The long haul of baseball’s regular season has only two months to go, and I still don’t know whether to take the Phillies seriously. It’s probably just about time to decide.
The standings insist they are contenders, and that’s always a pretty good place to start, but it is difficult to believe in a team that has a spotty offense, very poor defense and a pitching staff that has done well, but also might have pitched a little above its capabilities to this point. Baseball does not tend to reward that combination over 162 games.
Still, the Phillies are where they are, which is on a pace to win about 25 more games than they did a year ago.