A dozen truths and one lie about the Phillies' historically hot start

The Phillies beat the Marlins in Miami on Saturday, 8-3. Taijuan Walker threw six strong innings, Bryson Stott hit a bases-loaded triple, and the Phils improved to 28-12 through their first 40 games of the season.

“Something something but the competition blah blah blah,” said The Haters when reached for comment. But at this point, the Phillies have played twelve series against eleven different teams. They’re approximately 1/4 through the season. Sooner or later, even the most jaded observers will have to acknowledge that this is an excellent Philadelphia baseball team.

Consider these 12 ridiculous truths about the 2024 Phillies (and spot the singular lie):

1) In Phillies franchise history, only the 1976 team won more games (29) through 40 than this year’s squad. That group ended up winning 101 games. The beloved 1993 Phils won 28 of their first 40. No other Phillies team in history collected more than 26 wins.

The 102-win 2011 squad went 25-15 through 40, for those wondering. The 101-win 1977 Phillies started 21-19.

Historians tell me that some bad baseball teams existed in these other MLB seasons as well.

2) Since 1901, 80 other MLB teams have won at least 28 of their first 40 games. 49 of those 80 (61.3%) won a pennant, and 29 of those 80 (36.3%) won the World Series.

3) In MLB’s Divisional Era (1969-2023), only three of the 38 teams to start 28-12 or better failed to reach 90 wins. And only one of those three, the 2001 Minnesota Twins, played a 162-game season.

4) In MLB’s Wild-Card Era (1995-2023), only three of the 20 teams to start 28-12 or better failed to make the postseason: the ’01 Twins, the 2002 Red Sox (93-69 final record), and the 2002 Seattle Mariners (93-69 final record). Seven of the 20 teams in the Wild-Card Era to win 28+ through 40 won the World Series.

5) Ranger Suarez is 7-0 through his first eight starts of the season. The only other Phillies pitcher to do that? Some guy named Steve Carlton, in 1981.

6) Here’s the complete list of pitchers in Phillies franchise history to throw at least 50 innings, allow 35 or fewer hits, and walk eight or fewer batters through their first eight starts of the season:

Ranger Suarez (54 IP, 31 H, 8 BB)

7) The 2024 Phillies were 8-8 on April 15. Since then, they’ve won 20 of 24. Only one Phils team since at least 1901 has won more games in any 24-game span. (The 1977 squad went 21-3 over a 24-game span in July/August.)

8) The ERAs for Zack Wheeler (1.64) and Ranger Suarez (1.50) are both top-three in all of baseball.

9) The combined ERA for the Phillies starting rotation is an NL-best 2.52. That’s in a different stratosphere than the next-best NL starting rotation ERA (Los Angeles Dodgers, 3.19). With bullpen numbers added in, the Phillies’ ERA is 3.22, just behind the Dodgers’ 3.16 for best in the league.

10) As a staff, Phillies pitchers lead the league in wins (28), complete games (1), combined shutouts (5), and strikeouts (379). They’ve allowed the fourth-fewest hits and the third-fewest walks in the NL.

11) It’s not just pitching. The Phillies are top-two in the NL in batting average (.263), on-base percentage (.337), slugging percentage (.425), home runs (48), and runs scored (207). They’re tied for the league lead in triples, and they’re in the NL top-four in stolen bases, hits, and walks.

12) Phillies batters are responsible for four of the 12 hardest-hit balls in the majors this season, as measured by exit velocity (two from Bryce Harper, two from Kyle Schwarber).

13) Trea Turner and Alec Bohm are both top-three in NL batting average among qualified hitters. (They’re each hitting .343.) Bohm (32 RBI) and Harper (29 RBI) are both top-five in NL RBI leaders. Harper (26 BB) and Schwarber (24 BB) are both top-five in NL walk leaders.

Can you spot the lie? The PHLY Phillies twitter account (follow here) will tweet out the answer on Sunday.