A smashing, new Phils lineup, built to go even deeper
Of all the unacceptable results, of all the inexplicable stats, of all the trends that are not one-offs, of all the numbers that could not be allowed to continue in non-scripted sports, one was the most in need of a correction.
That stat, a lopsided won-loss record for the ages: 152.
Such were the results from the last 17 full seasons of interleague baseball play, the American League dominating the competition so regularly for so long that it had threatened to reduce the National League to a virtual Class AAAA bush loop.
Were it all a tribute to better management or more commitment to financing, niftier facilities or more devoted fans, bigger markets or superior equipment, smarter long-term strategy or juicier TV contracts, it would have been accepted as survival-of-the-fittest justice. It’s how it typically works in college sports, where Alabama is going to win 15 of 17 against inferior football competition.
But the American League became so dominant in a structure where both leagues played by every same rule but one. The players were bound by one union agreement. The luxury taxes on salaries were the same for both leagues. The markets were comparable. The national TV money was spread equally. The umpires worked in both leagues and were equally incompetent in each. The trade deadline was standard. Neither league was more likely to land the better free agents. There was a common amateur player draft.
Yet for nearly 20 years — or about the time an impressionable 13-year-old fan would be able to grow to the point where he or she could take their own kids to a game — the image was permitted to fester: In one league, they hit from the Tiger tees; in the other, they teed-it-up from the reds.
That is about to change. This season, the National League will close the one loophole that threatened its professional reputation. So all hail the universal designated hitter, and may Zach Eflin no longer be granted access to a bat rack.
To that, here’s to JMiddy, Phillies’ acting owner John Middleton, who wasted about 40 seconds between the formal National League adoption of the DH before financing a roster capable of slugging with any AL heavyweight. Soon after the free-agent market reopened after a lockout, Middleton approved a $79 million, four-year investment in Kyle Schwarber, a 28-year-old likely DH who as recently as 2019 collected 38 home runs and 92 RBIs for the Cubs and who hit a combined 32 homers for the Nationals and Red Sox last season. Soon after, Middleton made another $100 million rain on Nick Castellanos, who hit .309 for the Reds last season with 34 home runs and 100 RBIs.
With that, the Phillies had one.
With that, they had an American League-style everyday nine capable of delighting fans and denting outfield fences.
With that, they had a chance to win a playoff spot for the first time since 2011.
With that, they could make an above-average starting rotation look legendary, reduce pressure on an ordinary bullpen and return Joe Girardi to the kind of situation he thrived in as a manager at Yankee Stadium.
Not that the Phillies haven’t had deep and memorable lineups over the decades, whether it was the one with Mike Schmidt, Pete Rose and Greg Luzinski, or the one with Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley. None, though, were built quite the way the 2022 team has been built, which is to say as an attempt to present a nightly Home Run Derby.
Consider this likely batting order, including 2021 home run totals: Jean Segura (14), Schwarber (32), Bryce Harper (35), Castellanos (34), Rhys Hoskins (27), J.T. Realmuto (17), Didi Gregorius (13), Alec Bohm (7) and Odubel Herrera (13).
After unloading one of the most complete offensive seasons in Phillies history last summer, Harper let it be known that he didn’t agree to come to Philadelphia just because he fancied Phillie Phanatic socks. Rather, he challenged Middleton, saying out loud, “I’ll tell you what, we need some dogs.” With the way Middleton responded, it supported the belief that Harper carries enormous weight around that operation. So dogs, plural, it was, 66 home runs worth in Schwarber and Castellanos.
The Phillies made other offseason moves that should be of value, principally ensuring that Hector Neris and Andrew Knapp would no longer work around there. Brad Hand and Jeurys Familia arrived in the bullpen and, while each seem to have reached a professional expiration date, they represented the kind of moves presumptive Hall of Fame executive Dave Dombrowki has earned the right to be trusted to make.
But that lineup alone, top to bottom, designated hitter included, should be enough to keep the Phillies competitive four days out of seven, which would translate into 97ish wins.
So bring on the National League.
The American League, too.