Phillies hitters receive high praise from veteran Blue Jays starter

Chris Bassitt has seen a lot of lineups in his time in the major leagues. The 10-year veteran has made 184 starts in his MLB career, and after his most recent start on Tuesday against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Toronto Blue Jays pitcher was more than happy to heap praise on the lineup from South Philly.

After the Blue Jays jumped out to their 6-1 lead in the first inning, Bassitt had what looked like a cakewalk to his 10th win of the season. But the Phillies' hitters didn't throw in the towel. They scratched and clawed back into the game against the right-hander, scoring four runs (three earned) on 10 hits. They had closed the gap to 6-4 and forced Bassitt to throw 92 pitches by the time he was pulled after 5 1/3 innings.

The game finished with an incredible Phillies' comeback, capped off by designated hitter Kyle Schwarber's third home run of the night. The Phillies won 10-9, with an offense that bailed out rookie starter Tyler Phillips, racking up 18 hits in the wild affair.

Even though they left 13 men on base and went 4-for-19 with runners in scoring position, Bassitt wasn't shy about being honest after watching the NL East-leading Phillies win a heartbreaker for fans north of the border.

Phillies hitters receive high praise from veteran Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt

In the Blue Jays clubhouse after the game, Bassitt and his trademark openness and honesty didn't disappoint. At least from a Philadelphia perspective.

“I think they’re one of the most talented lineups in all of baseball and I think their hitting coach is one of the best hitting coaches in all of baseball," Bassitt said when asked about the Phillies offense, per MLB.com's Keegan Matheson. "That combination is pretty deadly.”

Compliments from players in other organizations are always welcome — usually because they're not skewed by hometown bias.

Bassitt offering praise for the Phillies' lineup and hitting coach Kevin Long isn't something to take lightly. Bassitt has had success against the Phillies in the past, notably in four starts in 2022 when he was with the New York Mets. He pitched to a 1.59 ERA in those games. Even earlier this season, Bassitt went 6 1/3 innings against the Phillies, allowing two runs on three hits while striking out six.

The Phillies have had their struggles at the plate, as any Phillies fan will tell you. Every team goes through some kind of hitting slump during the season. As bad as it has seemed at times, they're still ranked sixth overall with 669 runs scored heading into Wednesday's action. They're also fifth in total hits with 1,221.

One area that the lineup hasn't produced like it looks like it should on paper is in the power department. Since the All-Star break, the Phillies are 20th with 48 home runs, although they have the third-most doubles (85) over that time.

But as Bassitt and the Blue Jays saw on Tuesday, from star players like Schwarber going off for three-home run nights to bench players like Kody Clemens battling through a seven-pitch at-bat in the ninth inning for a crucial double, the Phillies have the hitters to get the job done.