Yeah, significantly better than last year, but barely better than 2019. 2020 seemed an awful outlier. Good to finally have a winning record, but I can't call this season a significant step forward. In terms of home-grown talent, on a team that has about maxed out both spending and success on FA, this year was arguably a big step down on home-grown and bargain acquisitions. As i said on another thread, this is the high-water mark on how far FA can carry the Phillies. The abysmal lack of home-grown contributors, coupled with a not-great identification and signing of cheap professional talent is discouraging.
I say arguably a big step down in home-grown talent, because I expected much more from Bohm, Kingery, and Nola. The odds of getting as much from Harper, Wheeler, and Realmuto in 2022 as we did this year seem slim. I'm not looking forward to another year of SS Didi.