Phillies Opposition Roadblock: Stephen Piscotty
The Philadelphia Phillies are clinging to their wildcard hopes as they round the corner toward the end of August.
The week started with a team whose rearview mirror in which they hoped to make themselves visible. However, the Dodgers established a sense of dominance at CBP, destroying the Phillies the first two nights of the series.
However, the Phils did not roll over and allow themselves to be swept. Despite a three-run first inning, Jerad Eickhoff battled through six frames, and the bullpen held down the fort allowing for Ryan Howard and Maikel Franco to power the Phillies toward an important victory.
While the playoffs are a pipe dream at this point, it is important for a young team to play for something every night.
With the St. Louis Cardinals limping into town, the Phillies have a chance to gain ground on another team in front of them in the standings. The Phillies traveled to Busch Stadium in the beginning of May, and dropped three out of four. They hope to have a different outcome in this weekend’s three game set.
Adam Morgan and Jeremy Hellickson look forward to bouncing back from injury shortened starts. Vinny Velasquez looks to bounce back from his recent inconsistencies.
With the Cards coming in, I am setting my (and the Phillies) sights on right-handed outfielder, Stephen Piscotty. When the 25-year-old made his debut in July of 2015, he was rated as a top three Cardinal prospect. That comes with no surprise being drafted in the top 40 picks of the 2012 draft.
Piscotty was very solid upon his promotion last season. In his 63 games, Piscotty posted a very respectable .305/.359/.494 in addition to his seven homers and 39 RBI. The stats landed him sixth in NL Rookie of the Year voting
He also had a strong National League Division series after returning from injury. He hit .375 and slugged 1.000 with three dingers and six RBIs in four games.
This season, Piscotty won the starting right field job out of camp. The 2015 St. Louis Cardinals Franchise Player of the Year is picking up where he left off with a .276/.346/.467 line, a team leading 17 bombs and 67 RBI.
More importantly, he is the only Cardinal who has been on the field to achieve more than 400 at bats.
In the earlier part of the season, when the two teams met, the Stanford alum posted seven hits and five RBI in four games. Since baseball season has flipped the calendar to August, Piscotty has been as steady as ever. The outfielder has hit safely in five of last six and 11 of 15 games. He will certainly not be an easy at bat as he looks to stay hot.
Piscotty has a very short and compact swing that makes him difficult to set down often. However, he is not known for hitting the ball to the right side a whole lot.
As a result, the Phillies may attempt pulling the second baseman toward the bag. He crushes left-handed pitching, but still boasts average to above average numbers against righties with a .262/.322/.420 slash-line and 10 home runs
The Phillies will not be trotting out any lefties this weekend, so hopefully they can hold the Cards best power threat at bay.
Opposition Roadblock Grade
My Pick: Chase Utley (two homers, five RBI, three runs, a walk, and a strikeout)
My Grade: Utley had a tremendous game on and handled the moments he was given with the class and humility we all expect. He really drove the cart in that first game. However, he did not do much the rest of the series outside of make us all smile because we got to see him play at CBP again. My Grade: B.
Phillies Grade: Outside of the first game the Phillies did a nice job with Chase. He did rack up five RBI in the opener, but was 1-7 after that game. LA scored ten other runs that night as well. Phillies Grade: B+