The Phillies are coming back to Earth, but that’s okay

On Sunday afternoon, the Philadelphia Phillies fell to the Chicago Cubs 7-2. being swept by them and finishing off their tough six-game road trip 1-5. This recent road trip for the Phillies was not easy as they went against a Detroit Tigers team, who is always in playoff contention and then a Cubs team, who has the best record in the majors at 34-14.

Currently, the Phillies are 26-24, which is good for third place in the NL East. For the Phillies to even have this record at this point, it’s a testament to manager Pete Mackanin and the roster new General Manager Matt Klentak assembled in the offseason. Klentak put the right pieces together and Mackanin has done a great job managing the current talent that he has.

Before the 2016 season got underway, many analysts picked the Phillies to be the worst team in baseball with 66 wins. But to their credit, the Phillies have proved those analysts wrong because the Atlanta Braves are the worst team in baseball with a 14-35 record.

Despite the Phillies falling back to Earth, they have shown us the good and bad this season, but that happens in a rebuilding process. Indirectly, they have also shown us that the future is bright, especially down in the minor leagues as the talent they’ve acquired is quickly making their case to be on the big league club.

But before, we can even talk about the future Phillies, we have to look at the good and bad from this young season.

The Good

The starting pitching – Coming into this season, many fans were wondering what the Phillies pitching staff would look like and if it would be talented enough to compete on a nightly basis. Again, thanks to GM Matt Klentak, he made a couple of solid moves in the offseason to the pitching staff that has helped them become one of the better staffs in the majors.

One of those solid moves was the Phillies acquiring starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Hellickson began his career with the Tampa Bay Rays and had a fantastic rookie season in 2011. Hellickson finished with 13-10 record, to go along with a 2.95 ERA and striking out 117 batters over 189 innings pitched. After getting off to a great start with the Rays, Hellickson would fall on hard times and eventually traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2014 offseason.

In 2015 with the Diamondbacks, Hellickson would do okay pitching in the National League, compiling a 9-12 record, 4.62 ERA, and striking out 121 batters over 146 innings pitched. As mentioned earlier, Hellickson would be traded again this time to the Phillies and has shown that he could be a piece for this rotation going forward.

This season, Hellickson has a 4-3 record, 3.97 ERA and struck out 57 batters over 56 2/3 innings pitched.

Finally, another solid move that Matt Klentak did to help improve the starting rotation was trading closer Ken Giles to the Houston Astros for pitchers Vincent Velasquez, Brett Oberholtzer, Mark Appel, Thomas Eshelman, and Harold Arauz. Obviously, the key to the trade was the first three pitchers listed. Out of the three, Velasquez has proven this season that he can be a capable starting pitcher in the majors.

Despite getting roughed up on Sunday by the Cubs giving up nine hits, seven earned runs and striking out six over 4 2/3 innings pitched, Velasquez has shown that he has electric stuff and can rack up the strikeouts. Just look at his first two outings on the season against the New York Mets and San Diego Padres. He struck out nine and 16 respectively in both of those games.

Outside of those two guys, Aaron Nola and Jerad Eickhoff have continued to show that they may be young, but have the stuff to be the leading guys in the rotation. It will be interesting to see how the starting staff can continue to grow and develop throughout the summer.

Odubel Herrera and Tommy Joseph – Now a lot of people expected third baseman Maikel Franco to continue his hot swinging of the bat from Spring Training but that hasn’t happened yet. However, outfielder Odubel Herrera and recently called up first baseman Tommy Joseph have given the Phillies’ lineup some life.

This season, Herrera has taken a more patient approach at the plate and it has helped the former Rule 5 draft pick. This season, Herrera has already surpassed his walk total from 2015 (28) with 33 this season. He has also swung the bat better with a slash line of .320/.427/.449 and has five home runs to go along with 17 RBI. He has been one of the bright spots in the Phillies outfield, with Aaron Altherr sidelined for a long period of time with a wrist injury.

Finally, another bright spot in the Phillies’ lineup has been Tommy Joseph. Joseph, who was a part of the Hunter Pence trade back in 2012, has had his share of ups and downs over his career including switching positions from catcher to first base. That switch has served him well because with the decline of Ryan Howard, Joseph so far has shown he can be the guy for the next few years.

Currently, Joseph has three home runs with five RBI and a slash line of .286/.289/.571/ in 38 plate appearances. This isn’t bad for the 24-year-old, who is rotating with Howard at first base. Hopefully, Joseph and Herrera can continue to have a productive 2016 season with Franco eventually joining the fray.

The Bad

The decline of Ryan Howard – This can be an entire story by itself, but the 2016 season is officially the year we saw Ryan Howard become a shell of himself, which is sad to say. Ever since the Big Piece has suffered a couple of injury riddled seasons, his power numbers and defense has declined. We are seeing that on display this season as Howard is only going up against right-handed pitchers.

This season, Howard is only hitting .154 along with eight home runs and 18 RBI, while striking out over 50 times. It may be time for Howard to hang em up or go to the American League. But at his current state, could he even be a formidable designated hitter? That’s a question only he can answer.

The Future

The future for the Philadelphia Phillies is bright and even though they may not make the playoffs this season, the best is yet to come. Right now, they have studs all around the diamond in Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Let’s start in Reading, where outfielder Dylan Cozens is having an outstanding season leading the Eastern League in home runs with 14 and has 42 RBI. If Cozens continues to play well, it’s only a matter time before he is in Triple-A.

Finally, when you talk about Triple-A Lehigh Valley, there is a ton of talent that is waiting for that major league call up. When it comes to position players, J.P. Crawford is the future at shortstop for the Phillies and is playing solid for the Iron Pigs batting .265 with three home runs and 13 RBI. Also, you cannot forget about outfielder Nick Williams and catcher Andrew Knapp, both guys who will be donning the Phillies’ pinstripes for years to come.

Lastly, when it comes to pitching all eyes are on Zach Eflin, Ben Lively and Mark Appel. Lively was recently promoted to Triple-A and posted a 7-0 record along with a 1.87 ERA and 49 strikeouts over 53 innings pitched at Double-A Reading. Eflin should be the next in line to be promoted if Adam Morgan continues to struggle in the Phils’ rotation.

This season at Lehigh Valley, Eflin has struck out 48 batters over 57.2 innings pitching to go along with a 5-1 record and 2.81 ERA.

Appel, who was a former first round pick of the Houston Astros in 2013 is looking to show that he is not a bust. With a fresh start in a new organization, he has not disappointed and could be a September call-up for the Phillies.

Even though, the Phillies are coming back down to Earth. Fans should not be disappointed because there is a lot of things to be excited about going forward with this team present and future.