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Phillies Opposition Roadblock: Arizona Diamondbacks

By Mike Azzalina

Jun 22, 2017; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies center fielder Odubel Herrera (37) celebrates his double during the eighth inning of the game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies won the game 5-1. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 22, 2017; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies center fielder Odubel Herrera (37) celebrates his double during the eighth inning of the game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies won the game 5-1. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jun 6, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Jake Lamb (22) against the San Diego Padres at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 6, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Jake Lamb (22) against the San Diego Padres at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports /

The Position Player: Jake Lamb

Jake Lamb is not a very well-known player around the game of baseball, but the third baseman is one of the best hitters on one of the game’s best offensive teams. Lamb is having a successful third season in the bigs.

Coming into the weekend, the third baseman is slashing .282/.381/.546, which all mark improvements over last season’s numbers. His 16 homers put him on pace to eclipse his 29 from the 2016 campaign.

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He has struggled immensely against lefties this season (.133/.235/.267 and two homers). It is not far off his career numbers against lefties though (.161/.257/.301). Considering the Phillies lack of left-handed pitching though, Lamb will not have to worry about that.

The problem for the Phils will be that the Seattle native rakes righties (.327/.423/.629 with 14 homers and 54 RBI). In his career, Lamb has slashed .281/.355/.509 against right-handers. And a robust 48 of his 55 career homers have come against righties.

Lamb has two hits against Jeremy Hellickson and one against Ben Lively, but has not faced Mark Leiter Jr. or Nick Pivetta this season. Against the Phils overall though, Lamb has had some success. In 61 official plate appearances, Lamb is .373/.459/.745 with four homers, eight free passes, and 13 RBI against the Phils.

Lamb’s zone is pretty wide. He hits fastballs all over the strikezone against righties. He hits the fastball extremely well and will occasionally chase away on the pitch. On breaking balls and offspeed pitches, it will be important for pitchers to bury them in on his feet. Pitches that sit on the outer part of the zone are fire red on his heat map.

A week removed from a 3-9 against the Phils, Lamb will try to continue his success against them. The Phillies look forward to trying to set him down over the weekend.

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