There is no doubt that this year has been a roller coaster for the Philadelphia Phillies. After starting the season with a record of 9-19 and firing manager Rob Thomson, the Phillies are now 45-36, in second place in the National League East division, and are only four games behind the Atlanta Braves for first place. While the Phillies have been playing better, there is still plenty of room to improve. With that being said, here are the Phillies’ strengths and weaknesses, with one weakness that is not related to performance on the field but rather a concern for the future.
Analyzing the Phillies’ Strengths and Weaknesses
Phillies StrengthsÂ
The first big strength is the dominant pitching from Christopher Sanchez and Zack Wheeler. Starting with Sanchez, he is 9-3 as a starter, and his Earned Run Average is 2.13 with 127 strikeouts, so the fact that he is averaging less then three runs given up a game is a huge advantage for the Phillies. Wheeler is also dominating with a 7-1 record and an Earned Run Average of 2.11 and 69 strikeouts. This is an incredible story for Wheeler because after suffering a serious blood clot nobody knew when and if he would return to the mound, let alone be this dominant. Â
The next strength is the upcoming schedule alone. While this is not an on-field strength, the Phillies have been winning most of their games against below-average teams, and for most of July, they will continue to play below-average teams, giving the Phillies a chance to take first place in the division if the Braves face struggles.Â
The last strength is simply the progress this team has made. The Phillies offensively as a team are not looking great but the last time they scored two or less runs was on June 14th. Philadelphia has been getting outstanding production from left fielder Brandon Marsh who is having by far the best year of his career with a batting average of .324 with 12 home runs and 41 runs batted in.Â
Phillies WeaknessesÂ
With strengths come weaknesses, and the first weakness is the offense when the Phillies play good teams. The Phillies may be starting to get hot offensively, but the last time they played a good team was the Milwaukee Brewers, who shut Philadelphia out twice, even though they did score nine runs in one of those games. The overall pattern suggests there are concerns for the Phillies’ future against good teams.Â
The next weakness is the pitching outside of Wheeler and Sanchez. Aaron Nola, who used to be a very productive pitcher, has an ERA of 5.58Â and is nearly giving up six runs a game. The Phillies were also getting terrible starts out of Andrew Painter, who was 1-8 with an ERA of 7.06 and was immediately sent down to the Phillies Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs. If the Phillies’ pitching can not improve outside of Sanchez and Nola, it could be hard for them to see future success with tougher opponents.Â
The last big weakness is age. Wheeler is 35Â years old, Trea Turner is 32, Bryce Harper is 33, and J.T. Realmuto is 35 years old. This is a huge concern because all of the stars on this team are older. The Phillies are in a need to get younger whether that is making a trade or free agency, it is time to get the mindset of building for the future. Alec Bohm and Sanchez are even starting to get up there in age. It is with no doubt that this Phillies squad is in win-now mode more than in the future.
What would you say is the Phillies’ biggest strength and weakness?
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