4 impressive statistics from the Phillies' First Month of the Season
The Philadelphia Phillies have made it through April’s mediocre schedule. In that month’s span of time, the Phillies looked like the team was either hungover from the World Series run or players who were participants for their respective countries in the World Baseball Classic.
Also in that time, the Phillies offense looked like world beaters and accumulated hits in bunches, which willed the Phillies to an April record of 15-14. April provided many stats that could be described in all types of colorful ways but I decided to focus on one area in particular. I am going to name five dynamic statistics from the Phillies’ first month of the season.
The Phillies' lineup is strong
Dynamic Statistic #1: The Philadelphia Phillies place in the top 10 for multiple offensive categories like hits, doubles, triples, batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base plus slugging percentage. The Phillies can flat-out rake at the dish.
In 28 games, the Phillies tallied 261 hits which was good enough for the second-best in the entire MLB. The only team that was ahead of the Phillies was the Tampa Bay Rays, baseball’s best team so far. The Phillies had a comfortable lead of nine more hits than the team that placed in third for the month.
The Phillies were in a three-way tie for the fourth-most doubles in the MLB at 56 in April. They trailed only the Boston Red Sox (60), Pittsburgh Pirates (61), and Arizona Diamondbacks (62). Philadelphia found itself in a four-way tie for eighth-most doubles in the MLB with four, sharing the Rays, Miami Marlins, and Cincinnati Reds. Four is a common number for the Phillies here as they hit well enough to have the fourth-best team batting average at .270 behind only the D-Backs, Cubs, and Rays. The Phillies ranked eighth best in the league in slugging percentage at .436, an impressive feat without big boppers Rhys Hoskins and Bryce Harper being absent from the lineup.
Nick Castellanos had a strong start for Phillies
Dynamic Statistic #2: Nick Castellanos was one of nine players in April with at least 30 hits and eight doubles. The tall and lanky right fielder displayed through his production at the plate that he is a man on a mission this season. His mission is to gain his hitting powers back as one of the better right-handed hitters in all of baseball. Castellanos looked like the guy who basically implied that he has a degree in hitting baseballs. All April, Castellanos has improved his concentration when hitting by keeping his bat in the zone longer. This technique along with his long frame and hitting talent already has proven beneficial for the second-year Phillie.
Castellanos was in an 11-way tie for the fifth most in the MLB at nine doubles. The Phillie was tied with White Sox first baseman Andrew Vaughn, Angels center fielder Mike Trout, Pirates first baseman Carlos Santana, Pirates left fielder Bryan Reynolds, Dodgers designated hitter J.D. Martinez, Cubs left fielder Ian Happ, Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, Red Sox center fielder Jarren Duran, Guardians designated hitter Josh Bell, and Braves center fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. Castellanos has tied with Mike Trout yet again in the hits department as both players had 33 in April.
Dynamic Statistic #3: Nick Castellanos was third on the team in walks with 13 of them. The Phillies’ collective great eye at the plate was hindered in April due to absences of Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins, both ranked in the top five out of qualifying players for the Phillies in 2022. Kyle Schwarber was the leader of the team with 86 walks. I say all that to say that Castellanos’ newfound patient approach at the plate has paid off in April. And if it isn’t broke then he and/or Kevin Long should not try to fix it.
Castellanos has been know for the entirety of his career as a free-swinger. A player that lives or dies with confidence at the plate. I understand how nice and healthy it is to indulge in this year’s team but Castellanos bad habits still loom over from last season. The repeated chasing of sliders down and away and not keeping his bat in the zone for long enough are the two main bad habits. This year Castellanos has corrected all of that. The right fielder is digging in and testing pitchers to throw more strikes since his eye for seeing off-speed pitches has improved. Nick Castellanos’ drawing more walks than normal is a nice cherry on top of how he’s hit the baseball in April.
Phillies got some strong production out of their glove-first outfielders
Dynamic statistic #4: Both defensive-minded centerfielders for the Phillies, Brandon Marsh and Cristian Pache, hit over .300 and slugged over .600 for the month. The two outfielders have reputations of not being able to hit MLB pitching at a consistent level. This narrative is more relevant to Pache as opposed to Marsh. Nevertheless, both are playing at a level that would require regular at-bats on a team that didn’t have better options. The early returns on Marsh and Pache with their leaps on offense provided the team with some much-needed ability to hit for extra bases.
Marsh has come into this season with a couple of holes in his hitting approach and swing. The high fastball and hard breaking ball down and away were go-to pitches to get Marsh out iast year. This year, Marsh’s hands are quicker to the ball through the strike zone. Cristian Pache bounced back from his first few disappointing at-bats to have good pitch selection at the plate. Marsh was consistently great as he had a slash line of .321/.415/.617 and accumulated 50 totla bases. Pache has been a great platoon player and overacheived thus far as a defensive outfielder. Pache has slashed .360/.360/.600 in April with 15 total bases in only 25 at-bats.
The Philadelphia Phillies have finished one month of the anticipated 2023 season. April, for the Phillies, had its tough times and its triumphant times. From Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler’s struggles to Nick Castellanos’ return to his All-Star form, the Phillies season has been eventful. These four dynamic statistics from the Phillies’ first month of the season tells part of the story of what is a long, grueling season.
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