The Philadelphia Phillies open up a three game series against the NL East leading Atlanta Braves tonight at Citizens Bank Park. Spencer Strider will take the mound against Ranger Suarez.

“Baseball Doesn’t Start Until June 1st” – Fact Check: True

• Question: What do you do when you see a dead horse?
• Answer: You beat the ever-living shit out of it.

The official start of the Major League Baseball season is on June 1st. I have been beating that dead horse relentlessly for years and the Phillies yet again, have made me look like a god damn genius. 

The Phillies are now 13-4 in June and enter tonight after a very successful 6-1 road trip in which they took 3-of-4 from the Arizona Diamondbacks and swept the Oakland Athletics.

They have won six straight games, and are now 8-2 over their last 10 and 13-2 over their last 15 games.

There are 10 games remaining in June with the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets coming to town for the next six games. They will close out the month with three against the Chicago Cubs on the road before returning home to open up a series against the Washington Nationals on June 30th. 

National League East & Wild Card Standings

The Braves currently sit in first place in the NL East with a 46 -26 record. They are 8-2 over their last 10 games and like the Phillies, have won six straight games heading into tonight’s opener at Citizens Bank Park. Atlanta currently holds a five game lead over the Miami Marlins in the NL East Standings.

The Fish are surprisingly 10 games over .500 at 41-31 and winners of seven out of their last 10 games. I honestly have no idea what’s happening in Miami this season but can confidently say that the Marlins are not serious contenders so we’ll just leave it at that for now and focus on Atlanta. 

The Phillies, now four games over .500 at 38-34, trail Miami by three and the Braves by eight games, sitting in third place in the NL East standings. In the NL Wild Card, the Phillies are currently one game out of the final spot available with Miami, San Francisco, and Los Angeles currently holding Wild Card tickets to the postseason. 

Braves @ Phillies -Starting Pitchers

• TUE – Ranger Suarez v Spencer Strider
• WED – Aaron Nola v AJ Smith-Shawver
• THU – Taijuan Walker v Bryce Elder

Spencer Strider is BACK at Citizens Bank Park tonight.

Note: If you get bat spiked into oblivion in the postseason then you shouldn’t be allowed to even pitch another inning at the major league level. I don’t care about your stats. You’re a certified loser. 

Okay so yeah, the next six games against the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets are massive and could completely change EVERYTHING that will follow over the next three months for the Philadelphia Phillies. 

Honestly, this week couldn’t come at a better time because the boys are playing their best baseball of the season and the team’s recent success is pretty easy to understand. 

“June Schwarber” is Real

• 2021: 16 Home Runs, 30 RBI 
• 2022: 12 Home Runs, 27 RBI 
• 2023 (19 Days): 7 Home Runs, 14 RBI 

Kyle Schwarber has 20 home runs on the season.

Yes, I know there’s a huge conversation regarding Schwarber in the leadoff spot and the fact that he only has 41 RBIs while hitting 20 home runs, the third most homers in the MLB behind Sohei Ohtani (23) and Pete Alonso (22) but at the end of the day, the Phillies are getting the most production from him batting first the lineup and they are winning a lot of baseball games.

Go cry to Sports Talk Radio. Don’t care.

On June 2nd, Schwarber returned to the leadoff spot against the Nationals and since then, the Phillies have posted a 13-3 record. Schwarber is slashing .254/.375/.627/1.002 over that span and has seven home runs in the month of June, three of which were leadoff homers with the most recent happening Sunday against the Oakland Athletics. 

Heat Check: Phillies Lineup is on FIRE

JT Realmuto finally woke up on the road trip, hitting .360 with 9 hits, 3 home runs and 7 RBI. Alec Bohm is hitting .281 with a homer and 8 RBIs over his last seven games and the three guys below continue to guide the Phillies at the plate through the month of June. 

• Nick Castellanos: .403 BA, 25 H, 3 HR, 14 RBI, 9 R 
• Trea Turner: .286 BA, 20 H, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 14 R
• Bryson Stott: .321, 18 H, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 9 R

Phillies Starting Rotation

In games started by Wheeler, Nola, Walker and Suarez, the Phillies are an impressive 31-21.

• Taijuan Walker: 10-5
• Zack Wheeler: 9-6
• Ranger Suarez: 5-2
• Aaron Nola: 7-8

They went 3-3 in the games Matt Strahm started as a non-opener and 4-10 in any other game where they threw some lousy reliever out there to start a bullpen game.

I don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves but imagine if Aaron Nola gets his shit together and the Phillies get Andrew Painter in the mix with another rotation arm at the deadline.

Hot tamale.

“I Hope I Die In A Phillies Jersey”

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Spencer Strider vs Ranger Suarez

Over his last seven starts, Spencer Strider has fallen back to Earth, posting a 5.59 ERA and a 3-2 record while allowing 24 earned runs.

Strider coughed up five runs, including two home runs in just five innings against the Tigers in his last start but still was able to earn the win. He’s been a mess on the mound as of late, surrendering 13 runs over his last two outings, carrying a miserable 9.00 ERA over three starts in June.

Ranger Suarez tossed a GEM on Tuesday night, posting seven shutout innings against the NL West leading Arizona Diamondbacks. After a rough month of May, Suarez is officially BACK, surrendering two or less runs in four consecutive starts. 

Suarez posted a 3.21 ERA against the Braves last season and has a 3.21 ERA and a 2-2 record in 42 career innings.

Prediction: The Philadelphia Phillies. For All Things Holy.

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