Philadelphia Phillies Weekly Trends: 2 Up & 1 Down (& 1 Both)

The early-season wins are piling up. The Philadelphia Phillies have won or split their last seven series. Alec Bohm carried the offense with an outstanding week to build a solid hit streak, and nobody can stop praising Ranger Suarez.

Multi-hit games seem like the norm for Alec Bohm. His ability to cover the entire plate and hit to all fields is driving opposing pitchers insane.

Bohm is batting .521 with a 1.474 OPS during his current 12-game hitting streak. He went 17-31 at the dish in two series this week.

The 27-year-old has found a comfort level in the cleanup spot. Rob Thomson has shown in the past that he prefers to keep hitters in a comfortable position rather than tinker the lineup to force offensive production. Expect to see Bohm hitting fourth.

Bohm set career highs in home runs and doubles in 2023. Thomson spoke on April 19 about how he considers his third baseman a better power hitter now than during the early years of his career.

The Cliff Lee comparisons fit Ranger Suarez too well. It’s tough to choose which pitcher has shown more poise and concentration on the mound.

Both lefties made their way up the all-time list of scoreless inning streaks with the Phillies, but Suarez fell just short of Lee when Eguy Rosario went deep for a garbage time home run for the San Diego Padres on Saturday.

Suarez reached fourth in franchise history with 32 consecutive scoreless innings. The Venezuelan lefty has become a fan favorite in Philadelphia, and he’s off to the best start of his career.

His 1.32 ERA and .634 WHIP in six starts this season both lead a starting rotation loaded with star power.

A strong start has the Phillies in seventh in the majors with a 3.36 staff ERA. Their 19-10 record won’t sound off any sports radio alarms. However, one of their key bullpen pieces isn’t in a good rhythm.

Seranthony Dominguez entered the sixth inning of Tuesday's matchup against the Reds with a 3-1 lead. He slipped up again, allowing four earned runs in ⅔ of an inning. Although the Dominican fireballer has great stuff, his confidence isn’t where it needs to be right now.

Dominguez needed a clean ninth inning in a 9-3 game on Friday to lower his ERA to 8.68.

Jeff Hoffman overtook him as the primary right-hander by the 2023 postseason, and Yunior Marte has been more reliable for Rob Thomson early this season.

The Phillies have the luxury of a stocked arsenal in the bullpen. They can ask pitchers in a strong rhythm to take on the high-leverage spots while allowing Dominguez to reset in a lesser role.

Less pressure could help his command reemerge for a World Series run.

He’s the best fielder on the team. He occupies a spot in the everyday lineup because of his glove, and the Phillies have downplayed the importance of his offense because of that glove.

That doesn’t mean Johan Rojas is an immaculate center fielder. He made a bad read on a fly ball on Wednesday against the Cincinnati Reds that contributed to the late-inning floodgates opening in a 7-4 loss.

The glare during Sunday’s game in San Diego could’ve played a factor, but Rojas made a similar mistake in the first inning. He broke in for a Jake Cronenworth fly ball and allowed it over his head for a double.

Why isn’t Rojas’ in the down category defensively then? He makes too many spectacular plays.

His leaping catch in Cincinnati on Tuesday invoked images of Aaron Rowand slamming into the wall and sacrificing his body for the team at Citizens Bank Park in 2006. 

Rojas also helped Phillies fans forget his first inning mistake on Sunday. He later robbed Fernando Tatis Jr. with a leaping catch at the center field wall in the sixth.

Expect to see an excellent outfielder moving forward, but even the Gold Glove-caliber players aren’t flawless.

The crop of MLB players from the Philadelphia area has grown during the 21st century. Powerhouse local high school and AAU programs, especially in South Jersey and the Philadelphia Catholic League, send players to the highest levels with seeming regularity.

Older players include Negro Leagues star Roy Campanella and Phillies record holder Del Ennis. “Mr. October” even hailed from the Philadelphia area. His prime came long before baseball’s most prominent Eagles fan Mike Trout stole the attention as the best local baseball player. 

Go back further in baseball history to enjoy classic names like Sparrow Morton, Buster Hoover, Oyster Burns, Horace Helmbold, Lefty Hoerst, Heinie Kappel, and Patsy O’Rourke. Everyone enjoys a great old school baseball name.

Honorable mentions to the all-time local roster include local broadcasters Ben Davis and the late, great John Marzano.

The official MLB website and the legendary TedSilary.com helped provide the archives to choose the starting lineup. It includes a roster of the starting nine (including a designated hitter), a five-man starting rotation, a closer, and a memorable Little League middle-relief pitcher for good measure.

The city of Philadelphia has an unthinkable pick between two of the best managers in baseball history. How do you choose between Tommy Lasorda and Joe McCarthy?

97.5 The Fanatic has put together a comprehensive list of rosters of the best local players in major professional sports.

Wendle grew up in Chester County before attending West Chester University. He’s put together a solid major league career as a reliable infielder for four different teams. He finished fourth in voting for the AL Rookie of the Year and made an All-Star appearance in 2021. Wendle was born in Wilmington, DE.

