A week ago, the Phillies looked like a club fighting the schedule as much as the opponent. Fourteen straight days on the grind had left the pitching staff, especially the bullpen, running on fumes, and a run of extra-inning games only made the strain worse. Wins were hard to come by.
Then came the Field of Dreams Game against the Minnesota Twins, and the whole mood flipped. Philadelphia closed out that 14-games-in-14-days stretch with a 7-1 win, then kept right on going. Alec Bohm’s walkoff triple on Aug. 21 stretched the surge to seven straight victories.
The reason behind the turnaround is pretty clear: the Phillies have fully committed to a different offensive lane. Instead of chasing the long ball on every trip, they’ve leaned into traffic, contact and pressure.
“Everybody on the whole has done a really good job … the team approach of trying to wear down the other guy and to really just try to put as much traffic as we can on the bases to allow someone to get a knock instead of everyone going up there trying to homer,” Bohm said, via Anthony Sanfilippo of On Pattison.
That shift matters because getting on base had been a season-long problem. For most of the year, Philadelphia sat dead last in on-base percentage. Now the team is up to .313, still in the bottom 10 in MLB but well above the spot it occupied for so long and just shy of the league average of .318.
Bohm has been the clearest example of how this looks in practice. He’s been red-hot in the second half, and August has been especially loud: a .371/.416/.529 slash line with six doubles, one triple, one home run and 15 RBI.
Even more telling, the strikeouts have dropped off sharply. He has struck out only four times in August and walked five times, a strong sign of the contact-first mindset taking hold.
He’s not the only one benefiting. Bryson Stott had a stretch in which he was doing things not seen since Barry Bonds, and Justin Crawford has kept improving as his rookie season has gone on.
Luis Arraez, the club’s newest addition, has been central to the change as well. His game is built around putting the ball in play and forcing the defense to work, and he has also been giving Bryce Harper protection in the cleanup spot. Harper has answered with an on-base streak that has reached 24 games.
The numbers back up the new look. Philadelphia has piled up 175 hits and 95 walks to go with 104 runs scored, and all three marks rank in the top three in MLB.
The walks lead the league. On the flip side, the Phillies have struck out only 113 times as a team, the fewest in baseball.
This was a roster built around slugging and home runs, but the offense has clearly taken on a different identity. Arraez has helped set the tone, and the results have followed.
Entering play on Aug. 22, Philadelphia was suddenly within four games of the Atlanta Braves in the National League East.
In Other News...
Phillies Fans Just Got More Proof Their Broadcast Booth Is Special
Another piece of evidence that the Phillies broadcast booth is one of the sports better draws arrived this week, with Awful Announcing ranking the clubs announcing crew sixth in Major League Baseball after surveying nearly 10,000 fans. The list reflects what Phillies viewers and listeners have long felt across both TV and radio: this is a booth with real personality, strong chemistry and a knack for making a long season feel a little more entertaining.
Tom McCarthy and Scott Franzke anchor the play-by-play side, while John Kruk, Ruben Amaro Jr., Ben Davis and Cole Hamels give the booth a mix of perspective and style that keeps it in a league of its own. Fan appeal matters in a market that lives and dies with its baseball coverage, and this ranking is a reminder that the Phillies have built something that resonates well beyond the box score. [Read more 🡒]
Phillies May Have Found A Needed Answer For Their Overworked Staff
The Phillies added a familiar name to their pitching mix this week, signing former All-Star Nestor Cortes Jr. in a move aimed at easing the burden on an overworked staff. Cortes is still working back from offseason surgery, so his first stop will be with the Low-A Clearwater Threshers as he builds toward major league readiness.
For Philadelphia, the appeal is obvious even before the team sorts out his exact role. The club has not said whether Cortes will return as a starter or slide into a swingman assignment, but either path would give the Phillies another layer of depth at a time when every healthy arm matters. If he progresses as hoped, he could become the kind of useful midseason answer that keeps the rotation from wearing down. [Read more 🡒]
Don Mattinglys Trea Turner Read Should Grab Phillies Fans Attention
Don Mattingly had a sharp read on Trea Turners hitting approach after the Phillies rolled past the Cardinals 12-3, and it came at a time when Turners season has carried a little more scrutiny than usual. In his 12th major league season and fourth in Philadelphia, Turner has seen his batting average dip, but he still turned in a solid showing in the win, giving the club another reminder of how dangerous he can look when hes on time at the plate.
For the Phillies, sitting at 72-58 and holding second place in the NL East, Turners bat remains one of the lineups biggest swing factors as the stretch run tightens. Mattinglys comments should stand out to fans because they speak to more than one game - they touch on the larger question of whether Turner can keep settling in and deliver the kind of production Philadelphia needs once the pressure rises. [Read more 🡒]