The Phillies are the most dominant team in the National League because they have enough power to offset the struggles of Aaron Nola and Bryce Harper.
The Phillies signed Bryce Harper to a 13-year, $330 million deal to be the star of their franchise. Many fans probably assumed he would hit 40 home runs a year and lead them to the playoffs and possibly another World Series, but that has not been the case in 2019.
Harper is hitting .222 with 7 home runs and 25 RBI’s in the first quarter of his first year in Philadelphia. He has already struck out an alarming 54 times, and he is on pace to strike out 216 times in 2019, which would be a career high.
His .222 batting average and 54 strikeouts are the worst through his first 40 games in his career.
Last night, he went 0-4 with three strikeouts and after every at-bat was booed as he took the long walk back to the dugout.
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Although Harper didn’t succeed at the plate Monday, he saved the game with a tremendous diving catch in right field on a Mike Moustakas liner to prevent three runs from scoring.
Before Harper’s long night at the plate, Aaron Nola was on the mound to begin a series vs the Brewers, and he struggled as well.
In the first inning, Nola gave up a double to Christian Yelich to score Lorenzo Cain and Yasmani Grandal followed it up with a triple to score another run.
By the third inning, Nola already threw 83 pitches in only three innings, so Gabe Kapler didn’t let him go any longer.
In Nola’s final inning, Mike Moustakas took him deep to make it a night to forget for the Phillies ace.
Through Harper’s struggles at the plate and Nola’s ineffectiveness on the mound, the Phillies ended up winning the game against one of the best teams in baseball.
The rest of the Phillies offense was able to pick up Harper and Nola by combining for 5 runs in their final four offensive innings.
Role players like Cesar Hernandez and Odubel Herrera were able to pick up the slack of the stars. Hernandez homered and Herrera hit a 2-RBI double to pad a Phillies lead.
My point here is the Phillies may be the most dominant team in the National League and perhaps in all of baseball excluding the Astros because even if the big stars like Bryce Harper and Aaron Nola don’t produce, there is enough of power and pitching on the rest of the team to come through in big games.