Phillies Phocus: The Houston Astros come to Philly
The Phillies are set to welcome in one of baseball’s best teams. Here are a few players to focus on during this three game series.
Two series wins in a row. What is happening, people? The Phillies offense has been ignited by surges from some of the younger pieces on the roster. There really is no better time for that to happen than with one of the best teams in baseball coming into town. The Phillies are hoping to continue their success against the Houston Astros.
Ryan Braun only played in two of the three games because of some minor injuries. However, he made his time worth it on Saturday night. Braun was the catalyst to his team’s 9-8 victory. He helped jumpstart the Brewers before being taken out of the game and having to watch the Phillies push to a comeback. In the series, the leftfielder was not bothered by the booing as he went 4-7 with 5 RBI, a walk, and three runs scored. He did not strike out once in the three game series.
Phils Grade: C-
Brent Suter did exactly what most pitchers facing them for the first time do. He gave them fits. For his six innings on Saturday, the Phillies could not find a way to get to him. Outside of an Odubel Herrera homer, the Phils could not muster much of an offensive attack. He allowed only five hits, walked no one, and struck out five. The start lowered the lefty’s ERA to 2.86 as he takes his role in the rotation.
Phils Grade: D
The Team: Houston Astros
Enter the best team in the American League. The Phillies are starting to play some of their best baseball this season. It is hard to decide if that is good news or tough luck with the Houston Astros coming into town.
The Astros come into play at 65-33 and running away with the AL West. They come into play this week going 4-4 in their last eight. They also come into play with one baseball’s best pitching staffs and offensive attack.
Despite injuries coming into the series, the Astros are still tough to handle. Luckily, the Phils will miss out on Carlos Correa, arguably the the team’s best players. They will also miss any starts by Dallas Keuchel.
The Astros still lead baseball in runs scored with 581 to this point. There are weapons throughout their lineup with George Springer, Alex Bregman, and veterans such as Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran. The .858 OPS as a team is also the best in the game. It is 41 points higher than the Washington Nationals who sit in second.
Did I forget to mention they strike out less than any other team in baseball? They do. The Astros are one of two teams who has struck out less than 700 times as an entire roster.
And power? They have it. Houston is baseball’s homerun leading team, powering 163 balls out of the park this season.
On the mound, they have been just as dominant. They rank in the top ten as a team in ERA, strikeouts (first in baseball with 995), and batting average against. The Phillies are a team that tends to strikeout in opportune spots, so the Astros could be walking into a feast the next three games.
The Position Player: Jose Altuve
Honestly, this one is not even a question. Even if Correa was playing this week, I would have a difficult time not picking Jose Altuve.
Small in stature, but large in talent, Altuve has become a household name around baseball. He is a pesky top of the order bat who is just incredibly difficult to get out on a nightly basis.
This season, Altuve is hitting a ridiculous .358/.424/.564 and carries 134 hits into this series. He has stolen 21 bases and has struck out only 51 times in 374 at bats. Oh yeah, he has walked 39 times. Do not be fooled by his size either. The 5’6” second baseman has 15 homers this season to boot.
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On the road this year, Altuve is only hitting .420 with ten homers. He has played at Citizen’s Bank Park before, but did not have much luck there, only going 4-24 in five games there.
He comes into the series one of the hottest hitters in baseball. Since the turn of the calendar into July, Altuve is slashing .479/.526/.718 with four homeruns. I do not know that there are words for just how impressive those numbers are.
He is getting a hit in nearly 50% of the 71 at bats he has had this month.
How do the Phillies get him out? I really have no idea. There are very few scouting reports that give ways to send him back to the visitor’s dugout. Take a look at his hot/cold chart. A closer look at fastballs is laughable. Any fastball that touches the zone is fire red.
There does not seem to be much luck with curveballs either. However, if you can spot a changeup exactly on the low, outside corner, you may get him out.
Yes, that is how perfect a pitcher must be when facing Jose Altuve.
The Pitcher: Mike Fiers
Mike Fiers seems to be the best choice for this week’s set. He is Houston’s leader in ERA and is near the top of their leaderboard in most other categories. They will face Brad Peacock who is only making his 11th start and Charlie Morton who can light up the radar gun as we saw last season before he was lost due to injury.
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Fiers seems to be the safe choice here. The 32 year old is coming off two starts, in which he was able to go seven innings and two earned runs or less. He has struck out 20 batters in his last two starts as well and looks to keep it rolling as he comes into CBP on Wednesday.
His ERA is nearly two full points higher on the road this season. However, the rest of the numbers look fairly equal between home and away starts.
Outside of Freddy Galvis, who is 1-1 with a triple off Fiers, the rest of the Phillies have either never seen him or have just not had much success against him.
Fiers is not overpowering by any stretch. He relies on his four-seam and cutter in the low-nineties to set hitters up for a 12-6 type curve, a changeup, and recently added slider. He will get his strikeouts, but also finds ways to get some flyball outs as well.
Next: With Altherr returning, who gets playing time?
The Phillies will have to find a way to deal with someone who is very similar in style to how Suter pitched them on Saturday night.