Phillies Drop in Power Rankings

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The Philadelphia Phillies enter Tuesday’s contest above .500, but things have not been easy getting to that point.

What was once a dominant offense has become completely neutered so far.

17 games into the season, burying this offense isn’t wise considering what this group has proven over the past two years, but it’s been a frustrating stretch for the team and fans.

That’s one of the reasons why they dropped from sixth to No. 8 in this week’s edition of MLB.com’s power rankings.

The crazy thing is that, despite the Phillies looking like a completely different team, they are still only two games out of first place in the NL East division.

When they do find their offense, they should become one of the top teams in Major League Baseball once again.

But, the question is when that will come.

MLB.com points out that much of these struggles have been because Bryce Harper has gotten off to a historically slow start for his career.

“Bryce Harper is such a notoriously hot starter — his .987 career OPS in March-April is easily the best mark for any month in his career — that it’s downright disorienting to see him with a .190 average early.”

That raises the question about if the superstar will be able to turn things around.

If he looks like this during what has been his best month, then what are his performances going to be later in the summer and fall?

But Harper will turn things around.

He’s too good of a hitter not to.

And when that happens, it’s likely Philadelphia’s offense will as well, allowing them to put up tons of runs while their pitching staff grinds through games like they have done so far.