Don Mattingly has the Phillies Trending in the Right Direction

PHILADELPHIA -- As the Philadelphia Phillies hit the quarter mark of the season, it's fair to wonder what Don Mattingly has seen in his two weeks as manager.

Mattingly has been the Phillies manager for just 13 games, yet he has witnessed the entire 41-game stretch on the coaching staff. The outlook of the Phillies has changed for the better, as evidenced by how winning baseball games can change the outlook of things.

"You know, I feel like we're going in the right direction now," Mattingly said Sunday. "We started off a little sideways, kind of regulated. Pitching has kind of normalized. Our starters and bullpen have been good. We're catching the baseball better. The at-bats are getting better. I think it's kind of normalizing.

"It would have happened no matter what, but in my profession -- it's good."

When the Phillies took the first two games of the Giants series 12 days ago, Mattingly was adamant about the ballclub not forgetting how to win games -- even though it was their first series win in weeks.

The "Normalization" of the Phillies Offense

The Phillies have normalized their season since Mattingly took over, starting with how the offense has performed. They lead all of baseball with a .275 batting average, while also having 19 home runs and a .470 slugging percentage (also leading baseball). Their .794 OPS was also third in baseball, a huge reason why the team is 10-3 under Mattingly.

Pitching Turnaround: From Bottom Tier to Top Ten

The pitching has normalized as well. The team ERA is 3.40 (11th in MLB), while the batting average against is .236 (16th). The FIP is 2.96 (third), and the WHIP is 1.19 (11th) since Mattingly took over.

"We knew what we had in-house," Brandon Marsh said. "We knew what type of team we were. We knew we were an explosive team with really good pitching. We just didn't show that at the beginning of the year. It's nobody's fault but ours.

"It's on us to turn it around and go where we wanna go. It's a long hill we gotta climb, but we're built for it. It starts with our arms, and we have the best in the league in here. We just gotta click on all cylinders and just keep winning as many ball games as we can."

The Phillies started as one of the worst teams in baseball, in terms of hitting and pitching. They were 29th in batting average (.219) and OPS (.656). The offense was 27th in slugging (.362) and 17th in home runs (30).

The pitching was even worse. The team ERA was at 5.13 (28th in baseball), and the FIP was 3.89 (11th). Teams hit .283 off the Phillies (30th in MLB), and the WHIP was 1.52 (29th).

Starting Rotation Finds Its Groove

The starting pitching has normalized as well, improving from a .304 batting average against and 5.80 ERA (both last in MLB) to .233 batting average against (10th) and 3.40 ERA (11th) in the 13 games Mattingly has been the manager.

"Ship was going kind of off course a little bit and really just got us back in direction. Starting pitching has kinda driven that," Mattingly said. "Back to the beginning, it's just playing better baseball. We've thrown the ball better, both sides -- bullpen and starters."

The Long Climb Back to .500

The Phillies have normalized things a bit, rallying from a 9-19 start to 19-22. Now comes the hard part, getting to .500 and over the hump.

Then the playoff conversation can return. The Phillies are starting to feel that reality again, evidenced by the belief they have around the clubhouse.

The vibes are certainly different over the last two weeks.

"You're starting to get the feeling there's never a game that's out of reach one way or the other," Mattingly said. "Those close games we feel like we're gonna win. If we're down we feel like we're gonna score and come back."