Five pleasant surprises of the 2024 Phillies season
The 2024 Phillies season is a collection of good stories.
The team hoped to get off to a faster start after stumbling out of the gates and taking themselves out of the NL East race in each of the last two seasons. But few imagined the Phillies would steamroll through the competition to one of the best starts in franchise history. They are 20 games over .500 and have a five-game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the NL East as of Tuesday, May 21. If they played .500 baseball over the remainder of the season, they would be a 91-win club. If they win 58% of their remaining games, they will be a 100-win club.
Some early-season performances were easy to foreshadow. Zack Wheeler is tied for first among NL starters in FanGraphs WAR and is on pace to compete for his first Cy Young. Aaron Nola has bounced back from a rough 2023. Trea Turner was producing at an MVP level before he got hurt and Bryce Harper, despite running into some cold stretches, has singlehandedly won a few games for the Phillies.
But the most rewarding part of this season has been watching players like Ranger Suárez and Alec Bohm blossom into All-Stars and Edmundo Sosa and Kody Clemens come up with clutch hits off the bench.
It’s exciting to think what the Phillies can accomplish in the regular season and beyond, but for now, here are five pleasant surprises from the 2024 season so far.
Edmundo Sosa
When Turner initially went down with a hamstring injury in early May, the initial expectation was that Bryson Stott would take down the majority of reps at shortstop with Whit Merrifield moving over to second base.
That hasn’t happened and it’s because Sosa is on a hot streak. Since Turner went on the IL, Sosa is slashing .303/.439/.485 in 42 plate appearances. Most importantly, Sosa’s patience at the plate has improved significantly. The ultra-aggressive Sosa walked in a staggeringly low 2.7% of total plate appearances in 2023. His walked rate has quadrupled at 10.8% in 2024.
Considering that just under a third of the pitches he has seen have been inside the strike zone, it’s impressive that he has accumulated 16 hits in 65 plate appearances.
Sosa, along with Clemens, have led the dramatic year-to-year turnaround in production from the Phillies bench.
“The ability of our bench players to come in and perform the way that they have performed, I think it’s been outstanding,” manager Rob Thomson said. “The versatility that we have on this roster is outstanding.”
Kody Clemens
On the same day Thomson praised his bench, Clemens later hit a game-tying home run with the Phillies down to their final out in the ninth inning of Saturday’s win against the Washington Nationals.
Clemens had a hot spring, but was the victim of roster math. He was called up to fill Turner’s spot on the roster and has posted a 1.028 OPS since then. The most impressive aspect of Clemens’ game is his intelligence and ability to adjust on the fly.
He noticed during the Miami series that his timing was late coming off the bench against high velocity. So he prepared to hit 100 mph fastball by trying to hit 110.
“I’ve been working on that. Just trying to stay ready and almost scoot up as close as I can to the machine to make it feel like 110,” Clemens said after his home run. “So when you get called, you’re ready for those fastballs that those late relievers are going to be throwing hard.”
This isn’t the first time Clemens was called up to the big league club and produced. He posted an .806 OPS from May 13 to June 13 in 2023, filling in nicely at first base with Rhys Hoskins going down for the season with an ACL injury. A cool down in the following weeks led to a demotion to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Maybe he should have spent more time with the Phillies last season.
He’s proven himself to be useful depth. Thomson said he’ll continue to start him against right-handed pitching for the time being.
Alec Bohm
The Phillies third baseman has cooled off after a scorching hot April, but has remained consistent. Bohm has recorded at least one base hit in all but two games for the Phillies in May and is in the middle of a six-game hitting streak heading into Tuesday’s game against the Texas Rangers.
His April was otherworldly. He batted .366 with a 1.036 OPS. His current .330 average is sixth among qualified National League hitters.
Bohm has also improved tremendously against right-handed pitching. In each of the last two years, there has been at least a 220-point difference in his OPS against righties versus lefties. The platoon splits are now closer to even. He has a .905 OPS against right-handed pitching and a .942 OPS against lefties in 2024.
Ranger Suárez
Suárez’s year-to-year growth could singlehandedly swing the NL East race. Through nine starts, he has eight wins. His 1.37 ERA ranks second among qualified pitchers. The average exit velocity on balls in play against Suárez is 84.1 mph, which ranks in the 97th percentile, according to Statcast. His command has reached new levels and it’s why he is a strong candidate to make his first All-Star appearance.
It’s going to be tough for Suárez to continue to replicate his success from start-to-start, but he has a track record of completely shattering expectations. In 2021, he excelled in multiple bullpen roles before transitioning to the starting rotation during the summer. He still finished the season with a 1.37 ERA.
The Phillies were expecting Suárez to benefit from having a full spring training for the first time since becoming a full-time starter, but they could not have dreamed up the kind of run he’s on now.
Matt Strahm
Speaking of command pitchers, Matt Strahm has walked only one batter all season.
He has faced 66 batters this season. He has struck out 29 of them and allowed only 11 to reach base safely. Three of those came in his first appearance of the season against the Braves on Opening Day. He has a 0.95 ERA and that’s not even the lowest mark among qualified Phillies relievers. He has held the opponent scoreless in 18 2/3 consecutive innings.
Strahm’s plan of attack is fascinating. He averages 93 mph on his fastball, but he’s able to thrive by throwing it predominantly at the top of the zone.
“Everyone says to pitch up, but it’s tough to compete up in the strike zone,” pitching coach Caleb Cotham said. “I think you do have to have a pretty good fastball because hitters, for a while, it was what everyone was doing. Now hitters have gotten better at it. He’s unique. The stride, he’s got a lot of levers coming at you. He’s got the hair. He’s upshooting commanded fastballs at the top and it’s really tough for hitters to tell where you should try to swing. It’s always right above where they think it should be.”
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