Leo Morgenstern

And I think that...

Anyone who has watched Ernie Clement over the past couple of years knows that he would be a ton of fun to watch in the All-Star game, and hopefully maybe that gets him some of the votes that he needs to get in there.

Yeah, I mean, they're such a dramatically top-heavy team that it feels hard to know what to predict about them.

Like, they have that incredible one-two punch at the top of the rotation in Sanchez and Wheeler.

They have, I mean, maybe not so much in the Blue Jays series, but that incredible closer in Joan Duran.

They have Schwarber and Harper leading the top of the lineup.

Brandon Marsh having this great year.

And then it's just like...

Is that enough when they're getting very little contribution from the rest of the team?

You can see it working better in a playoff series when you only have to rely on your top few starters.

But if Schwarber, Harper go cold for just a stretch of games, all of a sudden this is a team that can't score.

The Phillies have had that issue.

There have been stretches this year where they just were barely managing to score three, four, five runs a game.

Sometimes their rotation was keeping them in it.

Sometimes they were not.

So the Phillies will go as far as their stars can take them.

And if Harper and Schwarber are hot, and if you're in a playoff series where you're given more innings to your best arms,

This could be a World Series contender, but if the wrong guys go cold at the wrong time, then they can look shockingly mediocre.

I think it's probably a little bit of both.

I mean, there are certain teams in the American League that are playing really well, like we could look to the Tampa Bay Rays.