Phillies: 3 Important takeaways from the Nationals series

Chase Anderson doesn’t work for the Phillies

While the Phillies got the win Wednesday night, it came in spite of Chase Anderson‘s performance. In his first start since mid-May, Anderson gave up three earned runs – all home runs – in four innings and threw 55 pitches. He also gave up five hard hits and walked a batter.

We’ve been having the same conversation about Anderson pretty much all season; he has a 5.85 FIP, a 6.75 ERA, and his strikeout rate is the worst since 2015 with Arizona.

In 48 innings this season, Anderson has only struck out 35 batters. In 2020, he pitched 33 2/3 innings and struck out 38. His SO9 is down to 6.6 from 10.2 last season.

Another troubling development is his drop in velocity on all of his pitches, and it is very noticeable. His 91.5 mph fastball average for the season wasn’t amazing, but against the Nationals, it was down to 89.5. His changeup is also down 2 mph, his cutter is down 1.1, his curveball is down 1.8, and his sinker is down nearly 2.5 mph.

Luckily for the Phillies, he is not scheduled to pitch against the Mets, but if this team wants to make a playoff push, Anderson will only hurt their chances. Will that pressure them to keep Suárez in the rotation when Eflin is back?

Overall, the Phillies played a very good four-game series against the Nationals, and are now getting ready for the biggest series of the season, at home against the New York Mets.