The Phillies tore through the month of May.
Their starting pitching mowed down opposing lineups, their bullpen woke up in the wake of a major loss, key hitters got hot at the plate, and all of it snowballed into the Phils amassing the National League's best record so far.
The calendar hasn't flipped just yet, and they have a home series against old friend Rhys Hoskins and the Milwaukee Brewers coming right up on Friday night, but by the time that three-game set is over, we'll be into June.
Here are 12 numbers that defined the past month for the Phils that, hopefully, carry into the summer…
19
The Phillies' win total through the month following Thursday's doubleheader.
They won seven of their eight series on the schedule, which included three-game sweeps of the Rays and Pirates, plus a four-game blanking of the Rockies.
At 36-20 overall, they're entering their next set against Milwaukee this weekend with the best record in the National League. They also have two games up on the Mets in the early NL East race.
.360
Bryce Harper's batting average since buzzing his hair on May 12 – and before Spencer Strider's fastball tagged him on the elbow immediately into Tuesday night.
The Phillies' star first baseman had a frustrating start to the year, but he finally settled into a groove, whether the haircut was the source of it or not.
In the 14 games from that day against St. Louis onward, Harper had 18 hits, five doubles, 11 runs batted in, and five walks. Oddly though, he only hit one home run, and has just eight so far this year.
Maybe, hopefully, he finds the power when he gets back from that bruise.
It isn't necessarily just him, however.
.339
The Phillies' on-base percentage for the month as of Friday morning, which stood as the second-best mark in baseball, relaying into…
33
The Phillies' home run total through the month as of Friday, which is still the sixth-most in the majors but somewhat muted for what has long been a boom-or-bust lineup.
Kyle Schwarber leads the team with 19 homers on the year, and is in a chase for the major league lead with the Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani (20) and the Mariners' Cal Raleigh (19), but behind him on the Phils is Harper with only eight and offseason signing Max Kepler with six.
The other everyday players have five or fewer.
Is that a good or bad thing? We'll see, but maybe it's a show of a club with an altered approach at the plate, as evidenced by…
2
The number of bases-loaded runs Braves reliever Daysbel Hernández let across with either a walk or a hit by pitch this week.
He was quick to get two outs in what was a 1-0 game for the Phillies in the eighth on Tuesday night, then two soft singles and two straight walks that drained 17 pitches out of Hernández brought a run home to give the Phils enough of a cushion going into the ninth of what became a 2-0 win.
Then on Thursday, in the first of a doubleheader, Hernández had his number called in the eighth again, got himself into a bases-loaded jam again, and hit Rafael Marchán on the foot on a 2-2 count to bring the Phillies' deciding run across in a 5-4 win.
That'll do! pic.twitter.com/yQStMNNpOc
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 29, 2025
The Phillies stepped up to the plate with patience, with a plan (Edmundo Sosa perfectly played his sacrifice bunt to move runners up on Thursday), and got rewarded for it in both scenarios.
They don't have to crush opponents with the long ball, they can sit and wait for them to make a mistake, and that might make the biggest difference come October this time around.
300
That won't slow down the Schwarbombs, though.
In Monday night's 9-3 Phillies win at Colorado, Schwarber launched career home run No. 300 466 feet into the Coors Field seats.
466 FT later!
THIS angle of Kyle Schwarber's 300th career homer! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/lZsnwGnjdf— MLB (@MLB) May 20, 2025
And he was hardly done.
Schwarber has hit three more homers since, including the one he rocked into the second deck at Citizens Bank Park during the seventh innings of Thursday's Game 1.
There are Schwarbombs… and then there are SCHWARBOMBS pic.twitter.com/KnozUDHutr
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 29, 2025
That price tag on a new contract only seems to get higher with each ball sent sailing, too.
.333
The Phillies' weighted on-base average with runners in scoring position for the season as of Friday morning, which ranks fifth in baseball.
Their .340 on-base percentage with RISP ranks seventh in the majors, and their .431 slugging percentage with that same split also ranks fifth.
The Phillies have been a far more consistent team across the board compared to the opening month of 2025, but just like in late March and into April, those numbers might shock you a bit after watching from night to night.
3
The number of runs Jordan Romano has allowed this month, and they all came on just one hit: A three-run homer from the Athletics' Nick Kurtz in the ninth that the Phillies were able to withstand in a 4-3 road win last Friday.
Tanner Banks cleaned up after for a one-out save.
Other than that, Romano had been solid, almost suddenly, with only four hits and no runs allowed in his 10 other appearances for the month prior to Thursday's doubleheader, having struck out 15 and notched six of his seven saves on the year to that point.
On Tuesday night, the 32-year-old righthander shut the door on the Braves.
Thursday afternoon in Game 1, it got dicey with a two-out, bases-loaded jam. But he survived it for the Phillies win and save No. 8, though maybe questionably so.
Jordan Romano and the Phillies held off a bases-loaded rally attempt by the Braves in a 5-4 win.
A generous strike zone from home plate umpire Bruce Dreckman helped.
C. J. Nitkowski: "No!"
Brandon Gaudin: "Oh, that missed." ⚾️🎙️ #MLB pic.twitter.com/wQhJa1EQj1— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 29, 2025
Throws like this from Marchán always help, too.
Maybe stop trying? pic.twitter.com/c2QERaVT4d
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 29, 2025
The past few weeks have been a needed turnaround for Romano, still, and one that the Phillies have to take and just hope is sustainable.
0
The runs Orion Kerkering and Tanner Banks have allowed out of the bullpen since word broke of José Alvarado's PED suspension last Sunday.
Kerkering has made six appearances since, and Banks four with some overlap, but the Phillies haven't lost yet during this stretch with either on the mound.
The Phillies lost their main high-leverage arm in Alvardo for the majority of the season and the postseason, and the way each of Kerkering, Banks, and Romano has managed in response, especially after they stumbled out of the gate, has been a lifeline for the Phils still early into the year – even if it's far from pretty sometimes.
They're still likely going to need another relief arm or two down the line, but the bullpen operating sounder for now does buy them time to find them.
MORE: Winners, losers from Phils weird series win vs. Braves
.330
Alec Bohm's batting average in May, and…
.314
Brandon Marsh's batting average for the month.
Simply put, the start of the season was not kind to either player, but in May, they've somewhat quietly turned a corner, and all to the Phillies' benefit.
Bohm will be arriving to Friday's series swinging the bat with an .873 OPS, four homers, four doubles, 12 runs batted in, and 12 runs scored in 25 games.
Marsh, meanwhile, has an .808 OPS with 16 hits, five doubles, seven walks, and nine runs scored in 20 games.
Both of them make the Phillies' lineup so much harder to deal with if they're even semi-consistent.
9
Zack Wheeler's quality starts on the season, which is tied with Houston's Hunter Brown and Pittsburgh's Paul Skenes for the most in the majors.
Wheeler tossed four of those starts in May alone before hitting a wall in Thursday's nightcap of the doubleheader.
The Phillies' rotation, even with Aaron Nola sidelined and everyone waiting for Andrew Painter, has been one of the fiercest in baseball.
Wheeler's been leading that charge with force.
*STAT SOURCES: FanGraphs, Baseball-Reference
MORE: The Phillies can play small ball. They'll need to when it matters most.
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