Right on schedule, Phils are showing signs of improvement

PHILADELPHIA » After a difficult, early-season series against the Mets, the Phillies were 1-4, roundly unpopular and, it seemed, in early trouble.

Thursday, they returned from a 4-3 road trip at 10-7 and tied for second in the N.L. East. And when the conversation turned toward that improvement before a game against the Pirates, Gabe Kapler outlined almost every logical reason.

One, though, he tried to avoid.

“We pitched deeper into games,” the manager said. “I think we got some big hits. I think our guys were gritty and demonstrated a lot of conviction in their pitches. A lot of things combined to produce a really good road trip for us.”

Then, there was a potential hidden secret to what had been a 9-3 run: Games against Miami, Cincinnati and Tampa Bay before a stop in Atlanta. By Thursday, the Marlins were 5-12, the Rays were 5-13 and the Reds, at 3-15, were firing manager Bryan Price.

Do those analytics not suggest that the Phillies were defeating below-average teams? Bad teams? Very bad teams?

“I’ll say this,” Kapler said. “We don’t really know who the better teams are yet. We’re at the point of the season where if we played the Dodgers, it would be, ‘That’s not one of the better teams.’ But the record (8-9) is not indicative of their true talent.”

Kapler is unwavering in his view of baseball math, convinced that small sample sizes are insignificant. But the Marlins are in one of their rebuilding binges and the Reds already had seen enough to make the change in the dugout.

Either way, the Phillies were proud of their 4-3 road trip.

“We started getting some big hits,” Scott Kingery said. “Guys were stepping up in big spots.”

Eventually, the Phillies will face teams with strong records. And those were the 12-6 Pirates visiting Thursday.

“I think the Pirates have a chance to be a good club,” Kapler said. “But I think the Braves have a chance to be a good club. I think the Rays are a much better team than their record suggests. They are going to pitch. That team is going to pitch.

“A club that may look like a worse club than people thought,” he added, “may not look that way later.”