5 Phillies Stats That Show Just How Great This Team Has Been

Through 50 games, the Philadelphia Phillies are the best team in baseball. Their record of 36 and 14 is 3 games better than what the Dodgers and Yankees were through their first 50 games as the second-best teams in baseball. A 3-game lead overall in baseball, and a 6(!!!) game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the NL East.  

When a team gets off to a hot start like this, you start to see some incredible stats. You see records being broken, you see players doing things that the league hasn’t seen in over a century, you get the context of just how special things are. This Phillies team is doing a lot of that this season.  

Here you will read about the franchise records that have been broken, the incredible names that Ranger Suarez is in company with, and a big milestone set by the organization dating back to 1883. The beauty of it all, it doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon.  

You hear repeatedly about how the Phillies have had a light schedule. That may be true, but we have complained in years past when they don’t handle business against the teams they should beat. That isn’t happening this season. And for those of you who point out the schedule, there really isn’t a difficult stretch of consecutive series until July when they take on the Cubs, Braves, and Dodgers in a span of 9 games. Until then, they have 11 series and only 3 of those teams have a record above 500. 

Hopefully come the first week of July I can write another piece about more records broken and milestones me, but for now, here is what the Phillies have been able to accomplish through their first 50 games of the season. 

With their win over the Rangers in game 2 of their 3-game series, the Phillies won their 36th game of the season. That sets a franchise record for most wins in the first 50 games of the season. The best start to a season through 50 games was the 1946 Boston Red Sox who started 40-9-1. Yes. A tie.

How do you reach 36 wins through 50 games? You have a great first month of the season. The Phillies did that. In the month of April they went 19-9 and have not looked back since.

Through his first 8 starts this season, Ranger Suarez had a record of 7-0 and an ERA of 1.50. His WHIP was 0.72. Just reading that, you realize how dominant he has been. But how about historic? After his 8th start, Jayson Stark joined The Best Show Ever and told them that we have not seen a pitcher put together numbers like that through their first 8 starts since 1908.

Ranger didn't stop dazzling after his first 8 starts. That continued after starts 9 and 10. After his 10th start, Suarez was 9 and 0 and his ERA dropped to 1.36. We have not seen those numbers through 10 starts since Juan Marichal in 1966.

JT Realmuto launched his 6th home run of the season. It was the 14,000th in the history of the Phillies franchise. Crazy fact, Jimmy Rollins hit both the 11,000th and 12,000th home runs in franchise history. Even crazier Asdrubal Cabrera hit number 13,000.