That Balls Outta Here
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3 Trends to keep an eye on as the Phillies’ season progresses

By Gabrielle Starr

CLEARWATER, FLORIDA - MARCH 28: Kyle Schwarber #12 and Nick Castellanos #8 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrate after Schwarber hit a home run in the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles during a Grapefruit League spring training game at BayCare Ballpark on March 28, 2022 in Clearwater, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
CLEARWATER, FLORIDA - MARCH 28: Kyle Schwarber #12 and Nick Castellanos #8 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrate after Schwarber hit a home run in the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles during a Grapefruit League spring training game at BayCare Ballpark on March 28, 2022 in Clearwater, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) /
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Several early trends are emerging after the Phillies’ first week of the 2022 regular season

The Philadelphia Phillies came into the 2022 season both under and over-hyped.

On the one hand, they made serious upgrades to the lineup and some pretty solid bullpen additions. On the other hand, there’s the starting rotation; Zack Wheeler got off to a slow start in the spring, Zach Eflin is attempting to bounce back from knee surgery, Ranger Suárez is going to try for his first full season in the rotation, Aaron Nola is coming off a terrible 2021 campaign as he heads into free agency, and Kyle Gibson is in a contract year, as well. The club is also dealing with a few sidelined players, namely Odúbel Herrera and Mickey Moniak.

Only one week into the regular season, it’s way too early to freak out about problems or feel confident in the things that are going right. That said, here are three emerging trends to keep an eye on as the season progresses:

1. Streaky hitting and run-scoring

The Phillies’ offense has been inconsistent for years, but the new additions of Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos were supposed to help balance and strengthen the lineup.

However, since their 9-run barrage on Opening Day, the Phillies have only scored more than four runs twice, and have already lost two games by scoring one run and getting shut out entirely. In Thursday’s series opener against the Miami Marlins, the Phillies scored first in the top of the first inning, but then lost 4-3, despite Bryce Harper’s first home run of the season as well as multi-hit games from Didi Gregorius and J.T. Realmuto, who went 4-for-4.

Presumably, replacing the pitcher’s spot in the lineup with the Universal DH would also improve the Phillies’ chances at hitting and scoring more consistently, but so far, it has not been the case.

Hopefully, this is just a case of a short spring and a slow start, but it’s been frustrating to watch and certainly won’t help them end their postseason drought.

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