Philadelphia Phillies Have Been Solved on Both Sides, It Comes Down to Pitches

It sounds so simple, doesn’t it?  It comes down to pitches.  What the heck is he talking about?

Have the Philadelphia Phillies been figured out?  It certainly would seem so. 

How they have been figured out is another question altogether.  I am arrogant enough to believe that I have the answer.

So, often this year, and in past years—even the successful ones—this team has either had trouble scoring runs or has been completely inconsistent with their offense.

This is not even remotely close to being a secret.

However, I get a little bit tired of what the stat nerds are saying—that it comes down to OBP and walks.  It does, and it doesn’t.

What it comes down to is how many pitches these batters are seeing and how they are working opposing pitchers. 

OBP and walks are a badge of this practice, but they do not tell the entire story. 

The entire story is exactly this: be a thorn in the opposing pitcher’s backside!

Remember the 1993 Phillies?  That team went an entire season without being shut out.  An entire season!

This year’s team has trouble getting through a week or two without being shut out. 

When you have no plate discipline, that is what happens. 

That ’93 team went out of its way to annoy the heck out of the other teams pitchers, their number one goal being to get the starter out of the game as soon as possible.  Relievers are relievers because they generally are not as good as starters, perhaps excluding ideal set-up men and closers.

In 2008, the Phillies did not hit opposing starters particularly well.  They won many ballgames after their relief pitchers got into the game, on both sides of the diamond.  Our bullpen held, theirs got shelled. 

In the past couple of years, that trend has reversed itself.  Well, sort of. 

Our bullpen has been shelled, theirs has predominantly been invisible.

Why?  Well, you aren’t going to see much of another team’s pen if their starter has 68 pitches through seven innings.

Personally, I thought that this team was realizing this when, at last year’s deadline, they unloaded Hunter Pence and Shane Victorino, two notorious poorly disciplined hitters.

It was my hope that they were trying to change the club’s approach at the plate.  Not so.

This year, it is as bad as it ever has been. 

I’m not saying that first pitch swinging is always bad, but there is absolutely a time and place for it. 

Ask Cole Hamels.

Ask Cole Hamels?  Yes, ask Cole Hamels.

One of the main reasons for Hamels’ troubles this year (yes, I know he has no run support, but he hasn’t been stellar on the mound either) is that teams are working his pitch count in the early innings. 

This past start is an absolute reflection of that.  Hamels went scoreless through three innings, but he had a pitch count of right around 60 when three innings were complete.  In the fourth, he was trying to be more economical, catching too much of the plate, and he got hit…hard!

That is why I say that teams are getting it.  That is the reason that Cliff Lee tends to be the diamond in the rough this year.  Cliff Lee will always pound the strike zone from the beginning.  It is difficult to work the pitch count on a guy like that. 

Basically, when I say that the Phillies have been figured out, I mean that teams have figured out that if they can get the starter’s pitch counts up and get into our bullpen early, they have a better chance to win the game.

Conversely, they also know that the Phillies are a totally undisciplined ballclub with the sticks.  How many times do we have to watch a batter walk on four pitches followed by a batter that swings at the first? 

These Phillies are frustrating to watch for many reasons, but personally, I believe that this is the biggest one. 

It might just be me, but I’m tired of turning on the tube and seeing the Phillies losing 2-0 in the 6th inning with some mediocre starting pitcher’s pitch count at 62. 

Watching a team that cannot score is maddening.  Knowing why is worse.  Knowing that the other team is doing to you what you should be doing to them?  You got it…even worse!

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