As has been relentlessly drilled into your brain over the course of your baseball fandom, the season is a marathon not a sprint. Because of that, there are four official unofficial checkpoints we use to take stock of where teams stand over the length of the MLB season. Your choices may vary, but the four are usually Memorial Day, the All-Star break, the trade deadline, and the start of September.
In case you haven’t noticed by your lack of being in work today, today is the first of those checkpoints. So, let’s take a look at where the local ballclub stands.
Standings
The Philadelphia Phillies enter Memorial Day with the best record in all of baseball at 34-19. They just had a nine-game winning streak snapped and own a 17-6 record in the month of May, also good for an MLB-best. This surge of recent wins has allowed them to overtake the New York Mets for first place in the NL East and has given the Phillies a two-game lead for the top spot.
Standout performers
The two biggest contributors to the Phillies strong start in the early going have been Kyle Schwarber at the plate and Jesús Luzardo on the mound. Schwarber is tied for the MLB lead in home runs with 18, sharing the top spot with Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, and his .974 OPS is the fourth best in all of baseball. Schwarber’s 9 home runs in the month of May are second only to Ohtani’s 11.
Schwarber’s transformation against left-handed pitching has been an early theme of the season, as his 1.193 OPS against lefties is the best for any left-handed hitter despite a league-high 92 plate appearances against southpaws.
Luzardo has been every bit as impressive in his first season since being acquired from the Marlins. He sports a perfect 5-0 record, and the Phillies are 9-3 in games he’s started. His 2.15 ERA is the ninth best among starters and Luzardo is second in both bWAR (3.0) and fWAR (2.4) for pitchers.
Reasons for excitement
Alec Bohm and Brandon Marsh struggled mightily out of the gate. Bohm was dropped to eighth in the batting order and Marsh was 0-29 in April before suffering a knee injury. But since the calendar turned to May, both players have seen a resurgence in their play. Bohm is hitting a team-best .341 with a .941 OPS that is second on the team behind Schwarber for the month of May. Marsh is right behind him, hitting .340 with an .851 OPS. Both have emerged from dreadful starts to return to form as the season gets into full swing.
Bryce Harper had a bit of a slow start as well, hitting .234 with a .794 OPS through the end of April. But he has caught fire in May, hitting .308 with an .859 OPS including three home runs. He’s been even better since May 16th, hitting a staggering .390 with an OPS of .996 while hitting safely in 8 out of 10 games.
Trea Turner has been on a tear as well, as he’s hitting .340 with a .908 OPS in the month of May. He’s collected 13 multi-hit games out of 23 games played so far in the month, including four home runs. Turner over the last week is 12-30 (.400) with six extra-base hits, 8 RBIs. and four stolen bases.
Reasons for concern
Obviously, the huge loss of José Alcarado to a PED related suspension will loom over the rest of the season. The Phillies bullpen was already thin and now it’s lost one of its best weapons until late August and, more importantly, for the postseason.
Jordan Romano has resurrected his season of late, but his scoreless streak came to an end Friday night in Sacramento. Matt Strahm has been solid, but he suffered the loss on Sunday after surrendering two runs in the eighth when the Phillies entered up by a run. Orion Kerkering has rounded into form, as he’s allowed one run on four hits across 10 appearances in the month of May and has put out multiple fires, but he’s also walked six batters to six strikeouts. All three will have to continue to get better if the Phillies are going to withstand the loss of Alvarado now and later.
Aaron Nola’s horrendous start still casts a dark cloud over the team as well. He’s currently on the injured list with an ankle sprain after suffering the worst loss of his career on May 14th when he allowed 9 runs on 12 hits in just 3.2 IP against the Cardinals. Nola is 1-7 on the season with a 6.16 ERA. Those seven losses are tied for the second most in baseball and that ERA is ninth worst among starters who have made at least nine starts.
Mick Abel was brilliant in his MLB debut in a spot start for Nola and Taijuan Walker has been more than serviceable this season despite bouncing back and forth from the rotation to the bullpen, but the Phillies and Nola need to figure out what’s going on and how to fix it. Nola may not be one of the Phillies top pitchers anymore, but they still need the consistent good innings he provides to get through a long season and especially to give rest to a short bullpen.
