And So it Begins — Series Preview: Phillies at Twins, July 22 – 24

The next four weeks are bound to get interesting. The Phillies have lost four of their last six games, in what many are considering to be their first major speed bump of the 2024 season. Of course, it is no reason to panic. The Phils have the best record in baseball and a comfortable 8.5-game lead in the NL East. And as the Phillies struggle, some of the other top teams in the game have done the same. The Dodgers, Orioles and Yankees are all 4-6 in their last ten games, and the Guardians have won just three of their last ten matchups.

Then, there’s the Twins—the Phillies’ next opponent—who are just five games behind the Guardians in the AL Central but also have not won a game since July 13.

But as the title states, the Fightins’ battle begins right now. After three games against the 54-44 Twins, the Phils have series with the division-leading Guardians, 59-win Yankees, 53-48 Seattle Mariners, and defending NL-champions in the Arizona Diamondbacks. Needless to say, this won’t be an easy stretch for the Phillies, but if they are going to get back to their winning ways, now is the time to clean up their pitching and heat up the offense.

A Hard Reset

Starting pitching has been a strength for the 2024 Phillies, but right before the All-Star break, we started to see some of that begin to slip. In what was likely a very wise decision, Phillies’ all-star starters Ranger Suarez and Zack Wheeler opted not to pitch during the Midsummer Classic.

After a start on July 12 where he allowed four runs and walked three in six innings of work against the A’s, it was reported that Suarez was experiencing some mild back spasms, leading him to sit out the All-Star game. It is no secret that Ranger Suarez has not been the same over his last few starts, and many think he is still shaken up from being hit by a line drive in his start vs. the St. Louis Cardinals on June 1. Since then, he has not been as sharp, but his stat line shows the effect most over his last three starts. Suarez has allowed a whopping 15 runs on 22 hits in his last 15.2 innings of work, walking an additional seven.

Phillies’ long-time ace Zack Wheeler also experienced some minor back pains prior to the break. He was removed from his start against the against the Dodgers after allowing just one run in five innings on 76 pitches. Wheeler skipped his final start before the break to give his back some additional rest, with the idea in mind that he would be refreshed and rejuvenated come the Twins series. With Wheeler having been one of the best pitchers in all of baseball this season, Phillies fans are surely hoping that this is the case. Wheeler has a 2.65 ERA over his last 15 starts and has not allowed more than two earned runs in an outing since June 16.

The A-Lineup

Amid a slew of injuries and good left-handed pitchers, the Phillies have not gotten many chances to field their A-team. J.T. Realmuto, whose absence changes the entire structure of the lineup, has only been off the IL for two games, while Weston Wilson, Christian Pache, and Edmundo Sosa have been drawing starts against left-handed pitching.

The Twins, however, are slated to send righties to the mound for the first two games of this series, and the starter for game three is still TBD. Nonetheless, this should allow Rob Thomson and the Phils to give Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh some more at-bats, hopefully having them heat up to start the second half.

Here’s how the Phillies will line up against Bailey Ober in game one: