Heard in the Cheap Seats

I am sitting watching the Phillies play their first game of the season against the Mets.  But, the show must go on with our “Inside the Numbers” segment, and it is time for the 7^th edition.  This one comes from the Phillies series against the Nationals where they won 2 out of 3 games.  The month of April is now in the rearview mirror, and as the temperature starts to warm, we can also start to pay closer attention to these statistics.  One clarification I wanted to make was that for the “Bench” statistics, I am only tracking pinch hitting statistics.  So, for example, if Greg Dobbs gets a start, those numbers do not count, but conversely, if a starter comes off the bench for a pinch hit appearance, those numbers do count.  Pinch hitting is a very key component of a National League club, and usually occurs in crucial spots of a game, so I wanted to track those numbers because it was a question mark I had regarding this year’s team.  Let’s get to the numbers…

Nationals @ Phillies (Phillies win 2 out of 3)

TEAM BATTING

32 for 103, 5 2B, 7 HR, 12 BB

21 Runs

.311 BA, .385 OBP, .563 SLG

RISP

8 for 20, 15 RBI

.400 BA

STARTING PITCHING

0-1

14 2/3 IP, 20 H, 9 ER, 8 BB, 11 K

5.70 ERA, 1.97 WHIP

BULLPEN

2-0

1 Save

12 1/3 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 9 BB, 7 K

5.20 ERA, 1.49 WHIP

VERSUS RHP

17 for 56, .304 BA

VERSUS LHP

15 for 47, .319 BA

BENCH/PH

0 for 6, .000 BA

2009 SEASON TOTALS (Thru 4/30)

TEAM BATTING

119 Runs, 5.95 Avg.

.270 BA, .349 OBP, .464 SLG

RISP

.281 BA, .404 OBP, .491 SLG

92 RBI

STARTING PITCHING

4-7

6.35 ERA, .324 BAA, 1.68 WHIP

BULLPEN

7-2

5 for 7 Saves= 71%

4.54 ERA, .213 BAA, 1.30 WHIP

VERSUS RHP

.266 BA, .343 OBP, .471 SLG

VERSUS LHP

.281 BA, .367 OBP, .438 SLG

BENCH/ PH

.200 BA, .283 OBP, .475 SLG

8 Runs, 11 RBI

Instead of being a broken record and saying the same thing for the 7^th time in a row, I think you all know what the main concern is so far.  One of my concerns that no one seems to discuss much is the Phillies bench.  They have received some pop off the bench from Matt Stairs and that is about it.  An area of concern coming into this season that was talked about quite a bit was the heavily left handed lineup.  Granted, the Phillies don’t have near as many at bats against lefties this season, but it seems as though that will not be a problem.  The bottom line is, the Phillies have a lineup full of very good big league hitters.  I don’t care what hand a pitcher throws with, guys like Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez are not going to hit .200 against them.  One good development along the starting pitching front was that Cole Hamels had his first good outing, unfortunately it was cut short with an ankle injury.  If he can stay healthy and build off a strong start it is huge for the Phillies.  Pitchers tend to feed off each other, but so far there haven’t really been any good performances so the rest of the staff has nothing to build off of.  If Hamels can start to go out every 5^th day and pitch like he did in the postseason, my guess is the rest of the staff will start to pick up their games.  The Mets series should be an interesting one.