Phillies Opposition Roadblock: St. Louis Cardinals

Jun 7, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies center fielder Odubel Herrera (37) reacts after hitting a double against the Atlanta Braves during the ninth inning at SunTrust Park. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 7, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies center fielder Odubel Herrera (37) reacts after hitting a double against the Atlanta Braves during the ninth inning at SunTrust Park. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
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Jun 7, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies center fielder Odubel Herrera (37) reacts after hitting a double against the Atlanta Braves during the ninth inning at SunTrust Park. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 7, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies center fielder Odubel Herrera (37) reacts after hitting a double against the Atlanta Braves during the ninth inning at SunTrust Park. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /

The Phillies are coming off a split in Atlanta, but now have to take on a struggling, yet tough St. Louis Cardinals team.

It was the tale of two teams this week in Atlanta. There was the team that showed up for the first two games and then the offense that could not find a groove in the next two games.

The Braves lit up the Phillies on Wednesday night, and R.A. Dickey did what he had done to them for years as a part of the Mets on Thursday evening.

On an unrelated note, it was kind of the Braves to give the Phils a “Getaway Day” afternoon game yesterday, wasn’t it?…

Matt Kemp was only 3-15 in the series. He walked once and struck out five times. Two of his hits came in Atlanta’s win last evening. He had a double that plated one of their three runs. In the Phillies two wins, Kemp was 1-8 with three strikeouts. And in the 14-1 destruction on Wednesday, he was hitless, going 0-3 with a walk.

Phils Grade: B

Jun 7, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Mike Foltynewicz (26) is shown in the dugout against the Philadelphia Phillies during the seventh inning at SunTrust Park. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 7, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Mike Foltynewicz (26) is shown in the dugout against the Philadelphia Phillies during the seventh inning at SunTrust Park. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /

The two most dominating pitching performances by the Braves came during the last two games from Mike Foltynewicz and R.A. Dickey. The two pitchers combined for 14 innings pitched, allowing seven hits, one earned run, two walks (both Foltynewicz), and 12 strikeouts.

Even with those stellar performances, the loss the Braves suffered from with Jaime Garcia was still a solid start.

Garcia tossed 7.2 innings in which the Phils scored three runs (all earned), while he walked none and struck out four. He did an excellent job and gave him team a chance to win.

Phils Grade: B

Jun 18, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; St Louis Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter (left), shortstop Jhonny Peralta (27), first baseman Mark Reynolds (12) and second baseman Kolten Wong (right) in the seventh inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. The Minnesota Twins beat the St Louis Cardinals 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 18, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; St Louis Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter (left), shortstop Jhonny Peralta (27), first baseman Mark Reynolds (12) and second baseman Kolten Wong (right) in the seventh inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. The Minnesota Twins beat the St Louis Cardinals 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports /

The Team: St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals (26-32) come into play tonight sitting in fourth place in a tight NL Central. The Cards have been one of the most consistent franchises in baseball over the course of the last two decades. However, they took a backseat to the Chicago Cubs last season and another to the emergent Milwaukee Brewers this season.

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This season’s version of the Cards does not seem to have it all together though. They currently rank (27) behind the Phillies in total runs scored this season (232). It averages out to exactly four runs per game. They are closer to the middle of the pack in both team batting average (.248) and team OPS (.718). And their 58 homers are 27th in all of baseball.

On the pitching end, St. Louis sits in the top ten of ERA (4.01), quality starts (six innings pitched allowing three runs or less) with 33, OPS against them (.720), and WHIP (1.29). They rank just outside the top ten in a ton of other categories like homers allowed, strikeouts, and batting average against (all 13th in the league).

Their 40 errors and .982 fielding percentage are good enough for 22nd in baseball and 11th in the National League.

May 10, 2017; Miami, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Jedd Gyorko (3) connects for a two run RBI single during the third inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
May 10, 2017; Miami, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Jedd Gyorko (3) connects for a two run RBI single during the third inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /

Position Player: Jedd Gyorko

The Cardinals have eight players with over 100 at-bats through the first week of June. Of those eight, only two of them are hitting over .275 and three with an OBP above .350 at this point. They are getting disappointing offensive seasons from Yadier Molina, Matt Carpenter, and newcomer, Dexter Fowler.

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Truly, their best player has been underrated third baseman, Jedd Gyorko. He currently leads the Cards in average (.307) and OPS (.872). While Carpenter is leading the team in homers and RBI, he has not been as consistent as Gyorko this season.

He is hitting .287 at home with season with nine extra-base hits. Over the last week, he has cooled off a bit (4-20) with a run and one RBI. Over his time in the league, he has gone 1-12 off Jeremy Hellickson and Aaron Nola but has not faced Nick Pivetta yet. It will be interesting to see how the 28-year-old fairs this weekend against the Phillies trio of arms.

He has a .303/.378/.485 career line against the Phils, however. In those 18 appearances against Philadelphia, he has mustered three homers, three doubles, and has struck out 12 times. His career numbers against them are not dynamic but are also not terrible at all.

Gyorko seems like he would be a dead fastball hitter. He has been feasting off right-hander’s fastballs this season. However, a closer look at his performance against righties showed that he crushes breaking and off-speed pitches in the lower part of the zone. He has been feasting on righties this season (.314/.365/.533 with six homers), and the Phils hope to cool him down in that area.

May 26, 2017; Denver, CO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Carlos Martinez (18) delivers a pitch in the first inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
May 26, 2017; Denver, CO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Carlos Martinez (18) delivers a pitch in the first inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /

The Pitcher: Carlos Martinez

On a team with Adam Wainwright and Michael Wacha, Mike Leake is the best pitcher. If you were to tell me that would be the case four years ago, I probably would have laughed at you for hours. Good news for the Phillies is that they will not see Leake this weekend. However, they will face Wacha and Wainwright.

Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies /

Philadelphia Phillies

Neither one will be the focus of our outlook today. Instead, we will concentrate on the young Carlos Martinez, whose explosive stuff leads the Cards in strikeouts this season (88 in 79.1 innings). Of his 12 starts, eight of them have been of the quality variety. His 1.10 WHIP and 3.39 ERA are both third on the staff behind Leake and Lance Lynn.

Martinez has racked up ten consecutive starts with six or more innings pitched. He has allowed more than five hits twice and is yet to have a game without any free passes. He has allowed more than three earned runs only twice.

The 25-year-old flamethrower has only faced four current Phils. Only Freddy Galvis and Odubel Herrera have had success against him. Herrera has two hits against Martinez in three at-bats and hopes to continue that success. His 2.25 ERA against the Phillies, believe it or not, is one of the higher marks he has against a team. The Phils own an extremely low .180 team average against him.

When he gets his first two outs of the evening, he will have reached 300 innings pitched at Busch Stadium. He owns a career 3.52 ERA at home and a 1.27 WHIP at his home park.

The 25-year-old has high-end velocity on all of his pitches, including his huge, sweeping breaking ball. He throws his slider in the mid-to-high-80s. His fastball touches the high-90s and can get into the 100 MPH range. He uses both fastballs, slider, and change pretty equally. Of his 88 punch-outs, his fastball and slider combination have accounted for 72 of them.

Next: Phillies finalize trade with the Tampa Bay Rays

The struggling Philadelphia offense may be running into the wrong guy in this series to fix their continued issues with consistency.

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