I blink and the Phils are in second. It's not certain whether it's due chiefly to the 5 game winning streak or due to the Mets completely falling apart. I wanna say the former buuuut you can't always cut out Met inefficiency.
I think that it's a bit more complex than simply 'Bryce Harper saved the Phillies', but I'm also not seeing a ton of evidence to the contrary. The Phils got Bryce back 10 games ago, and after 4 losses, the team started heating up. What's interesting is that, conversely, Bryce only took one game to heat back up, with 6 hits, including a home run, in the three games immediately before the win streak. Overall, he's had 13 hits and 5 RBIs, 2 homers included, since returning from the IL. This is peak Bryce we are witnessing, and even if I do have some worries about his defensive versatility, since he's been DHing since coming back, I am overjoyed that we've gotten this guy back.
It's also nice that this resurgence has brought Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler back to their usual dominance after rough starts. Wheeler had been striking a lot of people out, but opposing offenses were getting the best of him. Now he's leveled to a 3-2 record and a 3.80 ERA, and still leads the team in strikeouts with 53. I'm very glad that Wheeler's been one of our most consistent pitchers since coming over from New York. I feel like Wheeler has been just a better version of Jake Arrieta; more bang for our buck, I guess.
It's also been nice to see Castellanos, Stott, Marsh, Turner and Realmuto continue to surge after their strong starts. Apart from Turner, most of these guys took a while to figure out how to be consistent in Philly, and it's nice that they're still doing well. Turner is still not entirely where I'd thought he'd be at this point, but he's still one of the best defenders on the team, and his bat will eventually heat up. I do worry about the injury to Alvarado, but we have Gregory Soto and Craig Kimbrel here, and they're both improving slowly.
I know this team has a while before they really impress me as much as they did last October, but they're doing a lot correctly right now, and I sincerely hope they keep it up.
Coming Tomorrow- A rare coveted Tigers rookie who's actually performing well this year.
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