Instant Observations: Phillies Inch Closer to .500 Mark After Series Win Over Rockies

It was manager Lou Brown in Major League II who said, “OK, we won a game yesterday. If we win today, it’s called ‘two in a row.’ And if we win again tomorrow, it’s called a ‘winning streak’… It has happened before.”

By that definition, a winning streak had not happened before for this Phillies team — until Sunday when they took care of business in a 9-3 win over the Rockies.

The victory also marks the first time they have pieced together series wins this season.

Next on the Phils’ to-do list will be trying to reach the .500 mark before the end of the month, no small feat after their ugly 1-5 start.

Let’s jump into some observations.

A Dumpster Fire No More

I think the term “dumpster fire” gets thrown around way too much in sports, but it is an appropriate one to describe what we saw from the Phillies bullpen through the first 17 days of the season.

Following their 13-0 blowout loss to the Reds last Saturday, Phillies relievers held a National League-worst 7.19 ERA and 1.90 WHIP. Their 6.55 BB/9 was the worst in all of baseball.

Such a thoroughly brutal performance makes what this same group is doing right now all the more stunning.

Check out these numbers dating back to last Sunday: 24 IP, 15 H, 3 BB, 30 K, 1 ER.

That’s a 0.38 ERA and 0.75 WHIP — and one hell of a turnaround.

A RISP Breakthrough

If it feels like the Phillies have had plenty of opportunities to put runs on the board this season, it’s because they have. Their 220 plate appearances with runners in scoring position lead MLB by a wide margin.

Just one issue, as you know — they have struggled with cashing in on their chances.

The Phillies entered the series finale with the Rockies just 17th in team average with RISP at .249 and 23rd in OPS at .662.  They also registered just two homers with men in scoring position, which is why they strand the second most runners in scoring position per game. It’s also a big reason why their below average run production doesn’t align with their above average production in other key offensive statistical categories.

After an 0-for-6 start to the day with runners in scoring position, it looked like this trend would continue.

Enter Bryson Stott, who delivered a breakthrough hit, one that was a backbreaker for the Rockies.

Again, this kid is seriously so good #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/gTy7Bes56E

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 23, 2023

 

All the Usual Suspects

Much has rightfully been made about the Phillies’ lack of home run punch this month, but they got things going this weekend with seven homers over two games. The surge came thanks, in part, to a lift from some unlikely sources.

A day after Nick Castellanos ended a prolonged homerless drought and Cristian Pache swatted his first with the Phillies, Kody Clemens joined the list of unlikely power sources with a 372-foot shot out to right.

K💣dy said see yaaaa #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/dTj0o2Ej3f

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 23, 2023

A Model of Consistency

One thing I like about Trea Turner’s overall game is that cold streaks and tough at-bats don’t tend to snowball over multiple days, which I guess helps explain his .302 career batting average.

Go back to last Tuesday when he went 0-for-8 with four strikeouts in the doubleheader against the White Sox. He bounced back the following day with three hits, including his first homer of the season.

We saw another rebound early on in this one. Turner wasted little time shaking a rough 0-for-4 Saturday with a first inning homer, his first with the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

SLAY TREA #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/ZW4tJqwpIu

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 23, 2023

This season, Turner has registered at least one hit in 16 of 23 games and has gone consecutive games without a hit — never more than two games in a row — just twice.

Can’t Avoid It

Zack Wheeler came out dealing Sunday, totally overpowering an overmatched Colorado lineup that entered play scoring just 3.77 runs per game.

That’s not terribly surprising given that, at one point Sunday, the Rockies’ lineup featured four separate players hitting below .200.

Despite matching a season-high seven strikeouts through three hitless innings, Wheeler’s impressive start took a detour in the fourth.

After loading the bases to begin the inning, Wheeler struck out Mike Moustakas and quickly jumped ahead of Yonathan Daza in an 0-2 count. For a moment, it appeared he might work out of trouble unscathed, but he instead drilled Daza with a fastball to plate the Rockies’ first run.

After a sacrifice fly tied the game, Wheeler would briefly surrender the lead by yielding a run-scoring single to the light-hitting Ezequiel Tovar.

Rox lead! pic.twitter.com/w7XmYvgA5q

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 23, 2023

In all, Wheeler’s rough fourth inning, one that he termed “frustrating,” after the game included three hits, a walk, a hit batter, and a wild pitch. There was some soft contact, but it was ugly, and not much unlike the third inning four-spot he gave up to the White Sox last Tuesday.

Credit goes to Wheeler who would rebound with two scoreless frames on his way to his second quality start of the season.

In all, there was a lot to like about his start. He kept Colorado both scoreless and hitless in all but one inning, allowed just three hits total, and struck out a season-high 11 batters.

He often looked like the pitcher we’re accustomed to seeing, but these out-of-nowhere brush fires are worth keeping an eye on.

Bad Baserunning Returns

The Phillies began the season by making a daily habit of committing egregious baserunning errors. They had cleaned things up a bit lately, but the mistakes returned again Sunday:

In the second inning, J.T. Realmuto was nailed down while trying to steal third with two outs. There’s simply no upside in that gamble.

A few innings later, an Edmundo Sosa’s leadoff single was wiped away when he was picked off by Colorado reliever Brent Suter.

In a vacuum, neither play would typically raise an eyebrow, but given this team’s general struggle on the bases, it’s somewhat troubling to see more of this popping up. Fortunately for the Phillies, neither blunder came back to bite them.

The post Instant Observations: Phillies Inch Closer to .500 Mark After Series Win Over Rockies appeared first on Crossing Broad.