Fueled by Carlos Ruiz, Philadelphia Phillies Are Making a Push in NL East

If you enjoyed taking your shots at the Philadelphia Phillies while they had a losing record and were digging themselves a last-place hole in the NL East, you might have to find another team to jeer now.

As disappointing as the Phillies have been this season, they had never fallen lower than four games under .500. No, a 6.5-game deficit in the division standings didn’t look good, but that’s hardly an insurmountable obstacle with more than 120 games remaining on the schedule. 

So talking about the Phillies being sellers at the trade deadline, as ESPN.com’s Jim Bowden did this week and I did myself last week, may have been a bit premature.

The Phillies almost certainly have tabled such talk after leaping over the .500 hurdle Thursday night with an 8-7 win over the Chicago Cubs. That gave the Fightins a winning record for the first time since they began the season at 1-0.

This is still a last-place team with four teams between them and the NL East’s top spot. But the Phillies are only five-and-a-half games back and the division is pretty tightly packed. The Miami Marlins are two-and-a-half games ahead for fourth place, while the New York Mets are only one game better for third. 

One good or bad streak could change things in a big way. The Phillies have put themselves in this position by winning five in a row and six of their last seven.

Philadelphia’s schedule presented just such an opportunity, with the Padres, Astros and Cubs laid out for them. Had the Phillies not been able to capitalize on lesser competition, then the concerns would have been more valid.

After helping them to right the ship a bit, the Phillies’ schedule will soon allow them to directly influence the NL East standings. Following this weekend’s interleague series with the Red Sox, Philadelphia will play nine of its next 13 games against division rivals. That could help them move up the standings in a big way. 

One big factor in the Phillies’ recent surge has been catcher Carlos Ruiz. Since Apr. 24, when his batting average was a season-low .265 with an OPS of .745, Ruiz’s bat has caught fire. He’s batted .438 (28-for-64) with five home runs and 23 RBI.

During that stretch, Ruiz’s slash average to .363/.405/.619. That .363 batting average is currently the third-best in the NL, with his 1.024 OPS ranked as the sixth-highest total.

You might not expect Ruiz’s name to be listed with the best hitters in baseball, yet there he is. 

For a team without Chase Utley and Ryan Howard in its lineup, while Hunter Pence (7.88 OPS), Shane Victorino (.694) and Jimmy Rollins (.580) have struggled, Ruiz’s performance has made a huge difference for the Phillies.

The bullpen remains a major concern, however, and will have to show some significant improvement for the Phillies to keep making a push. Jake Diekman was awful in his second major league appearance, giving up four runs on one hit and two walks in just two-thirds of an inning. Chad Qualls and Jose Contreras don’t leave the team with many good options in middle relief, other than Antonio Bastardo.

If Ruben Amaro has to make one move, bolstering the bullpen should be it. And if that’s the most significant concern Amaro has to address right now, then the Phillies might be in better shape than many of us thought.

They’re certainly beginning to look that way.

 

Follow @iancass on Twitter

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com