Well, it’s becoming a yearly thing to write about the Phils
for the Hitter’s Count. Did a year go by since the last one? Sheesh.
Here we are fresh off a regular season, save an injury caveat, that can’t be described as anything other than a resounding success. The Phils won 96 games, embarrassed the Mets who embarrassed themselves, and ran away with the division. There were very few times when they didn’t look like one of the very best teams in baseball during the grueling 162 game set.
It was a fun time following this squad for most of the season. It features the National League leader in batting average, home runs, and RBIs. That’s before you get to Bryce Harper who laid in the weeds it felt like at times this season, but he certainly came through enough for us not to worry about one of our two $300+M men. I would have gotten to say hits as well if Trea Turner didn’t tweak a hamstring with 3 weeks left in the season. Trea missed 19 games and only missed the league lead in hits by two. I suppose if you ask him he’d trade a batting title (lowest all time or something like that at .304) for the hits crown.
Then there’s the MVP of the offense. How many texts do you think you sent or received involving Kyle Schwarber in the past 6 months if you’re reading this blog? That guy was just an absolute pleasure to watch swing the bat all year. An out-an-out monster at the plate – just vicious rocket home run after vicious rocket home run on his way to slashing 240 / 365 / 563. My father shivers at that 240 batting average I’m sure, but that’s baseball these days. Cal Raleigh hit 247 to get to his 60 bombs.
The Phillies designated hitter belted 56 all told, which did not lead the Majors as noted or set the Phillies record (Ryan Howard still holds that at 58), but it was a season none of us are going to forget for the Schwarberian. I believe it helped some to be in the 2 hole and have Harper hitting behind him if you were taking notes. And perhaps to be in a contract year 😉
The starting pitching was beyond reproach for the entire season. The Phillies starters had 84 quality starts or 12 more than the second place team, the Red Sox who had 72. The closest NL team was the Braves with 69. A quality start is 6 innings pitched with 3 earned runs or less. It’s actually an ERA of 4.50, but if the game is 3-0 when you’re taken out after the 6th inning you’ve done your job and kept your team in the game.
Phillies starters threw 929.2 innings, 1st in the Majors by more than 30 innings. Phillies starters had a 3.53 ERA, 1st in the NL and second only to the Rangers who had 70 less innings pitched. Phillies starters struck out 966 batters, 98 more than the second closest team. Yes, Zach Wheeler, Cristopher Sanchez, Ranger Suarez, and Jesus Luzardo were all dominant in a vast majority of their starts.
The tall slender lefthanded drink of water Sanchez was marvelous all season long. He followed up a stellar 2024 campaign with a season that will have him somewhere behind Paul Skenes and ahead of everyone else for the Cy Young Award. He baffles hitters and it’s seemingly come out of nowhere. Which is nice. He’ll get the nod at home game 1 against the Los Angeles Dodgers who just completed the quick two game sweep of the Reds in the Wild Card round. Sanchez went 6-0 at home with a 1.94 ERA with 115Ks in 97 innings.
Ranger Suarez is my favorite player on the team and just an outright cool guy if you ask me. I feel like George Costanza hanging with Tony the Mimbo in Seinfeld when Ranger is on the mound. I just feel better about life when Ranger is involved. He can have a hiccup here and there but he knows how to work out of jams and pitch in the postseason. I need him to continue to step up like he has in the postseason for my mental well-being.
They say Zach Wheeler has blood clots, I didn’t even know he was Jamaican man. Boy did that injury come out of nowhere and in the moment it felt like the Phils championship aspirations were all but kaput. Wheeler, along with Skenes and Sanchez, had been the best pitcher in the ligue for the first 4+ months of the season. He led the league in strikeouts for a good three weeks after his injury he was that far out in front. Best of luck to Wheels on a speedy recovery, we do hope he enjoys his time off with his family and Mrs Wheels.
Not only was Wheeler having perhaps the best season of his career, but he’s been Mariano Rivera in the form of a starting pitcher for the Phillies since they’ve been on their recent run of postseason trips. I just didn’t have a good feeling about the Phils when he made his last start in mid-August and they were 70-52 or 18 games above 500 considering they were 17 games above 500 at 36-19 in Mid-May. This season had been following the same blueprint as last season that saw the Phils get out early to a stellar record and then play 500 ball for a large majority of the second half of the season.
Something happened when Wheeler went out though. Alec Bohm went out for a while. Turner went down eventually. This team didn’t f___in blink. They finished the season on a 26-14 tear that saw them vanquish pretty much every opponent in their way.
A catalyst certainly has been our favorite low-hanging fruit joke of the season Harrison “Master” Bader patrolling centerfield with arrogance, and just hitting the piss out of the ball for essentially his entire time here since he arrived in a deadline deal from Minnesota. The Twins had a nice fire sale that Dave Dombrowski swooped in on.
Bader’s emergence shook up a complacent, under-performing outfield. Brandon Marsh has been riding what feels like a half-a-season long hot / clutch streak. Kepler, ze German, will hit a bomb often enough. I like Nick Castellanos, I don’t love him. He’s a gamer but his flaws are evident. The competition to play everyday has seemed to have them all trending better than you could have hoped heading into the NLDS. You gotta give Rob Thomson large praise for handling this platoon as well as it could be handled. He doesn’t give a shit what you think about his decisions, believe that.
Rounding out position players worth discussing:
JT Realmuto: dare I say he’s still got it? JT, along with Marsh, has been hot / clutch for quite a while since a pretty rough start to the season. He’s also still got a firehose for an arm and is pretty easy on the eyes for the ladies.
Bryson Stott: He can work an at-bat. He will come through in the playoffs. He will come through in the playoffs. He will come through in the playoffs. I don’t mind him in the 9 hole. I wish he could grow a better beard or shave that thing off. He can play some D. He will come through in the playoffs.
Alec Bohm: I said he was the difference for the playoffs last season and we saw how that went. I don’t think that this year. The Phils are hitting on too many cylinders. Bohmer has rebounded from a dreadful start and is still dating Erin Kate Dolan per reports.
As for the bullpen, I don’t know man. Other than the bats disappearing,
there might not be a bigger fear for me than any single one of those guys going
in the game with a one run lead. They all seem hittable but they all come
through often enough to win 96 games. Here’s my confidence ranking for guys
coming into a game with a man on 3rd and less than two outs in a one
run game:
Jose Alvarado: N/A – this lefty cheats
Tanner Banks: 9 – this lefty can ball
Jhoan Duran: 8 – why so many blown saves recently?
Orion Kerkering: 7 – just don’t trust him, baby face
Dave Robertson: 7 – this would be higher if not for his
track record, he’s been decent at 40
Jordan Romano: -2 – is he on the playoff roster?!
Matt Strahm: 8 – not as good as last year
I’m cool with Walker Buehler and Tie One On Walker getting
long relief duties, they aint bad for that.
For most of the season I had this blog written in my head a much different way. It was going to be titled “Jekyll & Hyde: The 2025 Philadelphia Phillies”. It seemed time and time again this team would go out and hit eight home runs (which they did, team record) and then get shut out the next day. There was a stretch for about a week where they didn’t score in the first five innings, that was rough. I’m going on record saying they are past it and it’s their time. It’s our time. They will rally around Wheeler’s injury and Harper, Schwarber, Sanchez, Jesus, and our guy Range are going to bring the pennant back to Philadelphia.
Phillies over Dodgers in 4
Phillies over Cubs in 5
Phillies over Yankees in 6
