The Phillies Impressive Start Has Raised Expectations

There’s no more optimistic time in sports than opening week of the baseball season. As the Phillies first take the field, March Madness is winding down and the weather gets warmer. And even if the Phillies have a bad night we can still watch the Flyers and the Soaring Sixers instead. And best of all we get a brief break from the Eagles drama that has consumed Philadelphia over the past year.

While the Philadelphia region is glad to have Phillies baseball back, the skeptical fanbase had a lot of questions before the first pitch. Did the team improve enough on it’s atrocious bullpen to not make it a liability this time? Do they have a good enough rotation to stay in games? And can this lineup mixed with veterans and young players step up the the occasion?

After the first two series of the season, the answer so far is a resounding yes.

 

 

It’s one thing to win consecutive series, but to win them against two division rivals predicted to have a better record this season is a huge confidence booster for the Phillies going forward.

In their series wins over the Braves and Mets each unit has stepped up when they needed to. If the starting pitching isn’t great, the bullpen steps up and delivers. When a run needs to be scored, the lineup usually comes through with a big hit. The team has struck a balance and cohesion that hasn’t been seen in the Phillies in a long time. Who knows what this good version of the Phillies should be named?

 

https://twitter.com/SpikeEskin/status/1379945382646579200?s=20

 

The one blip in their season so far is when Vinny Velasquez teased everyone into thinking that he too was going to be good in 2021. It looked to be the case until he gave up 4 constitutive Walks to Mets and turned back into . . . well . . . Vinny Velasquez. Fingers crossed they’ll know the right time to pull Vinny from a game in the future so that his games won’t feel like a weekly insufferable experience.

The Phillies are also not a great defensive team and with no DH this year the lineup needs to makeup for it with their bats *cough* Rhys *cough.* Otherwise there is not a whole lot of complain about the Phillies so far which too is rarified air!

 

 

Of course one good week does not make a season, and the MLB ultimate example of that in sports. While starting off 5-1 is a great start, recent history suggests that it will not guarantee success. And as impressive it is to overcome the Braves and the Mets, the Phillies still have to prove they won’t have future letdowns against the Marlins and Nationals.

 

But what this first week does say is that the Phillies are not going to be a bottom dweller in the stacked National League East. They should be in the division and playoff race for the long haul. At worst, they should be above .500 for the first time in a full decade.

So while every Phillies fan should be cautiously optimistic, they should also know . . .

 

By Mike McCarrick | April 8, 2021
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