Phillies Rightfully Soaring Up MLB Power Rankings

May 17, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm (28) and first baseman Bryce Harper (right) celebrate after defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Phillies Rightfully Soaring Up MLB Power Rankings

Originally posted on Philadelphia Phillies on SI
By Nick Ziegler | Last updated May 18, 2026 10:00 AM ET

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The Philadelphia Phillies were able to have another fantastic week, and the team is now over the .500 mark, and the slow start is starting to become a thing of the past.

Following the dreadful (9-19) start to the season, the Phillies are now red-hot since Don Mattingly has taken over as the manager, and the team is firing on all cylinders. Since the decision to fire Rob Thomson, the team is (15-4) during that stretch and has won six straight series, with two sweeps included.

This week, the Phillies were able to take two out of three games against the Boston Red Sox, and then continued their road trip with a sweep against the Pittsburgh Pirates. In the finale on Sunday, it was Philadelphia getting the best of Paul Skenes, with Zack Wheeler remaining undefeated on the campaign.

Another solid week has rightfully helped change the narrative for the team, and the Phillies are now once again going to be seen as a contender in the National League. Recently, Will Leitch of MLB released his weekly power rankings. For Philadelphia, they came soaring up from 18th to 11th.

Phillies Rightfully Soaring Up Power Rankings

The seven-spot jump for Philadelphia is certainly deserved following the strong week and getting over the .500 mark. This week, while a (5-1) record was encouraging to see, the team received some impressive individual performances as well.

On the mound, Christopher Sanchez had his best outing of the season on Saturday against the Pirates. The NL Cy Young hopeful tossed a complete game shutout in the win, totaling 13 strikeouts as well.

Furthermore, the lineup continues to look much improved this week. Kyle Schwarber was able to achieve some impressive home run achievements at this stage in the campaign, and is now up to 20 so far. Furthermore, Bryce Harper continued to play well, giving the Phillies their talented two-headed monster in the batting order.

Also, the play of the struggling Alec Bohm has really improved of late. The former All-Star is on an eight-game hitting streak now and has been playing much better of late. In the series against the Pirates, he moved up to the cleanup spot, and the results have been good.

The Phillies will be returning home for three games against the Cincinnati Reds to start the week, followed by three more at home against the Cleveland Guardians. With the team now over the .500 mark, the next goal will be to chase down the Atlanta Braves.

This article first appeared on Philadelphia Phillies on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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