Philadelphia Phillies Philes Vol 1.4: Holding down first

In this Philadelphia Phillies Philes, we’ll go streaking with Bryce, declare the best walk-up song in MLB, and celebrate Chase Utley before he was “The Man.”

Leading off

The Philadelphia Phillies are a resilient bunch. After losing dramatically to the Rockies on Friday night, the team clawed their way back to victory last night with an 8-5 win.

Aaron Nola, who has battled through control problems all year, fought through 5 2/3 innings to notch the “W.”

After struggling on Friday night with runners in scoring position, the team came through with crucial hits including a bases-clearing double by Phil Gosselin and a three-run homer by Bryce Harper with two outs.

The effort that the Phillies continue to display is an essential trait of winning teams and will prove valuable as the season progresses.

Jake’s Dominance

After another strong performance, this time against the New York Mets on Wednesday afternoon, Jake Arrieta leads the Phillies in wins with a record of 3-1. Through 28.0 innings pitched, the 33-year-old has amassed a 2.25 ERA and leads the majors in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) for pitchers with 1.4.

But is his success sustainable?

Just last year, Arrieta began the 2018 campaign in a nearly identical way, albeit with a better ERA.

Through his first four games last year, Arrieta pitched to a 3-0 record, and a 1.82 ERA over 24.2 innings pitched. He’d pitch to a 7-11 record the rest of the way, finishing with a 3.96 ERA.

If you recall, Arrieta was not in any big-league camp to start spring training a year ago. It wasn’t until signing with the Phillies on March 11th that he’d eventually report. The fact that he had a full training camp in Clearwater, FL this year bodes well for the possibility of sustained success.

Arrieta takes the hill on Monday vs. the Mets.

Rockie Mountain Low

More from Philadelphia Phillies

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• VIDEO: Bryce Harper Hustles for Inside-the-Park Home Run vs. Giants
• Phillies Fans Let Ex-Manager Gabe Kapler Hear It in First Inning
• Andrew Knapp Finds New MLB Home With AL Contender
• VIDEO: Phillies Send Touching Message to Media Little League Team Before World Series

Dating back to 2017, the Phillies are 4-12 against the Rockies overall, having lost six of their last seven at Coors Field. The Phillies were swept in a four-game series in late September last season in Colorado and lost their first two matchups this year.

Friday’s loss, in particular, was heartbreaking. After taking the game into extra innings, the Phillies took a 3-2 lead in the top half of the 12th to then lose the game with a two-out, two-strike count against the Rockies’ Charlie Blackmon, who belted a two-run homer for the win.

The loss marks the second time this young season where the Phillies were one strike away from getting the win. The first took place two weeks ago against the Nationals when Edubray Ramos surrendered a two-out, two-strike game-tying home run to Victor Robles of the Nationals, who would go on to win in extras.

The doctor is in

The Philadelphia Phillies have caught the injury bug. Once full of depth, the team quickly is down two shortstops, without its starting center fielder, and two relievers (three if you count Tommy Hunter who has been on the shelf since spring training).

Jean Segura and Scott Kingery are both on the 10-Day Injury List with hamstring strains, as is Odubel Herrera.

David Robertson (flexor strain) and Victor Arano (inflammation) were placed on the injury list as well. Meanwhile, Hunter was transferred to the 60-Day IL while he deals with an issue in his right elbow.

Living a dream

With both Segura and Kingery sidelined with hamstring strains, Philadelphia area-native Phil Gosselin got the start on Saturday night against the Rockies.

Gosselin, 30-years-old, grew up attending Phillies games both at the Vet and Citizens Bank Park as a youngster. Born in Bryn Mawr and raised in West Chester, the Malvern Prep grad was drafted by the Braves in 2010 out of the University of Virginia.

He has played parts of seven seasons in the big leagues with the Phillies being his sixth team. Previous stops include Atlanta, Arizona, Pittsburgh, Texas, and Cincinnati.

In two games played, Gosselin has delivered big hits including a bases-clearing double Saturday night as the Phillies came back to beat the Rockies.

