The Phillies started August much like they ended July, namely, beating up on bad teams. Philadelphia rebounded after a brutal 13-1 loss to split a two-game series in Atlanta and then bludgeoned the Nats in a four-game sweep at home. They needed to use Washington to pad their record, as this week they will face Sandy Alcantara, Max Scherzer, and Jacob deGrom. Nevertheless, they currently occupy the second NL Wild Card spot and are within striking distance of the Braves for the first.
Stock Up
J.T. Realmuto
Realmuto has lived up to his “BCIB” moniker ever since the beginning of July, but he’s been particularly raking over the last week. Over his last seven games, Realmuto is hitting .370 with an astounding 1.290 OPS that includes a .926 slugging percentage. He has 15 extra base hits including 8 home runs in 25 games since the calendar turned to July. Realmuto was hitting .239 with an OPS of .677 on the season when June ended. In the aforementioned 25 games since, he’s raised those numbers to .268 and .794 respectively.
Rhys Hoskins
Hoskins has embarked on another of his trademark hot streaks with a binge on extra base hits. Over the last six games, Hoskins has a slugging percentage of 1.056. No, that’s not a typo. He has four home runs and a double over that span in 23 plate appearances. He was a driving factor in the Phillies’ sweep of the Nationals last weekend, as he homered in each of the games including in the first inning of each of the first three games. Hoskins is hitting .288 with 16 home runs and a .961 OPS in 58 games since Rob Thomson took over as Phillies manager on June 2nd.
Darick Hall
Hall has been a major boost to the team and has been one of the major reasons why they haven’t sunk in Bryce Harper’s absence. In 29 games this season, Hall is hitting .282 with 8 home runs and an OPS of .933. Hall is hitting .471 in the month of August through five games with an OPS of 1.644 that includes a 1.118 slugging percentage. Hall had his second two-home run game of his young career Sunday against the Nats.
Jean Segura
Segura has returned to the lineup and picked up exactly where he left off. In four games since being activated off the IL, the second baseman is hitting .385 with a home run. Segura appears locked in at the plate, as he’s hitting outside pitches the other way with ease and has his trademark bat-to-ball ability back in form. Don’t underestimate the bonus defensively a healthy Segura brings to this Phillies team as well.
Seranthony Dominguez
Dominguez hasn’t worked much of late thanks to the Phillies’ big leads. But he hasn’t allowed a run since July 10th. He’s made eight appearances since then and allowed just two hits and four walks with nine punchouts. His season ERA is down to just 1.56. Opponents are hitting just .164 against Dominguez on the season with an OPS of .484. Dominguez’ resurgence this season in his return from injury was the catalyst for the Phillies newfound bullpen success.
Stock Down
Noah Syndergaard
Syndergaard won his first start with the Phillies, but he may have been saved, ironically, by a rainstorm. “Thor” allowed 11 hits in just five innings and surrendered four runs to the Nationals before the game was called and he was awarded with a win and a “complete game”. The shaky start could have been due to Syndergaard arriving with the team the same day and not having ample time to devise an attack plan, but his pitches were very hittable. However, he also had to deal with some weak contact getting through. Regardless, 11 hits in just five innings aren’t ideal. His next start Wednesday night against the Marlins will be a test to see how Syndergaard looks under normal circumstances.
Ranger Suárez
Suárez had a bit of a bumpy start against Washington on Saturday. He was spotted with a six run first inning by the Phillies offense, so it didn’t matter in the long run, but he went 5.1 and allowed three runs on 7 hits. He seemed to struggle with his command after sitting for long periods of time while the Phillies teed off on Patrick Corbin and the Nats. Admittedly, the fact that Suárez is in stock down is more a testament to how well the Phillies have played over the last week than his performance.
Washington Nationals
They are very, very bad and just traded away Juan Soto
Patrick Corbin
The Nationals starter has failed to get out of the first inning in two of his last three starts and has allowed 16 earned runs over those three starts and has a season ERA of 7.02 in 23 starts. Corbin is still under contract for two more years for a total of $59M. Only nine other pitchers in MLB history have started at least 23 games in a season and carried an ERA over 7.
