After sneaking into the playoffs for the first time since 2011 last season, the Philadelphia Phillies fell just short of glory to the Houston Astros in the 2022 World Series.
The Phillies, now with a vengeance, upset the Atlanta Braves for the second straight year and are now three games away from reaching the World Series again. Philadelphia is on fire. Their offense is not letting a single pitch get by, and when they finally find theirs, they don’t miss it. With the best fans in America behind them, it seems like nothing will knock them off course in pursuit of their first ring since 2008.
Philadelphia has five players who couldn’t get out if they tried. Bryce Harper, Nick Castellanos, Trea Turner, Brandon Marsh, and J.T. Realmuto all have a wRC+ (weighted runs created) above league average, and Turner (282), Harper (276), and Castellanos (267) are all in the ‘unimaginable realm.’ The only player with a higher wRC+ still in the playoffs is Yordan Alverez, who is hitting like the reincarnation of David Ortiz. Turner’s (.500) and Harper’s (.401) batting averages are absolutely outrageous, and as I was typing this sentence, Turner just sent a ball to the moon to put the Phillies up 1-0 early in Game Two.
It is a perfect leeway as the Phillies just hit the 18th home run of their postseason run. If all goes to plan for the Phillies, they will have seven more baseball games to win it all, and they already have more than the 2008 champion Phillies team. They tied the National League record for most home runs hit in a Division Series (11) and show no signs of slowing down. In fact, they are doing the opposite. The Phillies have hit 14 home runs in their past four games, breaking a major league record. This is important because teams to outhomer their opponents are 16-2 this postseason, and the Phillies are outhomering the rest of the league. No one is even close to their 18 home runs.
Turner’s first-half stats made his new $300 million contract seem like the worst deal in MLB history. He was hitting .236 with an abysmal .656 OPS. His WPA (Win Probability Added) -2.043 on August 4th. He was actively hurting the Phillies by being in the lineup every day.
Philadelphia is known as a tough place to play, especially for the home team if they aren’t doing great. It is a fan base that will support you when you are doing well but also let you know when you need to pick it up.
As Turner walked to the box in the second inning on August 4th, a soldout Citizens Bank Park took to their feet and gave Turner a standing ovation. Instead of booing and getting even deeper into the shortstop’s head, they showed support and how they wanted him on their team, even if he was going through a rough stretch. Turner broke an 0-17 streak with an RBI single in the sixth, his first RBI since July 15.
In the next game, Turner hit his first home run since July 8. 16 of Turner’s 26 home runs came after the standing ovation. Turner really used the support of the fans to turn his season around. In the last 48 games of his season, Turner hit .337 with a 1.057 OPS and a 2.721 WPA. It was just a glimpse of what the fans in Chaos Bank Park can do.
Castellanos, a fan favorite, has been playing easily the best baseball in his career and might be the most feared hitter in the Phillies lineup. In his past 11 at-bats, he has hit five home runs. He became the only player ever to hit multiple home runs in back-to-back games in the playoffs. Castellanos joins Reggie Jackson as the only two players in history to hit five home runs in a three-game span.
With one of the scariest lineups in all of baseball, the Phillies complement it with the most consistent game-one starter in recent memory. Zack Wheeler has had a quality start in every game one he has ever started and has only allowed three runs over four starts in game one. Wheeler in the playoffs is a different beast that you don’t want to face. Over 19 innings pitched this postseason, Wheeler has 26 strikeouts to just one walk. Wheeler leads every pitcher in history (min 40 IP) in WHIP with a shockingly low .72. That’s above legendary pitchers like Mariano Rivera (0.76) and Sandy Koufax (0.83).
Only the Arizona Diamondbacks stand in Philadelphia’s way from reaching their second consecutive Fall Classic, a team that shouldn’t be taken lightly. The Diamondbacks walked all over the Brewers in the Wild Card and then the Dodgers in the DS as they began their Cinderella run. A team that many had counted out coming down the stretch, Arizona didn’t lose a playoff game until their first matchup against Philly.
The Phillies have all the momentum in the world on their side, with seemingly nothing in their path has any chance of slowing them down. Philly has the best odds (+110) to win the World Series on DraftKings, but the Rangers (+130) aren’t far behind. A Rangers Phillies World Series would be the most fun option, and that’s what the majority of Americans are rooting for. The tale is still waiting to be written, but the plot is already visible for the Phillies.
