .942 through 11 games. It's a small-sample size, sure, but Marsh has consistently gotten better since he arrived in Philadelphia during the 2022 season. His OPS was .773 in 41 games in '22, .829 last year and he's completely raking now. Sliding down Bohm a slot isn't meant as shade to him, another run producer on this squad, but the Phils should be giving Marsh as many at-bats as possible at this moment.
A quick aside... Marsh's walk-up song should also switch to a jam from one of the elite indie rock acts from the late '00s/early '10s:
Zack Wheeler came into 2024 as a National League Cy Young candidate and with the rash of pitcher injuries exploding across the league, he's making his case as the best hurler currently on the mound. It would be a welcomed sign if his teammates did him a solid while in the batter's box.
In three starts this year, Wheeler has a minuscule 1.89 ERA in 19 innings pitched with 20 strikeouts against just two walks. The Phillies are 0-3 in those games.
After six scoreless innings on Opening Day against Atlanta, Wheeler left with a 2-0 lead. The bullpen imploded and the Phils lost 9-3.
In a downpour last Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park, Wheeler allowed just one earned run to the Reds in six innings while striking out 10 batters. A key error from Bryson Stott allowed three to score on Wheeler's watch though and the Phils fell 4-1 as soaked fans watched on.
In his "worst" start of the young season, Wheeler surrendered three runs over seven innings against the Cardinals on Tuesday. The Phillies' offense was shut out and the team fell 3-0. Yuck.
Wheeler's record on the year is 0-2. I'm thrilled we're long removed from the era where that would be a detriment for any pitcher in the way their success is measured. He's been an ace in the truest sense.
There's been huge discourse surrounding whether centerfielder Johan Rojas can provide enough at the plate to warrant playing him every day despite being elite defensively. Rojas has a putrid slugging percentage of .194. That mark, however, is still higher than that of 2023 All-Star Nick Castellanos, who cannot stop chasing pitches and when he does square up, he makes weak contact.
Castellanos' percentage of hard-hit balls are way, way down compared to last year and his career-best 2021 campaign with Cincinnati. He appears lost at the plate, whiffing while looking borderline disinterested. There's a locker room and intangible element at play here with how Castellanos has been a part of these last two playoff runs, so calls for an outright benching for a guy with two years and $40 million remaining on his contract beyond this year are likely premature for how the organization views the issue, but this situation is the most concerning aspect of the team 12 games in.
My favorite Phillies-related tweet of the last week:
this is how john kruk talks in the booth pic.twitter.com/OkfgocCmZA
— teddie !? (@stottbohmmarsh) April 10, 2024
John Kurk channels the chaotic swagger of the 1993 pennant-winning Phillies in the broadcast booth going off script with bonkers tangents that make you laugh while also yelping at home runs more than the average fan down at CBP.
Lifetime contract for him.
There are negative points shared throughout here, but the Phils are still 6-6 and they've played 12 games out of a 162-game marathon. Their early season schedule is easier than it has been the last two years and they need to stack wins, as any playoff hopeful does, but Phillies fans can breathe a bit after these last two series.
My goal as a sportswriter is to never be the grouchy old man screaming, "This isn't the Eagles! You need to relax! Can't you just enjoy things?" I don't know. In my pre-journalism days, getting entirely worked up over trivial things was half the fun of fandom. Are we unaware that fan is short for fanatic? If you want to turn into Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen over balls and strikes in your living room, all the power in the world to you, but I'm simply issuing a gentle reminder that things will probably be okay with the Phillies.
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