It's no secret that the Philadelphia Phillies' offense has been struggling. Fans are well aware of the issues plaguing the Phillies during their four-game losing streak they took into Friday's action. Coming off a sweep at the hands of the New York Mets, nothing has seemingly gone right, from the bullpen to the offense.
Visiting Wrigley Field for the weekend, the Philadelphia Phillies had to wait out a two-hour rain delay to get their Friday afternoon game with the Chicago Cubs started. When the players finally took the field, the Phillies' TV broadcast tandem of play-by-play man Tom McCarthy and color commentator John Kruk pointed out a deceiving stat about the Phillies' offense that won't make fans feel any better.
Phillies' broadcast highlights deceiving stat about scuffling offense
During their four-game skid, the Phillies are hitting a beefy .357 with runners in scoring position. That's the top mark in Major League Baseball over that span. Unfortunately, their 15 hits in those situations have led to just 13 runs. As McCarthy pointed out, much to the chagrin of fans, the real problem lies in their power output with runners in scoring position.
The Phillies have one double, one home run and a .095 ISO with a runner standing on second and/or third base since starting their losing streak on Sunday against the Miami Marlins. They just haven't been able to score enough on their 13 singles in such situations. Either runners have been held, or like Nick Castellanos on Wednesday, wind up getting thrown out at home.
For comparison, the Phillies' opponent this weekend, the Cubs, have a .295 batting average with runners in scoring position. However, they have scored 17 runs in just three games over the same time frame, thanks to five extra-base hits.
The Phillies are even having good at-bats over these last four games with runners in scoring position, with a 15.9 percent strikeout rate. They have an overall 21.4 percent strikeout rate on the season.
With the NL Central-leading Cubs a formidable opponent, the Phillies will need to start doing more damage when they get runners in scoring position this weekend. They were unable to cash their first opportunity on Friday. They had a runner on second with one out in the top of the first, after second baseman Bryson Stott stole his fifth base of the year. But a Bryce Harper strikeout and Nick Castellanos ground out ended any threat.