Opposite dugout: Phillies continue to show progress during rebuilding phase

Manager: Pete Mackanin (2nd season)

Record: 26-24

Last 10 games: 3-7

Who to watch: CF Odubel Herrera (.320/.427/.449 with 5 HR, 17 RBIs), 3B Maikel Franco (8 HR, 28 RBIs), 2B Freddie Galvis (17 RBIs), 1B Ryan Howard (8 HR, 18 RBIs), RHP Aaron Nola (4-3, 2.86 ERA), RHP Jeanmar Gomez (2.45 ERA, 17 saves)

Season series vs. Nationals: 4-2

Pitching probables:

May 30: RHP Tanner Roark vs. RHP Jeremy Hellickson, 7:05 p.m., MASN
May 31: RHP Joe Ross vs. RHP Aaron Nola, 7:05 p.m., MASN2
June 1: RHP Max Scherzer vs. LHP Adam Morgan, 7:05 p.m., MASN2

Inside the Phillies:

When the Phillies started strong, pretty much all of the baseball world expected the brethren from the City of Brotherly Love to come crashing back to Earth soon enough. That's what happens to rebuilding teams that have lost at least 89 games in each of the past three seasons (including 99 last year) with a rookie general manager and a second-year skipper. When the Phillies swept the Nats in D.C. in late April, people took notice. And now that the Phils are still on the right side of .500 as the calendar is about to turn to June, they're hardly a surprise anymore. Teams that no one expects to perform well can be dangerous because no one has any expectation that they'll succeed - well, except the Phillies, in this case. Manager Pete Mackanin is making good on his long-awaited chance to manage in the bigs and first-year GM Matt Klentak is looking like a genius with some of his moves. Yes, they've lost seven of 10 games, and were just swept in three games by the Cubs, but getting a taste of winning can be enough to motivate and carry some middling teams.

Even though they're doing well, the Phillies aren't done making changes. The most recent was the recall of first baseman Tommy Joseph, a former catcher and top prospect whose career stalled because of concussion problems. Joseph was slashing .347/.370/.611 at Triple-A Lehigh Valley when he was summoned, and has already hit three homers in 11 games. This has created a logjam at first base, where Ryan Howard has been an immovable incumbent, largely due to the five-year, $125 million extension he signed in 2010 that runs through 2017. Howard can still run into a fastball now and again - as his eight homers and 18 RBIs attest - but he's no longer a full-time player. He's passed the middle-of-the-lineup RBI role to third baseman Maikel Franco, whose 28 RBIs lead the club. The Phillies' igniter is center fielder Odubel Herrera, a walk machine who has racked up 33 free passes already this season in addition to contributing a .320/.427/.449 slash line with five homers, 18 RBIs and six stolen bases. Keep an eye on left fielder Tyler Goeddel, a Rule 5 pick out of the Rays organization, who has slashed .313/.353/.453 so far in May.

The Phillies acquired right-hander Jeremy Hellickson from the Diamondbacks to eat innings and provide some veteran leadership to a decidedly young rotation, and he's delivered on both accounts. Hellickson has gone at least six innings in four of his past six outings and hasn't allowed a homer in his past three starts after coughing up nine in his previous six. He's 1-2 with a 5.75 ERA in four career starts against the Nationals. Righty Aaron Nola, Tuesday's starter, will be making his fifth career start versus Washington, a high total considering it's his 24th career start overall. He's 0-1 with a 5.32 ERA versus the Nats, the Phillies having gone 1-1 in his starts against them this year. Nola gave up seven runs in five innings on April 16, but blanked the Nats on two hits over seven innings for a Phillies win on April 28. He has seven straight starts of at least six innings pitched. Lefty Adam Morgan starts Wednesday and will try to snap a streak of losses in three consecutive decisions. He's failed to get past four innings in two of his last three outings and three of six overall, and has yielded four homers in his past three appearances (including three in four innings at the Cubs on May 27). This will be Morgan's debut against Washington.

Philadelphia's bullpen was a huge question mark entering the season, and it took a few games before journeyman right-hander Jeanmar Gomez seized the closer's role. Since then, Gomez is 17-for-18 in save opportunities - his only previous career save came in 2014 with the Pirates. He's teamed with righty set-up man Hector Neris, who boasts a 1.29 ERA, 0.79 WHIP and 37strikeouts in 28 innings.