The Phillies took care of business against the Mets. By taking care of business, they just kind of got out of the Mets’ way and let them find ways to lose, but a win is a win, and the Phillies won two games in a stadium where they don’t often do so. Now, they’ll return home to face a Pirates team that got off to a good start, but has a losing record in June and is now down to a .500 record.
Opposition research: Brandon Lowe
Brandon Lowe’s career got off to a great start. As a rookie with the Rays, he made the All-Star team and finished
third in Rookie of the Year voting. The next two years, he was in the top 10 of AL MVP voting, including a 39-home run season in 2021.
But he never took the next step to superstardom, and settled in as a good, but not great player. He’ll hit 20+ home runs every season (31 in 2025) but an unexceptional on-base percentage, and increasingly poor defense at second base made the Rays deem him expendable. He was part of a three-team trade this offseason, and started the season as the Pirates’ second baseman.
The change of scenery has seemed to agree with him. He’s already hit 20 home runs, and his defense has graded out much better.
It’s possible that he makes his second All-Star team, although Phillies fans can help prevent that if they stuff the ballot box for Bryson Stott.
He’s going to be a free agent at season’s end, meaning the Pirates have a decision to make. It seems dangerous for a team with such a limited payroll to commit to a guy having a career best season at age 31.
Remembering a guy who played for the Pirates and Phillies
Andy Van Slyke is best remembered for his time with the Pirates. In eight seasons with the team, he made three All-Star games, two Silver Slugger awards, and five Gold Gloves in center field. After 1994, with Van Slyke seemingly in decline, the Pirates allowed him to leave as a free agent.
He signed with the Orioles for the 1995 season, but struggled, batting .159 in 17 games. The Phillies, needing outfield help, traded for him, putting him in center field, and shifting Lenny Dykstra to left.
Van Slyke had a successful debut with the Phillies, hitting a home run in a win over the Mets. Unfortunately, he then got injured in his second game and ended up missing almost a month. He struggled greatly after his return, and ended up batting just .243 in 63 games as the Phillies had an awful second half of the season.
Hating on the Pirates
Why hate on the Pirates when team ownership does such a good job of it themselves? They run the team like a minor league franchise, and it feels like a matter of when, not if, that Paul Skenes is pitching somewhere else.
They pick near the top of the draft just about every year, but very few blue-chip talents ever seem to reach the major league team. They already handed a bag to prospect Konnor Griffin and based on how the past few decades have gone for the Pirates, it seems just as likely that he’ll go the way of Scott Kingery.
Additional thought about the series
Wednesday’s pitching matchup of Zack Wheeler vs. Skenes is a great one on paper, although the earlier matchup between the two didn’t turn out to be much of a pitchers’ duel. Wheeler was terrific, throwing seven shutout innings, but Skenes was clearly not at his best, giving up five runs in five innings.
Somehow, the Pirates are still using Gregory Soto as their closer. He has four blown saves on the season, including one against the Phillies. Last time, I predicted that he’d blow one, and really, it wasn’t that difficult of a prediction. In a four-game series, it feels like he’s got another bad outing in him.
