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Phillies first month in review: Who was hot, who wasn’t in April

By John Town |
Rhys Hoskins #17 and Aaron Nola #27 of the Philadelphia Phillies (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Rhys Hoskins #17 and Aaron Nola #27 of the Philadelphia Phillies (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
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PHILADELPHIA, PA – APRIL 27: Rhys Hoskins #17 of the Philadelphia Phillies fist bumps Aaron Nola #27 after the top of the seventh inning against the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park on April 27, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies defeated the Braves 7-3. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – APRIL 27: Rhys Hoskins #17 of the Philadelphia Phillies fist bumps Aaron Nola #27 after the top of the seventh inning against the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park on April 27, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies defeated the Braves 7-3. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

The Phillies started off the season with a 16-12 record through the first month. Who was hot and who wasn’t in that stretch?

The first month of the Phillies season can be divided into three parts. The team started off the season 1-4 on the road in catastrophic fashion, breaking a record for the most pitchers used in the first three games of the season. The calls to fire manager Gabe Kapler were swift and deafening after just the first series. He was booed before the home opener in true Philadelphia fashion.

The next part of this season started when the Phillies returned home as the team rattled off 12 wins in 15 games. They had a six-game win streak after back-to-back sweeps of the Reds and Rays. It was exactly the kind of turnaround the club needed.

The third part of this season is the one Philadelphia currently is in. They have won just two of their last eight games and are in danger of being swept by the last-place Marlins Wednesday night. Things went from looking sunny and bright to doom and gloom.

With just over one month of the season completed, let’s take a look back at who was hot and who was not in April, as well as the players somewhere in the middle

PHILADELPHIA, PA – APRIL 28: Odubel Herrera #37 of the Philadelphia Phillies climbs the wall and makes a catch on a ball hit by Freddie Freeman #5 of the Atlanta Braves during the third inning of a game at Citizens Bank Park on April 28, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – APRIL 28: Odubel Herrera #37 of the Philadelphia Phillies climbs the wall and makes a catch on a ball hit by Freddie Freeman #5 of the Atlanta Braves during the third inning of a game at Citizens Bank Park on April 28, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

Who’s hot

  • CF Odubel Herrera – Herrera started off the season on the bench on Opening Day. Since then, he has posted a .337/.391/.490 slash line with a 145 OPS+, leading the team’s position players with 1.1 wins above replacement. His 35 hits lead the National League and his batting average ranks second in the NL.
  • LF Rhys Hoskins – Hoskins has cooled off recently, but he still has an impressive .981 OPS to start the season. His .455 on-base percentage is second in the NL thanks to the league’s third-best walk rate (20.7 percent). Hoskins also has the fourth-best OPS+ (174) and best on the team.
  • 2B Cesar Hernandez – It hasn’t been flashy, but Hernandez has been a steady presence at the top of the lineup. His 23 walks rank third in the NL and his .406 OBP is 21st. His defense has been steady as well, with the fourth-highest defensive value among all second baseman.
  • SP Aaron Nola – Nola was expected to be the team’s ace so far this year, and he has been just that. He has a 2.58 ERA with a 3.25 fielding-independent pitching. He doesn’t have as lofty of a strikeout rate as last year, but he is allowing less hard contact and inducing more ground balls. Nola ranks fifth in the National League with 1.6 wins above replacement.
  • SP Nick Pivetta – Pivetta took a small step back in his last start but still has an impressive 3.27 ERA and 2.72 fielding-independent pitching. He has cut his walk rate in half compared to last season, nearly doubling his strikeout-to-walk ratio from 2.46 to 4.86. He ranks second to Nola in wins above replacement.
  • SP Jake Arrieta – Arrieta also had a poor last start, but is still going strong with a 3.49 ERA and 3.28 FIP. He has also done well inducing weak contact, which has helped him combat a rather low strikeout total. He has complemented Nola well.
  • The entire bullpen – Pretty much every reliever currently on the roster has been strong this season. Tommy Hunter has the highest ERA of anyone at 4.15 after giving up a two-run home run in Monday’s loss. As a whole, their 3.13 ERA ranks fifth and opposing batting average of .214 ranks seventh among all 30 teams. They have recovered from that poor start to the season.
MIAMI, FL – MAY 01: Carlos Santana #41 of the Philadelphia Phillies hits for a double in the ninth inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park on May 1, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL – MAY 01: Carlos Santana #41 of the Philadelphia Phillies hits for a double in the ninth inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park on May 1, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

