The Philadelphia Phillies have not played up to the expectations of what their fans hold them to as their fans have had many things to be not happy about during this season. Yet, Monday's game was a major high point in the Phillies' 2014 season. Phillies' pitchers Cole Hamels, Jake Diekman, Ken Giles and Jonathan Papelbon combined to pitch a no-hitter against their division rivals, the Atlanta Braves. Despite this, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports that the highly criticized Phillies' general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. stated that there are lots of big changes coming soon to the Phillies' organization.
The Phillies are currently sitting in the cellar of the National League East, as they cannot seem to get out of last place. As a team, the Phillies sport a .245 batting average, which places them in the bottom half of the National League. Their team 3.87 ERA is in the bottom half of the National League, as well. Phillies' pitcher Cole Hamels was the starting pitcher during the no-hitter yesterday, contributing to the fact that he has been the Phillies' best pitcher this season. Hamels is 8-6 on the year with a 2.50 ERA.
Several Phillies have very big contracts and have started a decline in ability which makes them much harder to trade. One key example of this is first basemen Ryan Howard. Howard has slumped majorly this season, hitting .225/.308/.383 this season with twenty home runs and 87 runs batted in.
The Phillies do have young talent though, as one of their up and coming stats is Ben Revere. In yesterday's team no-hitter, Revere had two hits and five runs batted in on the day. Revere is batting .310/.328/.364 with forty stolen bases in 126 games this season.
The Phillies will need somebody to come in and spark their offense for next season, as they hope that they can get back on track and return to their glory days in the late 2000s, which was just a few years ago.