Fiction or Reality, I'll Take These Phillies

The Phillies are 15-10 as May begins. Take that in and savor it, as even I am not predicting this level of ball to hold all year, in fact I'm stunned it has so far. The Phillies are just 2.5 games out of first as we enter the second month of the season, and their pitching staff just set an MLB record for K/9 ratio through a month. Needless to say, I didn't see that coming.

The odds are that it won't hold. Aside from great starting and a bullpen that is wildly exceeding expectations so far, the Phillies are getting a lot of timely hits from a line-up that doesn't get many other hits otherwise. While one might expect Maikel Franco or Odubel Herrera to keep hitting, this is still a line-up trotting out two corner outfielders and a first base position that all are likely to be negative offensive positions for the season. The Phillies don't have enough offense to compete, even if you assume the starting staff stays this good, and the bullpen can hold up over the test of time. Chances are that they will come back towards expectations, at least a bit.

I'll play devil's advocate though- go ahead and dream a bit. If this team continues to play well as the weather heats up, and some of the top prospect position players in the minors begin to show their abilities, this team could get some reinforcements. Yes, I'm thinking about the J.P. Crawfords, the Nick Williams, the Andrew Knapps, and more. If they heat up, and are suddenly ready to help the team, they could present offensive upgrades on a team that desperately needs it. Players we didn't expect, like a Tommy Joseph or Cam Perkins, could also present a short-term upgrade this Summer if they continue to out-hit the major league players who aren't hitting. If the Phillies simply stay afloat in the National League that long, why can't this team play some meaningful September games? Sure, I don't believe it will play out that way, but if you want to be optimistic, be optimistic.

Either way, I'm really happy with how this season has started. They've done it with pitching, timely hitting, and not making as many mistakes as we became used to last year. The Phillies simply have to go better than 48-89 the remainder of the way to avoid a repeat of 2015, and it looks like that is very possible. With the upper minors performing very well in the standings, and a staff that is coming together nicely in the majors, the Phillies can start to dream of a team in 2017 and 2018 that is contending in the NL East. I don't care if what i'm watching right now is real or fake, the wins count, and the hope is contagious in a fanbase that needed it.