The Phillies Have Some Problems

Last season the Philadelphia Phillies had a very successful season. Having gone 90-72 during the regular season, landing second in the National League East, and making it to the NL League Championship. The team showed a lot of power at the plate, ripping off 220 home runs, dropping them into 8th in the MLB. They had 3 guys who showed some power last year, including Kyle Schwarber, who led them with 47 HRs, and they also had Nick Castellanos and Trea Turner putting up 29 and 26 home runs, respectively. And of course, being led by 30-year-old Bryce Harper, who had a fine season with 21 HRs and led the team with a .293 avg.

The pitching for Philly has been fine this season; they have a very good 3.38 ERA, which is 7th in the majors. Their pitching staff has also been able to put opponents on the bench as they have 194 strikeouts as a team. On average, they’re only giving up a batting average of .223 to opponents.

The real concern for Philadelphia is when they’re at the plate. They have a combined team batting average of .237, which puts them 19th in the majors, and a few players are really struggling. They need to be able to hit the ball consistently and put it in play, but they have not been able to do that so far with any semblance of consistency.

Their superstar Bryce Harper, who has been with Philly since 2019, is only hitting .270 this year, along with struggling with grounding into double plays. These numbers don’t reflect very well on what they would expect from the All-Star 1B. Especially from a player who has had seasons of 35 HRs and a .309 batting avg, this kind of play is not expected.

The bats on the team have lacked a lot of base running, with only 76 team RBIs delivered. The only player on the team so far that has shown any ability to be a threat to send runners home has been Alec Bohm. Of course, inconsistent bats lead to inconsistent players on base, and with players not getting on base, they’re not going to have the option or the ability to put runs on the board. Philly has only been putting up 4 runs per game this year, having scored 6 or more on only 3 occasions. They really need to get their guys in position much better. They are currently in the bottom 10 in runs scored this year, and that’s a problem.

They have also been striking out at a higher ratio. At times being too aggressive, swinging at pitches that maybe they should not have been chasing, and other times not being aggressive enough, letting pitchers control them when they’re at the plate. With 4 players with 20 or more Ks on the season, they really need to get their batting tightened up.

Fortunately for Philly, they are playing in a division that is still very much in their sights to win. The Atlanta Braves are really the biggest threat in the NL East, but they might be too far back to make a push for the division. If we’re being completely honest, the lower portion of the division is just awful, especially Washington and Miami.