That Balls Outta Here
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Phillies base running struggles have come to a boiling point

By John Town

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JULY 4: Aaron Altherr #23 of the Philadelphia Phillies reacts after grounding into an inning ending double play in the bottom of the seventh inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citizens Bank Park on July 4, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Pirates defeated the Phillies 3-0. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - JULY 4: Aaron Altherr #23 of the Philadelphia Phillies reacts after grounding into an inning ending double play in the bottom of the seventh inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citizens Bank Park on July 4, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Pirates defeated the Phillies 3-0. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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Thursday night in their loss to the Pirates the Phillies showed the baserunning woes that have plagued them all season long.

The Phillies lost to the Pirates 6-3 Thursday night in one of the more puzzling games fans will watch. Andrew Knapp scored from first on a pick off error in a game Ricky Bottalico called “comical.”

Part of the mess that was Thursday’s game was the base running that cost them three different runners. In the second inning, Aaron Altherr hit a bullet that hit off the top of the left field wall. Pirates left fielder Jose Osuna fielded it and quickly threw it in to second base, throwing Altherr out by several steps. The play wasn’t even close as Altherr was sent back to the dugout.

The next batter, Odubel Herrera, hit a blooper into left field down the line. Despite just watching Altherr being thrown out, Herrera decided to test Osuna’s arm again as he raced towards second. Like clockwork, Osuna threw out Herrera by a mile to end the second.

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Later on during the game, Altherr hit another single into left field, scoring two runs on the play to tie it up. Even though he was thrown out earlier in the game, Altherr thought he could take the extra base. The play was close this time, but by this point you know how the story ends.

Not once, not twice, but three times the same fielder threw out a base runner at second base. At a certain point, someone has to stop and think, “Maybe we shouldn’t try to run on this guy?”

Philadelphia had six hits last night, but three of those hits were erased on the same play. When half your hits wind up with you being thrown out on the same play, it’s a recipe for the disaster.

Manager Pete Mackanin tried to explain away the base running errors, but even he had to recognize that they should have stopped running on Osuna: [quote via Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly]

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"“You know what’s interesting about those plays is I encourage the guys to be aggressive, to try to turn a single into a double,” Mackanin said. “However, when you take that hard turn going to second base you should have time to decide whether or not to go, and I think those guys, if they had to do it all over again, would have stopped and went out back to first.“If they were closer plays it wouldn’t have been a big deal, but when you’re out by that much, I think they should have shut it down.”"

Next: Major reasons behind Phillies horrendous season

Base running has been a struggle this year for Philadelphia, and their ultimate base running score of -3.4 is 13th in the National League. The philosophy for this team needs to change on the base paths because it’s hurting more than it’s helping.

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