Phillies Opposition Roadblock: Washington Nationals
The Phillies come home off a long, difficult trip hoping to change their fortunes. The problem is that Ryan Zimmerman the Nationals are waiting.
Well, the Phillies really find interesting ways to lose. A 1-6 road trip was not what they set out to achieve, but they come home six losses worse regardless. They competed during most games and actually led in all of them. Now, they have to come home and try to handle their division-leading Washington Nationals.
Kris Bryant is a small piece of a very large offensive machine. The Cubs remind me of the Phillies during the run of five division titles. There are players throughout the entire order two can hurt the opposition. However, Bryant proved why he will be a perennial MVP candidate. His line of 8-for-15 with a walk, triple, homer, and three runs scored in the series. While he was not the only one coming up with key hits this week, the third baseman still made a solid impact.
Phils Grade: D
Jake Arrieta is obviously not the same pitcher that he was a few years back. His velocity has declined. However, he still has a ton of talent and some devastating pitches. In his six innings on Wednesday night, Arrieta allowed six hits and a walk on the way to three runs but striking out seven. The Phils, once again, had the lead late, but could not hold onto it. This loss, as others on this trip, was not on the offense.
Phils Grade: B
The Team: Washington Nationals
The Nationals? I feel like we have played them before. Believe it or not, despite the calendar just now turning to May, the Phillies will be playing Washington for the seventh, eighth, and ninth times this weekend. And so I do not forget, they will be playing them again next weekend.
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Basically, I am tired of writing about the Nationals. Let me summarize. They are talented, very talented. However, with a season-ending injury to Adam Eaton and a possible missed weekend for Bryce Harper, the Phils are hoping to help tip the scales back in their favor this weekend.
The Phillies come into the series tied with the Mets and Marlins at 12-15 (6.5 back of the Nats).
Washington is 19-9 this season and 10-3 on the road. The Phillies need these games in the worst of ways after their recent road trip. The Nats and Phils have split this season’s first six games.
The Phils may catch a break this weekend because Harper is day-to-day with a groin strain. If he misses at least two of the games, the Phils could steal a couple of wins from a strong National team. Above all else, the Nationals are coming in 3-3 in their last six, so they are not exactly red hot.
The Position Player: Ryan Zimmerman
Ryan Zimmerman is the way to go this weekend. The man is healthy and playing the best baseball I have seen him play in years. Without Harper, the Washington first baseman becomes crucial to the offensive attack.
The Phils have never had it easy with Zim, and this season, he reminded them of that in the finale of their first series about a month ago. He came off the bench to tie the game with a three-run blast in the top of the ninth off Jeanmar Gomez.
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Zimmerman is hitting an absurd .424/.468/.859 in his first 99 at-bats of 2017. He has driven in 30 runs in just about a month of baseball games and hit a team-high 11 home runs. At age 32, he leads the team in every offensive category with the exception of on-base percentage and runs.
Zimmerman has had luck against the Phillies throughout his career. In 166 games, he has homered 21 times and driven in 92 runs. At Citizen’s Bank Park, he has been about average. He has hit 11 of the 21 bombs at CBP, but his other numbers are pretty pedestrian.
The problem is that this is not the same Zimmerman from the last few years. He seems to be having a bit of a renaissance. As he settles into first base and the injuries decrease, he seems to become more productive.
This year, fastballs in the zone are being hit. He is not missing them at all. And sometimes the Phillies pitching fails to hit their spots with that pitch. If they do miss, it could spell some trouble.
As far as breaking balls and offspeed pitches, he is mashing pitches at the bottom half of the zone. If pitchers are able to get it away from him, he has struggled, but anything from the middle to the inner half and down is a problem.
The Phillies hope to slow the reincarnated Zimmerman this weekend, but if they do not, their recent struggles will continue.
The Pitcher: Tanner Roark
At this point, the Nationals have not announced their starter for Saturday. We already know Friday night’s starter was Stephen Strasburg, but we have focused on him already. The only other known arm is Tanner Roark, so we will look there.
Roark has already thrown against the Phils this season and had some success against them. He went seven innings in his home stadium over Easter weekend, giving up two earned runs on four hits and inducing 15 groundball outs. It would be the only game the Nationals would lose in the series.
The righty is currently 3-1 with a 4.04 ERA this season. He has gone six or more innings in four starts this season, and the Nationals have won three of those. Roark has been a steady piece in the Washington rotation for the last four seasons and is currently pitching with the consistency they have come to expect from him.
The 30-year-old comes at hitters with a five-pitch arsenal. His four-seam fastball is his favorite pitch seeing as he has thrown it more than double the amount of his next most used pitch (his slider). The only pitch hitters are having luck against early in the 2017 season is his curveball. Other than that, Roark’s pitches have been difficult on hitters.
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The Phillies may need Sunday afternoon in order to take the series, and Roark will be the pitcher that stands in the way.