The Phillies' bullpen has to fix its problem with runners on base
Now let's turn to the mound, where things have been ugly out of the bullpen lately. Through July 11, the Phillies bullpen had the fourth-best ERA in the majors at 3.32, and it wasn't by luck or fluke — they were downright dominant.
The advanced pitching metrics agreed. Phillies relievers boasted the best FIP (3.12), xFIP (3.49) and SIERA (3.20). If anything, their ERA should have been lower.
And now?
The struggling bullpen has an MLB-worst 7.00 ERA since July 12. The relievers have only blown three saves, but that's an indication of how many leads they have blown well before the ninth inning, with a ghastly 1-7 record.
The bullpen's strikeout rate has dropped from 26.9 percent to 24.5 percent over the last month. That may not seem like much, but the walk rate has also jumped from 7.6 percent to 10.6 percent, which is a little alarming.
One of the biggest problems stemming from this is recording outs with runners on base, or, rather, not recording outs with runners on base. Phillies relievers stymied opposing hitters with runners on through the first half, holding them to a .243 batting average. That has jumped to .299 since July 12.
Then there's the strand rate. Whether their own or inherited runners, Phillies relievers had a 10th-ranked 72.2 percent rate before the recent slide. During the skid, it has dropped to the third-worst at 62.7 percent.
The bullpen needs to return to the dominant form from the first three months: more strikeouts, fewer walks and leaving those runners on base.