Via: nbcsportsphiladelphia.com
*stats updated as of 7/27
Fans continue dreading Trea Turner’s $27 Million disappointment
Via: phillyvoice.com
It’s no secret that Phillies shortstop Trea Turner has disappointed fans in his first year with the team. He signed an 11 year, $300 million contract in the offseason, projected to be a top infielder in the NL. For 8 years in Washington and Los Angeles, Turner boasted a 0.302 BA, 0,842 OPS, 230 stolen bases, and a flashy glove at shortstop. With a stellar performance in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, boosting the USA to the finals, expectations couldn’t be higher for the 30-year old set to make his debut for Philly. As the season has progressed, he hasn’t shown much improvement, having an 0.681 OPS, 10 home runs, and failing to come up clutch when his team needs him most. Criticism from fans has begun raining down harder and harder on Turner, the Phillies’ highest paid player.
“I’m honest with myself, I’ve sucked,” Turner said back in May. Things haven’t gotten any better, as he has a 0.226 BA and 0.651 OPS in July so far. Things came to a boiling point on Tuesday against the Orioles, where he committed two errors and was ejected for throwing his equipment. Roars of boos could be heard throughout Citizens Bank Park as fans have become sick of his lackluster performance in red pinstripes so far. Turner’s struggles far outnumber some of the rest of the weakness shown by the lineup, which will need to step up if another deep playoff run is on the radar.
Phils narrowly avoid getting swept, lose 2/3 to Guardians.
Via: news-herald.com
The Phillies kicked off their 3-game series in Cleveland with Ranger Suárez on the mound. This game would finally be Bryce Harper’s anticipated debut at first base, something he had been working on for months. Harper made his first two plays in the bottom of the 1st, giving them two outs. Things started going south for Ranger, as three singles and a rocket double into left-field gave the Guardians a 2-0 lead. In the 3rd, Harper made a diving play over the dugout rail to snag a flyball, and further flashing the leather throughout the game. Though a triple by Trea Turner and a bases-loaded walk by Kyle Schwarber aided the deficit, Suárez allowed two more runs to the Guardians’ lineup and was taken out of the game. After falling 6-2 off of more RBI singles to Amed Rosario and Josh Naylor, the lineup started to fight back. Back-to-back homers by J.T Realmuto and Bryson Stott in the 7th put them within just one run, but Cleveland’s bullpen shut them down for the rest of the game. They fell 6-5 in game one.
Looking to bounce back from the loss and avoid losing the series, the Phils faced rookie starter, Tanner Bibee. Zach Wheeler started on the bump for the Phillies, and threw a gem. In 7 innings, he allowed only 1 run, 5 hits, and 1 walk to Cleveland’s offense, putting his team in an optimal spot to win. Despite guys like Schwarber and Edmundo Sosa making some remarkable plays in the field, a mishap in center-field allowed a ball to drop between three outfielders, allowing the only run of the game to score. Using the leverage from Cleveland’s 1-0 lead, Tanner Bibee shut down the Phillies’ offense, only allowing 2 hits while striking out 8. Cleveland’s bullpen finished off strong again, as the Phillies lost their fourth straight game in an embarrassing fashion.
Trying to avoid the sweep, the Phillies geared up for a roller-coaster in game 3. Facing Cleveland’s Xzavion Curry in the 1st, Bryce Harper walked, and advanced to third off of a Castellanos single and E5 in the left side of the infield. Trying to score with two outs, Harper advanced on a balk and the Phils struck first. Unfortunately, this lead wouldn’t stick, as Aaron Nola allowed a homer to deep right field against his first opponent. The Guardians added on with another home run, this time making it 2-1 thanks to Andrés Giménez. Down 3-1 after a José Ramírez RBI in the 3rd, Brandon Marsh started up the offense from a stand-up triple into center-field off of Sam Hentges. Schwarber drove him right in with an infield single, beating the footrace against Hentges at first. Following this was a Trea Turner double, advancing Schwarber to third, and one of the weirdest possible plays. A weak Harper groundball appeared to everyone as foul, as Bryce barely even left the batters box. However, it was called fair, scoring Schwarber and tying the game. The following inning, a dropped ball by José Ramírez scored JT Realmuto, giving them a 4-3 lead. As Nola shut down the Guardian’s lineup through the 8th, Craig Kimbrel looked for a save. With 2 outs, Kimbrel allowed a rocket off of the railing to David Fry, a game-tying homer. As the game was sent to extras, the Phils made quick work of Tim Herrin, and later Trevor Stephan. They put up 4 runs in the top of the 10th off of RBIs from Harper, Realmuto, and Bohm. The bottom of the inning became a little tense, as Jeff Hoffman allowed a run and 2 runners in scoring position, Yunior Marte came in to shut it down at 8-5.
