Sports

Santoliquito: The Phillies Still Have A Lot Of Growing Up To Do

June 27, 2018 / 8:51 PM EDT / CBS Philadelphia

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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- As for June, the youngest daily lineup in Major League Baseball are the Philadelphia Phillies, according to Baseballreference.com, with an average of age of 26.4, followed by the Chicago White Sox (26.6), New York Yankees (27), Chicago Cubs (27.1) and Texas Rangers (27.3).

Maybe this could explain the Phils' sporadic play, looking good one moment, and screwing things up the next.

But it appears the Phils are finding an identity this June—thanks to the New York Yankees. The Phils could be a playoff contender in the National League, but they're certainly not yet in the caliber of the Yankees (who is, besides Boston and Houston?), despite being not much younger in what is turning into a water-downed season filled with tanking teams.

This season, the Phils are 23-27 against .500-plus teams, after being outscored 10-2 by the Yankees in the first two games of this important June series, and 18-8 overall over their last three games.

While everyone is focused on the Phils' bullpen woes, and they are tangible, the Phillies are hitting a collective .235 in 77 games, which ranks them 25th overall in Major League Baseball, and their 1,003 total bases is 27th in MLB. A bigger concern is their 747 strikeouts, which is third overall in Major League Baseball, which includes the 25 times they struck out in the first two games against the Yankees.

This was supposed to be an important stretch of games for the Phils in late May. This was supposed to create some indication of where this team is, which is 12-15 over the 32-game stretch they would have with teams playing .500 or better on May 28. The Phillies are still hanging around with the first-place Atlanta Braves, who are 5-5 over their last 10 games, and managing to stay just ahead of the foundering Washington Nationals, who are 3-7 over their last 10 and should have been swept by the Phillies last weekend.

It appears the 2018 Phillies are going to be good. But does good define being satisfied with just making the playoffs, or doing something in October for the first time in eight years, when they last won a playoff series.