When the Phillies departed from Citizens Bank Park last week for their second set of West Coast games in 2023, they were on a three-game winning streak. The club then extended that streak to five games after defeating the Colorado Rockies on back-to-back nights to begin their roadtrip. However, just like they did on their last West Coast swing, things went from good to ugly in the blink of an eye.
After dropping the series finale in Colorado in a frustrating loss, Philadelphia made their way to San Francisco for a three-game series against the Giants.
In the first game at Oracle Park on Monday night, Bailey Falter’s struggles continued in a 6-3 loss. Zack Wheeler — a former first-round selection of San Francisco back in 2009 — took the bump for the Phillies on Tuesday. Wheeler looked good, but the defense behind him didn’t, resulting in a 4-3 loss.
With Taijaun Walker — who looked good in his previous two outings — pitching in Wednesday afternoon’s contest, the Phillies fell behind 4-0 in the first inning after Walker struggled with his command. They fought their way back into the game, but with the game tied at four runs apiece in the eighth, Gregory Soto allowed three runs to score. The Phillies lost again and were swept in the state of California for the second time this month.
Here are three numbers to remember from Philadelphia’s series against the Giants at Oracle Park — where they now have a 5-23 record in their last 28 games:
1-7 — Phillies record when Bailey Falter pitches
At the start of spring training, there was a competition for the fifth spot in the Phillies starting rotation. The two leading candidates for that spot were Falter and top pitching prospect Andrew Painter.
Painter suffered a sprain in his right ulnar collateral ligament, or UCL, after his first spring start which took him out of the running to make the club’s starting staff. So by default, Falter made the rotation.
Things started off well for the 26-year-old southpaw. In his first two starts, the lefty pitched 10 1/3 innings and allowed three earned runs. He had a bit of a rough outing his third time around, but Falter bounced back in his fourth start of the year against the White Sox where he pitched seven innings of three-run ball.
After that, Falter began to struggle. In his next four appearances — three starts and one out of the bullpen — he pitched 18 1/3 innings and allowed 19 runs, 12 of which were earned, to score.
Altogether, the left-hander pitched 40 1/3 innings with a 5.13 ERA and 4.77 FIP before being optioned to Triple A on Tuesday. Going beyond his earned run average, Falter posted a 6.69 RA9 — which accounts for both earned and unearned runs allowed per nine innings pitched.
Opposing managers stacked their lineups with right-handed hitters when their clubs faced Falter. Righties hit .278/.312/.451 in 141 plate appearances against the lefty. Those numbers were not better against lefties, either. In a much smaller sample size, same-handed hitters slashed .394/.412/.667 in 34 plate appearances against the 26-year-old.
Manager Rob Thomson said the reason behind Falter’s demotion is to help the young pitcher regain confidence and is being looked at as a reset. Those words seem to indicate Falter will be back in the big leagues at some point in the future as long as things go well in Triple-A.
Two — Number of hits with runners in scoring position
There have been a multitude of issues offensively for the Phillies throughout their first 43 games of the season. One of those issues has been their inability to deliver with runners in scoring position — which continued to be a theme in the club’s series against the Giants.
After an 0-for-14 performance with runners in scoring position in Sunday’s loss to the Rockies, it looked as though things couldn’t get any worse — until they did.
Philadelphia went hitless again on Monday night with runners ready to score as they went 0-for-8 in those situations. Before an RBI single in the fourth inning of Tuesday’s game by Bryson Stott, the Phillies were in the middle of an 0-for-28 stretch with runners in scoring position. Overall, the lineup went 1-for-11 in similar circumstances on Tuesday.
Heading into Wednesday’s contest, the Phillies were 1-for-19 with runners in scoring position in their first two games at Oracle Park. Their struggles continued in those situations as they went 1-for-6 in the series finale.
In total, Phillies hitters went 2-for-25 — an .080 batting average — with runners on second and-or third in their three games against the Giants — who went 12-for-31 as a team with runners in scoring position during the series.
On the year, the Phillies have had 380 at-bats with runners in scoring position — sixth most in the majors. But they only have 88 hits in those situations, which is 17th. The team’s .232 batting average with runners in scoring position is 26th amongst big league teams.
.250 — The combined batting average of Bryson Stott and Trea Turner
Outside of the club’s batting average with runners in scoring position, not getting enough output from the top of the lineup has been a major issue for Philadelphia this year.
So far this season, leadoff hitters are hitting .226/.263/.328 with a 57 OPS+ — 100 is league average — for the Phillies. Meanwhile, two-hole hitters are struggling, too, as they are hitting just .239/.289/.413 with an 83 OPS+.
Getting little-to-no production from the table-setting spots of the lineup continued against San Francisco for the most part. In the first two games against the Giants, Stott went 2-for-9 with a walk and Turner went 2-for-10 with a double. That’s a .211 batting average between the Phillies second baseman and shortstop.
Philadelphia’s middle infielders looked a little better on Wednesday as Stott went 1-for-4 with a walk and a game-tying solo home run in the fifth inning. Turner, who struck out with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth, went 2-for-5 in the series finale.
Altogether, Stott and Turner combined to go 7-for-28 in the series with two walks, a double, a home run and one run.
It’s been a slow start for both players this year as the 25-year-old Stott — who began 2023 with a franchise record 17-game hitting streak — is currently hitting .280/.317/.377 while the 30-year-old Turner — who is in the first year of an 11-year, $300 million contract — is slashing .262/.308/.399.
Through 43 games, the first two spots in the lineup are hitting a combined .232/.276/.369 with a 70 OPS+ for the Phillies. The rest of the lineup, though, has been much better. The third through sixth spots have combined for a 119 OPS+ this year and the bottom third of the order has a 110 OPS+. So the only area of Philadelphia’s lineup that is putting together below league average production is the first and second spots.
If the Phillies want to start scoring runs more consistently, there are a few areas where they can improve. Getting more production from the top two spots in the batting order would surely be a good place to start.
Philadelphia is now 20-23 on the season and will attempt to right the ship once again as they begin a six-game homestand against the Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.
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