Rise and Phight: 6/10/2022

Guess who is suddenly only 2 ¹⁄₂ games out of a playoff spot?

How early is too early to start looking at playoff spot standings? The common date is to usually not look at the standings until Memorial Day, but since that date is past, now it becomes a different question. Are teams aware of how everyone else is doing? Fans are probably more involved in looking at the standings by this point, but I wonder what the players are doing about it.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• Winning does tend to change any kind of vibe around a team, but there is just something very different right now with this team.
• Guess which little dude fan is going to meet the team prior to tonight’s game?
• Didi Gregorius has surprisingly been one of the engine starters for the team during this winning streak.

MLB news:

• Ah, great, just what I wanted to hear more about. Sticky stuff with the pitchers and how MLB is testing some things in the minors ($).
• The best ball/strikes umpire in the majors is Pat Hoberg according to these evaluations.
• Here is another mock draft for MLB, this one having the Phillies taking another high school pitcher.
• Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson will be watching from the bench for the next 4-6 weeks with a broken thumb.