Over the last two years of watching Phillies baseball one thing has become crystal clear. The Phils have a long way to go to catch up to the two teams standing in front of them in the National League East.
It is not a hot take to declare that the Atlanta Braves (90-55) and Washington Nationals (79-63) are both better than the Phillies (74-69). The Braves have a run differential of +102 this season, while the Nats are even better, at +117. The Phils are -6 (the Mets are +19, by the way).