All-Star Eve—Series Preview: Athletics at Phillies, July 12 – 14
Orlando Ramirez/USA TODAY
The Phillies are slated to play just three more games until the highly-anticipated Midsummer Classic rolls around. The Phillies will have a franchise-record seven players sporting red pinstripes in the All-Star game, and Alec Bohm will compete in his first Home Run Derby at the big-league level.
Throughout the entirety of the first half of the season, critics have questioned whether the Phillies can beat good teams. Time and time again, the Phillies have proved that they can compete with the best teams, and less than a week before the All-Star game, it looks like the Phillies finally buried this narrative after sweeping the 55-win Los Angeles Dodgers.
Now, the Phils will step down a level in competition, with the scuffling Oakland Athletics coming to town for the final series before the break.
Since the Phillies and A’s faced off last June, things have improved in Oakland, but in fairness, they couldn’t possibly have gotten much worse. Mason Miller has burst on to the season with his high-velocity fastball and wipeout slider, and Brent Rooker has continued to post solid numbers at the plate.
The A’s stayed dormant for most of the offseason, with their only major acquisition being veteran southpaw Alex Wood. Wood struggled at the beginning of the season but has been on the injured list since mid-May with tendonitis in his left shoulder.
Needless to say, the talent on the A’s roster isn’t jumping off the page, so the Phillies have no reason to enter the all-star break on a skid.
Re-Routing Ranger
In 2024, Ranger Suarez has been arguably the most dominant pitcher in the National League, but his last few outings have tarnished that claim. He is allowing more harder contact and leaving his pitches over far too much of the plate, and hitters are not ignoring these mistakes. Suarez has allowed 11 runs over his last 9.2 innings of work, and his ERA over his past seven starts is 4.25.
Some think that not having J.T. Realmuto behind the dish has been detrimental to Suarez, while others think he is going through a dead-arm phase. And both claims certainly have some validity. Realmuto did the bulk of the catching prior to his surgery, and Suarez seemed to have a more planned approach in his starts with Realmuto behind the plate. It is also important to point out that Suarez has never thrown more than 155.1 innings in the regular season, and he threw just 125 innings last season. So far in 2024, Suarez has already thrown a whopping 108 innings, and it is only July. If Suarez continues to struggle, the Phillies could give him some extended rest to rejuvenate his arm after the All-Star break, especially with such a hefty lead in the NL East.
Shaking up the Roster
During the series with the Dodgers, we saw stars Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber return from the injured list, and before this series, another roster move was made, but this one left fans with a different mixture of emotions. Early Friday afternoon, the Phillies announced that Whit Merrifield had been released, and utility player Weston Wilson was recalled from triple-A Lehigh Valley.
There is no doubt that Merrifield struggled in his stint with the Phillies. In 53 games this season, Merrifield hit .199 and had an OPS of just .572. He provided some versatility on the bench, but his lack of offense made it hard to continue giving him consistent playing time, especially when bench bats like Edmundo Sosa and Rafael Marchan have proven themselves worthy of getting reps.
Weston Wilson, who has just four major-league at bats in 2024, is batting seventh and starting in left field in game one against the A’s. He is a career .250 hitter in 20 at-bats in the major leagues.
Game Times and Broadcasts
Friday, July 12, 6:40 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Philadelphia, and 94.1 WIP
Saturday, July 13, 4:05 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Philadelphia, and 94.1 WIP
Sunday, July 14, 1:35 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Philadelphia, and 94.1 WIP
Probable Pitching Matchups
Game 1: Ranger Suarez (LHP, 10-3, 2.58 ERA) vs Hogan Harris (LHP, 1-3, 3.22 ERA)
Game 2: Cristopher Sánchez Tyler Phillips (RHP, 0-0, 2.25 ERA) vs Drew Spence (RHP, 5-5, 4.29 ERA)
Game 3: TBD vs Joey Estes (RHP, 3-4, 5.53 ERA)
By the Numbers
- Records
- Phillies: 61-32
- Athletics: 35-60
- Run Differential
- Phillies: 123
- Athletics: -96
- Runs Scored Per Game
- Phillies: 4.96
- Athletics: 3.8
- Runs Allowed Per Game
- Phillies: 3.63
- Athletics: 4.81
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