The series against the below-0.500 Guardians should’ve been a lot easier to thrive and assert their dominance in the NL Wild Card standings. The offense failed to come up clutch when they needed to in the first two games, and the pitching and defense allowed some brutal runs. They moved on to face another AL team, this time the league-leading Baltimore Orioles.
Bryce Harper continues his success at first base after quick recovery, but will Hoskins be back sooner than expected?
Via: section215.com
Bryce Harper is without a doubt Philly’s golden boy. The $330 million star has led this team like no other could, hitting 0.284 with an OPS of 0.921, and 106 homers. Over his 5-year span, he’s had some of the craziest walk-offs, led his team to the World Series, and won an incredible NL MVP. All of this success has primarily been in the outfield, until he tore his UCL in his throwing arm.
However, Harper was still able to finish out the 2022 season normally (minus a broken hand), thanks to the newly added designated-hitter to the National League. After the season, he proceeded with Tommy John surgery, and was expected to miss half of the season. Incredibly, he picked right back up just a month into the season, helping with a rough start to the Phillies’ season. But have his number’s been any good so far? Or has his surgery significantly set him back?
So far in the season, Harper has defied expectations at DH, hitting almost 0.300 with a 0.802 OPS, while walking and striking out and normal rates. The weirdest thing about Harper’s 2023 campaign is his HR rate at 1.7% of at-bats. The rate is his worst by far, almost half of his next-worst season. With only 5 homers in 69 games, he’s proven to not be much of a power hitter. Through his long publicized 38-game span of not homering, he actually fell flat in many areas. He hit only 0.264, with a 0.681 OPS, 17 RBIS, and 35 K’s from 5/26 to 7/15. He’s picked it up though, hitting 0.329 with an almost 0.900 OPS, 10 RBIS, and 24 hits in the month of July. Most notably though, he’s finally made his debut at first base.
Harper has impressed everyone so far at first, making strong play after strong play in his 4 games so far. Rob Thomson seems to be planning on giving him a significant amount of time there. His replacement at first has been extremely beneficial, eliminating the need for other first-basemen like Bohm and Hall, as well as freeing up the DH spot. The move, though proving to be a major success so far, may not be needed too much longer. Rhys Hoskins, out with a town ACL, is recovering better than expected according to Rob Thomson. Hoskins, another fan-favorite, is looking at a possible recovery for the playoffs, eliminating the need for Harper at first. Though Harper looks to be at first for the foreseeable future in these next few months, Hoskins’ comeback is great news for this team.
Phillies fight to take down 62-38 Orioles at home.
Via: baltimoresun.com
After falling to the mediocre Guardians, facing the Orioles wouldn’t be an easy feat for the Phils. Baltimore currently stands with the best record in the whole MLB, with a young, strong roster.
