Arizona Diamondbacks bring desert heat to South Philly

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Dbacks tickets could still be hot sellers in Phoenix this summer

The Philadelphia Phillies (37-28) are 5-1-1 over their last seven series, with only a sweep at the hands of the host Los Angeles Dodgers showing as a black mark over their last month of play. They lead the NL East Division standings by one game over the Atlanta Braves.

To close out a short home stand, the Phillies welcome in the Arizona Diamondbacks (34-32) of the NL West Division to Citizens Bank Park for three games to open this week. The Dbacks are winners of four straight games, and now sit 2.5 games behind Atlanta for the final NL Wildcard playoff berth.

Over the first month or so of the season, the Diamondbacks were as hot as the Arizona desert in mid-summer. They bolted out to a 20-13 start and were within a game of the division lead.

But the club won just eight of their next 25 games to fall below the .500 mark, consistently dropping further and further behind the Dodgers in the standings. Even with that four-game current win streak, the Dbacks still trail the Dodgers by 11 games.

While their rivals in Los Angeles appear to be well on their way to a seventh consecutive division crown, Arizona remains squarely in the National League Wildcard race as they fight to reach the playoffs for just the third time in this decade. So, they will certainly pose a challenge to the Phillies, who are looking to return to those playoffs for the first time in eight years.

Arizona comes in with a potent offensive attack which ranks third in the National League in runs-per-game. They are also second in the league in doubles, third  in batting average and stolen bases, fourth in OPS, and fifth in home runs. So this is a well-rounded and balanced attack.

The Dbacks pitching staff is no slouch either, ranking fourth in the NL in ERA, and 5th in OPS-against and strikeouts. No team in all of Major League Baseball has a better fielding percentage than the Arizona defenders, who have committed the fewest errors in the entire National League.

Bottom line, this is a sound ball club that is coming in to South Philly this week. Though they were struggling badly for more than a month, the Dbacks have recently gotten hot again. It will be up to the Phillies to cool them off, finding a way to win yet another series.

Who will play center field for Phillies between McCutchen and Harper?

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On right deal, veteran Adam Jones could help Phillies in center field

With the addition of a pair of major free agents this off-season, the Philadelphia Phillies have significantly upgraded themselves at the corner outfield positions.

Andrew McCutchen will take over in left field and Bryce Harper in right field. Both of those men have been the National League Most Valuable Player in the past, McCutchen in 2013, Harper in 2015.

Another thing that adding two new players to the everyday lineup does is push aside incumbent players. In left field, that issue is resolved with Rhys Hoskins moving back to first base following the trade of Carlos Santana.

But now with two new starting outfielders the pressure this spring will grow on the other incumbents. Nick Williams, Aaron Altherr, Odubel Herrera and Roman Quinn will likely at some point find themselves battling for a job with the Phillies. At least one of those players could end up being traded away.

I say “at some point” because right now the conversation is a bit moot. Both Herrera and Quinn are injured and it is unknown how long either will be out. Also pushing for a job on the Phillies bench will be 24-year-old Dylan Cozens.

Were everyone healthy then the odd-man out would most likely be Williams. That is only because he may be the most talented of the group. The 25-year-old stroked 17 home runs a year ago in his second big-league campaign. There are likely a number of teams who would see him as a starting right fielder with upside potential.

Herrera and Quinn were set to battle for the starting job in center field. Should either get back to the Grapefruit League lineup before the other and produce, they would clearly take the lead. Should neither return by the start of the regular season one month from now, Altherr likely steps into the starting role temporarily.

Altherr may be the best fit of the bunch for a regular bench role. The 28-year-old has experience in parts of five big-league seasons with the Phillies. He demonstrated his power potential by blasting 19 homers during his best season back in 2017. He is also athletic enough that he can play all three outfield positions. Last year, Altherr appeared in 68 games in left field, 11 in center field, and another half-dozen in right field.

ALCS: Royals over Orioles

On Sunday night, October 27th, 1985, Hall of Famer George Brett and the Kansas City Royals put an 11-0 beat down on the Saint Louis Cardinals to win Game 7 of the 1985 World Series.

The victory clinched the first and only World Series championship in the history of the Royals organization. It would also prove to be the last time the team would reach the MLB postseason until now.

The current incarnation of the team ended that postseason drought by clinching an American League Wildcard playoff berth on the final weekend of the regular season. Then they put on one of the wildest comebacks in history to win that Wildcard Game over the Oakland Athletics.

This past weekend, KC put the capper on an ALDS sweep of the West-champion Los Angeles Angels with an 8-3 thrashing. That victory advanced them to the ALCS beginning on Friday night, where their opponents will be the equally impressive Baltimore Orioles.