It is FINALLY Happening...

It is finally happening. At the slow start to the Philly season this team has turned a corner and is looking like the dominant team we expected them to be. The Philadelphia Phillies have the best record in baseball and it's about damn time we start talking like it. Their winning streak has extended to nine games following a thrilling extra inning victory over the Athletics last night that was up there in my favorite wins of this particular season. I know it is still early but there are a couple takeaways that I do want to get into. We can talk about the home run numbers, the expected RBIs, the ERA of this team, the bullpen as a whole but one characteristic that I think is becoming clear on this Phillies team is they have guts. That's what I want to talk about exactly why. A couple takeaways from this overall winning streak and a couple other factors that I do want to get into here but before I dive fully into things I do want to remind you guys as always to make sure you are hitting that subscribe button. At this point in time 27.4% of you guys watching this video is all who have subscribed to us here on Phillies Digest just yet. We are still in the early parts of what could be shaping up to be a very fun season of Phillies baseball so want as many people a part of the ride as possible. Appreciate you guys tuning in as always and to get into the action from last night I first want to start with the play that I think is the signature moment of that game and what that was exactly here was in the 10th inning in extra innings this throw by our man Brandon Marsh and you can see a little bit of the setup that at this point in the game is a 6-6 tie in the bottom of the 10th inning. The bases loaded no outs here. Brandon Marsh pulls in the catch and absolutely has a canon of a throw home. Now granted to fully set the stage before I pull up JT's tag here if he does not throw this runner out at home this game is over. The winning streak stops at eight and we have a bit of a different tune for this video but JT with a terrific tag a very close play right at the plate there. Everyone did everything right here that this was not on the runner even though Ben Davis was kind of critiquing him on the announcing booth but nonetheless an electric throw from Brandon Marsh and that is really the characteristic that I want to get into. It does not matter who it is on this Phillies team it does feel like there is a guy stepping up on an every game basis and to kind of reflect on where this shapes up in these standings to this point shout out to John Foley for tweeting this out at the top of the National League and not just the National League at the top of baseball with the record overall. Now I know the immediate critique for this nine game winning streak is of course this is not the top tier talent that they will face. These are not wins come against the Dodgers or the Mets or the Yankees. They are beating the Rockies the Pirates and the Athletics most recently with a chance to complete their third consecutive sweep but what I admire and what I think is important to note is the business-like approach that we are getting from this Phillies team. They're not just beating the teams that they're supposed to they're absolutely rocking them and I get the last inning was an extra inning but it kind of an extra inning victory here but to reflect on how things went exactly yesterday shout out to Corey Seidman for this tweet here and he sends out even on a night strong and Romano I believe he's referring to here they extended the winning streak to nine games strong night from the bullpen given the circumstances six and a third innings two earned runs and to kind of dive into a little bit of the box score from last night you can see that we got guys to step up in all categories here Trey Turner with two walks got on base stole the base made some things happen there Bryce Harper in his six at bats had two hits there drove in a run a key RBI there Kyle Schwaber going yard back in the lead for the most home runs in the MLB guilt of me finished with three RBIs two hits there of course one of them being the home run and let's not forget about the walk Nick Cassiano pretty crucial hit with two RBIs to drive things in there we also got JT Romero not the best JT game and I will say he dropped the pop-up that was pretty maddening to me that is a once in a million times for JT Romero so I will look past it and obviously it did not harm them in the end here Alec Boehm going yard which is a huge story and if that is power is here to stay which I'm still skeptical of that would change how we can look at Alec Boehm as a baseball player and to kind of hit on the Alec Boehm conversation a little bit I've never been the biggest Alec Boehm guy but I do think he has some flaws as a baseball player with the power that I'm referencing being right at the top of the list it does not make sense to me for a guy that is six foot five and like a pretty strong human being just the lack of home run power that he does have but nonetheless he did hit one last night I believe that was his fourth of the season there but in the field he was awesome last night he made a ton of key plays two huge double plays to really change it and get the Phillies out of a jam one with Christopher Sanchez still on the mound which absolutely changed sort of the outlook for the game and kind of extending things for Sanchez he was through 50 pitches in the first two innings there was able to settle in I wouldn't