After finishing up a strong seven-game, homestand with five wins last Thursday, the Phillies departed Citizens Bank Park for their first West Coast roadtrip of 2023. The club’s first stop was Houston for a World Series rematch with the Astros. Philadelphia then made their way to the city of Los Angeles for a three-game set against the Dodgers.
Rob Thomson’s squad was 13-13 at the start of their West Coast swing — the first time they had a .500 record or better all season. It started off well after winning the first two games in Houston behind strong pitching performances by Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler. However, the Phillies went on to lose the series finale to the Astros and were then swept by the Dodgers to push their record — which now sits at 15-17 — below .500 once again.
Here are three numbers to remember from the club’s 2-4 West Coast roadtrip:
-19 — Phillies Run Differential On Roadtrip
As mentioned above, things started off well for the Phillies in Texas. They defeated the Astros 3-1 on Friday and 6-1 on Saturday. Even the series finale at Minute Maid Park was a close contest — Houston won 4-3. After that, though, things got really out of hand for the pitching staff.
Phillies pitchers allowed 13 runs in each of the first two games against the Dodgers. Both games got so far away from Philadelphia that Thomson put Kody Clemens — a bench player — on the mound.
In the third game against L.A., Philadelphia’s pitchers had seemingly settled down. They had a 5-4 lead after seven innings. But the Dodgers ended up scoring two runs off José Alvarado in the eighth, and with a Max Muncy walk-off grand slam off Craig Kimbrel in the ninth, L.A. ended up with 10 total runs in the series’ final game.
All in all, the Phillies scored 23 runs over the six-game roadtrip, while allowing 42 opposing runners — all earned — to touch home plate. That’s 3.8 runs per game for the offense and a 7.51 ERA for the pitching staff.
.251 — Phillies Batting Average With Runners In Scoring Position In 2023
One of the bigger issues for the Phillies offense this year has been their inability to hit with runners in scoring position. As a team, they’ve been towards the bottom half of the league in that category for most of the season. Things didn’t go so well with ducks on the pond in Houston for the Phillies, but they turned it around in Los Angeles.
In their three-game set against the reigning World Series champions, Phillies hitters went 4-for-24 — a .167 average — with runners in scoring position.
Against the Dodgers, Philadelphia’s offense performed at a much higher level in those same situations. The team went a combined 7-for-18 — a .389 average — with runners in scoring position.
Add those numbers up and the Phillies went a combined 11-for-42 with runners in scoring position against Houston and L.A.. On the season, they now have a .251 batting average with runners threatening to score, 16th in baseball.
160 — Number Of Days Between Bryce Harper Undergoing Tommy John Surgery And Him Returning To The Phillies Lineup
When the Phillies announced that Harper had successfully undergone Tommy John Surgery the day before Thanksgiving, the organization said the two-time NL MVP wouldn’t return to big league action until around the July All-Star Break.
Even though that seemed like somewhat of a conservative timetable, nobody expected Harper to return a full two-and-a-half months before that date — except for the two-time NL MVP himself.
Harper did plenty of work during his relatively quick rehab from elbow surgery. He took a number of live at-bats off both minor and major league pitchers. The 30-year-old also used a Trajekt Arc pitching machine, a new type of machine that can imitate the repertoire of any big league pitcher through video and other programming. The only thing Harper didn’t do was go out on a rehab assignment, something the Phillies didn’t think would help him all that much.
Philadelphia officially activated Harper before Tuesday night’s game against the Dodgers. He went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in his return. But in his second game on Wednesday afternoon, the seven-time All-Star looked more like himself. Harper went 3-for-3 with a double, a pair of walks and two runs scored.
Harper’s presence will surely make the Phillies lineup even deeper and should help provide a boost to a team that needs one right now.
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