The losing stretch might finally be over. The Philadelphia Phillies won their recent series against the Los Angeles Dodgers and won five out of six games against the NL West leaders this season. The Phillies are 3–1 in their last four games.
The Phillies were struggling since before the All-Star Break. Rob Thomson’s team lost six straight series, including a six-game losing streak from July 28 to Aug. 3. The Phillies offense wasn’t producing and the pitching staff didn’t look like the dominant group from before the All-Star Break. That might be a thing of the past for this team.
Schwarber Propelling the Phillies Offense
Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber is putting the Phillies’ offense on his back. The 31-year-old slugger has had an incredible four-game stretch to help break the Phillies out of the slump they were in. He’s batting .588 with five home runs, two doubles and 10 RBI in his last four games. The Schwarbarian went 4-for-4 with three home runs, one double and seven RBI in a comeback win in the series finale against the Dodgers. This was the Phillies’ first series win since sweeping the Dodgers at Citizens Bank Park before the All-Star break.
Schwarber isn’t just having a few good games. The left-handed hitter is having a great season. Schwarber is slashing .261/.390/.504 with a .894 OPS. He’s ranked 10th in the majors with 27 home runs and 16th with 73 RBI. Not only is he hitting the ball out of the ballpark, but he’s also drawing a lot of walks. Schwarber is ranked third in the majors with 82 walks, and his .390 on-base percentage is ranked seventh in the league. He does have 131 strikeouts which is ranked eighth in all of baseball, but his overall offensive production outweighs all the strikeouts. Schwarber isn’t the typical leadoff hitter, but he’s having success in his own way.
The Phillies offense has 42 hits in the last four games and outscored opponents 26–9. A large part of their success should go to Schwarber for setting the tone at the top of the lineup. The offense is starting to wake up, and the players are feeding off the energy. The pitching staff is also starting to look like themselves again.
Up Next
The Phillies begin a four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on the road later tonight. The schedule eases up after that. The Phillies will play two more first-place teams in the remainder of the season. They’ll play four teams under the .500 mark, including both the Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals twice. The Phillies will soon be getting help with the returns of Ranger Suárez, Spencer Turnbull and Taijuan Walker from injury. They are once again the top team in baseball and hold a 7.5-game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the NL East. The baseball season is a long one, so every team experiences ups and downs throughout it. No team ever avoids it. The Phillies look like they’ve broken out of their slump and are back to playing winning baseball.
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