3 Numbers To Remember: Phillies win important series against Dodgers

Trea Turner is in his first year with the Phillies (Photo by John Jones/Icon Sportswire)

Heading into their series against the Dodgers this past weekend, the Phillies were riding a five-game winning streak. But with two of those wins coming against the Nationals, and the other three coming in a series sweep of the Tigers, many people wanted to see Philadelphia continue their winning ways against better competition before feeling confident that the club could be heating up like they did at this time last season.

The Phillies were able to do just that against L.A. as they won two of three games against one of the better teams the NL has to offer.

Rob Thomson’s squad extended their winning streak to a season-high six games on Friday night thanks to a Kyle Schwarber walk-off home run. That streak came to an end on Saturday, though, in an ugly 9-0 loss where Kody Clemens made his fourth pitching appearance of the year. Then, on Sunday, the Phillies lineup woke up and scored seven runs to help the club clinch a series win over the Dodgers.

Before they begin another important series tonight against the Diamondbacks, here are three numbers to remember from Philadelphia’s series against the Dodgers:

.462 — Trea Turner’s batting average in series

Turner’s early season struggles with the Phillies after signing an 11-year, $300 million contract this past winter are well known. Through the end of May, Turner was hitting .236/.280/.371 — well below what many expected from the two-time All-Star.

The veteran shortstop has started to heat up since the beginning of June, though, and he continued that in his club’s series against the Dodgers. He had two hits in the series opener with an RBI, one hit in Saturday’s loss and went 3-for-5 with a double while scoring three runs on Sunday.

One of the bigger turnarounds for Turner this month has been how hard he’s hitting the ball along with how many line drives he’s producing.

Before June, Turner had an average exit velocity of 88.7 miles per hour with a line drive rate of 18.2 percent. Heading into Sunday’s series finale, he had an average exit velocity of 96 miles per hour with a 33.3 percent line drive rate in June.

He added on to those numbers yesterday as his third-inning double came off the bat at 99.8 miles per hour while his single in the seventh registered at 105.4 miles per hour. All three of Turner’s hits were considered line drives as well.

Philadelphia’s big offseason signing is now hitting .317/.349/.537 with three doubles and two home runs in June — good enough to bring his season slash line up to .248/.290/.396.

0 — Number of runs allowed by Taijuan Walker on Sunday

Like Turner, Walker was an offseason signing by the Phillies and had his share of struggles early on. In his first nine starts in red pinstripes, the veteran right-hander posted a 6.53 ERA in 41 1/3 innings while walking 4.14 batters per nine innings pitched.

His worst start of the year came on May 1 at Dodger Stadium. Walker was only able to get through 3 1/3 innings that night. He gave up three home runs, walked three hitters and allowed eight earned runs. It was after that outing that Walker started to turn his season around. And since his start on May 21 against the Cubs, he’s been the best he’s been since joining the Phillies.

Sunday’s five scoreless innings marked Walker’s second straight scoreless start and fifth consecutive outing in which he allowed no more than three runs.

Overall, he has a 1.93 ERA in 28 total innings over his last five starts. But, despite that success, Walker has walked 12 batters over that stretch, which works out to 3.86 walks per nine innings pitched. Lowering his walk totals would go a long way in making Walker an even better pitcher at a time when the Phillies need it — they are currently going with a bullpen game every fifth day or so.

His recent strong set of outings has lowered Walker’s ERA on the year nearly two runs to 4.67. In total, the righty has made 14 starts for Philadelphia and has tossed 69 1/3 innings.

6 games — Kody Clemens’ current hitting streak

When the Phillies acquired Clemens alongside left-handed reliever Gregory Soto in a trade with the Tigers back in January, there were thoughts that he could be a bench player for the reigning 2022 NL champions. Even with a lackluster .505 OPS with Detroit last season, Clemens showed off his ability to play multiple positions logging innings at first base, second base, third base and left field.

With a season-ending ACL injury to Rhys Hoskins, followed by a thumb injury to Darick Hall, Clemens — who hit .317/.385/.617 in 47 spring training at-bats — became more than a depth piece a week into the 2023 campaign as he was thrust into a platoon role at first base with Alec Bohm. And after a slow month of April where he hit .172/.226/.483, the former Texas Longhorn has posted a .289/.340/.478 slash line over his last 30 games.

While his defensive versatility has yet to be put on display with the Phillies, Clemens has been a solid defender at first with a league-average zero defensive runs saved and a slightly better two outs above average.

Clemens’ best moment this season came last Thursday when he delivered a walk-off hit against his former employer. He then played in all three games over the weekend and picked up a hit in each of those games to extend his hitting streak to six games. The left-handed hitter has a .364 batting average during said streak.

And as mentioned above, the son of former big league pitcher Roger Clemens pitched in Saturday’s loss. He did not allow a run and now has a 3.38 ERA in four appearances on the mound this year.

Altogether, Clemens has a .764 OPS a little more than two months into the season. Couple that with his solid defense, it seems likely he could stick around with the big league club even when Hall, who is currently on a rehab assignment in Triple A, is 100 percent healthy. Manager Rob Thomson recently said Hall wasn’t guaranteed a spot with the Phillies, “It’s all about performance and production.”