Phillies: How did 2017 compare to 2016?
How did the Phillies season in 2017 compare to 2016?
Another Phillies season has come to an end, and now is the time to look back and see if the team made the improvements they were hoping for.
Going into 2017, there was much optimism that this young team could take a step back toward relevancy.
Given the pending call-ups of young talent and the hope that young talent already at the big league level would take the next step forward in their development, there was hope for an exciting 2017 season.
As the season went on, fans got what they were hoping for, as top prospects Rhys Hoskins, Jorge Alfaro, Nick Williams, and J.P Crawford were called up.
Would these call-ups help the team improve as a whole? Let’s take a closer look at the team stats in 2016 compared to 2017 in order to see.
Batting
In 2016 the Phillies finished in the bottom half of the MLB in all major batting categories. They would finish last in the league in runs scored and RBI with 610 runs scored, which was 39 less than the second worst, and 575 RBI which was 40 less than the second worst.
The team would finish 29th in the league in batting average with a team average of .240. The highest major category they would rank in would be home runs, where the Phillies were 24th with 161.
In 2017 the Phillies would improve in all of the above referenced offensive categories. For runs scored, they would increase their total by 80, finishing with 690 runs scored, and ranking 27th.
The team’s average would rise .10 points, going from .240 to .250 which ranked them 20th in the league. With regard to home runs and RBI, the 2017 Phillies would have 654 RBIs, ranking 27th and 174 home runs, ranking 26th.
While the numbers are still in the bottom 10 of the MLB in all of those categories, it is an encouraging sign that the team showed improvement with the influx of new young talent from the farm system.
Pitching
Just like the batting in 2016, the pitching in 2016 would also finish at the bottom of the league in most major categories.
The team would rank 26th in era and earned runs allowed with an era of 4.63, and 739 earned runs allowed. With regard to batting average against, the team would rank 25th with a .265 average.
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Strikeouts would be the best category the 2016 pitching staff ranked in, ranking 15th with 1299 strikeouts.
Just like the batting in 2017, the team would improve, or be the same in all the major pitching categories referenced above.
The team would improve its era to 4.55, ranking 18th in the league, and earned runs allowed with 10 fewer for a total of 729.
Strikeouts slightly improved, with an increase of 10, for a total of 1309 in 2017.
The only category where there was no improvement was batting average against. While there was no improvement, there also was no regression, as the team had the same average against of .265 ranking 24th in the league.
With an improvement in both the batting and pitching stats, what effect would this have on the team’s record?
Record
In 2016 the team finished 4th in the National League East, with a record of 71-91, which would leave them 24 games back of the division lead, and 16 games back of the second wild-card spot.
Despite the statistical improvements with hitting and pitching, the team would have a worse record in 2017.
The Phillies finished 2017 with a record of 66-96, which ranked them 31 games back in the division lead, and 21 games back of the second wild-card spot.
Outlook Moving Forward
Despite finishing the season with five fewer wins, the 2017 Phillies showed many things to be optimistic about.
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The team showed improvement in the pitching stats, as well as their total offensive numbers. If all goes to plan, these should improve as the younger players get more experience in the big leagues.
Another positive is shown on their record; however, to fully understand this season, one must look deeper into the number.
While the team had less wins, a major reason why was a terrible first half.
Once Alfaro, Williams, Hoskins, and Crawford came up in the second half, the team was completely different and competitive on any given night.
The team’s record for the first half of the season was 29-58. After the All-Star break, the team would go 37-38.
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Given the significant improvements in the second half, mixed with the overall improvements about batting and pitching stats, the outlook for the Phillies in 2018 looks promising, as the team tries to continue to improve, on year at a time.