Phillies Week in Review 6/13 – 6/19
The Philadelphia Phillies suffered through perhaps their worst week of the 2016 season over this past week’s series of games.
Abysmal might be too kind a word to describe the last week of Phillies baseball. The team is currently riding an eight-game losing streak, and everything from the hitting to the pitching to the defense (especially this play) has been just plain awful.
During the period of Monday, June 13th through Sunday, June 19th, the Phillies faced the Toronto Blue Jays in a home and home series. The first two games were held at the former Skydome, now known as Rogers Centre.
Moving south out of Canada, the Phillies and Blue Jays continued with a pair of games at Citizens Bank Park. That series was followed by a visit to South Philly by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The week began on a positive note, with the Phils crushing the Jays by a 7-0 score. But it was all downhill from there. In losing the final six games of the week, Toronto and Arizona outscored the home side by an obscene 50-11 margin.
Nothing seems to be going right for the Fightins at the moment. Let’s take our weekly look at the surging players (spoiler alert #1: not many) and struggling players (spoiler alert #2: pretty much everyone).
Next: PHILLIES SURGING BATS
SURGING BATS
After struggling for most of the season, Peter Bourjos had another nice week at the plate. He batted .455 with a homer and 3 RBI over the last seven days.
Manager Pete Mackanin said he is giving Bourjos a chance to win a starting job, and he seems to be making the most of the opportunity.
Cody Asche also had a nice week at the plate, hitting .348 with a homer and 4 doubles. He and Bourjos were the only two offensive bright spots this week.
Hopefully the Phils 24-run slugfest at Target Field with the Twins last night will help to get their hitting on track by the time we look again next week.
Next: PHILLIES STRUGGLING BATS
Struggling Bats
2nd baseman Cesar Hernandez had a poor week at the plate, hitting just .200 on the week with five strikeouts in 15 at bats.
Tommy Joseph continued to struggle at the plate this week, the rookie 1st baseman hitting for just a .125 average. Hopefully the young slugger is just in a rough stretch and will be able to make adjustments this week.
Maikel Franco‘s offensive woes continued, with the young 3rd baseman hitting just .095 on the week. Franco has really struggled to get it going offensively so far this year.
Let’s hope he can shake off the sophomore slump and get back to hitting the way he was during his rookie campaign.
Next: PHILLIES SURGING ARMS
Surging Arms
Severino Gonzalez was called up to the pen this week and did a nice job, posting a 1.69 ERA with 6 strikeouts in 5.1 innings pitched.
Zack Eflin bounced back nicely after a dreadful big league debut last week. He threw 5.2 innings of two-run ball in Sunday’s loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Colton Murray and Jeanmar Gomez had nice week’s out of the pen, combining for 4.1 scoreless innings.
Perhaps the star of the week for the Phillies was starting pitcher Jerad Eickhoff, if only because his shutout performance at Toronto resulted in the club’s lone win.
Eickhoff followed up those six scoreless frames by allowing three earned runs in a 4-1 loss to Arizona back home on Saturday. He struck out six and walked just one, but allowed nine hits.
Next: PHILLIES STRUGGLING ARMS
Struggling Arms
Adam Morgan produced another in a series of poor starts, giving up four earned runs in 4.1 innings pitched this week for an ERA of 8.31. His role in the rotation has come under question at this point.
David Hernandez had a terrible week, giving up eight earned runs in just 3.1 innings pitched out of the pen, good for a dreadful 21.60 ERA.
Previously the staff leader, Aaron Nola had a week to forget, giving up 13 runs in just six innings. He also walked six batters in that span, a rarity for the pitcher known for pinpoint command.
Nola’s struggles have been unsettling for Phillies fans, but his defense has done him no favors either. He is likely just running into some bad luck. I don’t think we should panic about his recent performance just yet.
In happier news, the Phillies signed #1 overall draft pick Mickey Moniak this week. He’s expected to head to the Gulf Coast league to begin his stint in the minors. Here’s hoping we’ll see him setting the table atop the Phils lineup in a few short years.