The weather is warm, the ball is flying, the Phillies’ offense is deadlocked, and these post-trade deadline Nationals have one of the worst major league rosters in recent memory.
The result? The Phillies finished the hapless Nats 13-1 on Sunday afternoon to complete a four-game sweep. The Phils are the best 12 games of the season over .500 at 60-48 and continue to control the last wildcard spot in the NL. They’ve also gained ground over the two wildcard teams in front of them, the Braves and the Padres. The Phillies won’t end the weekend worse than a half-game behind the Padres for that second wildcard position.
Washington started the week with the worst home run differential in National League history, and the Phillies only added to that by beating the Nats 14-1 this weekend. They went deep four times in Sunday’s first four innings, three times in the fourth alone. Darick Hall homed twice, Rhys Hoskins homed for a fourth straight game and Nick Maton sent one to the pitches in right field.
The Phillies have five straight games and won 10 of 11. They are 39-19 as of June 1st.
It clicks throughout the lineup. Hoskins is on one of his trademark hot streaks, Nick Castellanos’ last two weeks have been his best since April, JT Realmuto has shown great strength for about a month, Alec Bohm has been raking since early July and Hall is hitting over .600. Bryson Stott, who had a multi-hit game with a double to clear bases after a treble on Saturday night, continues to hit the ball with authority.
“They paid attention today and our entire infield was homemade and a lot was produced by them,” said manager Rob Thomson, referring to Hoskins, Maton, Stott and Bohm. “That says a lot about our scouting department, our player development department. We play well, everyone is good. We get production almost everywhere.”
The Phillies are 21-13 since Bryce Harper’s thumb was broken in San Diego because the roster isn’t as top-heavy as it has been for the past three seasons and so many other players have moved up. One of them is Aaron Nola, who has won three of his last four starts with a 2.39 ERA.
The Phillies are 10-2 to the Nationals and face them seven more times – September 9-11 in Philly and September 30-October 30. 2 in direct current
The Phils’ remaining schedule is one of the easiest in baseball, and unlike seasons past, they’ve won most of the series they should win. They have Monday off before receiving the offensively challenged Marlins for three. From there, the Phillies play the Mets and Reds in three-game series en route, then return home to host the same two clubs in four-game series.
Of the Phillies’ next 35 games, 28 are against teams with losing records and 25 against teams with at least 10 games under .500. The only winning team they face through September 16 is the Mets.
“I think we’re better prepared,” said Thomson. “Every team is different. I know we haven’t played well in September for the last few years, but every team was a little bit different, it wasn’t exactly the same group. This is a different group. There’s a lot of leadership in the clubhouse and many winners on the field.”