Shitty series in Atlanta, but the Phillies send a franchise-record seven players to the All-Star game

The Phillies lost 2 of 3 games in Atlanta and weren’t competitive on Saturday and Sunday. Oh well. They still have the best record in baseball and lead the division by eight games. Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and JT Realmuto will be back.

Meanwhile, the All-Star rosters were announced on Sunday and the Phils are sending a franchise-record seven players to the game. They include Harper, Alec Bohm, Trea Turner, Ranger Suarez, Zack Wheeler, Matt Strahm and Jeff Hoffman. Harper, Bohm and Turner are starters.

It’s kind of ridiculous when you look at the MLB list and compare the bad years to 2024:

You can hardly fit all the names in that lineup. But look at some of the other years. Pat Neshek. Odubel Herrera. Jonathan Papelbon. Even last year they only had two All Stars.

If you go back 15 years to the golden era, there were two seasons where the Phils had five All Stars in the ASG. You can see 2011 in the graphic above, but in 2009 they sent Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez, Chase Utley, Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth. Zero pitchers. Maybe a prediction of the World Series that year. They also had five All Stars in 1995 – Darren Daulton, Nails, Tyler Green, Mickey Morandini and Heathcliff Slocumb. Same in the late ’70s and early ’80s. There were a couple seasons with five All Stars, guys like Bob Boone and Pete Rose and Mike Schmidt.

But first, the Dodgers. They’re 4-5 in their last nine games and haven’t been playing particularly well lately. If the Phils win 2 of 3 home games and are 3-3 in this stretch between Atlanta and LA with three fewer starters, that’s fine. We’ll accept that.