Philadelphia Phillies Weekly Trends: All Signs Pointing Upward
The surging Philadelphia Phillies suddenly have a solid lead in the NL East. Their four-game sweep against the San Francisco Giants improved their record in the last nine series to 7-0-2. A tough weekend for the Atlanta Braves has Philadelphia riding high.
Up: Zack Wheeler
Zack Wheeler threw his seventh quality start in eight tries in a victory over the Giants on Monday. He looks like the confident, efficient staff ace the Phillies are paying him to be.
The 33-year-old struck out 11 over seven strong innings. He now sits just one behind Tyler Glasnow of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the MLB lead in strikeouts.
Opponents are hitting a weak .173 against Wheeler, and his 11.68 strikeouts per nine (SO/9) blows past this season’s league average of 8.6.
Wheeler spoke with frustration after waiting six days for his start against the Los Angeles Angels on May 1. He bounced back furiously with excellent velocity and command of his fastball on Monday.
“It’s my bread and butter, throwing a four-seam (fastball) up in the zone and being able to throw it down also, in and out. You can have all the off-speed you want, but you’ve got to be able to throw your fastball with command and confidence.” –Zack Wheeler
The Giants countered with an intriguing pitching matchup at Citizens Bank Park on Monday to finish the weekend wrap-around series. Scranton, PA native Mason Black made his major league debut with a loud barrage of family and friends in the stands.
Black matched Wheeler out of the gates. He kept the Phillies off the board for three innings before the cream rose to the top. Wheeler got rolling and set up Bryce Harper to break the game open with a three-run home run to left-center field in the fifth inning.
Up: Alec Bohm
Alec Bohm went 0-4 on Monday to snap an 18-game hitting streak that turned some heads around the majors. His success is certainly not a thing of the past, however.
The former third-overall pick hit .464 during the historic streak with an outrageous 1.264 OPS (2024 MLB Average- .696). He’s established himself as the cleanup hitter for a team in World Series contention.
Related: Alec Bohm Matching Franchise Legends During Historic Hit Streak
Bohm has always shown the ability to cover the entire plate with his swing and hit to all fields. However, he’s taken his power to a new level in 2024. Expect Rob Thomson to pencil his third baseman into the cleanup spot on a regular basis.
His local and national profile will only keep growing after the “I Love This Place” t-shirt giveaway at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday and the Brandon Marsh mic’d up segment on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball about their apparent bromance.
Up: Jeff Hoffman
A 5.68 ERA in 134 games didn’t seem too inspiring, but the Phillies signed Jeff Hoffman with the advice of quasi-GM Bryce Harper in 2023. The 6-foot-5 righty made it worth their while with a career season.
However, regression seemed inevitable.
His 2.41 ERA unquestionably had something to do with a fortunate .232 opponent batting average on balls in play (BAbip). The statistic usually trends back toward the league average (.297 in 2023) over longer periods of time.
Matt Gelb reported that the Phillies had “harbored enough internal skepticism not to engage in substantive negotiations with Hoffman about a contract extension” during the offseason.
Hoffman has somehow only looked stronger in 2024. He’s kept opponents off the board in 15 of his 16 appearances to post a microscopic 1.13 ERA.
He announced his dominance to a national audience with a shutdown eighth inning on Sunday Night Baseball. The 31-year-old consistently hit 97 miles per hour on the gun with his fastball while mixing in a slider in the mid-to-high 80s. He’s struck out 15 of the last 24 batters he’s faced.
Hoffman has been the most consistent reliever among a talented group that’s had trouble avoiding early-season hiccups. Expect that organization’s skepticism about a contract extension to change.
Up: The Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies have only won two World Series in 120 years. They recently snapped a brutally long playoff drought, and their fans might have heard once or twice that they’re watching the first professional sports franchise to lose 10,000 games.
It’s all irrelevant right now. The Phillies have seized the top spot in the NL East. They have looked like a powerhouse on their way to a 25-11 record, the best in baseball.
Things will change in many ways before October.
A long-term injury to Trea Turner brings the first real adversity of the season to Rob Thomson and the Phillies. The schedule will toughen up over the summer. The Atlanta Braves provide excellent competition for the NL East pennant.
However, Phillies fans to be happy about a team steamrolling their opponents and the opportunity to watch a contending team at Citizens Bank Park all summer. The most passionate and demanding MLB fan base couldn’t have asked for a better start from the Fightin’ Phils.
Enjoy it while it lasts because it hasn’t happened often enough since 1883.
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