Philadelphia Phillies Offense Does Something for First Time in 17 Years
The Philadelphia Phillies finally woke up at the plate, accomplishing something for the first time in nearly two decades.
All of a sudden, things have gotten tight in the NL East race for the Philadelphia Phillies.
After once holding a commanding lead, the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets are working their way into striking distance after the Phillies have continued to struggled ever since the All-Star break.
The Braves were able to make up some ground when they took two out of three against Philadelphia before the weekend, and coming out of that series, there was real concern the Phillies’ offense might be broken.
Unlike in the early part of the year when this lineup was dominating, they have uncharacteristically struggled for a prolonged stretch, failing to string together hits or put the ball over the fence like they are capable of doing.
One of Atlanta’s starting pitchers spilled a secret about his approach when he shut down Philadelphia, and based on what Matt Gelb of The Athletic discovered regarding the amount of off-speed pitches they have recently faced, Spencer Schwellenbach wasn’t the only one with that scouting report.
Heading to face the Kansas City Royals, the ball was in their court to respond.
While the players are aware of the approach that opposing pitching staffs have taken with them, manager Rob Thomson decided to do something different by having hitters hit the curveball machine on the field instead of just in the cage.
It’s probably too simple to say this was the one thing they needed, but despite dropping the first game against the Royals on Friday, they were able to put up 11 hits even though it only plated a disappointing four runs.
According to the NBC Sports Philadelphia broadcast, a Phillies lineup hasn’t produced 45-plus hits in a three-game series since they did that against the St. Louis Cardinals from June 13-15 in 2007.
Philadelphia finished this short stretch with a .372 batting average and .385 when runners were in scoring position. Out of their 45 hits, 17 of them were for extra bases as they put up a team OPS of .973.
Can this carry over, though?
That’s what everyone within and outside the clubhouse is hoping for after it felt like every member of this team went cold at the exact same time.
Maybe all they needed was an adjustment to their pregame rituals, seeing some off-speed pitches on the field that would better prepare them for that array in the heat of battle.
“I don’t think it’s anything we’re necessarily doing wrong. We’re preparing. We do all the stuff we normally do. We’re having fun. We have a good mindset. We’re just not clicking,” Trea Turner told Gelb before this series.
