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Meaningful baseball is back for the Phillies: Macnow – Metro US

Meaningful baseball is back for the Phillies: Macnow

The Phillies offense has shown some serious power early on this season. (Photo: Getty Images)
Well, it didn’t take long to establish that fun, winning baseball has returned to South Philadelphia. Before April even broke, the Phillies swept the defending division champions, pounded eight home runs and almost got into a brawl with the Atlanta Braves. Ahh, good times.
 
Everything we hoped for in the offseason arrived in a flurry. The Phillies outscored Atlanta 23-11 over three games. Newcomers Andrew McCutchen and J.T. Realmuto shined, and a pair of 26-year-old holdovers, Rhys Hoskins and Maikel Franco, showed promise for great seasons. Take my advice: If it’s not too late, go lay $100 on Hoskins to finish way over the 99.5 RBIs Vegas projected before the season. He’s currently on pace for 270.
 
Granted this was just the first three games of 162. But don’t tell the 130,000 who packed Citizen’s Bank Park what they saw doesn’t portend a wonderful summer. It’s been seven seasons since our great city enjoyed meaningful baseball. It’s back, big time.
 
The Phils averaged 90 losses over those seven years. They disappeared from the national scene. Sunday marked the first time ESPN brought its top broadcast team to town since Charlie Manuel was still manager.
 
Speaking of which, ESPN’s baseball crew rivals its MNF crew for ineptitude. The yokels gawked for two innings over cheesesteaks placed in front of them, which Alex Rodriguez called “a cheese sandwich.” A-Rod also kept referring to Hoskins as “Haskins,” and said that Odubel Herrera had “strucken out twice.”
 
But I digress. The real magnet for a national network showing up (and many of those 130,000 fans) was Bryce Harper. He didn’t disappoint, bashing a homer and double Sunday night and reaching base four times. 
 
Harper’s over-the-top home run celebration in the seventh inning prompted Braves reliever Shane Carle to plunk Hoskins with the next pitch — earning Carle an immediate ejection and creating stirring in both dugouts. While baseball brawls are dumb, I like the idea that Phils-Braves looks to be a heated, important rivalry again after too many years of dormancy.
 
Since signing with the Phils, Harper has hit every right note — from wearing Phanatic-logoed spikes on Opening Day to saluting the fans seated behind him in right field. Critics may call it pandering, and maybe some of it is, but what’s not to love about a guy who hugs Eagles coach Doug Pederson and then launches a 465-foot home run?
 
Harper also has that magnetic quality that makes you put aside whatever you’re doing and run to the TV when he’s up to bat. The last player here with that attribute was young Ryan Howard.
 
The Phils now travel to Washington, where Harper-mania will turn to Harper Malice for spurned Nats fans. We’ll enjoy another rekindled rivalry in what looks to be a deep NL East.
 
There are still valid concerns about the Phils, mostly centered on starting pitching. None of those were eased over the weekend by the performances of Nick Pivetta (who couldn’t get out of the fifth inning Saturday) and Jake Arrieta (who issued six walks in the cold on Sunday). 
 
But this starting lineup could be the best our town has seen since 2009 when the Phils scored 820 runs on their way to a World Series matchup against the Yankees. For all the fun it was in subsequent seasons to watch Ruben Amaro assemble those great rotations, Citizens Bank Park is built for power. The team that hits the most home runs is likely to win there.
 
And for now, it sure seems like that team is the one wearing red pinstripes.