Facing the Orioles lineup in game 1 was Cristopher Sánchez, coming off of a rocky performance against the Brewers. In the top of the 2nd, Baltimore rookie Jordan Westburg hit a rocket, slicing down the RF line. The ball cleared the fence and would be the first run of the game, as well as his first career HR. A tough break came in the bottom of the 3rd, as the Phils tried to get something started down 1-0. Johan Rojas hit a line into center-field, where Aaron Hicks made an incredible diving play to rob the offense of any momentum. As the game progressed, two Orioles reached base in the 5th, partially due to Trea Turner’s second error of the day. Sánchez wiggled out of it, ending the inning against Austin Hays on a changeup in the dirt. In the bottom of the inning, Schwarber hit a sac-fly into left-center, scoring Garrett Stubbs. However, this would be their only run of the inning, as Turner was sat down on a low strike call which led to his ejection. A solo shot into center would give the Orioles the lead right back in the 6th, making it 2-1. A few scoreless innings led to a two-out, two-runner opportunity for the Phils in the 8th. Castellanos hit a line-drive into Center, tying it 2-2. Trying to keep it tied, Craig Kimbrel faced the middle of Baltimore’s lineup. After a walk and wild pitch allowed Gunnar Henderson to be in scoring-position, Kimbrel blew the save to Colton Cowser on a double down the third base line, making it 3-2. As Cionel Pérez came into close for Baltimore, the Phillies’ lineup was shut down, and they lost 3-2.
Looking to bounce back from the tough loss the previous night, Taijuan Walker took the mound. Starting in game one for Baltimore was former-Phillie Kyle Gibson, who was given his 2022 NLCS ring on Monday. The Orioles struck first with runners on first and third, an RBI-double from Austin Hays over Brandon Marsh’s head. With a walk preceding the double, Walker wiggled out of a bases-loaded, no outs jam with a strikeout and two fly balls into shallow left field. The next inning, Baltimore tacked on another, this time from a double from Adam Frazier down the right field line. Down 2-0, Johan Rojas clapped right back with a line drive single into center, scoring Bohm from third and threatening to tie or go ahead. Kyle Gibson fought back, retiring the top of the lineup on 3 straight outs and ending the inning with Baltimore still leading 2-1. After Walker continued dealing through 6 innings, Harper blasted a game-tying, opposite-field homer that ignited Citizens Bank Park. Failing to score more off of Gibson, Matt Strahm came in to relieve Walker. Disaster struck for Strahm when Ryan O’hearn took the lead back off of a solo shot late in the game. Down 3-2, the top of the lineup would face Yennier Cano. A Bryce Harper single, and Bryson Stott double down the first base line would even it at 3-3. Stott would advance on another single, this time by Realmuto, and an Alec Bohm single through the infield would complete the comeback 4-3.
The Phils sought another win, keeping the momentum from Tuesday’s comeback. Ranger Suárez would again disappoint, allowing an early 3-run shot to Adley Rutschman to deep left-center. But the Phillies wouldn’t go down without a fight, starting a rally in the bottom of the inning. Brandon Marsh was driven in off of a double down the left-field line by Jake Cave. Things didn’t look as promising, as Kyle Schwarber struck out on a horrific call, getting heated with umpire Dan Merzel. Up to the plate came Nick Castellanos, putting them within just one with a line single up the middle. They ended the 3rd down 3-2, but picked right back up in the next inning. After Suárez had a strong top of the inning, Bohm and Stott both reached base, and JT drove them both right in with a 2-RBI double. Up 4-3, the offense fell asleep to Kyle Bradish, though the likes of Ranger’s pitching, and an incredible leaping play by Cave would keep the lead until the 7th. After allowing a leadoff double to James Mccan, Seranthony Domínguez relieved Suárez. Domínguez got the first two outs, but then allowed a ground-ball single to Austin Hays, tying it 4-4. Going into the bottom of the inning, the Phillies would continue fighting. A solo shot by Edmundo Sosa made it 5-4 Phils, before Bryce Harper capitalized on two runners and one out with an RBI single. Winning 6-4, Kimbrel and Gregory Soto shut down the rest of the Orioles’ offense, taking the game 6-4, and the series 2-1.
Philadelphia currently has a 55-47 record, and leads by half a game in the wild card standings. They go on the road, starting with a 3-game series tonight in Pittsburgh, and a 4-game series in Miami.
Adam Cooke Journalism 