Article Written by Michael Doctorovitz
Originally Published on August 10, 2023
The vibes at Citizens Bank Park are high right now. From the standing ovation for Trea Turner, to Turner heating up a bit, to the Castellanos 200th career home run, the Wes Wilson home run in his first major league at-bat and of course the Michael Lorenzen no-hitter.
Wednesday night’s game against the Nationals may have been the best regular season Phillies game some of us have seen since Roy Halladay’s perfect game in May of 2010.
The game on Wednesday night marks the first time in MLB history that a player hit a home run in his first major league at-bat and a pitcher threw a no-hitter in his debut with a team in the same game.
The addition of Lorenzen has been spectacular thus far. In two starts, he is 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA, 10 strikeouts and five walks to go along with 17.0 innings pitched. The 17 innings is the most overlooked stat but it is an important one for the Phillies due to the high usage of the bullpen in the past month.
With vibes so good, what could possibly ruin it? The answer is Aaron Nola. Nola has been a vibe killer all season. If you don’t know what that means, it simply means that when the team seems to be on a roll and playing to their potential, Nola has a let down start. It has happened time and time again this season but Thursday night will be different.
On Thursday night, the prediction is that Nola will ride high off of the energy from Lorenzen and go a solid 6.2 IP, allowing one run on three hits while striking out eight and walking two.
The emergence of Turner heating up, along with Bohm getting hot and Bryce Harper hitting for a little more power, could be huge for the Phillies down the stretch. There are some that believe they can catch the Braves, they won’t, but there are more that believe that they can possibly solidify the number one wild card spot in the NL which would mean a three game series in the jungle that is Citizens Bank Park.
Michael Doctorovitz,
Columnist
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