On Sunday, the Philadelphia Phillies got a much needed win over the Cleveland Guardians in extra innings to halt their losing streak at four games. With the recent slide, the Phillies have fallen to 53-46 and are a half a game behind the second and third wild card spots in the National League. Nevertheless, they are still right in the thick of things and look ahead to the trade deadline to make some necessary additions. As the Phillies prepare for some intense action ahead of the deadline on August 1st, let’s take a look at some bold predictions with regards to what may transpire in the upcoming days for the ballclub.
1. The Phillies acquire highly coveted Marcus Stroman of the Chicago Cubs to bolster their starting pitching
With Chicago Cubs’ starter Marcus Stroman’s name swirling around in hot trade rumors, the Phillies manage to beat out the competition to grab the two-time All-Star. He represented the best starting pitcher available at the trade deadline not named Shohei Ohtani. For the 2023 season for the struggling Cubs team, Stroman has compiled a strong 10-7 winning record, with a 3.09 ERA, 145 ERA+, 1.14 WHIP, giving up 42 earned runs and only seven home runs, with 46 walks and 105 strikeouts over 122.1 innings of work in 21 games started.
Stroman will fit in nicely as the club’s No. 3 starter behind Aaron Nola and Zach Wheeler, and together with Taijuan Walker’s solid season so far in 2023, the Phillies appear to be set for a deep playoff run with four proven big-game starters at their disposal. With Stroman being one of the best ground-ball pitchers in all of baseball, the Phillies’ infielders will need to be on their toes to ensure they can complement him to the fullest for his stuff to be most effective. He also seems to be at his best in the biggest game moments, so he will definitely be a force for the Phillies when playoff time rolls around.