have taken him out when Rob Thompson did to be perfectly honest even though it's certainly not the sharpest that we've seen Sanchez look but my Alec Boehm point being this I understand the frustrations I feel them myself but looking around the major leagues at this trade deadline and even projecting into free agency I don't really see a world where the Phillies can upgrade at third base the really only argument is probably Nolan Arenado there but a steeper contract and a guy who is in the declining stage of his career if we will see how much more he has left in the tank there's still a case to be made that Alec Boehm can keep improving can add layers to his game and like I guess my my honest assessment here is the more I look around and really think about it I just don't see a world where they can upgrade from this guy at third base and that kind of closes the door on the conversation for where does Alec Boehm's role at now granted that picture can obviously change on a year-by-year basis Aiden Miller is going to be a huge part of this story when he's ready what where positionally they slot him but I will say from a fielding perspective I am getting so frustrated with the Trey Turner conversation and I think sometimes that comes out on Alec Boehm for my other thing there and even last night we had an error by Trey and one that was called a hit that should have absolutely been an error on Trey that would have changed the complexion of that game if he makes a play on with two outs and this was in the sixth inning here right before Christopher Sanchez gets chase here now granted it was a hard hit ball it's not an easy play to make whatsoever but if you are a high level shortstop you make that Bryson Scott makes that play Aiden Miller probably makes that play and that is what is so maddening about Trey Turner to me but nonetheless he is absolutely hitting the ball very well at the plate right now and I got to kind of live with all of that now to continue on a little bit deeper into this box score here did also want to acknowledge our guy Max Kepler coming off the bench for a home run to tie things up and ultimately push things to extra innings there that's electric stuff from a guy who's had a bit of a rocky start to his Phillies tenure and really impressed with how things are coming together that power needs to stay as well and the outfield is still kind of a work in progress for what all the roles will be but very excited to see that from Max overall now to talk a little bit more about kind of the overall picture of this Phillies team it is a marathon baseball season there is no doubt about that there but they are just taking things in the business-like approach that we have to hope they got to get to the postseason I do think it is time to give this Phillies team a little bit more respect than the sense that I'm kind of gathering as a whole there we will see ultimately what is to come for the season there are still moves that need to be made at the deadline this is not a complete picture of this roster as a whole the bullpen arms still fair conversation to be had that there are guys even though we did get the first career save from Max Lazar last night that we are seeing guys step up in different in different ways in different roles Tanner Banks certainly being thrown into the mix and being looked at as a high leverage lefty following the loss of Alvarado there there are a lot of storylines still going on with this team but I think we should take a minute feel good about how this Phillies team is trending and give a little bit more respect for the production that is being taking place on the field right now that is the message that I do want to explain here and project forward that I do think for a Phillies team that there does seem to be kind of a skepticism both locally and nationally on they're playing some really damn good baseball and let's give them their flowers that so we will see ultimately what happens before this team gets the postseason but I'm loving just kind of the competitiveness the guts the way this team does not quit and those are characteristics that I think are going to be very important come postseason time there are a million different reasons you can point to them not getting to this point the bullpen not being good enough last year the bats going quiet at the wrong time here but those are all issues that we can't address head-on until we get to that point you can't win the World Series in May you can't win the World Series in April in June you got to get to that point and right now the Phillies are doing exactly what we could ask so hopefully they do complete the sweep against the Athletics today push that winning streak to 10 and by the way the Athletics 11 game losing streak that they are on so in the exact opposite end of the the spectrum there they got a guy making his fourth career start on the mound for the A's so I'm optimistic that the bats can continue being alive but ultimately we will see how things shape out from there but let me know what you guys think about that overall conversation and do you agree with me that the Phillies not quite getting enough respect for what they do deserve and one more time do want to remind you guys always to make sure you are hitting that subscribe button at this point in time 72.6% of you guys watching these videos have not subscribed to us here at Phillies Digest just yet so make sure you're hitting that button and we'll be back talking to you next time right here on Phillies Digest.