Phillies April Recap: The Slowest Fast Start Ever?

This was the year the Phillies were expected to finally get off to a hot start. None of that waiting till June to get a spark going and waiting until the end of the season to be great. The expectation for this team from the start was a championship and the best way to do that is to finally overtake the Braves for the division title. And yet in their season opener vs the Braves, they fell in the series 2-1. They proceed to follow this up with a play that ranges somewhere between dumpster fire and mediocrity. The Usain Bolt-like start they were hoping for turned out to be more like if Jared from Subway had tried to run a race. Naturally, Phillies fans everywhere, myself included, maintained little rationality and thought; “here we go again, same old Phils. We’ll start slow, find our groove late, and make a run in the playoffs that will probably end in disappointment.” I had already mentally awarded the Braves the division title once again after roughly 10 games. The only bright spots appeared to be JT’s hitting and a red-hot Brandon Marsh. Then something started happening, the pitching began to catch fire with a three-headed monster of Wheeler, Nola, and Ranger showing flashes of previous Phillies dominance in 2008-2009. This may be the best rotation in baseball. If this continues teams will have to worry about facing 3 aces all postseason long. The hitting began to get hot too. Turner began to look like an early sleeper for NL MVP, while Bohm coming off of an NL Player of the Week award has become the hottest hitter in all of baseball. Schwarber who historically in April is about as good as a Cheesesteak from New York (horrible) is quietly top-5 in the MLB in home runs with 8. Just wait til June Schwarber emerges. Even Rojas seems to be learning to hit, eliminating what was previously a liability in the lineup and silencing doubters with a home run in the top of the 9th that would go on to win the game. Despite a poor first 10-15 games, the Phillies still managed to be the first team in the MLB to reach 20 wins and are neck and neck with the Braves in divisional standings. Phillies are 12-3 in their last 15 games all while seemingly starting the year poorly and even during the hot streak having the majority of the lineup being nowhere near its peak. This is why I suggest the Phillies have had maybe the slowest fast start ever. More wins than any team in the league but seemingly so much room for improvement and so far from what the peak for this team can be. There is a long season ahead and a lot of work to be done, but the glass is half full. An optimistic view about Philly sports like this is about as rare as a white cornerback (shoutout Cooper DeJean). But just wait til Harper and Stott emerge, until Schwarber really heats up and Stott gets to where he was last season. Now this would be an incomplete post if I didn’t mention my concern and lack of confidence in the bullpen. We need a legit closer or another stud reliever or else we may meet the same disappointing fate as the last two years. No need to panic yet though, as I believe this will be addressed at the trade deadline to make a championship push. Despite that concern, the league should be fearful of this team. We have the most wins in baseball and are nowhere near our peak. Everyone knows what happens when we get hot and what the Bank is like in October. Especially the Braves. Fortunately for them, I don’t believe they will have to worry about losing as the favorite in Philly again which I’m sure is a legitimate fear in their heads. That’s because this year they will be losing as inferiors. The NL East is the Phillies’ for the taking. Braves fans should just hope when the season is winding down that the divisional race isn’t close, because I don’t think their fanbase is smart enough to do the simple math when it comes to figuring out how many games they have to win or how tiebreakers work. Georgia is ranked 40th in IQ (out of 50 states in case any Braves fans are reading). The Phillies are out to make a statement this season and so far it looks promising. “We’re talking about the Phitins”