Winning the NL East: A How to Guide By the 2018 Phillies
By: Mike Chisdock
I spent a whole $9 on a Phillies ticket for the first game back from the All-Star break to see Manny Machado, only to lose out to LA again. Welp, life goes on. They got this far without Manny Machado and there is no reason to believe that the Phillies still can’t win the NL East without him. With 67 games left on the schedule the Phillies need to improve in several areas while staying consistent in others.
First, the Phils are going to have to improve their record against NL East opponents. 36 games remain against our division foes, including a stretch in September of 19 straight games against the Mets, Braves (you can’t convince me we didn’t play them 80 times already), Marlins and Nationals. Currently, the Phillies are 18-21 versus the East with only a winning record against the Nationals (6-4). That simply won’t cut it if you’re trying to win the division. I would think that the Phillies must go at least 21-15 over those 36 games in order to be in a good position to capture the NL East crown that hasn’t been in South Philly in years.
Secondly, it is time to start getting some consistent production from our 3 and 4 hole hitters. Odubel has been in prolonged slump which, since June has seen his average dip from .312 to .275 and hopefully he will snap out of it after the break. Carlos Santana has never had his batting average over .230 this season while still keeping his OBP over .350 because he is near the top of the league in walks. For a player making 20 million a year, that average has got to start heading in the right direction because currently having a .209 BA in the cleanup spot simply won’t get it done. Odubel is a career .286 hitter, Carlos has a career .246 average and there is no reason to believe they won’t return to those numbers. But, yeah it would be ideal if it happens sooner rather than later.
After really struggling in the middle of June, Maikel Franco has been on a heater lately. Over the last 4 weeks, he is hitting .352 and has made his batting average creep up to around .270 all while hitting out of the 8 spot. Whether it was the trade rumors or a more disciplined approach, it finally looks like Maikel is making the jump we’ve been waiting for. Another pleasant surprise is the rise of Scott Kingery and Nick Williams over the past 2 weeks as they are batting .311 and .289 respectfully over that span. The increased production from the bottom of the lineup has masked the deficiencies of the heart of the order and has been able to keep this thing rolling. Now it’s on to the pitching staff. The starting pitching has been absolute money this year and there isn’t much more that needs to be talked about. I mean, did you see Nola in the All-Star game? (or at all this season?) Enough said. The bullpen has really started to come together over the last month which has been just as important to the success as the starting rotation has been. It feels good to get to the later innings of close games and not have that feeling of dread as the starting pitcher walks off the mound and someone other than Seranthony takes over.
Look, there is no reason to believe that the Phillies can’t win the NL East and make a push for the pennant. I know it has been a long, painful rebuild but it is finally looking like playoff baseball is coming back to South Philly. I need the white rally towel pan overs injected into my veins. So, get out to Citizens Bank Park and make it feel like it used to be in the glory days of 2008-2011. The 2018 Phillies are young, talented and making a legitimate push to get Philly back on top of the National League East… where we belong.