The Bell Keeps Ringing

The Phillies continue to exceed everyone's expectations after they beat the Nationals last night 4-3. The Phils are now 7-2 on the season, have a run differential of +21, and own the best record in the National League and second-best winning percentage in all of Major League Baseball.

They're doing it with pitching, offense, and defense. This team is fun again and absolute joy to watch. Rhys Hoskins is destroying the ball lately. He has 5 HRs, 15 RBIs, and a 1.446 OPS. He hit two homers last night, both of which were absolute moon shots. The Twitter account Home Run Tracker (@DingerTracker) breaks down all the geeky details of every home run hit in MLB. Here's the data on Hoskins' first homer last night.

#Nationals 2 @ #Phillies 3 [B6-1o]
Rhys Hoskins homers (4): fly ball to LF (solo)

[ 95mph • 363ft • 37° ]
Viz: pic.twitter.com/2zOm5nyFBo

— Home Run Tracker (@DingerTracker) April 9, 2019

It left the bat at 95 mph at a launch angle of 37 degrees and traveled 363 feet. And it it's apex, the ball was 112 feet in the air. I think the fans in left field were signaling for a fair catch waiting for it to come down.

The Phils are 6-1 at home this year. I know it's early, but man, this is fun. #RingTheBell

At Least That's Out of the Way

You didn't actually expect them to go 162-0, did you? That doesn't make today's 9-8 loss any easier to accept.

Why did they lose? Ace Aaron Nola lasted only 3 innings and gave up 6 runs. They were just 5 for 14 with runners in scoring position. They made 3 errors, their first errors of the young season. And they walked 7 Nationals hitters, 3 of them in the bottom of the 9th.

It's a game they could have and should have won. Down 6-2, they fought back to take an 8-6 lead, only to cough it up in the 8th inning and lose on a walk-off walk in the 9th.

But like I said earlier in the week, if they win 2 out of every 3 at home and play .500 on the road, they'll win 94 games. And they're 4-1 on the season. It was ugly. But it's just one loss.

Sweep Smell of Success

As far as ways to begin a baseball season go, the Phillies couldn't have done much better than what they accomplished over the weekend against the defending NL East Division champion Atlanta Braves.

They swept all three games by a combined score of 23-11. They hit 8 home runs and have 5 different hitters with an OPS topping 1.000. As a team, they're slashing .384/.562/.946.

And while the pitching hasn't been as good as the offense, they have held opposing hitters to a .221 batting average while walking 16. And did I mention the Phillies are the only unbeaten team in baseball? They are 3-0 for the first time since 2011. And it was the first time they swept a division rival to open the season in 18 years.

It's been said teams don't win pennants in April (or March). But they can lose them with a slow start. The next 5 weeks are absolutely packed with games against division rivals. They have 8 games against the Nationals, 7 against the Marlins, and 6 against the Mets. The Phils need to keep mashing and steamroll through the division.

If they win 2 out of every 3 home games and play .500 on the road, you're looking at 95 or 96 wins. Yeah, it's early. But it's been an awful lot of fun. The fun continues Tuesday in Washington. #RingTheBell