Philadelphia Phillies: 20-1 win a sign of things to come?

After playing some atrocious baseball so far in 2018, have the Philadelphia Phillies finally turned the corner after their 19 point win over Miami?

Wow, what a day for Philadelphia sports.

After watching the Philadelphia Flyers finally punch their ticket to the NHL playoffs earlier in the afternoon on a hat-trick performance by centerman Claude Giroux, the Philadelphia Phillies joined in on the action and treated their home crowd to arguably the team’s best single-game performance in years.

Falling behind by one run before they even took an at-bat, the Phillies wasted little time making their presence known against a division rival, and quickly went up to a five-to-one lead after one inning, with 12 more runs coming over the next three innings.

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With a week’s worth of run support, starting pitcher Vince Velasquez threw his most confident game of the season thus far, allowing only four hits and one run versus six strikeouts on 98 pitches, and he did so while throwing all three of his pitches very effectively.

Needless to say, this was a much-needed spark plug for a team struggling to find their identity under a first-year manager.

After suffering through a pair of largely uninspired series to start off the season against two division rivals, Gabe Kapler and company seemed desperate for something to finally fall their way and boy did it all come together on April 7th at Citizens Bank Park.

The Phillies roster combined for 20 runs on 20 hits, with a pair of grand slams, and a few of their struggling players finally received some much needed low-pressure opportunities to shine in a major league game, without the fear of costing their team runs. Whether it be Aaron Altherr hitting an absolute bomb for his first home run of the year, Maikel Franco‘s six RBI night or Carlos Santana notching his 1000 career hit on a three-run homer, this truly a team effort that leads to a very satisfying team victory.

Now I know what you are thinking, the Miami Marlins are arguably the worst team in all of baseball, and a blowout win over them should come with a pretty massive grain of salt, but for a young team desperate for an identity, even the most unimpressive win can pay major dividends moving forward.

And at this point, Philly fans should be able to spot the signs of a successful rebuild from a mile away.

Whether it be the Eagles‘ two-year resurgence from a fourth-place finish in 2015 to a Super Bowl win in 2017, or the Sixers jumping from a 10 win team to one on the cusp of a 50 win, three-seed finish, we all understand that rebuilding a roster takes time, and even the most insignificant win can help to establish a winning culture.

Could this be that win?

Next: Five observations from the Phillies' opening series

While only time will tell if this victory in a sign of the team finally turning the corner towards a return to the postseason, or simply a bad team beating up on an even worse team, in major league baseball, a win’s a win, and for a team like the Phillies, a 20-1 victory over a division rival is just deserts.

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