As I write this, the Philadelphia Phillies are playing a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins in a cornfield in Iowa. You can watch it on Netflix I think, if they somehow manage to figure out how a national telecast works. Many Phillies fans are convinced this will be the last time in 2026, or possibly this decade, that the Phillies will make must-see television. I am not that cynical yet...but I'm getting close.
Let's be honest. The Phillies have looked rough. They needed an outfield bat and a fourth starter, and they got Luis Arraez, who is neither. And Arraez has been alright, but the problems still persist. The idea that Dombrowski had was using Bryan de la Cruz, Derek Hill and a returning Andrew Painter as a more cost-efficient, practical version of getting, say, Luis Robert, Mike Trout and Michael Wacha. Except you try telling that to a Philly fan. Every Christmas they want a Porsche, and don't understand how impractical, and impossible, it would be to get a new car every year. I'm not saying the Phils are asking too much, as they haven't won a ring since 2008, but we already knew this Phils team would be a step down from the last few years's, the midyear boom was a very nice surprise, and now that things are leveled, the fans are acting very entitled. Like 'HOW DARE WE NOT COMPETE'. My dude...in April you were expecting a fifth place finish. Now you're upset that the Braves are still better because they actually made the moves to keep the team young and keep the momentum. It really is impossible to please some Phils fans, and I say that as one of them.
But lately, things will be looking good, or Luzardo or Wheels will have a great start, and then Orion Kerkering will blow a save or Trea Turner will strike out with the bases loaded, and all of the sudden the team was never good to begin with. Have some nuance! The team is inherently good, this is just not their month. Anyone who thinks a bad August means the season's over has forgotten that the other rivals for a wild card spot include the Marlins, Cardinals, Pirates and Padres, all of whom we are better than [Padres is a stretch but the Phils' offense is better]. Panicking just makes Philly fans warm, I get it, they had 25 years of panicking in between championships. Minnesota fans have gone 30 years and they're not burning their city down.
At the end of the day, the Phillies still have a lot on their side. They do still have Luis Arraez, who, despite slumping a bit this week, is still Luis Arraez. They still have an incredible 1-2-3 punch of a rotation that will no doubt be a threat in a postseason situation. They still have Jhoan Duran, one of the best closers in baseball, who has a 1.74 ERA, 59 Ks, somehow even less runs allowed than last year, and 25 saves. And they still have Kyle Schwarber, who just hit his 36th home run and is hungry for more. This is not a perfect Phillies team, but neither was the 2022 iteration and they made a World Series. We're not a first round bye team, but we can grind up some momentum on the road to a championship series, and we might just need to do that again.
The Phillies season is not over yet. They're not on borrowed time. And this isn't the end. No use thinking like a spoilsport about it. That's not how you get through a month like this.
Coming Tomorrow- He was thought of as a last ditch effort to save a lost season. And now he's a key centerfield piece for a team that's charging towards first.
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