Phillies’ version of murderers’ row finally kills it
PHILADELPHIA >> Of all the reasons Bryce Harper chose to join the Phillies, the first
330,000,000 were obvious. Close behind were the next two.
One was Rhys Hoskins.
The other was J.T. Realmuto.
Though he would have other options to be surrounded by such a potential for power, Harper did let it slip during negotiations that the prospect of sharing a lineup card with Hoskins and Realmuto would matter in the recruiting. And determined to land a long-term deal, it would matter because they all would have a chance to be together for a while. He was 26. Realmuto was 28. And Hoskins was
26.
Together, they would have the potential to terrify bullpens, befuddle managers and, in Citizens Bank Park, scatter fans in the outfield seats for years.
Three young, National League power hitters, all peaking professionally at the same time.
It couldn’t fail. It wouldn’t fail. It…
“Yeah,” Harper said Sunday, after a 9-4 victory over the Braves, “you can always get better.”
After being bullied Friday and Saturday, the Phillies salvaged a game in the weekend series Sunday. And if that didn’t necessarily salvage a season, the Phils at least maintained enough of their standings integrity to prevent the front office from turning away any business before the Wednesday trade deadline.
One reason was that Harper took the first pitch he saw and dumped it over the centerfield fence. Another was that Realmuto blasted a two-out grand slam to left in the fifth. Then there was the seventh, after the Braves had touched a tiring Aaron Nola for four in the top of the inning, when Hoskins hit a tworun homer to left.
The combined length of the home runs was 1,176 feet. The impact, given everything, was even deeper.
But what has taken so long?
“It’s baseball,” Realmuto said. “It happens. I’ve hit the ball just as hard as I ever have. I have some numbers to show I’ve been a little unlucky. Obviously, I feel like I can produce more at the plate, maybe by simplifying my approach a little bit.
“I feel like it’s coming around.”
Realmuto, Hoskins and Harper, when viewed in a vacuum as Gabe Kapler likes to say, have all been productive. Realmuto was on the AllStar team. Harper has hit .412 with runners in scoring position. Hoskins has seven homers in his last 31 games. But Hoskins’ 22 homers rank
20th in the National League. Harper, who was expected to set power records in his new, compact home, has just 18 homers and could struggle to hit 30, let alone
50. With 14, Realmuto is about on his career home run pace, after hitting 21 for the Marlins last season and 17 in 2017.
Yet that wasn’t the deal. Nor was it in the unspoken agreement that with all of that potential, their compact surroundings and springy baseballs producing more hang time than most NFL punts, the Phillies would rank
12th out of 15 National League teams in homers.
“I think that sometimes we miss our pitch, there’s no question about that,” said Kapler, shaving the topic to its core. “I think at times we haven’t been as selective as we need to be. We’ve put balls in play a little bit too soon in atbats. And I just think as a group there is a need to get the ball in the air more frequently.
“Sometimes you see us square up the ball on a line and we can put the ball in the air a little bit higher. And in this environment, high line drives are a really good thing. We have the capability to put the ball in the air and hit the ball hard more frequently.”
Thanks. The Phillies have the capability to hit the ball hard more frequently. How’s that for analytics?
So Kapler is just as stumped as everyone else. Certainly, he’s buffaloed by a hitting coach he insists works as hard as anyone in baseball yet does not deliver results. But maybe, for one important game, it all just started to come together. Harper: Bang. Realmuto: Bang. Hoskins: Ba-boom. The belated normal?
“I think a lot of us don’t really think about it,” Harper said. “We just try to go out and put bat on ball and hopefully good things will happen. I feel like it’s the first day the wind hasn’t blown in. The weather was good. Hot. Dry. Really muggy today. And it helped us out.”
The Phillies were hopeful that Andrew McCutchen would help charge that power pack. But he is gone for the season with a damaged knee. Jay Bruce has 24 total home runs, including 14 for the Mariners. He’ll be back in a week and add clout. Adam Haseley hit his third home run Sunday. He profiles as a long-ball threat. But only when Harper, Realmuto and Hoskins are all providing power will the Phillies meet their expectations.
“I’m pretty pleased with the way those guys swung the bat today,” Kapler said. “It was a strong performance by J.T., obviously. He needed a big hit in that moment. And I know he had a lot of confidence.
“I thought Bryce’s first swing was a big momentum booster for us. Additionally, I thought Rhys’ created some huge insurance runs for us.
“Just a really strong performance by all three guys today.”
For a team that seemed ready to collapse, there was no better time.