The best baseball team is the Atlanta Braves. However, the greatest baseball team is the Philadelphia Phillies. Even though those two claims seem incompatible, they are both equally accurate.
It’s difficult to dispute that the Braves aren’t the greatest club in the league if “best” means “most talented.” This is the group that includes Max Fried, Chris Sale, Charlie Morton, Raisel Iglesias, Matt Olson, Austin Riley, Michael Harris II, and Ozzie Albies.
The Braves are predicted by Baseball Prospectus and FanGraphs to win more games than any other team throughout the remainder of the season. Despite having a commanding early lead in their division, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ chances of winning the World Series are not much better than Atlanta’s.
With a 22-12 record through the first six weeks, this club is so good that it somehow qualifies as a poor start. In baseball, the Braves are the best team.
However, the team leading the NL East is the Phillies, not the Braves. The team with the best record in the major leagues is not the Braves, but rather the Phillies. In the last ten games, they have won eight, and in the last twenty, sixteen. Since the first week of April, they have not lost a series.
When it comes to quality starts, FanGraphs WAR, and strikeouts, the Phillies pitching staff leads the National League. In terms of on-base percentage, home runs, and wOBA, their offense is ranked second only to the Dodgers. This squad is winning games, and they are winning them decisively. In baseball, the Phillies are the greatest club.
I’ll be the first to own my prejudice. My childhood bedroom still has Phillies posters hanging on the walls. However, I’m not even ready to claim that Philadelphia’s real skill is comparable to Atlanta’s.
In other words, the Phillies are currently playing above their capabilities. Throughout the season, Alec Bohm won’t rank among the greatest hitters in baseball. It is going to be painful without Trea Turner. Pitchers Zack Wheeler, Ranger Suárez, and Spencer Turnbull in particular struggle to keep their ERAs below 2.00.
In the meantime, the Braves will undoubtedly overcome their present rut. After sweeping the Boston Red Sox in a brief two-game set this week, it’s possible that they have already done so.Surprisingly, Atlanta’s offensive has been awful lately. They have a.604 OPS and a batting average of.213 since April 21. Over their previous 15 games, they have only managed to score 3.4 runs per game. However, this squad is nearly identical to the one that averaged 5.85 runs per contest in 2023.
Acuña will begin to strike. Olson is going to begin striking. Albies, Harris, and Riley will begin to hit. This period of cold won’t persist indefinitely. It’s back: the Braves lineup that makes pitchers shudder in horror.
All of this is not intended to downplay Philadelphia’s achievements through the first six weeks of the season. Actually, just the reverse.
Even though the Braves are a wonderful team, it’s becoming more and more obvious that the talent levels of these two teams are closer than most of us expected. The Phillies are more than simply their studs, and the Braves are not unbeatable.
Although he won’t be able to maintain this intense pace, Alec Bohm (172 wRC+) has shown that he is a capable middle-of-the-field player. Bryson Stott (111 wRC+) and Brandon Marsh (109 wRC+), two other young players, are demonstrating that their breakthrough 2023 seasons were not an anomaly. They provide more than the typical player on the bases, in the field, and at the plate.Even if slumping Nick Castellanos never gets back to his previous level, the Phillies have one of the strongest lineups in the game with Bohm, Marsh, and Stott contributing alongside veterans Bryce Harper, Trea Turner (when healthy), Kyle Schwarber, and J.T. Realmuto.
In the meantime, the pitching staff of the Phillies may be just as formidable as the legendary Braves offense. Ranger Suárez (1.72 ERA), Cristopher Sánchez (3.22 ERA), and Spencer Turnbull (1.57 ERA) have all made significant progress behind Wheeler and Aaron Nola. Though history and common sense indicate that they should see some regression, all three have strong underlying statistics that show justifiable growth and development.
Suárez is demonstrating his precise control. Sánchez is an expert at ground balls. Turnbull’s deadly new sweeper and secret weapon of a changeup are helping him pile up strikeouts.
Regarding the bullpen, one of the worst back-end lineups in the game might consist of Jeff Hoffman (1.13 ERA, 2.08 xERA), José Alvarado (4.30, 3.01 xERA), Matt Strahm (1.26 ERA, 3.01 xERA), and Orion Kerkering (1.86 ERA, 1.83 xERA).
On the negative side, Gregory Soto (6.10 ERA, 5.28 xERA) and Seranthony Domínguez (7.43 ERA, 4.21 xERA) are having trouble. These two don’t need to put too much pressure on themselves, though, because they have so many gifted arms in their corner. When they’re at their most dominant, their raw material is still electrifying. Caleb Cotham, the brilliant pitching coach for the Phillies, is the one person who can help them turn things around.
The Phillies bullpen’s 3.49 FIP, 3.70 xFIP, and 3.65 SIERA indicate to promising things ahead despite their currently dismal 4.61 ERA. The fact that this team’s bullpen may be its weak point at the moment just helps to emphasize how good the starting rotation and offense have appeared.
In the NL East, the Braves remain the clear favorites. They remain the league’s finest team on paper. However, there’s a reason the Phillies have overthrown their division opponents.
In other words, over the first six weeks of the season, Philadelphia has been playing superior baseball. While it doesn’t prove the Phillies are a superior club, it does indicate that they won’t stand by and watch as the Braves win the NL East for a record seven times in a row.
The Phillies and Braves have much, much tighter talent differences than most people anticipated. Even though it appeared to be settled before the season even started, the NL East division race could end up being the most fiercely contested of the year.