So, watching the Phillies' offense get shut down -- and shut out -- yesterday by Athletics starter Rich Harden, the following questions popped into my mind:1. How much has the Phils' nearly two-week, team-wide slump had to do with facing a series of excellent pitchers?
2. How have the Phillies fared against some of the best pitchers in baseball?
Let's have a look, shall we?
Between the AL and NL, there are 37 pitchers who have tossed at least 55 innings and posted a 3.60 ERA or better. Phillies ace Cole Hamels is one of them. Of the other 36, the Phils have faced 15, and of those 15, they have faced four (Harden, Joe Saunders, Jon Lester and Ervin Santana) within the past two weeks. Here's a look at how those 15 top-flight pitchers have done against the Phillies:
Edinson Volquez (Reds)
April 6 -- 5.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 8 K, win (Phillies lost, 4-2)
June 4 -- 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K, win (Phillies lost, 2-0)
Rich Harden (Athletics)
June 26 -- 8 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 11 K, win (Phillies lost, 5-0)
Jorge Campillo (Braves)
June 8 -- 5.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 2 K, no-decision (Phillies won, 6-3)
Tim Lincecum (Giants)
May 4 -- 6 IP, 6 H, 4 R (0 ER), 2 BB, 5 K, no-decision (Phillies won, 6-5)
May 10 -- 8 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 8 K, win (Phillies lost, 8-2)
Shaun Marcum (Blue Jays)
May 18 -- 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 K, no-decision (Phillies lost, 6-5)
Johan Santana (Mets)
April 18 -- 7 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 10 K, win (Phillies lost, 6-4)
Tim Hudson (Braves)
June 6 -- 7.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 3 K, no-decision (Phillies won, 4-3 in 10 inn.)
Joe Saunders (Angels)
June 21 -- 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 K, win (Phillies lost, 4-2)
Roy Halladay (Blue Jays)
May 18 -- 2.1 IP, 1 H, o R, 0 BB, 2 K, no-decision (Phillies lost, 6-5)
Carlos Zambrano (Cubs)
April 11 -- 6 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 6 K, loss (Phillies won, 5-3)
Jon Lester (Red Sox)
June 17 -- 7 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, win (Phillies lost, 3-0)
Brandon Webb (Diamondbacks)
May 8 -- 9 IP, 6 H, 3 R (2 ER), 0 BB, 4 K, win (Phillies lost, 8-3)
Ervin Santana (Angels)
June 20 -- 7 IP, 2 H, 1 R (0 ER), 2 BB, 9 K, win (Phillies lost, 7-1)
Scott Olsen (Marlins)
June 12 -- 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 7 K, loss (Phillies won, 3-0)
Greg Maddux (Padres)
April 29 -- 6.1 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 2 K, loss (Phillies won, 7-4)
Overall, the Phillies have gone 6-10 in games against those pitchers, whose cumulative ERA against the Phillies is 2.10. Notable pitchers not included on the list are Houston's Roy Oswalt (1-0, 4.15 ERA in two starts vs. the Phils), San Francisco's Matt Cain (0-0, 2.57 in one start), Toronto's A.J. Burnett (1-0, 2.84 in one start) and Cincinnati's Aaron Harang (0-1, 3.46 ERA in two starts).
Looks to me like the Phillies' offense has its hands full against good pitching. What do you think? Discuss amongst yourselves.
3 comments:
It's clear that Utley, Victorino and Rollins consistency is the heart of this offense. Vic and Rollins have been Hot and Cold, while Utley has been mostly hot all season. The fact that they are all cold right now is killing the phillied, becaus eoutside of Burrell who has exceded expectations, the Phils lineup stinks. Howard keeps getting credit ofr all his RBI's ahile batting in the extremely low .200 range. However, with the three guys ahead of him Abraham Nunez could produce those type of RBI's hitting out of the #4 spot. Feliz, Jenkins, and Ruiz are automatic outs.
Phils need to jump all over Texas' horrible pitching and get the bats working again. However, they need to give Werth, Dobbs and Coste much more playing time.
It's also clear from his writing that rutgersesq did not attend the school
It's also clear that Howard should NEVER be given a long term deal. Through 2 at bats tonight he now has 111 K's, which is almost twice as many as he has hits. Sure he drives in runs but you can't pay a guy $15 million or more a year to be this futile at the plate on the majority of their games. Trade him while he has any trade value because I don't see him getting any better.
He and Brett Myers are the Least Improved Players of the Year on the Phillies.
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