Welcome back!

With Nick Pivetta being sent down to work through some early season struggles, Jerad Eickhoff will take his place in the rotation.

Eickhoff made his 2019 debut in relief of Pivetta on Tuesday night, pitching four scoreless innings against the Mets, earning his first career save in the process.

He gets the start today and will be opposed by the Rockies’ Jon Gray.

We’re going streaking

Bryce Harper’s on-base streak as a Phillie now stands at 20 games. Coincidentally, the Phillies have played 20 games.

So…Bryce has reached base in every Phillies game this year.

The Mighty Quinn returns

Roman Quinn rejoined the Phillies on Thursday, and this is why I love him.

And the award for best walk-up song goes to…

Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon absolutely has the best walk-up song in all of baseball: “Your Love” by The Outfield. Despite wreaking havoc on the Phillies all weekend, I’m a bit disappointed to no longer experience this fantastic event each at-bat:

(Extra points for crowd interaction!)

(And the song is officially stuck in my head…)

Most Valuable Phillie Power Rankings – Top 15 (through 4/20/2019):

1. Bryce Harper (OF) – Previous Rank: 1 (↔)
2. Jake Arrieta (SP) – Previous Rank: 3 (↑ 1)
3. Jean Segura (SS) – Previous Rank: 2 (↓ 1)
4. Rhys Hoskins (1B) – Previous Rank: 4 (↔)
5. Maikel Franco (3B) – Previous Rank: 5 (↔)
6. J.T. Realmuto (C) – Previous Rank: 13 (↑ 7)
7. Hector Neris (RP) – Previous Rank: 10 (↑ 3)
8. Odubel Herrera (OF) – Previous Rank: 7 (↓ 1)
9. Andrew McCutchen (OF) – Previous Rank: 6 (↓ 3)
10. Adam Morgan (RP) – Previous Rank: 9 (↓ 1)
11. Pat Neshek (RP) – Previous Rank: 8 (↓ 3)
12. Zach Eflin (SP) – Previous Rank: 12 (↔)
13. Vince Velasquez (SP) – Previous Rank: 11 (↓ 2)
14. Aaron Nola (SP) – Previous Rank: 15 (↑ 1)
15. Scott Kingery (INF) – Previous Rank: N/A (↑)

“Ring the Bell” Award Winner of the Week

Hand that bell to Jake Arrieta; you, my friend, are this week’s bell-ringer!

In this past Wednesday’s rubber match with the Mets, Arrieta went eight innings giving up only two runs as the Phillies held on for the 3-2 win.

Manager Gabe Kapler said it best when asked about Arrieta’s performance after the game:

Phillie Pholly of the Week

This week’s distinction goes to Phillies’ hitters with runners in scoring position.

The Phillies offense gathered 17 hits Friday night against the Rockies, yet managed to lose the game in extras to the Rockies who finished with only eight hits. The Phils more than doubled Colorado’s output.

In addition to losing the game, the team also only mustered three runs. Three runs! 17 hits – plus six walks I might add – and could only manage to score three runs. The Phillies, who stranded 19 base runners, finished the game going 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position.

That’s unacceptable, and that is why they earned this week’s Phillie Pholly.

Phillies Phlashback

What were you doing Thursday, April 24, 2003? Maybe you were watching the Phillies host the Rockies at Veterans Stadium for some afternoon baseball. Perhaps you were busy learning about prospects ahead of that weekend’s NFL draft (for those wondering, the Eagles would go on to trade up from No. 30 overall to No. 15 and select DE Jerome McDougle out of Miami). [The Birds’ selections don’t get much better from there.]

If you were watching the Phillies, you’d have seen some kid by the name of Chase Utley collect his first big league hit: a grand slam at that.

Perhaps as impressive is the sprint around the bases!

On Deck

Following Sunday’s contest in Colorado, the Phillies fly east to take on the Mets at Citi Field for a three-game set before returning home to host the Marlins for a four-game series beginning Thursday. The Phillies are 9-5 against divisional opponents on the season.