The Philadelphia Phillies head into the series opener with the Oakland A’s tonight with a 61-32 record. They are in first place in the National League East and finish the first half of the year at home in a three-game series with Oakland. They currently hold nine a half-game lead over the Atlanta Braves and have the best record in the Majors. They just swept the Los Angeles Dodgers at home and open the second half of the season on the road in Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates, who have the National League All-Star games starting pitcher on their roster in Paul Skenes who has been phenomenal this year. The Phillies will look to carry over the momentum from the Dodgers series into this three-game set with Oakland before taking a few days off and trying to pick up where they left off when facing the Pirates. Before today’s game, they announced two roster moves.
2B – Whit Merrifield
The Phillies have released Merrifield ahead of today’s game with the Oakland A’s. Whit has played 53 games for the Phillies this year and has struggled mightily. He is currently slashing .199/.277/.295 with a .572 OPS on the year. In 156 at-bats he has 21 runs scored, 31 hits, four doubles, one triple, three home runs, 11 RBIs, 15 walks, 19 strikeouts, and 11 stolen bases. Quite a drop from last year’s slash line .272/.318/.382 and .700 ops with the Toronto Blue Jays.
3B – Weston Wilson
The Phillies have recalled Wilson from Triple-A, who has been playing with the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs. Wilson has played in two games so far this year with the Phillies previously without recording a hit. While in Triple-A he has played in 71 games with 263 at-bats, 49 runs scored, 63 hits, 11 doubles, 18 home runs, 55 RBIs, 42 walks, 76 strikeouts, and 14 stolen bases. He has a slash line of .240/.340/.487 with a .827 OPS on the year.
Overview
It’s unfortunate to see Merrifield go, but given his first-half performance, it was an easy decision, no need to keep him riding the pine if you have younger talent who could serve that purpose this year. Especially with the way the team has been playing as a whole this year. I would not be surprised to see Merrifield catch on somewhere else given his career stats and even last year’s stats, perhaps a change of scenery could do him well and he can finish out the year on a high note erasing his memory of this dreadful first half with the team leading the major leagues in wins.
