Phillies power ranking roundup: Top-three team in the league?
By John Town
As the Phillies continue to succeed more than a week into the 2019 season, it is reflecting in league-wide power rankings.
The Phillies climbed to 6-2 Sunday afternoon on the back of Rhys Hoskins‘s big bat and another stellar outing from Zach Eflin. They are now the best team in the National League East, third-best in the NL, and fourth in the league as a whole.
Philadelphia sits at the top of the standings, which has led to them ranking among some of the best teams in baseball in various league-wide power rankings. They saw a jump from preseason rankings after the opening weekend, and are still rising in other outlet’s first in-season rankings.
Here are the rankings gathered from multiple outlets with how the Phillies compare to the previous rankings:
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"CBS Sports: 3 (-2 from Week 1)USA Today: 3 (+2 from preseason)MLB.com: 2 (+8 from preseason)Call to the Pen: 2 (+6 from preseason)ESPN: 2 (+8 from preseason)The Athletic [subscription required]: 2 (-1 from Week 1)"
It is clear that by all accounts, Philadelphia is one of the best teams in baseball. Their offense has been dynamic, averaging 6.62 runs per game, fourth-most in MLB, even after scoring just two runs on Saturday and Sunday. This run production has made up for a slow start from the pitching staff.
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Bryce Harper once again becomes a focal point after his performance against his former team last week. His league-leading ten walks have given him a .556 on-base percentage, second-best. Combined with his three monster home runs early this year, he has already made a strong impression.
David Hill over at Call to the Pen noted the emergence of Maikel Franco, who is tied with Harper and Hoskins for the team lead in home runs. Franco also ranks second in runs batted in and third in OPS on the club. His performance from the eighth spot has balanced out slow starts from J.T. Realmuto and Cesar Hernandez.
Eflin received some recognition from Matt Snyder of CBS Sports, who cited his great start to the season. Eflin has been the club’s best starter this year, giving reason to believe this could be his breakout season.
It’s not all sunshine and rainbows though with ESPN pointing towards David Robertson as a “reason to boo.” In his first three outings this year, he allowed four runs while recording only six outs. One of those outings was a one-hit, three-walk meltdown Wednesday against the Nationals that led to a walk-off walk. He had two scoreless appearances over the weekend against the Twins, but concern remains early on.
Next. Phillies should consider demoting Seranthony. dark
The Dodgers were the consensus No. 1 team in the selected rankings, which is not surprising. They have had the best offense in the league so far spearheaded by Cody Bellinger, who leads the league in nearly every offensive category. The Brewers were the No. 2 team in the CBS Sports and USA Today rankings, who had Philadelphia at No. 3.