Last night we saw why the Phillies are 15 games behind the Braves in NL East. After signing Harper, and trading for Realmuto and Segura, who would v'e thought the Phils would be so far behind Atlanta. Here's why..
The Braves top 4 hitters in their line-up:
1. Acuna Jr. .. The young superstar the Phillies don't have. Only 21. A product from the international pool. Acuna Jr is leading Atlanta into the playoffs while the Phillies' top international player- Ortiz- is languishing in the minors and battling a weight problem.
2. Albies... Product of the Braves' deep farm system. Solid hitter and defender, with speed and power. Closest player the Phillies have to Albies is Scott Kingery, who has no regular position. No wonder he is so inconsistent. Excellent Atlanta scouting and player development.
3. Freeman...A veteran superstar. A pure .300 hitter. A product of the braves' deep and rich farm system. When was the last player developed by the Phillies from their farm system? Ryan Howard? Chase Utley?
4. Donaldson... A product of the Braves' shrewd talent evaluation. The Phils got Harper for 12 years and tons of money. Atlanta signed Donaldson to one year at $23 million, He has 37 home runs.
We haven't even mentioned the Philadelphia inept manager and general manager, and their president's lackadaisical attitude ("If we don't, we don't_ is one of the more stupid quotes ever uttered by a Philly manager, coach or front office guy.).
We didn't even mention analytics. The Phillies are all in while the Braves mostly use old-school baseball. They hit homers but don't solely rely on them. We haven't' mentioned pitching. The braves are loaded with young starters while the Phillies - specifically Klentek- sign and trade for old, scrap-heap hurlers .
Hopefully John Middleton won't look at the second wild card spot but winning the division. Then you have a realistic chance to go far into the post season.
The Phillies have a long way to go before they contend with the Braves.
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