Just One Philadelphia Phillies Hitter Is Projected to Make NL All-Star Roster

After a torrid start to May put the Philadelphia Phillies in first place in the National League East, they have hit a skid over the last two weeks.

They ended the month on a low note, losing three in a row to the Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers on the heels of a stretch in which they were victorious in 11 out of 12 games.

The poor play has carried into June, where the team has six out of seven games, nearly giving back all of the positive production it built during their hot stretch last month.

With the Phillies struggling again and the New York Mets surging, they find themselves 4.5 games behind in the NL East, the only team within single-digits of the Mets. Philadelphia is clinging onto the final wild card spot currently, one game agahead of the St. Louis Cardinals.

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The Phillies are going to remain right in the playoff mix, but they do need to make some additions to their roster to stay in that position.

Their offense has been painfully inconsistent at a few spots in the lineup and the pitching staff is feeling the loss of closer Jose Alvarado to an 80-game suspension and Jesus Luzardo plummeting back down to Earth with his production.

There haven’t been a ton of bright spots to get overly excited about, but one of them is designated hitter, Kyle Schwarber.

He has been the team’s best hitter all season, performing at an incredibly high level as he looks to make the most of his free agency that is rapidly approaching.

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Schwarber was selected by David Schoenfield of ESPN as the lone Philadelphia positional player to make the National League All-Star team in his early predictions.

It would be the third All-Star nomination for him in his career and one that he has earned with his performance thus far this season.

He leads the team with 20 home runs and entering play on June 9, he is the only player with double-digit homers on the team. His 46 RBI are also the most on the team, along with his 44 walks.

Schwarber is still striking out a ton with 73, but he is more than making up for it with the damage he is doing with the bat. He has a .252/.378/.550 slash line with a 155 OPS+, which also is tops on the squad.

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He has been carrying the Phillies offense for a majority of the campaign and certainly deserves to represent the team at the Midsummer Classic.

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