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Had I told you exactly one month ago that the Phillies would go to San Diego and taken two of three from the Padres, you likely would’ve been ecstatic. The Padres were almost guaranteed to make the playoffs then, while the Philies were meandering around the .500 mark, seemingly hopeless. Fast forward to now and it feels like a letdown to only take two of three. The Padres are slumping badly and the Phillies are.....well, they’re not doing so hot.
Today, though, they will take the day off to prepare for what looks like the stretch of the season that will define how September will shake out. Rhys Hoskins returned yesterday and slugged two home runs, proving once and for all that yes, he is a player needed in the lineup and that certain subgroups of the fanbase need to stop devising trades to expedite his exit. Kyle Gibson proved once again that his acquisition was just what the team needed. Seriously, imagine the rotation right now without him in it.
There is still a lot of baseball left to play and the Phillies find themselves five games out of both the wild card chase and the division chase. Still time to make some noise in both races.
On to the links.
Phillies news:
- Hoskins was indeed exactly what this team needed in his two homer explosion yesterday.
- Of course, with Hoskins coming up, someone had to go down and this time, it was Alec Bohm’s number called.
- It is quite possible that Zach Eflin will be back in the rotation this week.
- Prior to his demotion, Bohm was working quite hard on his defense with infield coach Juan Castro.
MLB news:
- The best ambassador right now for baseball is Shohei Ohtani.
- Congratulations to Miguel Cabrera for reaching the 500 home run plateau that only 28 other players have reached before him.
- Gregory Polanco has reportedly been placed on waivers by the Pirates, ending a stint that looked promising initially, but has ended in disaster.
- Looks like the Rockies’ interim general manager will be named the permanent general manager. This is probably the only time you have thought about the Rockies this year.