It’s been awhile since my last ‘On My Mind’ post — it was February 18th to be exact. On that date, the Phillies weren’t losing games. They also weren’t winning games. Pitchers and catchers reported to Spring Training on February 12th. Continue reading
Despite scoring a combined 10 runs in their four games (2.5 runs per game) against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Philadelphia Phillies split the series and finished the seven-game road trip at 4 – 3. It’s beyond comical to say, at this point, but the offense is still inconsistent.
Merely two games into their matchup with the Giants and the Phillies are already making me eat crow.
Leave it to Chris “Wheels” Wheeler, the Phillies’ color commentator, to put a positive spin on a 14 – 2 shellacking at the hands of the Miami Marlins. In the eighth inning, when the score was only 10 – 0, he said: “The last thing [the Phillies] needed today was to use three, four, five [relief] pitchers and right now they’ve only had to use two.” I beg to differ, Wheels. The last thing the Phillies needed today was for Doc Halladay to prove to Phillies’ fans that he’s washed up and done. Doc, I’d say mission accomplished. But this posting isn’t about the fact that Doc, a once-feared ace of a pitching staff, has become a mere shell of himself. It’s about how much worse it can get in the next week.
If it seems the Phillies’ hitters have been less patient at the plate in recent years, that’s because they have. First, I’ll present the plate discipline indicators, as defined by FanGraphs.com. Then, I’ll show you a chart of 2013 National League averages for these indicators compared to how the 2013 Phillies stack up against the NL averages. Finally, I’ll illustrate how the Phils’ plate discipline has been a downward spiral.
Last year, the Phillies’ didn’t have a reliable arm in the bullpen to pitch the eighth inning. Mike Adams has filled that role nicely this year overall, except for last night. Aside from the Phils’ bullpen’s less-than-stellar performance, here are a couple of other observations from last night’s game. Click on the attached images for larger versions of last night’s scorecard.
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Roy “Doc” Halladay won his 200th career game today in a 2 – 1 victory over the Miami Marlins. That’s good news for Phillies’ fans. More good news is that Phillies pitchers gave up a total of four runs in the three-game series, which the Phils took two games to one. Now for the bad news. They scored a total of six runs in the three games. Continue reading
