Phillies: Five things we learned from the Rockies series
Call it walking off on a high note for the Phillies, who ended one of the worst series in recent memories with a walk-off.
Outscored by the Rockies 24-7 during the four-game series, nothing clicked for the Phils in any aspect of the game. None of the starters worked past the sixth inning, and two failed to get through more than five.
Adding to the storylines throughout the week was Maikel Franco, who was benched for two games by manager Pete Mackanin. Franco returned Thursday with a single in his first at-bat, but went the rest of the game without reaching base.
Odubel Herrera’s struggles also continued, culminating with five strikeouts on Thursday in the extra-winning win. His lack of production could constitute time in the dugout with Cincinnati arriving for a Memorial Day weekend series.
Here’re the five biggest things Phillies fans learned in the dreadful four games against the National League-leading Rockies.
The Phillies are a long way with competing from the best
The Rockies came into Philadelphia as the National League’s best team with a 28-17 record. Meanwhile, the Phillies were 15-26 with the third-worst record in the NL. They were already losers of seven straight series and 17 of their previous 21 games.
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With the series now over, it is easy to see the differences between these two teams. The Rockies scored eight runs in the first two games and seven in the third. Stronger pitching held them to one run on Thursday, but the difference in talent was clear.
The Rockies outscored the Phillies by 17 runs during the series. Philadelphia’s hitters went quiet while the Rockies went on the offensive.
Colorado got strong starts from rookies German Marquez and Jeff Hoffman while Jerad Eickhoff and Zach Eflin struggled in their respective outings.
Seeing the Rockies go from the cellar of the NL West to the top is great for them, but watching them utterly dominate the Phillies shows just how far the latter is from actually competing again in the National League.
Jeremy Hellickson can’t pitch to contact forever
Jeremy Hellickson has given up the most contact of his career this season. His 84.9% contact rate is the 11th-highest among qualified pitchers in the league this year. In addition, his 7.2% swinging strike rate is the lowest in his career and 12th-lowest in MLB this year.
Hellickson’s game this season has been avoiding hard contact. His 27.9% hard contact rate is 16th-lowest this season. That way, hitters struggle to reach base when they put the ball in play as opposing hitters have a .222 batting average on balls in play against Hellickson. He also gave up few free passes with a 4.5% walk rate headed into Wednesday’s game.
Wednesday night against the Rockies Hellickson couldn’t pitch to contact against Colorado’s heavy-hitting offense. He gave up seven runs on eight hits along with giving up a home run. The Rockies hit line drives 31.6% of the time against Hellickson, prompting them to so many hits.
Hellickson also struggled to keep his control as he allowed four walks. Combined with the high hit count, Hellickson was doomed to a poor start.
After seeing Hellickson get rocked by the Rockies (ba dum tiss) it shows a chink in his armor that more teams could exploit over this season. He was bound to have a poor start with his strategy, and more could come if he doesn’t improve upon it.
Zach Eflin isn’t as good as we thought he was
Zach Eflin had another poor outing Tuesday night, giving up eight runs to the Rockies over six innings. Elfin allowed three home runs and ten hits during the start. It was his second straight start giving up at least ten hits and seven runs.
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Eflin’s poor starts come after a string of five outings where he had a 2.81 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 4.25 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and .228 batting average against him. However, his FIP of 4.35 and xFIP of 4.76 in that same stretch indicated that regression was on the way.
After his last two starts, Eflin has a 5.36 ERA, 5.08 FIP, 1.36 WHIP, and 2.75 strikeout-to-walk ratio this season. He went from one of the team’s better pitchers to one of the worse in under a week.
Eflin is often viewed as a piece in the team’s future rotation somewhere in the middle or back end. He has shown flashes of success, but to expect too much from him is futile, as shown by his recent outings.
Andrew Knapp moves towards a starting role
As we highlighted earlier this week, the Phillies appear to be moving towards Andrew Knapp as their starting catcher. There’re several reasons why Knapp should be getting more opportunities behind the plate. First off, the team needs to discover what they have in one of their top offensive prospects. The value of a switch-hitting catcher is too high for the team to have him rot on the bench.
That fact carries even more weight knowing Jorge Alfaro is likely to return no later than September.
Follow up with Cameron Rupp’s performance at and behind the plate, both of which have been called into question. Pitching coach Bob McClure was openly critical of Rupp’s game calling, prompting more starts for Knapp.
Knapp finished the series with two hits, one being a home run, in his two starts. Expect more appearances by Knapp going forward as the Phillies continue to look towards the future.
Aaron Altherr is alive
After a down series against the Pirates, Aaron Altherr appeared to spring back to life against the Rockies. Appearing in all four games the outfielder managed four hits, including two doubles on Monday in the 8-1 loss.
How Altherr’s playing time will be affected by Howie Kendrick’s imminent return is unknown, but opportunities to start in center field are likely.
After Tommy Joseph Altherr has had one of the best months for the Phillies offensively during their early season drought. The 26-year-old is hitting .298 this month with eight home runs while stealing three bases.
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Altherr will get his opportunities, but should the losing start to affect him at the plate, expect the leash to be short.