With the Philadelphia Phillies facing a talented Pittsburgh rotation, they will need all the hitting they can get, and their young 1st baseman will be a key.
Tommy Joseph has been very up-and-down is his rookie season for the Phillies. When I first wrote him up as a “Phillies Pheature” a month ago, Joseph sported an .856 OPS through his first 30 plate appearances after holding a .432 wOBA in 27 games with the AAA Lehigh Valley IronPigs.
Joseph’s .533 slugging percentage this year ranks first on the Phillies roster. His 13 home runs ranks third on the team. If adjusted to a 162-game average, Joseph would be pushing towards a 42 homer season this year.”
However, Joseph plummeted in June – like the rest of the Phillies – falling to a .204 batting average and putting up a measly .263 wOBA. At the start of June, Joseph had been named the starter at 1st base by manager Pete Mackanin, and for the time being Joseph appeared to have faltered in that role.
Thankfully, Joseph has really turned himself back around here in July, cranking five home runs so far this month. His 235 wRC+ since the calendar turns ranks first across the big leagues among batters with 40 or more plate appearances.
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Also in this month, Joseph has started to find some plate discipline, walking at a rate of 9.8%, which has helped him hold an impressively high .439 on-base percentage.
A big part of his success is that Joseph has jumped all over breaking and off-speed pitches in July. According to Brooks Baseball, he has created an exit velocity of 97.29 mph on breaking pitches and 99 mph on off-speed pitches. Both of these numbers are easily his highest marks this year.
As per most hitting streaks, Joseph has been making better contact. According to Fangraphs batted-ball data, half of Joseph’s batted balls this month were hit for hard contact while only 14.3% have been soft.
Also typical to power surges such as Joseph’s, he has pulled the ball more, jumping from 1/3 of his batted balls being pulled in May up to 46.4% in July, and all the way up to 60% since the All-Star Break.
Pulling the ball usually results in more power, demonstrated by the below bomb on Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park against the Miami Marlins’ starter Jose Urena:
As the Phillies attempt to reach Mackanin’s goal of a wild-card spot with possible moves coming that could affect the lineup as the MLB non-waiver trade deadline nears, Joseph’s bat will be key in the middle of the order.
With the end of the Ryan Howard era near, Joseph looks to be the next Phillies 1st baseman, and with the way he’s been slugging the ball, he could lay claim to that position for years to come.