Sánchez does his job on the mound, but Phils offense goes quiet as trade deadline approaches
Final Score: Brewers 5, Phillies 3
After a rough start to the season, Phillies starting pitchers have settled into their roles quite nicely since the start of June. Dating back to June 1, Philadelphia’s rotation posted a 3.29 ERA coming into today’s game — the second lowest ERA by a starting staff in the majors during that span.
And with that success, it sounds like the front office likely won’t be players at the top of the starting pitching market at this year’s Aug. 1 trade deadline.
Matt Gelb of The Athletic wrote this morning that the Phillies are looking to add depth to their rotation instead of bringing in a top-of-the-rotation type arm. That approach could potentially impact the roster status of Wednesday’s starter, Cristopher Sánchez.
The 26-year-old lefty has done a nice job rounding out Philadelphia’s rotation since his most recent call-up on June 17 and that continued tonight against the Brewers.
Sánchez’s final line included three runs (one earned) on six hits in his five innings of work. All three runs he surrendered crossed the plate in the second inning on doubles by Blake Perkins and Christian Yelich:
Including tonight, Sánchez has made six starts since his June promotion and has a 2.61 ERA in those outings. If he continues to perform like this, adding another starter would certainly give the Phillies solid depth behind their top four starters.
On top of adding a starting pitcher, Philadelphia’s front office would also like to add a right-handed hitter to their lineup, according to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. That hitter could possibly replace Kyle Schwarber in left field, who would then DH, as long as Bryce Harper eventually settles into playing first base at least on a part-time basis.
One of Philadelphia’s main right-handed hitters, Nick Castellanos, put them on the board for the first time tonight in the fourth inning with his 14th home run of the season:
An inning later, Schwarber tied the game with a single as two runs scored thanks to some aggressive baserunning by Brandon Marsh, who went 2-for-3 tonight:
Altogether, the Phillies four main hitters from the right side — Trea Turner, Castellanos, J.T. Realmuto and Alec Bohm — went a combined 2-for-16 tonight. The club’s offense has been able to score plenty of runs over the last six weeks, but adding another bat could certainly make the lineup even more potent.
After the Brewers retook the lead in the seventh with a two-out RBI double by William Contreras, the 25-year-old catcher doubled again to give his club an insurance run in the eighth:
After going down in order in the seventh and eighth innings, the Phillies weren’t able to stage a comeback in the ninth despite having runners on the corners with one out.
Bryson Stott attempted to steal second, but was thrown out on a strong throw by Contreras. Bohm then struck out to end the Phillies four-game winning streak.
Ticket IQ Next Game
- Thursday, July 20 vs. Milwaukee Brewers at Citizens Bank Park
- 12:35 p.m. ET
- TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
- Spanish Radio: WTTM 1680
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