The Phillies are rolling at the right time, and Monday night’s 6-5 win over the Marlins pushed that momentum even further. It was their fourth straight victory, lifted them to 68-58, and kept them moving in a direction that’s hard to ignore: 11-5 in August, with a playoff spot that would place them as the second Wild Card team if the season ended today.
This month has been built on a balanced surge. The rotation and bullpen have held up well enough, and the lineup has done real damage.
Over 145.0 innings in August, the pitching staff has posted a 3.35 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP while striking out 170 batters. At the plate, the Phillies are hitting .270 with a .369 on-base percentage, have drawn 85 walks in 16 games, and are averaging 5.4 runs per game.
A lot of the offensive lift has come from familiar names finding their groove at the same time. Bryce Harper, batting in front of Luis Arraez, is hitting .358 (19-for-53) with a .514 OBP and 1.005 OPS.
He’s also drawn 17 walks against just four strikeouts in those 16 games. Arraez, after a 0-for-15 stretch, has seven hits in his last five games, and even through that rough patch his spot in the lineup has still helped Harper.
Bryson Stott has matched that kind of control at the plate, batting .358 (19-for-53) with a .514 OBP and 1.005 OPS. He, too, has drawn 17 walks while striking out only four times.
Alec Bohm has been even hotter in terms of pure hitting, leading the team at .368 (21-for-57) with five doubles, 10 RBIs, and a .931 OPS in 16 games. He’s struck out just four times all month and already had a five-hit game in Minnesota.
There’s more depth behind those names. Justin Crawford is hitting .341 (14-for-41) with five doubles, a triple, and an .890 OPS in August. Kyle Schwarber has only hit .224 this month, but the power and patience are still showing up: four home runs, 11 RBIs, and 13 walks for a .365 OBP and .848 OPS.
On the mound, Cristopher Sánchez has been dominant: 3-0 with a 1.17 ERA and 1.30 WHIP over 23.0 innings in four starts, with 30 strikeouts and 10 walks. Jesús Luzardo has been nearly as sharp, going 2-0 with a 1.25 ERA and 0.92 WHIP across 21.2 innings in three starts, striking out 28 and walking five.
Andrew Painter has given them a lift too. Since his July 31 return from Lehigh Valley, he’s put up a 2.93 ERA over his last three starts, leaning on the changeup and making offspeed adjustments to make up for a fastball that hasn’t had the same life.
Aaron Nola has also settled in, carrying a 2.91 ERA over his last four starts dating back to July 28. His knuckle curve whiff rate has climbed from 40.8% to 51.9% during that stretch, and he’s increased his changeup usage as well.
The bullpen has been solid enough, even with a few shaky moments. In 16 games, it has a 4.06 ERA and 1.28 WHIP over 57.2 innings, with 64 strikeouts, 26 walks, four saves, three blown saves, and nine holds.
Not everything has been clean. Zack Wheeler has hit a rough patch, with a 5.84 ERA in three August starts.
J.T. Realmuto is not having a good month at the plate, and Jose Alvarado’s pitches have been unpredictable.
But the overall picture is still tilted in the right direction, and the Phillies have given themselves a real chance to keep this run going.
In Other News...
Alec Bohm Just Reopened A Phillies Question Fans Had Given Up On
Alec Bohms recent run at the plate has given Phillies fans something they had all but shelved for later in the summer: a reason to wonder if his season can still be salvaged. His overall OPS is still sitting below .700, but the improvement has been gradual enough to catch attention, and his showing in the recent series against the Twins added another layer to the conversation around a player who has spent much of the year trying to dig out of a difficult start.
The bigger question now is whether this is simply a hot stretch or the start of something more meaningful for a hitter the Phillies still need to keep developing. Bohm has put together a hitting streak and shown more consistent contact, which is enough to reopen a debate that had gone quiet among the fan base. For a team still weighing every answer it can get from the lineup, his bat suddenly feels worth watching again. [Read more 🡒]
Phillies Suddenly Have A Zack Wheeler Concern They Can't Ignore
Since the All-Star break, Zack Wheeler has looked a lot less like the tone-setter the Phillies usually rely on and more like another starter trying to find his footing. Philadelphia has still gotten stronger work from Cristopher Sanchez, Jesus Luzardo, Aaron Nola and Andrew Painter in that same stretch, which only sharpens the focus on Wheelers recent dip and makes it harder to dismiss as a small blip.
The timing matters because the Phillies have built so much of their confidence around Wheeler being the arm they can trust in any spot, especially as the schedule tightens and every series starts to carry more weight. His next turn comes August 18 against the Marlins at Citizens Bank Park, and for a pitcher of his stature, a cleaner outing would do more than calm nerves. It would help remind the team that one rough run has not changed the bigger picture. [Read more 🡒]
Phillies Farm System Concern Just Got More Complicated Fast
The Phillies minor league depth has been taking on more wear and tear for a while, and the latest rankings only sharpened the concern. After trading away prospects and promoting a pair of top 100 talents, Philadelphias system has slid from No. 20 to No. 26, a reminder that the organization has been willing to pay a farm-system price in its push to keep the big league club in contention under Dave Dombrowski.
There is still some talent worth tracking, with Gage Wood, Aidan Miller and Francisco Renteria among the names that matter most in the pipeline. Millers back injury has added a frustrating layer of uncertainty, though, because his development path is now less straightforward than it was a few months ago, and for a club already leaning hard into the present, every setback in the system makes the future a little harder to map. [Read more 🡒]