This season hasn’t gone exactly as Philadelphia Phillies fans hoped it would. They can score runs but the bats can also fall silent from the top to the bottom of the order without any notice.
There are plenty of complaints about this team. None are all that surprising. The defense stinks. The bullpen is unreliable. Far too often, the veteran manager looks like he doesn’t know the game he’s coaching.
Philadelphia hasn’t gotten off to the start they needed to. Even so, there are a few positive points to take away from the early performance so far.
Philadelphia Phillies starting pitchers have been pretty good with room for growth.
The team’s starting rotation has managed to piece together a pretty solid start to the year. They have the ace, Zack Wheeler, pitching well after an injury scare in the preseason. Behind him, Aaron Nola looks like a suitable number two although many would hope to get a little more out of him as the season progresses.
The Phillies are also fortunate that Kyle Gibson has been far better for them this year. An All-Star for the Texas Rangers before getting traded to Philadelphia last summer, the team will need to keep their fingers crossed that he doesn’t regress like he did in the second half of 2021.
In the back of the rotation, the Phillies have Zach Eflin and Ranger Suarez. The two younger arms in the starting five, they have their good and bad moments. Unfortunately, it has been more bad than good early on in 2022. Philadelphia will need far more from them. Alone, the Phillies can survive with one in the rotation. However, it feels far more like they have two number five starters.
If each of the starters could level up one—Wheeler becoming more of an ace, Nola a sure-fire number two, Gibson a quality number three, and the pair in the back looking like solid number fours—the Phillies’ rotation could be one of the best in the league. So far, it has just been average.
Philadelphia Phillies reliever Seranthony Dominguez is back and pitching at a high level.
Seranthony Dominguez saved 16 games for the 2018 Phillies and looked like he could be on his way to becoming the team’s closer. Injuries got in the way of his progress and Dominguez would toss only 25.2 innings from 2019-2021.
Now back in the team’s bullpen in 2022, he’s looking great again. Dominguez is averaging more than a strikeout per inning and preventing runs like any skipper would hope for from one of their best high-leverage relievers. The Phillies went out and bought three veteran free agents this offseason to try to mend their failing bullpen. As it turns out, they already had a quality arm in Dominguez sitting around and ready to go.
Dominguez might possibly be the most important player in the Phillies bullpen this year—especially if you think they’ll be waving the white flag. Corey Knebel, Brad Hand, and Jeurys Familia are all likely headed to free agency again this winter if not traded beforehand. This will leave the Phillies with having to makeover their relief corps yet again. Dominguez, however, should remain with them and in a big relief role.
Dominguez has proven himself trustworthy in a bullpen without many arms to put any faith in. Proving he is healthy is one part of his 2022 mission. The other is to be effective. Thus far, he has exceeded in both areas.
Bryce Harper’s presence and production should keep the Philadelphia Phillies from blowing it all up.
Bryce Harper continues to hit and put up some strong early numbers that would track well toward defending his National League MVP. He probably won’t get it because he missed some significant time already. Unless Harper has one of those amazing months in store for this summer, he will probably fall short in important categories like RBI. It also doesn’t help that he is unable to play the field and has made the team less valuable overall because of it.
Nevertheless, Harper’s long contract with the Phillies should further continue to keep the front office interested in building. They may at some point take a huge step back during his tenure in Philadelphia. This is nothing unusual for contracts of that length. The Atlanta Braves weren’t always good during Freddie Freeman’s time with the club. Even the New York Yankees, near the end of Alex Rodriguez, sold at the trade deadline.
With Harper in tow, the Phillies should refrain from blowing it all up. They are probably stuck with Nick Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber outside of a pure salary-dump deal. That’s not such a bad thing because they have shown an ability to be capable big leaguer hitters at a high level.
The better Harper plays, the better the Phillies seem to be. And with him continuing to hit, the Phillies should at least hold steady even if they do subtract a few pieces.