Rise and Phight: 5/26/2021

Imagine, if you will, if you were comatose from November 1 through yesterday morning. When you woke up, the first thing you wondered was about the Phillies. “How are they doing?” you ask as you blink away the confusion. Now, imagine if I were to respond to you that the team ERA leaderboard was topped by Zack Wheeler and that Vince Velasquez would be second on that list. Imagine if I told you that Velasquez would put together a string of four starts were he would throw 23 innings and only allow three runs, eleven walks and 24 strikeouts. Would you believe me, or slip right back into that coma?

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• Bryce Harper has gone on the injured list with a forearm contusion, which is not what would have expected the reason to be.
• With all of the strikeout issues this year in the game, the Phillies can finally claim to be at the vanguard of something in baseball.

MLB news:

• Joe West is the new record holder for most games by an umpire. Congratulations, Joe. Now retire.
• Noah Syndergaard had to leave his rehab start after one inning with elbow issues, news that isn’t good for the Mets.
• Zach Plesac will miss some time for Cleveland when he injured himself in a rather unusual way.