5 Phillies who outperformed expectations in April

Zack Wheeler

Hear me out on this one, because Zack Wheeler is supposed to be the ace, but his start to the season was slightly in jeopardy a month ago.

After shoulder soreness impeded his offseason throwing program, the Phillies handled their ace with kid gloves in spring training. He had to cede the honor of getting the Opening Day start he’d rightfully earned to Aaron Nola.

Much like the Phillies’ overall month, Wheeler was half-good, half-terrible. His season debut was a short gem of 4 2/3 innings, in which he only allowed one earned run on two hits to his former team, the New York Mets.

However, he followed that up by giving up seven earned runs in three innings to the Miami Marlins, and four earned runs in five innings to the Milwaukee Brewers. Factor in his lower velocity, and there was cause for concern.

But in his final start of the month, Wheeler looked more like his old self when he shut out the Colorado Rockies for six innings, holding them to just one hit. He did issue four walks, but the 90-pitch performance – his deepest of the month – was encouraging nonetheless.

Kyle Schwarber

Kyle Schwarber started April with a bang, homering in his first at-bat as the leadoff man on Phillies Opening Day. But like many players in the lineup between then and the end of the month, he went through quite a dry spell.

And if you’re familiar with Schwarber’s career, that’s not a surprise. His March/April/May numbers throughout his career are significantly lower than the later months of the season. Even in 2021, arguably the best season of his career, he began the season hitting .206 with a .619 OPS and two home runs over 16 games between March and April, and over 27 games in June, he hit .280 with a 1.122 OPS and 16 home runs, which all came in an 18-game span.

But towards the home stretch of April, Schwarber heated back up. He homered three times in two games over the weekend, including twice off Max Scherzer, against whom he’d only managed a sole single before. He has six home runs on the season now, four of which were hit in the last 11 games.

Schwarber also gave Angel Hernandez the reality check we’ve all wished we could for years, which was awesome.

Johan Camargo

In a tumultuous, overcrowded infield, Johan Camargo has proven himself to be a solid, versatile addition.

Over 18 games, he has 14 hits, including two doubles and a home run. He also homered on Sunday night, though it was already May, so it technically doesn’t count towards the topic of April.

Still, Camargo is putting up the lowest strikeout rate of his six-year career while hitting the ball significantly harder than he did last year, with his average exit velocity up from 82 to 88.1 mph. And yes, it’s actually a somewhat comparable sample size, because he only played 15 games in 2021.

Camargo’s glove has also provided some much-needed defense to a team quite weak in that area. He’s spent time at every infield spot already, with no errors to his name.

Corey Knebel

Corey Knebel was somewhat of a risky signing for the Phillies, who gave him a hefty $10M paycheck for just one season.

Knebel had been a great closer in 2017-18, finishing 77 games and earning 55 saves over 133 appearances. However, he missed the entire 2019 season after undergoing Tommy John Surgery, and upon his return, only made 15 appearances in 2020 and 27 appearances in 2021, mostly as set-up man behind former Los Angeles Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen. So, signing him to be the new closer was a bit of a gamble.

But so far, his 0.96 ERA over nine appearances leads the pitching staff. He’s finished nine games, earned four saves, and only allowed one earned run on six hits.

While longevity is still in question for the new closer, who hasn’t pitched a full season in a few years, he’s off to a magnificent start.