Phillies Opposition Roadblock: Washington Nationals
The Philadelphia Phillies are set for their fourth series of the season. After a tough start to the week, they look to get back on track against a Washington Nationals team in search of revenge. Meanwhile, the Phils are looking to simply get back on the horse and find some consistency in the new season.
The Phillies were swept out at home to end their first homestand of 2017. The New York Met bats exploded to the tune of 23 runs over three nights. Phillies pitching, outside of Jerad Eickhoff seemingly had no answer for the offensive onslaught. Before the series, I chose Jacob deGrom and Jay Bruce.
At the start of the game on Monday night, it felt as if the Phillies may beat my choice for roadblock starter. They jumped out early on deGrom forcing an uncharacteristically high pitch count in the first inning. The Phils had the bases loaded and had plated two runs with one out when Brock
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Stassi bounced into a 1-2-3 inning ending double play. Two in the first off deGrom is a tremendous start, but when a team has a pitcher of that caliber in that situation, there needs to be the knockout punch. Since the Phillies failed to deliver it, the 28 year old settled in and saw almost no trouble the rest of the way. He retired the last eight batters he faced, and kept his team in the game without his best stuff and lacking his usual control the entire night.
Phils Grade: C-
Jay Bruce single-handedly won the Mets game one of this series. The Phillies missed spots to him on two separate occasions and he was able to make them pay. With the Phils leading 2-0 early on, Eickhoff hung a curveball and Bruce drilled it into the right field seats. Following some extra-curricular fireworks, with the scored tied at two, Bruce sent a message to the Phils when he took a Joely Rodriguez slider into orbit. He ended Monday night 2-3 with two homers, a walk and 3 RBI. He would add two more hits over the course of the next two nights and contribute two more runs batted in to the mix. While Yoenis Cespedes put on the show Tuesday night and Michael Conforto took the reigns on Wednesday night, it was Bruce’s heroics that laid the foundation for the series.
Phils Grade: D+
The Team: Washington Nationals
The Phillies must be thrilled to get the Mets out of their faces for even three nights. The problem is they are heading to Washington to oppose a team that they just beat two out of three. More importantly, it is a team who is seeking some sort of revenge. And the Nationals are looking to do so against a Philadelphia squad perhaps still licking its wounds from a New York beatdown.
When we last saw the Washington Nationals, they were just a bunch of blips on our radar of excitement. The gray uniforms were trudging off the Citizen’s Bank Park grass as the Phillies tackled their second baseman following his series clinching walk-off single.
Now, they are a team coming off a series win at home against a perennial National League contending, St. Louis Cardinals team. The Nationals were able to pound across 23 runs in the three games (22 of them in the first two games, resulting in wins). Now, they prepare to open the doors of Nationals Park to the Phils, and try to take back the sense of dominance they owned over Philadelphia.
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They will have to go through Aaron Nola, who had success against them last Saturday night in the 17-6 drubbing. He will be followed by Jeremy Hellickson, who was cruising on Sunday before being lifted for cramping in his forearm. And finally, Eickhoff, who has yet to face the Nats in 2017, but has had two exceptional starts in his first couple of turns.
As the Nationals (5-4) look to right the ship the second time around, the Phillies (3-6) are simply looking to get back on track.
The Position Player: Daniel Murphy
Every so often, a player comes along that just owns the Phillies. Sometimes they are future Hall of Famers, like Chipper Jones and Mike Piazza. Other instances include less talented players, like Juan Lagares and Michael Morese. Sadly, the Nationals have one of the all-time best Philadelphia torturers in Daniel Murphy.
Over the course of his career that spans from New York to Washington, the second baseman has slashed .316/.368/.506 against the Phillies in 126 games. Add to that, he has hit 12 homers and knocked in 66 runs (both are more than any other team he has faced in his career) in those games, and you have yourself a Phillies killer.
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Last season, he finished second in the batting title race because the Colorado Rockies sat D.J. LeMahieu in order to preserve his lead over Murphy. He has arguably been the best hitter on this Nationals team during his short time there. Last season, he was first on the team in every single offensive category, except runs scored, in which Anthony Rendon had three more than him. He was the only National to log more than 100 RBI last season.
In the first series against the Phillies, where he was 6-12 with four extra basehits and four runs scored, it seemed like no one could find a way to get him out consistently. I felt like it was only against the Phillies, but soon found out I was wrong. No one is able to consistently send him back to the dugout anymore. He is currently .450/.463/.725 through nine games.
I am a firm believer that the Phils can handle other pieces of their order over the weekend. However, they need to keep Murphy under control. If they are going to have success in doing so, Phillies pitchers will need to trust their stuff.
In all seriousness, Murphy stands right on top of the plate. He wants to pull the ball. Notice the crouched stance. The Phillies may have to do something that has seemed to be out of their comfort zones early this season: Throw the ball in and challenge him. Moving away does nothing to a guy who stands so close to the plate, except allow them to extend their arms (AKA exactly what they want). Honestly, the approach may not even work, but nothing else has worked up to this point either.
The Pitcher: Stephen Strasburg
Over the course of what appears to be a beautiful weekend, the Nationals will trot out Stephen Strasburg, Tanner Roark, and Gio Gonzalez against the Phils. Last weekend, I went with Max Scherzer at this spot and he did not disappoint. He was dominant in the Friday home opener, and helped the Nationals to their only win of the set.
The Phils only saw one of the three pitchers for this series last weekend, and he was also very good. Strasburg has been solid in his first two starts for the Nats and will look to exact some revenge from his no decision last Sunday. He was dominant during stretches of that game, but did allow three runs over seven innings. Along the way, he struck out eight Phillies hitters.
Strasburg has changed his approach to pitching quite drastically coming into 2017. He has decided to only pitch from the stretch in order to control his mechanics more effectively. It has not changed the velocity with which he delivers the baseball. The change does make sense for a player who has been affected by arm troubles so early and often in his career. Pitching out of the stretch will simplify his delivery with less moving parts and allow for the important parts of his route to the plate to stay clean.
The Phillies were able to take advantage of situations with runners on base during Sunday’s game. In order to beat Strasburg, that is a necessity. When he gives opportunities, the Phils better be ready to pounce. Otherwise, the righty will settle in and completely dominate a ballgame.
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As we saw Sunday, the 28 year old will throw any of his pitches in any count. In the first, he threw three straight fastballs for strikes to set down Howie Kendrick. Later in the game, he threw two curveballs to start a Brock Stassi pinch hit at bat, then froze him with a froze him with a 96 MPH fastball to put him away.
In other words, be ready for any pitch at any time with the remade righty. Take advantage of the few opportunities he gives. And hope the offense can get back on track in the nation’s capital.