Phillies have no excuse to not start season hot
Photo via Yahoo Sports
With Phillies Opening Day less than 24 hours away, they have an opportunity to do something they have not done in a long time: start a season off hot.
While it has been the message for the last few seasons, it has been promoted massively by the Phillies throughout spring training from the top of the organization to the bottom. And honestly, they have no excuse to not.
They to win the division, something they have not done since 2011. They want to be competitive with the Atlanta Braves, who have won the NL East six consecutive seasons. That all starts in April.
The Phils are fully healthy for the first time to start a season in years. Their whole starting lineup is ready to go and all but two regulars on their pitching staff are healthy. The two who are on the 15-day IL are Taijuan Walker and Orion Kerkering. Both have a good shot at returning in April.
Bryce Harper‘s last Opening Day was in 2022. He injured his UCL a few games later and was moved to designated hitter permanently. Bearing no injuries occur again, this could be the first full Harper season since 2019 which was his first season in Philadelphia, excluding the 60-game season in 2020.
Their April schedule is very favorable as well.
They host the Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies, and the Chicago White Sox.
Meanwhile, they hit the road to face the Washington Nationals, and St. Louis Cardinals, and then start a road trip to Cincinnati, San Diego Padres, and Los Angeles Angels at the tail end of the month. That is not a lot of travel for the majority of April.
Those nine clubs had a combined record of 679-779 in 2023, with only three of them finishing above .500. The majority of those wins come from the Braves, who had 104 of them last season. The Phillies get to start against them, which is a good thing so they can get them out of the way.
The five teams making the trip to Citizens Bank Park at the beginning of the 2024 campaign, had a combined 163-161 record on the road in 2023.
While that may be all great and wonderful, the Phils themself have to play well themselves if they want success early this season.
Their record in April 2023 was 15-13. They went 11-11 in 2022.
The Phils have struggled early in seasons for a long time. They have zero excuses to do so in 2024.
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