2nd Half Phillies: Buyers or Sellers

Well, the All-Star Break has come and gone. Phillies opened a three-game series Friday night against the 2nd Second Place, Washington Nationals. New half of the season, same ‘ol Phillies underachieving. Phils drop the series opener to the Nats’ 4-0. Their pitching was lackluster. The Bats had no pop. Other than an impressive diving catch by Scott Kingery that got the crowd up, there was really nothing else to cheer for. Unless you count the Oohs and Aahs of the post-game fireworks display (which are always top-notch).

Now, 7 games back from the Braves atop the NL East, the Phillies find themselves trailing the Nationals by 1.5 games (Nationals 2nd In NL East Standings. 5.5 behind the Braves. Wild Card 1). It’s still hard to tell whether the team will be “Buyers or Sellers” towards the July 31st trade deadline.

Andy MacPhail is on record stating that he does not believe this team is one blockbuster trade away for an impact player to turn this team around and right this train(wreck). Also, we should not expect the front office to trade away top prospects simply for a chance to win a wild card position.

Including tonight’s loss, these next 7 games (Two more against the Nationals and a 4-game series against MLB’s best Los Angeles Dodgers) are really going tell us where this team stands going forward closer to the trade deadline. Matt Klentak this off-season has already traded for Jean Segura and All-Star Catcher, J.T Realmuto and then made a very timely in-season trade for left fielder, Jay Bruce. Does Matt have enough up his sleeve to pull off some more magic and put this team back in a position to win on a nightly basis? We shall see. The jury is still out at least for the next 2 weeks.

My Opinion, this team has WAY too much talent to just continue to play mediocre baseball. The bats will start to Pop. The pitchers, with a deadline piece or two, will start to perform at the level we know they can. The bullpen will start to get back the needed pieces they so sorely have been missing. It’s officially the second half of the 2019 Baseball Season.

So, Grab a Beverage. Things are about to get HOT!

Written By: Joey Delco

Joey Sheeran

A Father, Husband, Son, & Brother. A man who often even surprises himself with all of his hidden talents. Ball is Life. All Balls. Passionate Philly Sports fan. Avid Music enthusiasts. Flannel-wearing Whiskey drinker. Co-Owner, Co-Host, digital creator of Edge of Philly Sports. Overall Badass.