Phillies: How did August of 2017 compare to August of 2016?
After improvement in July 2017 compared to July 2016, would the Phillies continue that momentum and have a better August in comparison to 2016 as well?
The big story in August for the Phillies, was the call up of Rhys Hoskins, and the display he has put at the plate during the month. In his first month in the big leagues, the slugging first baseman/ newly converted left fielder, has hit .304, with 19 runs scored, 11 home runs, and 25 RBIs since his call up on August 10th.
Along with a great month in the majors, Hoskins also received news that he was named 2017 MVP of the International League, along with Rookie of the Year of the International league.
It should come as no surprise that as a result of this historic month by Hoskins, the Phillies offensive statistics improved in August of 2017, in comparison to August of 2016.
Offense
In 2016, the team struggled in all the major offensive categories. For runs, the team scored 112, ranking 26th in the league. They would also rank 26th in the league in RBI with a total of 206.
For batting average the team would finish even worse, ranking 27th with a .236 average. The category the team would rank highest would be in home runs, with a total of 32, good for 21st in the league.
The 2017 Phillies would finish August with the same amount of home runs as in 2016, with 32. That would be the only major offensive category where the team would not show improvement, as they finished 23rd in the league.
With 11 of those home runs belonging to Hoskins, it is safe to assume if not for his call up, the team would have taken a step back in that category in 2017.
With regard to RBIs and runs scored, the team would finish 21st in RBI with 115, and 19th in runs scored with 121. The biggest jump from last year would be in average, as the team average raised .14 points for an average of .250, ranking 20th in the league.
Pitching
Pitching would be a different story, as the Phillies pitching struggled in August of 2017.
In 2016, the staff also had trouble on the rubber. The team would have an era of 5.50, which would rank 28th, along with ranking 26th in runs allowed, with 152.
Strikeouts and opponent batting average would also rank in the bottom half of the league. The Phillies would have 211 strike outs, which ranked 25th, and an opponent batting average of .277, which would rank 26th.
In 2017, the team would improve in two of the major pitching categories, and regress in two.
The two improvements would come with regard to era and strikeouts. The team’s era would drop .10 points, with an era of 5.40, ranking 26th in the league.
For strikeouts, the staff would have 30 more strikeouts for a total of 241, rankings 12th.
The biggest step back would take place in the runs allowed category, where the team allowed 19 more runs for a total of 171, ranking 30th. As the runs went up, so did the opposing team’s batting average by .10 points, raising from .277 to .287.
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The regression in pitching would help to cause the team to win one less game in 2017 compared to 2016. In 2016 the team finished the month of August with a record of 12-14. In 2017, the team would have 11 wins and 19 losses.
Hoskins promotion has made the team more attractive and provided more hope for the future. It will be interesting to see if J.P. Crawford and other potential September call ups can bring more life into this team, and show the fans the future core of players they have been longing to see.