After series wins over the Kansas City Royals and the Washington Nationals the Philadelphia Phillies lost a series against the Minnesota Twins failing to capitalize against weaker competition. Of the 10 games in the homestand, the Phillies won six of them. The Phillies are now 65-54 and in 2nd place in the NL East 11 1/2 games behind the Atlanta Braves who lead the division. Additionally, the Phillies currently hold the top NL Wild Card spot and are three games ahead of the last playoff position. On August 14th the Phillies will have their first scheduled off day since July 27th.
Turner Shines Amid Mixed Results on Phillies’ Homestand
Once they resume play on August 15th the Phillies schedule gets harder. Five of the Phillies’ next eight games are against the Toronto Blue Jays and the San Francisco Giants who currently hold playoff spots. The Phillies have 43 remaining games. Of those 43 games, nine of them will be played outside of the Eastern time zone. In addition 20 of the Phillies’ 43 remaining games are against NL East teams. The Phillies’ remaining schedule puts them in a good position to maintain their current advantage. Furthermore, the Phillies will play each division opponent at least one more time this season.
Turner, Phillies Shortstop, Has Excellent Homestand
It appears the standing ovation for Trea Turner is working as intended. After receiving a standing ovation prior to his first at-bat of the homestand, Turner got a hit in every game during the homestand. To add to that, in the last seven games Turner has a .481/.517/.741 line with a home run and five RBI as well as a stolen base. Overall on the season Tuner now has a .252/.303/.398 line with 12 home runs and 44 RBI along with 22 stolen bases. Those 22 stolen bases Turner has, all without being caught, are the most stolen bases without being caught for any player this season. According to StatMuse MLB, the next closest player to Turner has half as many stolen bases.
Trea Turner in eight games since the ovation:
13-for-32 (.406), 6 2B, 2 HR, 1.206 OPS pic.twitter.com/fkSb14wRcQ
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 12, 2023
Manager Rob Thomson said that it is possible that Turner returns to the second spot in the lineup. Thomson stated that ideally Kyle Schwarber and Turner will bat first and second in the lineup in that order. When batting second this season Turner has a .236/.292/.367 line with eight home runs and 26 RBI. The two players have batted first and second in the lineup in either order 52 times this season. The order that Thomson prefers of Schwarber then Turner has happened 41 times this season. Two of the Phillies’ five most common batting orders this season involve that combination of first and second in the lineup.
Special Trip Next Weekend
On August 20th the Phillies and Nationals will participate in the MLB Little League Classic. This now annual event takes place in Williamsport, Pennsylvania during the Little League World Series. This game is a Phillies road game as the Nationals host the first two games of the series. This will be the Phillies’ second trip to Williamsport as they lost against the New York Mets in the 2018 edition of the MLB Little League Classic. Furthermore, this will be the first time the Nationals have participated in the event that started in 2017. The designated home team has a 3-2 record in the five previous games.
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New Prospect Rankings
With the trade deadline in the rearview mirror, MLB Pipeline released new prospect rankings. In these updated rankings the Phillies have four of the top 100 prospects. Those four players are pitcher Andrew Painter, pitcher Mick Abel, outfielder Justin Crawford and infielder Aidan Miller. Those four players are also the Phillies’ most recent first-round draft picks. Painter is out for the season and then some due to Tommy John surgery. As a result, Abel is expected to reach the Majors first of those four players. Miller is the lone infielder of the Phillies’ top 10 ranked prospects. The other nine are either pitchers or outfielders.
Main photo credits:
Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports
Players mentioned:
Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, Andrew Painter, Mick Abel, Justin Crawford, Aidan Miller
