By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia Phillies only had one player selected to this week's MLB All-Star game, though the excitement surrounding the team seems to be as high as it has been in the past few seasons. Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia says that ratings for the Phillies' games, and CSN's pre-and post-game shows, are up by a fair amount compared to where they were in 2015:
Heading into the second half of the season, Phillies game broadcast ratings on CSN, TCN and NBC10 are up 22% over the same time last year. “Phillies Pregame Live” and “Phillies Postgame Live” are also up 17% and 18%, respectively over the same time period. Additionally, so far this season Phillies game broadcasts have ranked in the top three in household ratings 84% of the time.
The increase in first half ratings were likely propelled by the Phillies surprising 25-19 record through May 22, a start that led some to wonder if the Phillies could make a surprise run to the playoffs in 2016. The Phillies unraveled after that start, however, losing 24 of their next 29 games. The club has won 10 out of their last 13 games heading into the break, perhaps keeping casual television viewers interested in the early part of the second half of the team's season.
J.P. Crawford, Nick Williams and Jake Thompson are among the talented prospects in the team's farm system that figure to make their Major League debuts in the second half of the season, which will draw ratings interest as well, regardless of how the team is playing at the time of their call-ups.
