Worth the Tolls

 

This weekend the Phillies played a series in Yankee Stadium. I was at Friday night's game. It was a series between two teams that had lost a ton of momentum since some early starts, and it was a battle to see who'd lost more. The Yankees won. At the game I was at, despite some honestly decent enough material from Will Warren, the Phillies hit more. J.T. Realmuto had a nice bomb in the 7th, and Kyle Schwarber had two [which were his 1000th and 1001st career hits]. Then today Otto Kemp had two homers despite a Phils loss. Zack Wheeler allowed more runs today than Taijuan Walker did Friday night, which is a wild thing to say out loud. And even if the Phils' bullpen is still an issue, the Yankees' fielding is more problematic. That infield defensive play is atrocious. No wonder they went and got McMahon and Rosario. This current schematic, regardless of Jazz Chisholm's bat, is not the answer.

I swear, this is what both these teams needed, this series. The Phillies have their momentum reaffirmed, focused on retaking the East and soaring back into the conversation. The Yankees have rock bottom solidified, with Judge gone for a bit and the flaws put on display, and now they know what they need to do to reenter the playoff conversation. And the really weird part is the Phillies might have the better shot at a playoff run, even with the Yankees' deadline aspirations taken into account.

The Phillies, like the Yankees, had a rough go during some June matches. But since June 27th, the Phillies are 13-11, inching back towards the Mets and reclaiming their own narrative. Now Bryce Harper is hitting, and has 15 homers and 43 RBIs this season. Otto Kemp is really coming into his own filling in for Bohm, which I'm sure the Phils are gonna keep in mind this offseason. Wheeler, Sanchez and Suarez are still phenomenal starting weapons, and Luzardo, despite some rough recent starts, still has some good material this year. Schwarber has 36 homers and is on the road to topping his season mark of 47. Even Marsh and Stott are heating up a bit.

I am wondering what their approach to the deadline is going to be concerning the status of Mick Abel and Andrew Painter in the minors. People seriously think Abel's gonna go in a trade. I don't think so, though that is something Dombrowski would do. I think Abel has some good stuff but is also very new to the majors and the subsequent three starts were the result of that. If Painter goes it'll just be a slap in the face to his progress over the last few years. You've heard that they're chasing somebody like Luis Robert or Steven Kwan, and possibly some bullpen help, and hopefully they have the assets necessary to get them without digging into Painter or Crawford. 

I'm still optimistic about this Phillies team, and I'm seeing them again in a week or so at home. It'd be really funny if Schwarber hits more homers when I see him in Yankee Stadium than he does when I see him at the bank.

Coming Tomorrow- A pitcher from one of the best teams in the AL who've picked a very unfortunate time to run completely out of steam.