Philadelphia Phillies looking to build on fast start to 2018
By David Hill
Philadelphia Phillies found success ahead of schedule
Even with the additions of Jake Arrieta and Carlos Santana, few expected the Philadelphia Phillies to contend in 2018.
There were obvious question marks heading into the season. The addition of Santana pushed Rhys Hoskins to the outfield. The middle of the infield was expected to be manned by youngsters Scott Kingery and J.P. Crawford; two players that were expected to be part of the future, but may not be ready just yet. The bullpen was a work in progress. There were holes on the roster, with the Phillies seemingly a year or two away from being ready to field a playoff caliber team.
Despite the problems in the bullpen and on defense, Philadelphia exceeded expectations for those four and a half months at the start of the season. Then, everything fell apart. Hector Neris, who had been a relatively solid closer in 2017, had imploded, losing his job to Seranthony Dominguez. The offense could not hit, even with the additions of Wilson Ramos, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jose Bautista, and Justin Bour. The Phillies finished the year ranked tenth in the NL with a .707 OPS, and were 11th with 667 runs scored.
On the pitching side, there were a few growing pains. Aaron Nola became an ace and a Cy Young candidate, while Jake Arrieta was the solid second starter that the Phillies hoped for. However, they were unable to get much from the rest of the rotation, as Nick Pivetta, Vince Velasquez, and Zach Elfin were all below average. Add in the Phillies issues with filling out the bullpen, and their 4.14 ERA, 11th in the NL, was not a surprise.
Given the Phillies issues when it came to scoring runs and keeping the opposition off the scoreboard, their 80-82 record was actually fairly decent. They actually finished four games better than their Pythagorean record, tied for the sixth most wins over their projected record in the majors.
The Philadelphia Phillies appear to be close to building a sustainable contender. This offseason will be crucial to the direction they take.