Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and the Philadelphia Phillies Are First Team to 40 Wins

Through 66 games, the Philadelphia Phillies have a Major League-best 40-26 record and are the first team to win 40 games.

With perennial All-Star Chase Utley back in the lineup and MVP candidate Ryan Howard starting to make more consistent contact, teams in the National League are in serious trouble.

Through his first 18 games, Utley already has more home runs (two) and one less RBI (eight) than his replacement, Wilson Valdez, who has played in a total of 53 games. Chase already has a higher batting average (.261) and more walks (11) through 18 games than Valdez had in all 53 of his games played, with eight. With more hits and man on base, the Phillies will consistently have more opportunities to drive in runs with Chase back in the lineup.

The Phillies have also been lacking in power numbers; with Utley back in the everyday lineup it will give them some much-needed pop from the third spot in their lineup. Replacing the poor hitting Valdez with an All-Star means there will be a lot more Phillies touching home plate as the season continues to progress.

Howard may not be having his best year as far as power number are concerned, but Ryan is consistently helping the Phillies win games with clutch hit after clutch hit. So far, Howard is batting .247 with 15 doubles, 13 home runs, 53 RBI and a .474 slugging percentage.  He is in third place in RBI in the NL so far this season, and is on pace to drive in 130 runs.

There are only two areas where the Phillies would like Ryan to improve: his batting average (.247) and his amount of strikeouts (78), which is third in all of Major League Baseball. That's 191 over an entire season, yikes.

The Phillies pitching has been as advertised. Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt all have consecutive wins, with Cole Hamels set to pitch Tuesday against the Florida Marlins.  Hamels is off to the best start of his entire career, with a record of 8-2, a 2.58 ERA and 91 Ks.

If the Phillies continue to hit better than they have been the majority of the season, and the pitching stays right where it is, the 2011 Philadelphia Phillies could win over 100 games.