Phillies fans have been calling for Mike Trout to return “home” since he broke out as the AL Rookie of the Year in 2012. The pride of Millville, NJ has won three AL MVP Awards with the Los Angeles Angels, and his statistical prime was as good as any major leaguer in the history of the game. He won three MVP awards in six seasons from 2014-2019.

Catch Mike Trout as a celebrity fan at Eagles home games.

Mr. October was one of the best playoff performers in MLB history. Jackson won five World Series and made 14 All-Star appearances in 21 major league seasons, most notably with the Oakland Athletics and the New York Yankees. He entered the Hall of Fame in 1993. Jackson was born in Abington, PA.

Goldschmidt established himself as one of the hardest-hitting sluggers of the 2010s. The first baseman spent eight years with the Arizona Diamondbacks before moving to the St. Louis Cardinals in his 30s.

He won his first National League MVP with the St. Louis Cardinals after previously finishing sixth or higher in voting five times. He was born in Wilmington, DE.

Mike Piazza grew up in Phoenixville, PA. The Los Angeles Dodgers found an all-time steal in the 62nd round of the 1988 MLB Draft.

He built the basis of his Hall of Fame resume in seven seasons with the Dodgers and eight with the New York Mets. He was the best offensive catcher in the league during the 1990s and early 2000s.

Roy Campanella spent eight seasons in the Negro Leagues before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier and later 10 seasons in the majors. He won three MVP Awards and a World Series ring with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Before he played professional baseball, he attended Simon Gratz High School in North Philadelphia. Campanella's name consistently comes up as a pioneer for African-American baseball players.

Seemingly every time you see a graphic flash across the screen on a Phillies broadcast, you see the name Del Ennis. He sits in the top 10 in franchise history in home runs, hits, RBIs, games played, and many other major statistical categories.

Ennis played 11 of his 14 MLB seasons for the Phillies in the 1940s and 1950s. He grew up in the Olney section of Philadelphia.

The pool of third basemen isn’t very deep, so a Gold Glover at first base would need to make the transition. Christian Walker grew up in Norristown and attended the former Kennedy-Kenrick before his MLB career began.

Phillies fans remember his contributions to the NLCS upset in 2023. Walker was a key piece of the National League champion Arizona Diamondbacks.

The utility infielder isn’t the most accomplished baseball player in this hypothetical lineup. However, he earned a spot with a respectable career as a journeyman who recognized his role and mastered it.

Phil Gosselin became a high school star at local powerhouse Malvern Prep. He dropped one of the best feel-good lines in Philly sports history after a bases-clearing double early in his first season with the Phillies in 2019.

Every soul in South Jersey seems to have a connection to Zac Gallen or his family members. The Arizona Diamondbacks ace has flirted with an NL Cy Young Award in the prime years of his career.

His role with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2023 sticks in the heads of Phillies fans. Gallen was the top starter for an Arizona team that stunned the Phillies in the NLCS.

The Phillies acquired Jamie Moyer in 2006 as a veteran deadline acquisition at age 43. He remarkably pitched in parts of five seasons into his late 40s and even pitched for the Colorado Rockies at age 49.

The Souderton, PA native and Saint Joseph’s University graduate became one of the feel-good stories of the 2008 World Series as the local kid who returned home to win the title. He famously dug up the mound at Citizens Bank Park after the Game 6 clincher.

Kennett Square native Herb Pennock broke into the majors with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1912. He played 22 seasons for the A’s, Yankees, and Red Sox. His 241-162 career record earned him the nod for the Hall of Fame.

He passed away in 1948 at the young age of 53.

Mark Gubicza spent the better part of the 1980s in the starting rotation for the Kansas City Royals. He won 132 games over a 14-year MLB career. He grew up in Philadelphia and attended Penn Charter.

Gubicza came to the Royals just after they faced the Phillies in the World Series in 1980.

Walters pitched in parts of five seasons with the Phillies to begin his MLB career. He moved on for his most successful years with the Cincinnati Reds. He won the NL MVP Award in 1939. Walters grew up in Abington and attended Germantown High School.

Philadelphia will always celebrate a graduate of Father Judge and Temple University. Joe Kerrigan spent only four seasons in major league bullpens.

Kerrigan returned to Philadelphia for a stint as the Phillies pitching coach in 2003 and 2004. He managed Larry Bowa's staff well during his short tenure.

She didn’t make it to the major leagues. We’re aware. However, Mo’ne Davis surprisingly took the sports world by storm during the 2014 Little League World Series. The memorable novelty of a Little League team playing just off South Street deserved acknowledgment in a look back at local baseball history.

McCarthy won seven World Series in 16 seasons from 1931-1946 as the skipper for the Bronx Bombers. The Yankees must’ve thought highly of him if they ignored interest from Babe Ruth to become their manager. The decision certainly paid off.

He grew up playing baseball in Germantown.