Zach Wheeler pitched a one-hit complete game on Sunday, capping off a six-game home stand in which the Phillies went 4-2, keeping distance with the New York Mets in the NL East.
The Phillies faced off against the San Diego Padres and Cincinnati Reds this past week, taking 2/3 games from both teams. The Phillies maintained their NL East lead, which currently stands a 1.5 games ahead of the Mets. The pitching dominated again this week, with the offense still looking for consistency.
The trio of Zach Wheeler, Ranger Suarez, and Christopher Sanchez have been three of the best pitchers in baseball over the last month, and this week was no different. Christopher Sanchez gave up one run in seven innings against the Padres in the third and final game of the series. Suarez lowered his ERA to 1.99 after giving up one run in five innings against the Reds. Zach Wheeler capped off the week with his best game-pitched in a Phillies uniform. A complete game, one-hitter topped off with 12 strikeouts. Zach Wheeler has been arguably the best pitcher in the National League this season, with his best month of the year coming in June.
Wheels Up
Earlier this week, Zach Wheeler took home the NL Pitcher of the Month award for his amazing June, which propelled him to his amazing start on Sunday. Since June, Wheeler has given up THREE earned runs in 40 innings pitched. That makes out for a 0.68 ERA, which is pretty good if you ask me. On top of that, he struck out 54 batters in that span. Wheeler currently leads the National League in strikeouts with 148 and is second in the MLB with a 0.84 WHIP. To sum it up, Zach Wheeler is pitching like a Cy Young-caliber pitcher and should be the NL favorite at this point. Wheeler has come close to winning the award before, but this year has shaped out to be his best year in Philadelphia so far. He has taken over the true role of an ace for this pitching staff and is one of the main reasons why the Phillies’ starting pitching is so dominant. Come October, it’s going to be very difficult beating a team starting Wheeler, Sanchez, and Suarez with the way the rotation looks right now.
Offense Inconsistency
The lack of consistency on the offensive side has been a topic of conversation all season, but as the year goes on, the more concerned I get. Yes, the pitching is great, but the offense needs to find ways to generate more runs. They are constantly leaving guys on base and have had a hard time generating power this year. Outside of Kyle Schwarber, the Phillies don’t have a true power bat in their lineup.
Bryce Harper returned to the lineup this week and still looks to be getting settled. Harper struggled over the week, which I expected since he had no true rehab following his return from injury. I expect Harper to have a strong second half of the season after taking time off during the All-Star break to hopefully reset. Trea Turner remains atop the NL leaderboard for hits, which still wasn’t enough to get him on the NL All-Star team. It was announced Sunday night that only Zach Wheeler and Kyle Schwarber made the All-Star team for 2025. I was very surprised to see both Trea Turner and Christopher Sanchez left off the roster, but they can still make it if players opt out or get injured. Schwarber deserves the nod as the second DH behind Shohei Ohtani. Schwarber has 27 home runs this year, which is 5th in all of baseball. Both Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber have been the true bright spots of this offense so far this season.
If this team is serious about making another deep run into October, they do need to get more consistent contributors from Nick Castellanos, Bryson Stott, and JT Realmuto. Stott hit a huge game-winning home run on Sunday, so hopefully, that gives him some momentum going forward. This offense would be greatly improved if Stott and JT Realmuto could start hitting at a more consistent rate.
West Coast Phillies
The Phillies head to the West Coast this week, starting in San Francisco for a three-game set with the Giants. The Giants (48-42) are third in the NL West and split a four-game series with the Phillies in Philadelphia earlier this year. After San Francisco, the Phillies will head to San Diego for a three-game series with the Padres (47-41), who are still in second place in the NL West. The Phillies just played the Padres last week in Philly and took 2/3 from them. I expect the same thing this week from the Phillies winning 4/6 games total on the road trip. It’s the last series before the all-star break, and I fully expect the Phillies to stay in first place until the break.
Weekly Predictions: Stott gets hot following his homer on Sunday and hits another home run on the road trip
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