Five things we learned from Phillies series win over Rockies
The Phillies picked up a valuable series win at home against the Rockies this week. Here are five things we learned from the series.
The Phillies were a team looking for something to hang their hat on coming into this week’s series against the Rockies. They had not won a series in three weeks, dropping 10 of 14 games after holding first place May 26. Things were getting ugly and fans were getting frustrated.
After a day off Monday, Philadelphia turned things around this week. They picked up two wins thanks to brilliant starting pitching and the offense finally showing up. Their nine runs in Thursday’s win were the most they have scored since May 9 and their 13 hits were the most since April 13.
With the series over and Phillies sitting at 35-31, let’s take a look at five things we learned from the series.
Wow, this bullpen needs work
Aaron Nola and the offense set the Phillies up beautifully for a win Tuesday night. Nola tossed 6.2 one-run innings, striking out 10 batters for the third time this season. He gave up four hits and walked nobody. Four runs batted in from Scott Kingery and a manufactured run in the eighth inning gave the team more than enough room for a win.
Then Luis Garcia had to go make it interesting. He gave up four straight singles without recording a single out. Seranthony Dominguez, the team’s de-facto closer, had to come in two days after throwing 41 pitches to put out the fire. Two more runs scored on a single and a sacrifice fly that just missed being a grand slam. Dominguez got the final two outs on a hard line drive and check-swing strikeout of Nolan Arenado to pick up his third save of the season.
This game was yet just another example of the bullpen almost blowing it before Dominguez came in and saved the day. He thankfully didn’t have to pitch Wednesday and Thursday after working the team out of another jam. At this point, he is the only reliever manager Gabe Kapler can trust in high-leverage situations.
Games like Tuesday’s show why this team desperately needs help with their bullpen. The return of Pat Neshek and a potential trade deadline acquisition would do wonders to shoring up a bullpen that has struggled in the last month.
Nick Pivetta still has work to do
Despite his poor numbers last year, the Phillies were adamant that Nick Pivetta had everything it takes to become an effective starter in the league. There was some understandable skepticism, but his numbers early this season were phenomenal. In his first 11 starts, Pivetta had a 3.26 ERA, 2.73 fielding-independent pitching, 67 strikeouts, and 14 walks.
Pivetta’s last three starts have been the complete opposite. He has not gone past the fifth inning in any of them, allowing 13 runs in 14 innings. His walk rate jumped from 5.6 to 10.3 percent. Pivetta was the losing pitcher Wednesday night, tying his season high with six runs allowed. He walked three batters and gave up eight hits. His ERA for the season now stands at 4.25.
During these starts, Pivetta’s command wavered, which was his main issue last year. At times Pivetta will still dominate the opposing team. However, those command issues still popped up and led to issues.
For all the success Pivetta had this season, he has reminded us the last few weeks that he still is a fairly young pitcher. We at least have evidence of sustained success from him now and saw what kind of pitcher he can be. There is still plenty of time this season for Pivetta to work out the kinks and settle into the rotation.
Vince Velasquez continues to be streaky
There is no pitcher on the Phillies more maddingly inconsistent than Vince Velasquez. His ERA has been a roller coaster this season, starting at 13.50 while falling as low as 3.52. His last start was one of, if not the worst of his career, giving up a career-high 10 runs to the Brewers last Friday.
In true Velasquez fashion, he followed up a horrific start with a gem. He carried a no-hitter through the seventh inning before finishing Thursday’s game with two runs allowed in 6.2 innings. Velasquez gave up just one hit and walked two before handing the ball off to Tommy Hunter. Velasquez’s performance was more than enough as the team cruised to a 9-3 win in the rubber match.
Velasquez’s start on Thursday was another example of just how good he can be. His ERA now sits at 4.74 with a fielding-independent pitching of 3.54. He now has 10.82 strikeouts and 3.16 walks per nine innings. His numbers are good and certainly better than his disappointing 2017 season. How well his season turns out depends on how streaky Velasquez remains. If he can limit the duds while continuing to spin gems, it will easily be the best season of his career.
Rhys Hoskins is alive
Rhys Hoskins had about as good of an April and as bad of a May as any hitter can have. He fouled a ball into his face May 28 against the Dodgers, fracturing his jaw and placing him on the disabled list. Thankfully, the injury did not require surgery and he was back in the lineup just a week and a half later.
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Since returning from the disabled list, Hoskins is succeeding yet again. In five games since coming back, Hoskins already has hit two home runs and driven in eight runs. He has racked up six hits and three walks. Perhaps even better, he has just four strikeouts in 21 plate appearances.
Hoskins finally hitting again would be a godsend for a team struggling to find offense. Perhaps getting some time off helped him reset. Maybe it’s the dual-flap helmet.
Whatever it is, I hope May is well behind him and he can return to being the hitter we all know he can be.
The home-field advantage is real
After Thursday’s win, the Phillies are 22-12 at Citizens Bank Park this year compared to 13-19 on the road. Four of their five sweeps have come at home, while they have been swept on the road twice (April 3-4 by the Mets, June 1-3 by the Giants). They have not won a series on the road since April 13-15 against the Rays.
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Unsurprisingly, the Phillies have fared far better at home both on the mound and at the plate. As of Monday, they rank third-worst in weighted on-base average and OPS and worst in strikeout percentage while. Meanwhile, they rank 12th and wOBA and 14th in OPS while at home. Their pitchers hold the best fielding-independent pitching, seventh-best ERA, and eight-best WHIP at home. On the road, they rank 10th, 16th, and 15th in each category, respectively.
This home field advantage comes despite the fact that attendance is below-average for the league. About 24,927 people have attended each game on average so far this season, 18th among all teams.
Their overall attendance of 822,590 ranks 19th in the league. Even though the team is performing much better this season, attendance is down 1,786 people per game.
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Even though attendance is relatively poor, Citizens Bank Park has still been a safe haven this year. The team is faring much better there compared to anywhere else overall. Being able to win on the road is huge for any team, but at this point ,they have to find wins any way they can.