The Philadelphia Phillies are an exciting team to watch so far this season. The first few games did not look too impressive, but their latest games have shown them to be competitive. Phillies manager Gabe Kapler seems to be getting his rhythm going in managing a major league organization.
Kapler has shown his strengths as manager by working with the players, specifically the pitchers. The pitchers seem to be getting their act together now by starting to pitch more and working themselves out of jams. The level of trust between the manager and pitchers is growing and ultimately allows the Phillies to win more games.
The Phillies have played fantastically as of late due to their two sweeps against the Cincinnati Reds and Tampa Bay Rays. The Phillies pitching during the Reds series was remarkable. The Reds could not get much going against the Phillies pitchers. During the Rays series, the Phillies offense looked great. The Phillies had hot bats the last two games of the series, scoring 19 runs.
Within the last ten games, The Phillies as of April 20 have a record of 8-2. Some players are a huge part of this winning stretch of games. Odubel Herrera is hitting .333, which is rather impressive for a young player. Rhys Hoskins is also having a nice start to the year, hitting .327. Both of these players are doing great on offense and are giving the Phillies a huge lift to win ball games.
The pitching from the Phillies has been pretty strong as well. Since their 8-2 outing, the Phillies pitchers have allowed few runs to be scored by other teams. Veteran pitcher Jake Arrieta has shown his dominance so far this season. The Phillies pitched Arrieta when they faced the Pittsburgh Pirates for the first game of the series. Arrieta pitched a fantastic game and his arsenal was electric. The veteran pitcher allowed only one hit in seven innings and had ten strikeouts. So far, Arrieta has two wins on the season and an ERA of 2.04. If he keeps this up, then the Phillies will be in good shape.
Another good pitcher on the Phillies who is pitching extremely well is Victor Arano. At the age of 23, this young man has shown nothing but control on the mound. Arano hasn’t allowed a hit or a walk so far in the season. On top of that, Arano has struck out ten batters and has not allowed a base runner in eight 1/3 innings pitched.
The Phillies look like strong contenders so far in their division. The Phillies have the talent to take their division this year and it is doable because the East seems jumbled. Washington was the favorite for the division this year, but they are now in fourth place. As of now, the Phillies are tied for second place with Atlanta. There are still many games to be played and there are many games left in the season. The Phillies have the potential to be in first place, and if their players keep doing what they are doing, then we can see the Phillies in the postseason.
Ryan Bednash is a fourth-year student majoring in communication studies with a minor in journalism. ✉ RB842278@wcupa.edu.