After a rocky start that looked like one of the most disappointing in Major League Baseball—second only to the New York Mets—the Philadelphia Phillies have turned things around in a big way over the past two weeks. Credit goes to interim manager Don Mattingly and the players for rallying after Dave Dombrowski's decision to part ways with Rob Thomson, a move that initially raised eyebrows. Now sitting in second place in the National League East, the Phillies are 7-3 in their last 10 games, winners of two straight, and sitting at 19-22 overall.

A lot of the recent success comes from strong performances on both sides of the ball, but the pitching staff deserves a special shoutout. The arms have been excellent, and some telling stats suggest Mattingly is taking a different approach than his predecessor. "It was a much-needed reprieve for the Phillies’ bullpen, which covered 13 2/3 innings (including a spotless inning from position player Garrett Stubbs) of the Phillies’ previous 29 innings as the rotation struggled," wrote Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic. "Sunday’s win marked just the third time all season a Phillies starting pitcher has gone seven or more innings; Sánchez has done so twice (including eight Tuesday), and Jesus Luzardo has gone seven innings once."

That's a significant shift. Under Thomson, the team often leaned heavily on the bullpen early in games. But in Mattingly's first week and a half, both Jesus Luzardo and Christopher Sanchez have delivered seven-plus-inning outings—a sign that the new skipper trusts his starters to work through tough spots. Luzardo and Sanchez are two of the better left-handed starters in baseball when they're on their game, and Sanchez, in particular, has shown he can be relied upon to keep dealing at a high level. If the Phillies can keep this momentum going, they might just be finding their groove at the perfect time.