Phillies back at .500 after series win in St. Louis

New season starts Thursday?

The Phillies are 6-6 overall after winning Wednesday’s rubber match in a three-game road series against the Cardinals. It’s not the start the team was hoping for, but it easily could have been worse. The .500 record feels like a clean slate as the Phils return home to play the Pirates on Thursday.

Tough weather conditions, a sluggish start from the bats (especially with runners in scoring position), baserunning mistakes, and defensive miscues plagued the team in its first nine games while the pitchers mostly managed to keep things close. In St. Louis, we largely saw more of the same. But there were signs of progress.

On Monday it was the Spencer Turnbull show, as the 31-year-old RHP threw six scoreless in a 5-3 Phillies win. Turnbull hasn’t allowed a run through two starts. Jeff Hoffman was unable to hold a two-run lead in the ninth, but Alec Bohm hit a huge double in the tenth and Gregory Soto successfully converted the team’s second save opportunity of the night.

Tuesday’s game was a step backwards. St. Louis blanked the Phils, 3-0, spoiling Zack Wheeler’s third consecutive strong outing. Wheeler allowed the three runs on six hits in his seven innings of work, walking one and striking out five. The ace has a 1.89 ERA through three starts, but no wins to show for it. The Phillies lineup racked up eight hits and three walks, but grounded into three double plays.

And on Wednesday, Aaron Nola battled through six rainy innings without his best stuff, allowing two solo home runs but not much else. The bullpen pitched well and the lineup did just enough as the Phils ended the series with a 4-3 W.

So the Phils ended up 4-2 on their short road trip to DC and St. Louis, and return to Philly looking a little bit better than they did when they left. Johan Rojas and Nick Castellanos are batting .161 and .163, respectively, but those numbers are better than the .067 and .150 averages they sported before the trip. Bryson Stott is struggling with a .548 OPS, and most of the regulars have an OPS under .800. Brandon Marsh is a notable exception, however, hitting .333 with a .942 OPS. Manager Rob Thomson moved Marsh up to sixth in the lineup on Wednesday, and the outfielder rewarded Thomson for the promotion with a sixth-inning RBI single.

Through twelve games, the Phillies rank 19th out of MLB’s 30 teams in AVG (.235) and 20th in OPS (.658). They are also suffering from a power outage, with their eleven home runs placing them 18th in baseball. On the flip side, their team ERA (3.92) ranks 13th and their team WHIP (1.20) ranks 10th.

Those numbers are a recipe for a .500 team, and that’s exactly what the Phillies are. But here and there, guys are starting to step up.

“We haven’t played our best baseball yet, that’s for sure,” J.T. Realmuto said to reporters following Wednesday’s game. “There’s a lot of good players on this ball club. We haven’t started as well as we wanted but we’re going to be fine.”

There are 150 games left to play, and plenty of time for the Phillies to really get it together. But with series against the Pirates, Rockies, and White Sox lined up, the Fightins’ upcoming ten-game homestand represents a great opportunity to get some momentum going.

Ranger Suarez will kick things off against Pirates righthander Jared Jones at 6:40 p.m. on Thursday, weather permitting.