That Balls Outta Here
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Phillies could be plenty of fun to watch next season

By John Town

PHILADELPHIA, PA - SEPTEMBER 18: Aaron Altherr #23 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrates with Freddy Galvis #13 and Ty Kelly #15 after hitting a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Citizens Bank Park on September 18, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies defeated the Dodgers 4-3. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - SEPTEMBER 18: Aaron Altherr #23 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrates with Freddy Galvis #13 and Ty Kelly #15 after hitting a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Citizens Bank Park on September 18, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies defeated the Dodgers 4-3. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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The 2018 Phillies team is shaping up to be fun to watch next year and should make a large improvement compared to this season.

If you haven’t noticed, the Phillies have been fairly good recently. In their last 30 games they are 16-14. In the last 20, they are 11-9. In their last 10, they are 7-3. Compared to the first half of the season when they were a paltry 29-58 with a .333 winning percentage, this is a major turnaround.

Philadelphia is coming off two wins over the National League-leading Dodgers. Monday night Aaron Altherr was able to hit the first grand slam in the regular season off Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw, which gave the team all the offense they needed to win. Tuesday they came back from a 2-0 deficit to secure a 6-2 win thanks to Rhys Hoskins‘ four RBI. Aaron Nola was no slouch either, striking out eight batters over six innings.

So what’s different about this team? What separates them from the squad that couldn’t win 30 games by the All-Star Break?

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The presence of several talented rookies certainly isn’t hurting them. None has been more impressive than Hoskins, who has been among the best players in baseball since his promotion Aug. 10. His 43 RBI, 1.167 OPS and .471 weighted on-base average are the highest marks in that span while his 18 home runs is second-highest. His 2.4 fWAR is already third-highest among Philadelphia position players, behind only Odubel Herrera (2.8) and Cesar Hernandez (2.6).

Nick Williams has been solid in the outfield as well since being promoted, posting a .286/.338/.475 line with 10 home runs and 48 RBI in 72 games. J.P. Crawford and Jorge Alfaro have both done well since being promoted, with Crawford continuing to show his strong plate discipline at the major-league level.

On the mound, Nola has been among the league’s best this year with a 3.56 ERA (82 ERA-) and 3.27 fielding-independent pitching (74 FIP-). His 4.1 fWAR is good for 12th among all qualified pitchers, just behind Jacob deGrom of the Mets and Chris Archer of the Rays.

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Even the bullpen has improved in the second half. Since the All-Star Break, they have the 10th-highest collective fWAR of any team and their 3.82 FIP is ninth-highest. Luis Garcia and Adam Morgan have turned their careers around this season with a positive trend towards the future.

So what does this all mean for the future? The starting rotation needs some major help, but the pieces are starting to come together in the field. If anything they have too many infielders with Scott Kingery poised to join the mix early on next year. That situation will be one of the biggest storylines of the offseason.

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With how well the Phillies have been playing in the last month, it could be a sign of things to come in 2018. If this trend continues, they could actually be fun to watch next year, and they should be able to win some more games too.

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