I would say there hardly could have been a better start to the season than taking the first three series of the season, one against a division rival and one against one of the best built teams in recent memory.
It’s funny how quickly things can change.
Seemingly, the only two Phillies that decided to show against perhaps the team’s biggest rival that had one win in nine games, were Nick Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber, who has been the hottest player in baseball since the young season began.
The batting was abysmal outside of the two Phillies mentioned above. Perhaps the most frustrating was Edmundo Sosa, who had been hitting—albeit an impossible to sustain—.600 batting average. Rob Thomson rewarded his recent hot-streak with a start in left field. He proceeded to go 0-3 with two strikeouts. His play in left field was similarly poor, as he made at least two bad throws from shallow left field.
Bryce Harper’s performances at the plate have been concerning. He started the season off with a bang by homering. But since, his contact has been sporadic and weak.
The 7 through 9 batters were horrendous. Even after substituting Brandon Marsh for Sosa and Max Kepler for Johan Rojas, the batting was terrible. Between the five batters to be featured 7 through 9 in the lineup today combined for 12 at bats, 0 hits, 0 walks and 6 Ks.
A World Series-contending team simply cannot have such poor production from a third of the lineup.
The pitching was also dreadful. Zack Wheeler, despite being the most consistent pitcher in the National League over the past three seasons, put up a stinker. He had an uncharacteristic five earned runs. Matt Strahm did what he could in relief with loaded bases, surrendering two runs (both of which counted towards Wheeler).
Orion Kerkering disappointed today. I was going to feature him this week based on my comments from my last post. He is, in my mind, a linchpin for this Phillies team. He simply has to be a high-leverage arm, considering the departures of Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez. He is known for inducing weak contact fly balls.. Today, the Braves were making more solid contact and he gave up an earned run.
On the bright side, the Phillies—or more accurately Castellanos and Schwarber—were able to beat up on a starter, displaying a buck against the Phillies’ trend of beating up on only relief pitchers. Hopefully the rest of the Phillies can learn a thing or two from them.
The Phillies look to even-up the series today at 1:15 PM.
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