Phillies biggest early-season weakness isn't even their fault

After taking two of three against the Miami Marlins over the weekend, the Philadelphia Phillies improved to 28-13 on the season. Not only do they have the best record in the National League, but they have the best record in all of baseball.

This kind of start is unprecedented for a Phillies team that has consistently gotten out of the gates slowly in recent years. Sure, they made the postseason in 2022 and 2023, but they were one game under .500 On May 13, 2022, and one game over .500 at this point last season. Now, they're 15 games over and are the best team in baseball record-wise.

There hasn't been much to knock the Phillies for with how well they've been playing. The one thing fans can point to isn't even their fault.

Phillies can't be blamed for their only "weakness"

As impressive as their record is, context is important. The reality of the situation is that the Phillies have played just about nobody. The only teams that they've played against who are currently over .500 are the Atlanta Braves and the San Diego Padres. They lost two of three against the Braves and the Padres just snuck over .500 with a win on Sunday.

Is it their fault that they've had the easiest strength of schedule thus far? Not in the slightest. You can only play who is on the schedule, and the Phillies are doing exactly what they should be doing against the weaker teams.

However, can we trust the Phillies to maintain this high level of play against the formidable opponents? That remains to be seen.

Their schedule will get a lot tougher as the season progresses. They've built themselves a nice cushion when it comes to making the postseason, but for them to win their first division title since 2011 they're going to need to maintain this high level of play against the cream of the crop of the league. If they fail to do that, then it's fair to say their early-season success had to do with their schedule.