Philadelphia Phillies Look To Turn Corner Post All-Star Break
The Philadelphia Phillies are looking to bounce back from a shaky first half of the season by taking on the New York Mets.
The Philadelphia Phillies started the season hot, then sizzled out big time. After a surprising April led by a seemingly unbreakable pitching staff, the 14-10 Philadelphia Phillies were looking like a surprise candidate for a wild-card spot.
The team started to cool down in May, finishing the month with an overall .500 record at 26-26. The cool down turned into a meltdown in June as the team went 9-19 in the month, as the team’s offensive struggles continued and the seemingly reliable pitching staff hit a wall.
In the 9 games before the All-Star break, however the team somewhat found it’s stride ,going 7-3. The offense is starting to heat up thanks to Odubel Herrera, Cody Asche, Tommy Joseph, and Cameron Rupp leading the charge. Pitching has still been a question mark, and Aaron Nola is the reason for it.
Nola has had a rough season thus far, going 5-8 in 17 starts with a 4.69 ERA. Nola, whose ticket to the MLB was his impeccable command, has failed to emulate the results he had after his call-up last season where he went 6-2 in 13 starts. His command has failed him in the first half, but a bounce back second-half could push this team to surprising post-All-Star break run.
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The 2015 Philadelphia Phillies found themselves playing some of their best baseball in the 2nd half of the season, going 34-37 and just barely avoiding the dreaded 100-game loss landmark. The team’s batting average jumped up from .246 to .251 from the first to the second half, but what was most impressive were the improved power numbers.
The Philadelphia Phillies hit a whopping 71 home runs in the second half, compared to just 59 in the first. The team’s slugging percentage jumped up to .401 while the on-base percentage skyrocketed to .715. The team’s offense clearly set the tone for the rest of the season.
The 2015 Philadelphia Phillies also started the second half by winning their first three series and racking up an 8-1 record in that span. The 2016 Philadelphia Phillies will try to do the same, and will have to go through NL East rivals in the New York Mets, the Miami Marlins, and interstate rivals Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Mets and the Marlins are tied for second in the NL East, both 6 games back from the Washington Nationals and both tied for Wild Card spots . The Pirates are trying to make a run for a Wild Card spot themselves, just 1.5 games back from the last spot.
The Philadelphia Phillies have no easy task the next two weeks, but will have to make a miraculous run to get even close to a playoff spot. The team is currently 12 games back in the NL East, and 6 games back from the final Wild Card spot.
The way to success for this team is hot hitting from the top and middle of the order. Herrera, Maikel Franco, Cameron Rupp, and Tommy Joseph must look to lead the offense day in and day out. Franco, who has his share of cold spells this season, will have to find the consistency he had in his time with the Phillies last season, while Herrera, Rupp, and Joseph must continue to rake the ball like they have in the past month and a half.
The entire pitching staff must revert back to its ways of April, and Nola must regain that highly touted command. The team could be looking different as the trade deadline approaches and the team will almost undoubtedly be sellers, which is why the next few weeks will be the turning point to the Philadelphia Phillies’ season.
With Jeremy Hellickson on the Boston Red Sox radar, the team may have a new look and feel come August, which could insinuate some surprising play from some of the Phillies’ highly regarded pitching prospects currently in the minors.
The Philadelphia Phillies are a long shot away from the playoffs, but a second half push is exactly what this team will need to help reinforce the rapid progress of the rebuild.