PHILADELPHIA — Much like the song famed late broadcaster Harry Kalas sung after the team won the World Series in 2008, the Philadelphia Phillies have 'High Hopes' this season.
The team is seeking to break its postseason drought of 10 years and to regain relevancy in a loaded National League East division.
This off season, general manager Dave Dombrowski hit all the right notes, adding two big bats to the lineup in LF/DHs Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos and going over the luxury tax for the first time in team history to do it.
The team added former closers Corey Knebel, Brad Hand, and Jeurys Familia to the back end of its bullpen.
The Phillies will return a lineup that features C. J.T. Realmuto and N.L. M.V.P. Bryce Harper, and will see the debut of rookie IF Bryson Stott.
N.L. Cy Young finalist Zack Wheeler will return to lead the starting rotation.
With all these seemingly positive things trending the right way in Philadelphia, will the team be able to compete with the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets for the division crown?
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We spoke to Locked On Phillies host Connor Thomas about what to expect from the team this season.
Here's a snippet of that conversation:
CALE AHEARN: With Harper coming off a National League M.V.P. and this kind of start in Spring Training with eight home runs, do you think he can have a better season this year?
CONNOR THOMAS: You know what? I think he can.
If you remember back to last year, one of the main knocks, before he went on his really hot stretch down the last couple months of the season, was that all of his home runs seemed to be solo shots.
That offense revolved around him a lot more than it is going to have to this year.
I can't imagine he leaves the yard much more than he did in 2021, but he should have a lot more opportunity for RBI's with a much more well-rounded lineup.
So, the numbers -- most of the power numbers will probably stay the same. The average will hang probably about where it was last year, maybe even take a dip because being over .300 for a guy who hits the ball with as much power as he does is somewhat difficult to sustain.
But, I think those RBI numbers could go through the roof this year because of the other guys surrounding him in the lineup.
CA: The National League East is pretty stacked.
Where do you think the Phillies come into this mix?
CT: Right now, they look like they slot in third for me.
It's hard to put them above a team like the Mets, with the pitching rotation they have, and a team like the Braves coming off a World Series championship.
But, there are vulnerabilities there.
The Braves lost their vocal leader of the clubhouse in Freddie Freeman.
Matt Olson -- not a bad replacement, but that's still a very young roster despite what they accomplished last year.
And when you lose a guy like Freddie Freeman, it can change around the dynamic of that locker room.
A long season can go south real quick if you don't have a leader that knows how to control the clubhouse.
And with the Mets -- we've already seen it: injury issues with that rotation are certainly a thing. Max Scherzer is on the back end of his career. He had trouble even finishing out a season in Los Angeles -- it seemed like he had a little bit of dead arm.
And Jacob DeGrom is already going to be on the IL because he has an issue where he's going to miss the first month and change of the season it looks like.
So, there's openings there for the Phillies to make that jump.
But, as it stands right now, until I see what they are in the field, I can't put them any higher than third though.
That doesn't mean they can't get in the dance though.
You can watch the full interview in the clip above.