Yanks-Phils. The series where once a year I can go 'whoever wins, I can be happy'. The Yanks had a rough June but seem to be good again. The Phils are fully in Donnie Baseball era and are still riding the midyear momentum despite a slight slowdown. Now they can just beat each other up in peace and hopefully continue to rise upward.
Last night's game was a win for the boys in navy, and they did it on one single Paul Goldschmidt home run, off Jesus Luzardo. I'm not sure if it's concerning that the only guy in the lineup that scored any runs was Paul Goldschmidt, who is 38, or comforting that the Yanks' starter not only held the Phils down but worked a shutout. Obviously these guys are trying to jumpstart their lineup and get it to where there aren't as many so-called automatic outs, and the deadline deals will likely help, but they need their lineup to feel like a deep well of possibilities. It's helping that Jazz Chisholm seems to be on the way up again, he's got 16 homers and 43 RBIs, with 27 steals. It's still a possibility that he repeats as a 30-30 guy, though...the initial prediction of 50/50 might be a-ways off. Still love what he brings to the team, even if he's a little full of himself. Dominguez and Volpe are on their way, and Dominguez already has 5 homers and 12 RBIs. But the issue is that Judge and Stanton are both out, McMahon and Wells have been embarrassingly limited, and the lineup still feels inconsistent. Will an Arraez or a Jeffers help this? Who knows.
But their strengths are still the same. Cody Bellinger is an excellent contact hitter and made a game-saving catch last night in left. Cam Schlittler is still a Cy Young candidate with so many strengths, and now Cole and Fried are back and healthy, ensuring the pitching is as strong as it was meant to be [and don't count Warren or Weathers out entirely either]. Brent Headrick has been untouchable as a setup man, and David Bednar finally feels like The Renegade again. They're still a formidable team with a halfway decent chance of lapping the Rays very soon, and they could go on a nice run even if the 'run it back' strategy has deterred many pundits from thinking there'll be palpable success.
The Phillies, meanwhile, are resting on the fundamentals. The top 3 guys in the rotation, Kyle Schwarber, and the CBP atmosphere. And they're hoping that's enough. Right now it is. For a lot of this season it has been that simple. Maybe I'm underselling it- Bryce Harper, Brandon Marsh, Jhoan Duran and occasionally Alec Bohm have been very helpful. But it really comes down to Cristopher Sanchez, Zack Wheeler and Jesus Luzardo being on top of their games. Luzardo, despite giving up the fatal homer last night, has been lights-out the last two months, and has a 3.30 ERA in 20 starts. Sanchez has been a little shakier this month but still has a 2.71 ERA, a league-leading 12 wins and 151 Ks. Wheeler, despite the missed month, is otherworldly right now, 10-2 with a 2.16 ERA and 117 Ks in 16 appearances. If the sportswriters didn't have a bias against him for some reason, I think that should result in Cy Young votes, but...y'know, I don't think he'll be the shiniest object for some reason.
There's still a deep pit in the lineup that's trying to be exhumed. Turner, Stott and Crawford just aren't cutting it right now. Realmuto is better but not peak J.T. The Derek Hill addition has helped more than anyone has thought, he's hitting .290 with 4 homers and 9 RBIs, and I'm of the opinion that, even if the Phils bring on some new guys, Hill should keep starting. Dude deserves it. There's also the usual problems of a lack of rotation depth and a mess in the bullpen. We will no doubt try to pull bullpen upgrades but I still think it's just cursed. Duran is the outlier. We've brought in so many sure bets and they've all keeled over. This McFarlane kid better be something different. The idea is the Phils will try and pull in a big ticket rotation guy, and that could mean anything from Skubal to Wacha to Peralta to 'well, here's Tomoyuki Sugano, have fun'.
I want both of these teams to go deep. They both technically could, but still have some issues to deal with. We'll see how it pans out ultimately, but at the very least we're in an era where both my favorite teams are competitive and fun, and that's always better for me.
Coming Tonight: Ironically a guy who might be headed to New York if you believe the rumors.
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