Phillies week in review II: Dreams of an undefeated season end

The Phillies suffered their first losses of the season this week, but they’re still first in the division. Let’s look back at what happened this week.

Since last week’s attempt at launching a Phillies weekly recap feature was just so unbelievably popular (that was sarcasm, just so we’re clear), I decided to go a little edgier with this one. So, I’ve added a bunch of outdated gaming slang to appeal to try and appeal to a younger audience. Follow me on Twitter homies!!

Results

4/2 vs. WAS: Win 8-2 (W: Eflin, L: Scherzer)
4/3 vs. WAS: Loss 9-8 (W: Doolittle, L: Robertson)
4/5 vs. MIN: Win 10-4 (W: Pivetta, L: Odorizzi)
4/6 vs. MIN: Loss 6-2 (W: Pineda, L: Arrieta)
4/7 vs. MIN: Win 2-1 (W: Eflin, L: Berrios)

Standings Check

After ending last week as the last undefeated team in the majors, the Phillies slipped a little in the standings this week. They are 6-2 and sit atop the division, but their lead on the Mets (6-3) slipped to a half game. They are also a game and a half game back of the Dodgers and Brewers (both 8-2) for the best record in the NL with two games in hand. The Phillies have games in hand on pretty much everybody right now, as they are tied for the fewest games played in the MLB with eight.

Quick Stats

2: The number of runs the Phils scored in Saturday and Sunday’s games
8.16: The number of runs they averaged in the six prior games
5: Errors committed this week
8: Runs allowed by the bullpen this week, including six in the two losses (scrubs)
+20: Phillies’ run differential, good for second in the NL and third in the majors

Highlights

Bryce Harper powning his old team like a bunch of noobs
Harper’s great base running on Rhys Hoskins‘ three-run single
Zach Eflin outdueling Max Scherzer like a boss
Mc-Clutch-en’s RBI double, and Kingery’s gnarly slide
Mc-Clutch-en (I think I’m just gonna call him that anytime he lands on this list) sniping the runner at home to preserve a 2-1 win.

Player of the Week

Really tempted to give it to Harper. He wrecked his old team to the tune of 5-for-7 with three walks, a home, and three runs batted in. Ultimately, I gotta give the nod to Zach Eflin though. The dude scored a victory royale (that’s a thing people say, right?) with two wins this week, going 12 total innings, allowing only one run and striking out 14. Could he be in for a breakout year?

Takeaways

Gabe Kapler deserves a hug. We’re two weeks into the season, and he has yet to make a bonehead move. He really tried to over-manage the game last year, but this year he’s doing a good job of trusting his players, and sticking with what’s working.

Kapler has been good about trusting his starting pitching, but also knowing when to pull them for some offense (ex. pinch-hitting for Eflin with the bases loaded against Washington on Tuesday). He deserves kudos for learning from his mistakes last year (at least thus far).

We all knew the offense wasn’t going to score eight runs a game all season. The offense should be pretty good all season, but they’ll have their ups and downs. There aren’t going to be many October games where you score eight, nine or ten runs, so it was good to see them figure out how to win a game the offense struggled in.

The bullpen might actually be an issue though. They’ve had some games where they’ve either shut the opponent down, or done a good job of working out of trouble, but they completely blew the game on Wednesday. Yes, Nola looked terrible, and yes Hoskin’s error was an epic fail (sorry, I’ll stop), but blowing a two-run lead in the eighth inning, and then allowing four men to reach and walking home the winning run without recording an out in the ninth is inexcusable.

Next. What on Earth is going on with Dallas Keuchel?. dark

Seranthony Dominguez and David Robertson have both had horrible starts to the season. Robertson turned in a clean inning Sunday, but Dominguez is still a concern. His fastball is down from 97.9 last year to 96.7 now, and he sports a 15.43 ERA in 2.1 innings this year. Some have made the argument he should spend some time in Lehigh Valley, and if his struggles continue that may be a good idea.

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