Screw it, I'm taking ownership of this one. Since I went to see the Phillies a few weeks back, they're 12-2. They have only lost TWICE since I came to a game. Which tells me I should probably go to more games.
The other day somebody on social media did a comparison between last season's Phils start and this season's, and it's practically the same in terms of W/L ratio. I find that interesting. Last season's start was thanks to a Phils team that still felt very rudimental and not there yet. I think of so many April/May elements of that team, like Corey Knebel in the 9th, Didi Gregorius at short, Odubel Herrera leading off, and, well, Joe Girardi, that were jettisoned in favor of what would lead them to October.
And yet I don't feel like the 2023 Phillies have needed to shed that kind of skin yet. There are players that have filled holes, like Matt Strahm and Kody Clemens, that are slowly being phased out, but I don't think there's elements of the first two months that feel like the last few years of the team struggling to let go, like last year's first two months felt. What am I supposed to say? It's not like the Phillies' infatuation with Dylan Covey and Jake Cave had anything to do with personal loyalty.
The bottom line is they've been great since the 4th of June, and have had an excellent run, taking two from the Dodgers and three from the Diamondbacks. Wouldn't you know it, Trea Turner's figuring it out in Philly, hitting .321 with 17 hits, 6 RBIs and 2 homers since I saw them on the 5th. Now, granted, Turner has not hit a run since I was last at CBP, which is also kinda worrying, but he's beefing up his average and building towards his usual pace, which is welcome here. His stolen bases are also picking up, he's got 12 so far. I honestly think this is just an adjustment year, or period, and he's slowly getting back to what he was doing before, and maybe the WBC burned him out early as well.
A lot is working with this Phils team now. Kyle Schwarber has 20 homers again, and he's creeping up the leaderboards. Cristopher Sanchez is a much better fifth starter than he was through 2 games. Alvarado's still lights out in the ninth, and Kimbrel has improved greatly behind him. Wheeler's having yet another strong year with us, thank god. Castellanos has finally figured it out, Stott's still hitting for average, so much is coming together and the team's looking better than it has all year.
This week we play the Braves. This is a true test to our ego, cause we were doing so well, even against good teams, and now we have to play a team that's been known to kick our asses. They may also still be mad at us for last October. I hope we can keep the momentum through this series, cause it's easy to get tripped up by these guys.
Coming Tonight: He debuted, missed two seasons, arrived, fell off, and is figuring it out again.
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