Who’s not

1B Carlos Santana

– The $60 million man has gotten off to a disappointing start this season. Santana is hitting just .158 so far, but a 17.3 percent walk rate has brought his OBP to .307 on the season. More than half of his batted balls have been fly balls, while just 4.7 percent have left the ballpark. If some of those fly balls landed in the right places, he would have much better numbers this season.

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  • SS J.P. Crawford – Another season, another poor start for Crawford. He was hitting just .188 with a .575 OPS before landing on the disabled list. His poor start has been especially concerning considering his walk rate is a mere 5.6 percent with a 26.8 percent strikeout rate.
  • C Jorge Alfaro – The number that jumps out the most on Alfaro’s stat line is his 42.9 percent strikeout rate with 30 strikeouts in 70 plate appearances.
    More than half of his plate appearances have ended in one of the three true outcomes, which is Adam Dunn-esque. The fact that Alfaro is still hitting .231 is a feat itself.
  • C Andrew Knapp – Catching has been a weak spot on the team as a whole as Knapp has a meager .170/.264/.213 line this season. His 31 wRC+ is the worst on the team besides Jesmuel Valentin, who has one plate appearance.
  • RF Nick Williams – Williams has been the one outfielder who has really struggled this year. His OPS of .558 only tops Knapp among position players. Williams recorded his first hit Tuesday night since April 16, which still only brings his season batting average up to .200. He may truly become the fourth outfielder if things don’t change soon.
  • SP Ben Lively – Lively was wildly inconsistent before landing on the disabled list, which can be observed just by looking at his last two starts. He went six one-run innings April 20 against the Pirates, then was bombarded for seven runs six days later against the Diamondbacks. He may lose his rotation spot to Jerad Eickhoff when the latter comes off the disabled list.
    • PHILADELPHIA, PA – APRIL 26: Maikel Franco #7 of the Philadelphia Phillies singles in the fifth nning during a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citizens Bank Park on April 26, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Diamondbacks won 8-2. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)
    PHILADELPHIA, PA – APRIL 26: Maikel Franco #7 of the Philadelphia Phillies singles in the fifth nning during a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citizens Bank Park on April 26, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Diamondbacks won 8-2. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) /

    Somewhere in the middle

    3B Maikel Franco

    – Franco’s numbers this season are an improvement on last year’s with a .250/.290/.440 line and 101 OPS+ in 24 games. It is the first time his OPS+ is over 100 since 2015. Still, they aren’t amazing overall and he continues to show poor plate discipline. He certainly isn’t saving himself from being replaced by Manny Machado.

    More from That Balls Outta Here

  • OF Aaron Altherr – Alther has had a Jekyll and Hyde season. Through his first 17 games, he had a .091 batting average and .495 OPS. Since then, he has been on fire, posting a .324/.378/.559 line with eight runs batted in in his last 10 games. With Williams struggling, Altherr could become the full-time right fielder.
  • UT Scott Kingery – Kingery made waves early in the season after signing his historic contract, but the magic has worn off. He is hitting just .217 with a .647 OPS. Kingery has also struggled with the strikeout, racking up 28 in 101 plate appearances. Kingery will need to counter the adjustments opposing pitchers have made and hone his defense at the many positions he has played.
    He is day-to-day after suffering an elbow contusion in Tuesday’s loss.
  • SP Vince Velasquez – Velasquez had a nice three-start stretch where he allowed just five runs in 18.2 innings. He has since allowed 10 runs in his last 8.2 innings. Compared to last year, his strikeout rate is up and his walk rate is considerably down. Along with his 3.97 fielding-independent pitching and 3.78 xFIP, they may indicate that his last two outings were a fluke.

    • Next: Phillies former closer Ken Giles goes on rampage

    May will go a long way towards whether or not this team is the wild-card contender we thought they were in mid-April.

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