Philadelphia Phillies Are Using This Key Stat to Dominate Their Opponents

The Philadelphia Phillies are leaning on one simple thing that's catapulted them into having the best record in all of baseball.

May 16, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies third base Alec Bohm (28) / Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Throughout Spring Training, the conversation was centered on the Philadelphia Phillies getting off to a good start at the beginning of the year.

In 2022, they had to turn their season around to make the playoffs, and last year they dealt with tons of injuries that had them in the Wild Card hunt immediately.

That's not the case in 2024.

The Phillies hold the best record in Major League Baseball and show no signs of slowing down, even with some injuries starting to pile up to some of their best players.

So, what's been the secret to Philadelphia's success?

They have utilized getting off to hot starts in games to their advantage.

Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia notes they have scored 71 runs in the first two innings. That's 12 more than the Texas Rangers who are second on this list. It's also 28 more runs than the league average.

The Phillies have a record of 24-8 in the 32 games where they have scored first. That's good for a 75% win percentage in those contests compared to the 57% when they don't.

"It just puts people on their heels right away, and as you get later into the game, I think offenses start to get a little antsy. You start swinging early and trying to do too much," manager Rob Thomson said.

That plays right into the hands of their dominant starting rotation who has shown the ability to go late into games before handing things over to a bullpen who throws at high velocities and can put away hitters as needed.

Brandon Marsh is hoping this continues for the team throughout the year.

"I hope so. I really hope so. Getting going early with the staff that we've got and bullpen to close it down, if we get some early runs, we've got a really good chance. I really hope that's the case for the Phils," he said.

It certainly has worked so far and it doesn't seem like they're going to shy away from that approach anytime soon.