Phillies news and rumors 6/20: Philadelphia isn’t the only hot team in the NL East right now

Ranger Suárez is scheduled to start for the Phillies tonight. (Cody Glenn/Icon Sportswire)

Just like last season, the Philadelphia Phillies find themselves in the middle of a hot streak as June enters its third full week. After their sweep of the Oakland Athletics this past weekend, Rob Thomson’s squad has a 13-4 record through their first 17 games this month.

But despite that strong start to the season’s third month, the third-place Phillies haven’t gained much ground on the first or second place teams in their division. In fact, the club’s deficit to both those teams has increased by half-a-game since the start of the month.

The division-leading Atlanta Braves are currently 13-3 in June, which has resulted in a now eight-game lead over the Phillies — a lead that was seven-and-a-half games on June 1. While in Miami, the Marlins — who were two-and-a-half games ahead of Philadelphia at the start of June — have compiled a 12-4 record this month and now have a three-game lead for second place over the Phillies.

Braves-Phillies Preview

The reigning NL champs will have an opportunity to gain some ground on Atlanta starting tonight, though, as they begin a three-game set against their division rival. Both teams have been scoring plenty of runs lately, while their starting rotations have been on opposite trajectories.

Through the end of play on Sunday, the Braves’ 113 runs scored this month were the most in baseball, while the Phillies’ 92 runs were third.

Atlanta’s starting rotation, however, has not been as good as their offense. Braves starters have posted a 5.57 ERA in their last 16 games. Philadelphia’s rotation, on the other hand, has been as strong as their offense with a Major League-leading 2.54 ERA in June.

With Philadelphia seemingly having a starting pitching advantage entering their series against Atlanta, here’s a look at what those matchups will be this week:

The defending NL East champs are scheduled to send Spencer Strider to the mound tonight to face-off against left-hander Ranger Suárez. Strider started the year off on the right foot, but since his last start against the Phillies on May 28, the 24-year-old right-hander has made three starts and has a 9.00 ERA during that stretch. Meanwhile, Suárez’s year has been the exact opposite. After struggling through his first three outings, the 27-year-old southpaw has posted a 1.35 ERA across 26 2/3 innings in his last four starts.

On Wednesday, rookie right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver will get the ball for Brian Snitker’s club. Smith-Shawver has made three appearances this year — two of which have been starts. The 20-year-old has pitched 13 1/3 innings so far and has allowed just three earned runs — all of those came in his last start on Thursday against the Rockies. For the Phillies, Aaron Nola is scheduled to make his 16th start of the season. The veteran right-hander is still looking to right the ship as he currently has a 4.66 ERA in his 94 2/3 innings this season with a 4.50 June ERA.

And in the series finale, 24-year-old Bryce Elder is set to go up against 30-year-old Taijuan Walker. Just like Strider, Elder had a strong start to his 2023 campaign, but has been knocked around a bit in June. The young right-hander combined to allow nine earned runs in his first two starts this month. He did bounce back in his last start on Saturday, though, as he pitched six innings of one-run ball. Walker, who struggled mightily over the first month-and-a-half of the season, has turned things around in a big way of late. He has a 2.70 ERA in his last seven starts, and has allowed just one run — which came in his eight-inning performance this past Saturday — to score over his last three outings.

This week’s Braves-Phillies series will be an important one as both clubs look to continue their recent stretch of winning baseball. It will also be the second time these two teams play one another this season and the first time Atlanta comes to Citizens Bank Park since the NLDS last fall.

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