🔔 This Is What You Asked For

_{LAST GAME: Phillies 8 - White Sox 2}

_{NEXT GAME: Phillies (Ranger Suarez, 1.73 ERA) vs. Reds (Hunter Greene, 4.35 ERA) | Today, 6:40 p.m. EDT | NCBSP+, 94 WIP}

Good morning. Well, the Phillies did exactly what they were supposed to do against two inferior opponents in the Rockies and White Sox. Six wins in six games, headlined by fantastic starting pitching, some timely hitting and plenty of power.

Everybody is feeling good about the baseball team this morning, and for good reason. At six games over .500 in April for the first time since 2018, the streaking Phillies now kick off a 10-game, three-city road trip tonight in Cincinnati riding a wave of momentum and some crazy-good starting pitching.

In the email today:

In a world of sports analysis that typically revolves around anxiety and lots of “what’s wrong this guy?” and “what’s wrong with this team?” content (I’m absolutely guilty of doing this), it’s often easy to overlook the good stuff.

Take this current Phillies team for instance. You have tons of big stars, big contracts and big expectations. In less than a month, we’ve had storylines around the team’s up-and-down first few weeks and the individual struggles of players like Johan Rojas, Trea Turner, Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos — most of which, by the way, are no longer storylines. Point is, such intense scrutiny means some of the positives don’t get the ink they should.

One such positive is Brandon Marsh. Check the stats: .288 BA/.324 OBP/.561 SLG% in 20 games. The 26-year-old Marsh has been one of the Phillies’ most consistent performers and sits among the team leaders in a number of key statistical offensive categories.

He came to the Phillies back in August 2022 as a career .239 hitter that produced a lackluster .653 OPS in 163 games with the Angels. The Phillies were happy to get a dependable outfield glove but felt there was more offensive upside in his game. That has proven to be true.

In 194 games with the Phillies over parts of three seasons, Marsh is a .281 hitter with an .824 OPS.

He’s also a good dude, which, if you didn’t already know, was apparent following the Phillies’ 9-5 win over the White Sox on Saturday night.

Of course, any time Marsh’s name pops up, a conversation about platoon splits and opportunities against left-handed pitching typically follows, but I’m going to table such talk this time around and ditch the anxiety-fueled debate over what he could be. Instead, I’ll just leave it at what he is right now, which is one of the best stories of a young season.

2) 💯 The Numbers Tell the Story

Win six games and the stats that come along with such a streak are bound to look pretty good. A look at some of the latest numbers and trends:

• Here is what Phillies starters have done over the last six games: 44.2 IP, 22 H, 3 ER, 8 BB, 48K. That’s good for a 0.60 ERA and 0.67 WHIP.

• It’s one thing to pick out a small six-game sample against a couple of bad teams, so let’s take a step back and see how the starting staff matches up overall: 132 IP (1st), 2.25 ERA (2nd), 26.4 K% (1st), .188 BA (1st), 0.96 WHIP (1st), 3.11 FIP (2nd). Their 54.4% ground ball rate is tops in MLB, while their 3.3 fWAR is tied with Boston atop the sport.

• Here’s a different way to look at just how good the starting rotation has been lately. On Sunday, Aaron Nola lasted eight innings, allowed just four hits, two earned runs and struck out seven. It was the Phillies’ worst start over the final six games of the homestand.

• Per DraftKings, the Phillies currently have three of the top 11 favorites to win the NL Cy Young Award in Zack Wheeler (2nd), Aaron Nola (7th) and Ranger Suarez (11th).

• As for the offense, the Phillies managed to score 7+ runs only once through their first 18 games, during which they averaged just 3.53 runs per game. They’ve scored 7+ runs in four straight games.

• Entering play last Tuesday, the Phillies ranked 26th in MLB with just 3.53 runs per game. Since then, they have moved to 15th at 4.36 runs per game and from 24th to 14th in slugging percentage.

• The Phillies are hitting 1.18 homers per game. Only the Orioles, Brewers, Braves and Red Sox are hitting more long balls on average.

3) Tweet of the Day: White Sox Announcers Are Down Bad

Our Take: I don’t want to be a prisoner of the moment, but the White Sox may be the worst team I’ve seen since I started covering the game back in 2018. I'm not sure they win 55 games this season. Tough times on the South Side.

4)📊 Poll Question: Feeling Good?

Have additional thoughts? Reply directly to this email to comment, and see if we include your response Friday.

…

Results from our last poll [How should the Phillies handle a struggling Nick Castellanos?]:

Your replies…

“I see 0 reason why he’s being given an everyday spot in RF. His bat is a liability, his glove isn’t much better. Marsh has earned the right to be in the lineup regardless of who’s pitching.”

“It’s just so exhausting. They need to give him some time to get the swing right and clear his head.”

“He needs to sit a few days and clear his head but it doesn’t seem like the manager will do that. The boos from the home crowd certainly aren’t helping either. Hoping once they hit the road next week he will relax and start hitting.”

Our take: The Phillies obviously plan to let Castellanos swing his way through what has been a, uh, slow start. That’s probably a kind characterization. Their patience paid off Saturday night when Castellanos recorded a three-hit game that included his first extra-base hit of the season. That was followed by an 0-for-4 performance yesterday which dropped his average to .177.

Despite his struggles, Castellanos still represents that most offensive upside among their current options. There’s that whole $20 million per year guaranteed through 2026, too. If, however, he can’t get things rolling in the coming weeks, it will be interesting to see how the team handles things.

5) 🔗 Link Roundup:

• 📺 The NBC Sports Philadelphia broadcast did a great job with this moment over the weekend.

•  🟨 The Friday Night Roundtable took on the topic of J.T. Realmuto’s City Connect gear.

• 😬 Ben Davis whiffed on this analysis of Chicago catcher Martín Maldonado.

• 🏃🏻‍♂️ Trea Turner has successfully swiped 40 consecutive stolen bases. That’s the most since Ichiro stole 45 consecutive bags over the 2006-2007 seasons.

• 🏆 The Phillies rotation looks like baseball’s best right now.

• 🔜 Taijuan Walker figures to rejoin the big club this week.

The newsletter today was written by Bob Wankel (Follow on X)

Thanks for reading!