Throughout the 2015 season, we’ll turn to our resident Phillies analysts to debate the hottest topics of a year that will be more about development and building for the future than on-field results.
In this edition, we pick our unexpected standouts for the Phillies. And on Monday, we looked at our biggest disappointments.
Nearly two months into the season, who has been the Phillies' biggest surprise?
Casey Feeney, CSN producer
There have been more impactful surprises than Luis Garcia for the Phillies in the season’s first two months. But I’ll argue the degree of surprise with his success is the highest.
Ryan Howard has a lengthy track record of success. Freddy Galvis has been a prospect worthy of discussion for the better part of a decade.
Luis Garcia, however, was once a barber. He is now the Phillies’ top right-handed setup reliever. Garcia walks too many, gives up more hits than you’d like. But he is pitching to a sub-3.50 ERA and has given Ryne Sandberg a reliable option in the seventh inning as more household names in that bullpen have struggled in that spot.
Brian Brennan, CSN producer
I thought Ryan Howard was done being a legitimate threat in the middle of the order, but the Big Piece has proven me wrong with his best month in nearly five years.
Howard is hitting .338 with six home runs and an OPS of 1.053 in May. Those are numbers we haven’t seen since he ruptured his Achilles tendon on the final out of the 2011 NLDS. In fact, Howard hasn't had an OPS over .950 in a full month since September 2010.
If he can remain productive for a few more weeks, there may be serious interest from AL teams in need of first base/DH help. That’s a scenario I thought was a pipe dream only a month ago.
MLB
Jordan Hall, CSNPhilly.com producer/writer
Freddy Galvis is such a neat story.
As a career .218 hitter, he comes into the 2015 season as the successor of the franchise's all-time hits leader, the starting shortstop since 2001, the player which sparked the greatest era of Phillies baseball.
Many made light of Galvis filling Jimmy Rollins' shoes. Many poked fun at his hitting ability. Many thought he was a temporary stopgap.
But Galvis made most of the Phillies' offseason change in hitting philosophy by shortening his swing, putting an emphasis on making contact and keeping the ball out of the air. A little more than a week ago, the 25-year-old was among baseball's leaders in hitting, and currently, he's by far the Phillies' leading hitter at .309.
And no one saw it coming.
Bravo, Freddy.