NEWSLETTER
The Philadelphia Phillies are the hottest team in baseball, winning 29 of their last 35 games, their best 35-game stretch since Grover Cleveland won the 1982 presidential election—that and more in today’s MLB Notes.
The Red-Hot Phillies Continue to Their Historic Stretch
The Philadelphia Phillies look unstoppable right now. On Thursday, they beat the Texas Rangers 5-2 in the finale of their three-game series, marking their seventh sweep of the season. Seven series sweeps in May! In their last 35 games, the Phillies are 29-6, marking their best 35-game stretch since 1892.
“It’s amazing,” Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos said after the game on Thursday. “This is the best team I’ve ever been a part of.”
Everything is clicking for the Phillies right now. Their .758 team OPS is third in baseball, and their .338 OBP leads the league. They’re third in baseball in team ERA (3.14), fifth in WHIP (1.15), and are second to only the Braves in complete games thrown by their starting rotation.
“Everybody is contributing; it’s someone different every day,” Castellanos said. “And we’re all having a lot of fun doing it. Obviously, it’s a really long season, and we have so much baseball left. We just need to stay the course and keep going about our work and business this way and let the results be what they are.”
Manfred on Robot Umpires in MLB
For the past few years, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has consistently preferred a challenge-based automated strike zone rather than an active system on every pitch.
He mentioned on Thursday that others are starting to share this view, but there are still many uncertainties about how the automatic ball-strike system (ABS) will be implemented in the majors. One concern is the specific shape of the strike zone that the system will be programmed to recognize. Manfred has previously noted that the strike zone called by umpires appears more circular than expected.
“The shape of the strike zone, we have not started those conversations (with players), because we haven’t settled on what we think about it,” Manfred said. “Hard to have those conversations before you know what you’re thinking.”
According to Mandfred, players have expressed concerns about the potential negative effects of an automated strike zone (ABS) on the game. They prefer a challenge system over ABS calling every pitch. Catchers, particularly those skilled at framing pitches, might be significantly affected by ABS, potentially changing the nature of the position and the type of players who occupy it. MLB Commissioner Manfred emphasized the need to consider unintended consequences carefully before implementing such changes.
As I wrote yesterday, 2025 seems to be off the table for any automated strike zone in Major League Baseball. While the technology exists to make this a reality, there’s still much to figure out before they can deploy it.
Paul Skenes Looked Great Again, Even Without His “Best Stuff”
The Pirates found themselves in a position to win for the second consecutive game, receiving a solid performance from a rookie pitcher and a grand slam on offense. However, they once again ended up losing. This time, they wasted a solid six innings from Paul Skenes due to another collapse by the bullpen, resulting in a 7-6 loss to the Giants in the rubber match at PNC Park on Thursday.
Skenes had to rely more on his four-seamer and splinker (a splitter-sinker hybrid) rather than his best-breaking stuff. Despite the Giants collecting six singles, they struggled to put together consistent offense, partly due to a couple of double plays. One of those double plays came from Skenes’ splinker, which was particularly effective, generating six whiffs and inducing six groundouts out of the eight times the Giants put it in play.
Skenes wasn’t as good as he was in his last game at Wrigley Field. His fastball speed peaked at just 100.3 mph, and he only reached 100 mph four times. He managed only three strikeouts and 13 swings and misses. However, even when not at his best, Skenes is still difficult to hit squarely.
“Obviously, it wasn’t his best, you know what I mean?” said catcher Joey Bart. “But if you can go out there and put that kind of performance on without your best stuff, then there’s definitely something to build on.”
“Just gotta get back to what makes me good and trusting my stuff,” Skenes said on Thursday. “You’ll take your singles, but the odds of them getting four singles in a row, I trust myself over pretty much any lineup. It’s just playing the odds a little bit.”
