Philadelphia Phillies need Carlos Santana to remain hot against Chicago Cubs

PHILADELPHIA, PA - AUGUST 17: Carlos Santana #41 of the Philadelphia Phillies catches a fly ball in the ninth inning against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park on August 17, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - AUGUST 17: Carlos Santana #41 of the Philadelphia Phillies catches a fly ball in the ninth inning against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park on August 17, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images) /
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With a big series against the Chicago Cubs, the Philadelphia Phillies would love to see Carlos Santana stay hot in the hitting department.

After enjoying a day off following a big 8-6 win over the Washington Nationals, the Philadelphia Phillies hope to carry some of that magic over into their weekend series against the Chicago Cubs to put them in better shape for the playoff race.

Without question, the Phillies have been one of the biggest surprises from the 2018 season since most experts assumed they would be going through at least a year or two of rebuilding under Gabe Kapler.

Instead, Philadelphia currently trails the Atlanta Braves by three games for the NL East lead, and if they have to settle for one of the Wild Card spots, they’re only behind three games as well.

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Winning the series against a playoff contender like the Cubs won’t be easy, but when looking at how the Phillies have looked throughout the season, there’s every reason to believe it could happen.

Of course, along with great pitching, Philadelphia will need to see some of their bats come through on offense as well, which is where Carlos Santana comes into play. The main reason why the Phillies brought the former Cleveland Indians star on board in the offseason was to prove a big bat to the lineup, and even though he’s been in a slump at times, the first baseman has been hot as of late.

Not only did Santana come up big on Wednesday by hitting a grand slam against Washington when Philadelphia needed it the most, but it’s been great to see him record six hits over the last five games, two of which happened to be home runs.

Heading into Friday’s game against the Cubs, Santana’s .220 batting average along with 20 home runs may not be the most impressive numbers to brag about, but if the first baseman can pick it up during this final month of the regular season, that contract will be worth every penny.

Chicago is well aware of just how dangerous of a hitter Santana can be, and they know all it takes is that one wrong pitch resulting in a costly hit.

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For reasons that have been tough to explain, the Phillies have put together numerous big performances against some of the best teams in the league, and with the Cubs looking like the favorites to win the NL Central. So if Santana and the rest of his Philadelphia teammates can make a statement against Chicago over the next three days, it will make the fan base feel a lot better during this final playoff stretch.