3) Reason to believe in the Phillies despite the poor start: The kids are for real
The Phillies offense has underwhelmed for the most part, but that's in spite of the Phillies young players having ridiculously good starts to the season.
Brandon Marsh was acquired at the 2022 trade deadline mostly because of his defense. There was some untapped potential with his bat, but the Phillies desperately needed a good defender in center field. Marsh had a couple of big moments in the postseason, and his momentum offensively has carried over to the 2023 regular season more than anyone could've possibly imagined.
Marsh has slashed .364/.455/.758 with four home runs and 14 RBI. No, there were no typos there. He currently leads the majors with his 1.213 OPS and is ahead of Max Muncy (1.129 OPS) by nearly 100 points! Marsh hit ninth on Opening Day behind Jake Cave. This kind of breakout was unprecedented and while he won't be THAT good, it's clear to see he's turned a corner offensively.
Bryson Stott had a strong finish to the 2022 season but we didn't really know what he was either offensively. He's slashing .340/.360/.474 with two home runs and nine RBI thus far. It'd be nice for Stott to walk a bit more, but other than that, he's been awesome at the plate.
The 25-year-old has recorded a hit in 20 of the 22 games he's played in thus far, and had a 17-game hitting streak to begin the season. He's been hitting at the top of the lineup of late, and I wouldn't mind him sticking there for a while.
Alec Bohm is another member of the "Phillies Daycare" that's gotten off to a strong start. He's hitting over .300 and has an OPS+ of 128. Marsh, Stott, and Bohm are in the top four of the team OPS leaderboard, which is something we wish we predicted heading into the season.