In their recent series against the Brewers, the Phillies set an unfortunate franchise record with back-to-back games that included 16 strikeouts. Immediately following this, the Phillies struck out 12 times in Game 1 of the current four-game series against the Mets, further delaying the team from clinching a spot in the playoffs.
This recent strike out statistic is undoubtedly troubling for fans, especially this close to the team entering the postseason. But does it succeed in displaying the full picture?
Phillies set unsettling franchise mark they need to deal with before the postseason
Despite the 16 strikeouts, the Phillies put up five runs in their Sept. 17 game against the Brewers, ultimately winning the game.
How are the Phillies still managing to win despite games with a high number of strikeouts? Mainly it falls on good defense, quality pitching and enough hot at-bats to counteract the strikeouts. In that Sept. 17 game against the Brewers, Zach Wheeler was utterly lethal with his fastball, and the team put up some quality at-bats, including home runs from Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos.
Despite that positive outcome for the Phillies, the team again struck out 16 times in their Sept. 18 game against the Brewers, but this time it resulted in a loss. After a good pitching performance from Aaron Nola, as well as solid defense from Bryson Stott at second and Johan Rojas in the outfield, it seems the strikeouts did the Phillies in.
So what went wrong? Are the boys swinging too hard for homers, chasing the long ball instead of focusing on base hits?
Regardless, as the Phillies approach the postseason, fans are worried about this recent trend. But Alec Bohm expressed a desire to refrain from raising the alarm, according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.
“Obviously, we could put the ball in play a little bit more," Bohm said, per Zolecki. "But we’re also going up against some pretty good pitching. Would it be nice to put the ball in play a couple more times? Yeah, for sure. But I don’t think it’s anything we’re going to bang our heads against a wall about.”
But when thinking ahead to the playoffs, it's easy to have flashbacks to the Phillies NLCS matchup against the Diamondbacks last year. How significant were strikeouts to the Phillies' devastating loss?
In Game 3 against the Diamondbacks in the NLCS matchup last year, the Phillies struck out 13 times. In Game 4, 11 times. In Game 6, 10 times. And finally, in Game 7, the Phillies struck out another 11 times, all of which amounted to the Diamondbacks' win. Those are fairly high numbers, and throughout the series the Phillies struck out a total of 60 times.
But with all of that being said, the Diamondbacks, despite winning the series, actually struck out nine more times than the Phillies. So are Phillies fans looking at an issue that projects defeat? Not necessarily. If the Phillies stay vigilant on defense and keep getting those big hits, fans can remain hopeful of a successful postseason run.
Though an end to this strikeout streak would lower a whole lot of stress.