One star ascending, one star struggling
Another good week for the Phillies. They took a series from the Padres, then took a series from the Reds, two good teams that are in the playoff hunt. They head to the west coast now where they run into a scheduling quirk: after they play the Padres in San Diego next Sunday, they will not play another National League team until they go to Cincinnati on August 11th.
Three up
Zack Wheeler
You know, I just don’t know if I can say enough about Wheeler right now. Yesterday, in the game recap, I called him the best pitcher in the game right now. As I said then, it’s an arguable position, but after this week, I’m not sure it’s all that crazy. He should be starting the All-Star Game for the National League and is on the way to winning a Cy Young for the first time in his career. He’s been dominant of late and his week this week (17 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 22 K) is a prime reason why’s the best in the business.
The offense
After struggling down in Houston and Atlanta, there was some positive contributions this week. J.T. Realmuto had eight hits in 20 at bats. Trea Turner had nine hits in 26 at bats. Alec Bohm had six hits in 18 at bats. Compared to what they had done the week before, it was regular avalanche of hits.
The bullpen
As a unit, the bullpen has taken a lot of flack, much of it deserved. They don’t have strikeout stuff outside of maybe Orion Kerkering. They have failed to protect leads or even small deficits with alarming regularity. They feel like a unit that is two or three arms short of being complete. But this week, in 21 1⁄3 innings, the bullpen allowed 13 hits, eight walks, struck out 17 hitters and allowed four runs, three of them by Joe Ross. That’s a solid week’s work for a group that has struggled all week long.
Three down
Bryce Harper
Plainly, he looks terrible.
Sure, he wanted to come back and help his team, but I’m wondering if maybe a rehab stint somewhere to see some live pitching might have been a better idea. Sunday was the worst he’s looked in a while. It’s nothing new, of course. Harper usually looks bad for a while when he’s coming back from an injury, but maybe instead of letting him jump right back into the lineup, maybe the team should start dictating a little more strongly that he take some time to get right before fully rejoining the lineup.
Bryson Stott
Yes, he did his the game winning home run on Sunday and yes, he really needed it. But he’s been bad lately. Bad enough that maybe his time should be cut into a bit further. The team is in need of some right handed hitting and Edmundo Sosa seems to be on the good part of his cycle right now. Maybe playing him every day for a bit while he’s playing well is the best course for the team, at least until the All-Star break.
Joe Ross
Every year, the Phillies make a signing to their bullpen where they give a veteran arm a few million dollars in the hopes there will be some stability added. It worked with Craig Kimbrel; it did not work with Corey Knebel. Fortunately for the Phillies, they seem to know when to pull the cord on the signing, valuing the roster spot more than the money lost. They know when it is time to cut bait. For Ross, he fit that mold of signing a veteran during the offseason that maybe had a little bit extra in him. He looked good as a reliever last year with Milwaukee and looked to serve as a swingman for the team.
He’s just not that good.
There will be upgrades to the bullpen prior to the deadline. We all can see that an infusion of stuff is needed. It’s starting to look like Ross will be the odd man out when that time comes.