The Phillies are returning home to face the Braves this week on a 9-1 run in their last 10 games that has catapulted them back to the top of the National League.
Kyle Schwarber is still crushing baseballs at an NL-leading rate, Zack Wheeler is mowing lineups down at the top of the rotation, Jesús Luzardo is continuing to take everyone by surprise, and the bullpen, at least for now, is getting by without José Alvarado.
All the while, stock in the Phils from a national viewpoint is firing right back up.
Here's where they stand in this week's wave of MLB power rankings…
MLB.com: 1st
Was the majority of the Phillies' road trip against the strongest of opponents? No.
Do the wins still count? Yes.
And maybe just as much, it's how they've been taking those wins.
Wrote Will Leitch, who put the Phils at No. 1 this week:
Nobody is having more fun than the Phillies right now. They’re pulling off wild, thrilling comebacks, like their win over the A’s on Saturday night. They’ve got Kyle Schwarber tied for the MLB lead in homers. Even with their loss to the A’s on Sunday, they had won nine in a row for the first time since 2022 (when, you might remember, Rob Thomson had just begun his tenure as manager). And their starting pitching is absolutely dominant, with an ERA under 2.00 during the streak. Sure, these wins have come against a weak stretch of their schedule, but it’s one thing to face lesser teams: It’s another to beat every one of them. [MLB.com]
The Athletic: 2nd
Starting pitching has been the Phillies' greatest strength, and Zack Wheeler continues to set the tone for that as their ace, even as he's quickly approaching 35 years old.
As good as Schwarber has been at the plate, if anyone is the Phillies' MVP right now, it's Wheeler, argues Tim Britton:
At a position of extreme fluctuation, Wheeler has become the sport’s best metronome — a starter you can depend on for 200 of the highest-quality innings in baseball. His strikeout rate is up this year to a career-best mark, just around one-third of opposing hitters. He’s throwing his splitter more to devastating effect. He’s one of the two best right-handed starters in the sport, and how you order that pair is a fun debate. [The Athletic]
MORE: Alec Bohm, Brandon Marsh surging, other Phillies thoughts
Bleacher Report: 6th
Again, wins against bad teams still count as wins all the same right now, and promising for the Phils is that a few of their relievers have stepped up of late after much of their bullpen was hemorrhaging runs through the season's first month.
On the one hand, the Phillies have played extremely well of late, winning nine in a row before Sunday's loss. On the other hand, that stretch of games has come against the Pirates, Rockies and Athletics. Good teams take care of business against bad teams, and that's exactly what the Phillies are doing. Jordan Romano, Matt Strahm and Orion Kerkering have tightened things up in the late innings since José Alvarado was suspended. [B/R]
Give some props to Tanner Banks, too, as our own Adam Aaronson wrote on Monday.
CBS Sports: 1st
The loss Sunday broke a nine-game winning streak. [CBS Sports]
This did indeed happen. More on that HERE.
FOX Sports: 1st
And, hey, fans will always hate to see a winning streak snapped, but it's only a sign that the Phils have been on a tear lately, and with a chance to get right back at it against a division rival in Atlanta beginning Tuesday night.
Their win streak ended at nine games on Sunday, but the Phillies had already done enough to vault into the top spot here for the first time this year. Sure, it helps that their competition lately has been less than stellar, but winning 21 of 27 games is noteworthy nonetheless. The José Alvarado suspension stings, but the offseason acquisition of Jesús Luzardo (5-0, 2.15 ERA) has turned an already terrific rotation into arguably baseball’s best. [FOX Sports]
MORE: Zack Wheeler, Jesús Luzardo, and the Phils with the best All-Star cases
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