That Balls Outta Here
FanSided

Don’t look now, but the Phillies may actually be good

By John Town

PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 21: Odubel Herrera #37 of the Philadelphia Phillies reacts along with Rhys Hoskins #17 in the dugout after Rhys Hoskins hit a three run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citizens Bank Park on April 21, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies defeated the Pirates 6-2. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 21: Odubel Herrera #37 of the Philadelphia Phillies reacts along with Rhys Hoskins #17 in the dugout after Rhys Hoskins hit a three run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citizens Bank Park on April 21, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies defeated the Pirates 6-2. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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The Phillies are on a tear in recent weeks, launching themselves into the conversation in the National League. Did anyone see this coming?

The Phillies were certainly expected to improve upon their 66-win season last year after making several notable offseason additions and changing managers. But did anyone see them starting off the year 14-7, especially after their dreadful opening road trip?

Since their terrible 1-4 start, the team is on a 13-3 run. They are 8-2 in their last ten games, losing only one series out of their last five. With the Mets game Sunday postponed, Philadelphia is sitting just half a game back in the NL East.

Much of Philadelphia’s early season success has come from utter dominance at home. After their four-game sweep of the Pirates, they are now 9-1 in home games. After their 1-4 start to the year on the road, they have gone 4-2 away from home.

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The team’s starters have been tremendous so far this year. As a whole, they have 3.6 fWAR, a 3.09 ERA, and 3.17 fielding-independent pitching prior to Sunday. The rotation’s WAR and FIP both rank third among all teams.

Ben Lively has the worst ERA of anyone on the staff at 4.64; Vince Velasquez is the only other one with an ERA above three. Nick Pivetta’s sits at 2.57 after his start Sunday.

Jake Arrieta and Aaron Nola lead the team with ERAs of 2.04 and 2.30, respectively. They have all done extremely well at keeping the team in games.

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The offense hasn’t been up to the par with the pitching staff, but a few players have stood out. Rhys Hoskins has led the charge, hitting .323 with a 1.098 OPS in 87 plate appearances. Hoskins leads the league with a .488 on-base percentage thanks to a 22 percent walk rate second only to Bryce Harper. He has hit four home runs and driven in 19 runs in 21 games so far this year.

However, Hoskins ranks just third among their position players in wins above replacement. Cesar Hernandez ranks second on the team with 0.8 wins above replacement. His 18.3 percent walk rate is 12th in the league and has contributed to a .409 on-base percentage. His success has made it much harder to get Scott Kingery in the lineup.

Odubel Herrera leads the team’s position players with 1.1 wins above replacement so far this year. After being held out of the Opening Day lineup, he has gone on a tear, posting a .329/.369/.456 line.

Next: Phillies sweep Pirates, win 3-2 in extras

Once the rest of the offense starts clicking, this team could be really dangerous. They face a huge test starting Tuesday in the Diamondbacks, who possess the National League’s best record. If they are going to win the series, they need everything to click.

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