Philadelphia Phillies Entering Uncharted Territory as Front-Runners

It's a change in role for this Philadelphia Phillies group and it will be seen how they are able to handle it.

May 18, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies first base Bryce Harper (3) | Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

It's hard not to be enamored with what the Philadelphia Phillies have done so far this season.

They have dominated their opponents, but have also found ways to win when coming from behind if one of their starting pitchers doesn't have their top stuff or if their offense happens to be a bit quiet.

That's not only admirable, it's reason why they have the best record in the MLB.

But, it's also a complete change of role for this team who has prided themselves on being the underdog after sitting there overlooked because of the dominance by their archrival Atlanta Braves.

The Phillies were able to use that to propel them past the Braves in each of the last two playoff meetings, despite all the accolades that the dominant NL East winners had racked up during the regular season.

Now, it's Philadelphia who is in the role of front-runner.

This is new for this group, and something they will have to navigate for the remainder of the year.

So far, they have handled it well, taking care of business against inferior opponents by not playing down to their level and also raising their profile against the better teams on their schedule during this run.

But, they also showed what can happen when they're in that position after they dropped the last two games at home in the 2023 National League Championship Series against the 84-win Arizona Diamondbacks when there were massive expectations upon the Phillies to advance.

It's fair to question how they'll handle it.

During their improbable run to the 2022 World Series, nobody really expected them to get there. After all, they had to play the 93-win St. Louis Cardinals on the road before taking on the 101-win Braves, and then the loaded San Diego Padres roster.

After they took care of business against the Miami Marlins in 2023, there were very few people expecting them to beat Atlanta again.

They did, and everything changed as they entered their matchup against the Diamondbacks.

Maybe that failure prepared this version of Philadelphia to handle all the attention and pressure that comes with being a dominant, front-running team.

Only time will tell, but right now, they are handling it better than anyone could have imagined as they continue to steamroll their competition game after game and series after series.