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Of all members of the NL East, the one club that could be toughest to gauge might just be the Philadelphia Phillies. While still in their own rebuild mode, they possess the power to strike at virtually any point.
If you are scoping out the future of the National League’s Eastern division beyond 2017, there are some trends of interest to the Atlanta Braves that are emerging:
- The Washington Nationals will certainly remain competitive AH (After Harper), but their minor league depth just took a tremendous hit, and that may prove costly from about 2019 and beyond.
- The New York Mets refuse to spend any significant money, have virtually no minor league system, and once their current pitching runs out… so do they.
- The Miami Marlins have some fine young talent, but a horrid farm system and terrible ownership. Now and for the foreseeable future.
- However, the new rising rivals in the East could be these Philadelphia Phillies – great farm system, plenty of available cash, and a Front Office that has a clue.
That kind of outlook applies to the period from roughly 2018 to 2022, but this preview is more concerned with the immediate future: 2017.
Those Pfightin’ Phils started out surprisingly good in 2016, but had trouble sustaining that once their pitching stalled.
On June 1st, the Phils had a record of 26-27. After that date, they had the worst record in the NL – and almost in all of baseball excepting the Twinkies.
Let’s see what they’ve done to improve on that 71-91 record for the 2017 campaign.