Get ‘em on, leave ‘em there, end the inning
Through the first 2 weeks of the MLB season, the Philadelphia Phillies hold both the 3rd best team-wide Batting Average (0.288) while also holding the 22nd worst Runs Per Game (4.45). These stats seemingly would contradict each other, but alas we are. However, there is an easy answer to this problem. The Phillies are a very selfish baseball team right now. The old adage of “Get ‘em on, get ‘em over get ‘em in” is tried and true, Our Phillies seem to be playing by their own adage of “Get ‘em on, leave ‘em there, end the inning”.
We witnessed last night 4 separate instances where we had runners on base with less than 2 outs, which all ended with 0 runs and 0 advanced runners.
Bottom of the 2nd Phillies showed great life with Castellanos leading the inning off with a single. That was followed by Bohm striking out on 3 pitches. Harrison then gave the Phillies real life by singling and putting runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out. Sosa then strikes out on 5 pitches, followed by a Stott ground out on 4 pitches. The big issues with this inning were the Bohm and Sosa ABs which were completely unproductive in moving any base runner over and neither worked deep counts to build the pitchers’ total pitches. 12
This was quickly followed,
Bottom of the 3rd the unthinkable happened with Christian Pache leading the inning off with a Double. Man on 2nd 0 outs, Turner follows that up with a can of corn to shallow center field on 2 pitches, Schwarber K on 5 pitches, and JT ground out on 4 pitches. That is 3 outs on 11 pitches to end an inning with a runner stranded in scoring position.
But wait there's more!
The very next inning, Castellanos worked a 7 pitch walk to lead things off. Bohm follows it up by grounding into a double play on 3 pitches, followed by a Josh Harrison pop out on 2 pitches. 3 outs on 5 pitches.
Bryson Stott then singles with 1 out in the Bottom of the 5th. This time, things were different while also being exactly the same. The Phillies attempted to be a smart, unselfish team, by having Pache attempt a bunt single. This was promptly popped up for an out on 1 pitch. But there is hope as Trea Turner, American Hero steps up to the plate. He then quickly swings for the fences and pops out on 3 pitches, ending the inning with 2 outs on 4 pitches following a baserunner.
The Marlins were starting an absolute stud in Luzardo which makes scoring very few runs somewhat acceptable. But when a team goes against an ace they need to change their gameplan. You have to work ABs, get their pitch count up, and make them beat you. This game the Phillies simply beat themselves.
Next inning showed the difference in hitting approach between the 2 teams. The Marlins get a Triple with 1 out. At that point Nola had thrown 74 pitches. The Marlins went on to then record 3 runs on 26 pitches which chased Nola from the game and required Soto to come in and record the final out on another 10 pitches. That is a total of 36 pitches seen following getting a base runner on. Meanwhile if you can do simple math you will see that in the previous 3 innings the Phillies recorded a total of 11 outs on 32 pitches following a baserunner. Meanwhile the Marlins get 3 runs and see 36 total pitches while recording only 2 outs.
When the Phillies do show serious signs of life they then shoot themselves in the foot with historically bad baserunning. The 7th inning showed serious signs of a big inning capped off with Stott getting a base knock with bases loaded. Stott then takes a very wide turn around first, Jean Segura makes a great play, throws behind Stott and essentially picks him off at first base to end the inning.
This is a team that is trying to play Power Ball with very little power in the lineup. Schwarber is essentially the only power hitter currently playing with Bryce, Rhys, and Hall all out with injury. But instead of adapting and playing smart, methodical small ball. We have a lineup of hitters that swing hard for the RBI instead of getting on and passing the baton to the next gut on the team.
This was surmised perfectly by Joey Kapusta when he said, “This Phillies lineup is trying to play baseball as if they are all power hitters. Its like a terrible run blocking OL sticking to a run heavy offense. No adjustments, and no results.”
-Jake Biasotto Talkin’ 215
