This one should be pretty easy
In what turned out to be another disappointing week from a results standpoint, several of the players on the offensive side of the ball have started to show signs of emerging from their funk. These funks happen all the time in baseball, but it is quite strange how they all seemed to happen at once for the team.
One of the players that snapped out a bit was our player of the week. And did he snap out in a big way.
Kyle Schwarber, 8/5-11: 33 PA, .346/.455/.885, 4 HR, 10 RBI, 18.2 BB%, 27.3 K%
Kyle Schwarber.
That’s it, that’s the post.@PALottery x #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/GTT7eZY8tG
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) August 8, 2024
.@Phillies fans, can we interest you in a Kyle Schwarber leadoff tank? pic.twitter.com/mZq60hX8qA
— MLB (@MLB) August 8, 2024
Listen, is the MVP race over in the National League? Probably. There might be a campaign in the month of September by a team if their player decides to go nuclear somehow, but for all intents and purposes, Shohei Ohtani has already won the award. However, players like Schwarber are looking at tacking on some down ballot votes. His season has seen him become more of a complete hitter, adding a few singles here and there and being less of a liability against left handed pitching. It won’t be enough to vault him into the top five of the league, but it’s been a season that he should be proud of.
Honorable mention
Carlos Estevez: 2 G, 2 IP, 1 SV, 0.00 ERA (0.18 FIP). 33.3 K%, 0.0 BB%
Was the price to acquire him steep? Yes, sure it was. As a pure rental, the trading of two pitching prospects was a bit too high, but so far in his Phillies career, Estevez has looked as good as can be. It was only two appearances this week, but in those two, you could see what the Phillies were looking at when they acquired him. Once October does roll around, the quartet of Estevez, Jeff Hoffman, Matt Strahm and Jose Alvarado looked quite formidable.
Nick Castellanos: 28 PA, .391/.500/.609, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 10.7 BB%, 10.7 K%
We’ve already noted that Castellanos has recovered from his early season mishaps, but he’s legitimately been a good hitter for a while now. He’s finally got his OPS for the season over .700, which is nothing short of a miracle considering how his season looked in May, but consider this. The last time his batting average was under .200 was on May 29. Since that date, he has hit .286/.335/.504 with nine home runs and 36 RBI, good enough for a 136 wRC+ over that time period. That’s quite good.