We're just a little over eight weeks into the 2024 MLB season and the Phillies hold the best record in baseball.
Sure it's a known fact, but it's also one of those things you have to say on a daily basis because it doesn't feel real … and then you go confirm it online just to be sure.
The Phillies are good. I've never seen anything like it in my lifetime. Heck, no one alive has seen anything like it. The last time the club went 29-6 through a 35-game stretch was 1892. 1892! Grover Cleveland was in office — and no, not Phillies' Grover Cleveland Alexander, who holds the team's top two spots with the lowest ERA through the first 10 games of a season (1.24 in 1916 and 1.31 in 1915).
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Why does that matter? Ranger Suárez is 9-0 with a 1.36 ERA through his first 10 games — giving him the third-lowest by a Phillies pitcher in franchise history.
Individually and as a club, they're reaching records that have been set for over a century … and we're not even one-third of the way through the season.
So with that, let's dive into the latest Phillies weekly roundup:
How sweep it is
News
With a sweep of the defending champs, the Phillies snagged their seventh of the season … it's MAY.
They had seven sweeps in the entirety of 2023.
And if it's not a sweep, they're still racking up series wins. The Phillies haven't lost a series since April 3. It was the second opponent they faced.
They've won 11 total (including the seven sweeps), have split four (Reds 2-2, Pirates 2-2, Blue Jays 1-1, Mets 1-1) and have lost just a mere two (Braves 1-2, Reds 1-2).
Their record for most sweeps in a single season is 18, set by the 1977 club.
Current sweep list:
Rockies (3-0)
White Sox (3-0)
Padres (3-0)
Giants (4-0)
Mets (2-0)
Nationals (3-0)
Rangers (3-0)
They haven't swept a team over .500, you say? Well, let's get into it.
"sTrEnGtH Of ScHeDuLe!!!"
Just say you don't want to commend the Phillies for what they're accomplishing and move on. Did everyone forget every team plays each other throughout the season?
Honestly, I have never seen so much discourse over the strength of a schedule in my life. MLB simply doesn't have many clubs over .500. There are 12 total teams with winning records right now, only five in the National League.
That's it.
The Phillies are off to the hottest start MLB has seen since the 1998 Braves. They're 22 games over the .500 mark at 37-15 for crying out loud.
When did they reach 37 wins last season? June 17 (37-34). The year before? June 23 (37-34). How about 2008? June 6 (37-26).
What about the franchise-record 102-win season in 2011? June 8 (37-25).
For those who keep saying the wins don't count, why aren't more clubs capable of getting off to such an efficient start year in and out? Food for thought.
They *get* it
After the second game against the Rangers, Rob Thomson provided an answer that should have every single Phillies fan fired up … and everyone else absolutely terrified.
He was asked about the Mariners' MLB-best 116-win season in 2001.
"But what'd they do at the end?" Thomson replied.
They did not win the championship.
"That's right, so you got to keep going," Thomson continued." You just gotta keep grinding and keep pushing all the way through."
As if Topper couldn't hype everyone up even more, he dropped another amazing quote after his club swept the defending champions.
"They're never complacent," he said. "They keep fighting. They prepare, they compete. They have a lot of fun doing it. They love playing the game. It was a good homestand with big crowds every day, every night. So, it's been a lot of fun.
"The new guys that have come in have bought right into it. There's kind of an edge to everybody.
They want to finish it."
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