Zach Eflin And Rhys Hoskins Put The Phillies On Their Backs
June 27, 2018
Phillies 3 Yankees 0
42-36 and 2.5 GB of 1st Place
Last night, Rhys Hoskins became the fastest Phillies player ever to 30 HR. Faster than HOF Chuck Klein, Faster than the greatest 3B to ever play the game, Mike Schmidt, and even quicker than my favorite Phil of all time, Ryan Howard. Since coming off the DL on June 9th, Rhys has 6 HR 18 RBI and a 1.026 OPS.
Zach Eflin dazzled, going 7 strong allowing only 4 hits and 2 walks to one of the most dangerous lineups on the planet. He lowered his season ERA to 3.02 after a stellar June. This month, Eflin is 5-0 with a 1.76 ERA and 28 K’s.
Don’t sleep on SirAntn’y either, throwing cheddar in the 8th and the 9th to get the Rivera style save.
The Phillies average age is 26.6 years old which is the lowest in the National League. After getting crucified on Monday and Tuesday, which included veteran arm Jake Arietta getting taken behind the woodshed, it was the young kids who had to step up.
Rhys Hoskins has become the staple of this lineup at only 25 years old. Yet, everyday he is also showing he is the leader of this team. He struggled mightily at the beginning of the season. Then to make matters worse, he lands himself on the DL at the end of May. But since his return, the overall direction of this team has shifted significantly. Back-to-back losses used to haunt the Phillies in years past. Outings like Severino had on Tuesday would take the Phils a month to recover from. Not the 2018 Phillies. Not Rhys’ Phillies. It’s the second time this month and since Rhys’ return that the Phillies were able to overcome 2 really tough losses in a row and take the 3rd. It’s these wins that are key to maintaining any positive momentum.
How about my boy Zach Eflin. At just 24 years old, his June numbers were incredible as I mentioned above. In a month where Arietta and Aaron Nola really struggled, it was Eflin who stepped up. It’s stories like Eflin that give me so much faith in the current direction of this team. Efflin was pretty much a lost cause after last season. Recovering from knee surgery in both knees following the 2016 season and then a shoulder strain that hampered him most of 2017, the organization, and certainly, my faith in the guy was bleak. He didn’t even make the Major League roster out of the gate to start this season.
But if you watched him in 2016, you knew there was something special about him. At 6’6 215, he has the frame, the velocity and the charisma on the mound to be something special. The bum knees and shoulder looked to be fully recovered and his last 5 starts proved it too.
And how about your boy TByrd…stay hot kid.
Phillies are 3-0 this season when TByrd is at CBP. They needed me tonight and I delivered again. Go Phils.
— Tyler (@PhillyTByrd) June 28, 2018
This brutal month is almost over thank the lord. These next 4 at home are BIG games against Washington. We know their fans won’t travel like the Yankees did because well, they don’t have any. So the park will ours again. After this series, it looks to be smooth sailing for the month of July with our first 5 series against Baltimore, Pittsburgh, NYM, Miami and San Diego who have a combined record of 161-240. Let’s start by getting 3 this weekend and as always…
Go Phils.