Phillies Pitchers Continue To Struggle Against Dodgers

GAME RECAP: Dodgers Down Phillies 7-2

Chase Utley had no home runs, grand slams or curtain calls on Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park. But the Dodgers still rolled to a 7-2 win over the Phillies -- extending their lead in the National League West to 1 1/2 games over the Giants. Adrian Gonzalez hit a three-run homer to right field in the fourth inning and a two-run blast to right in the seventh to lead the way. Justin Turner added a two-run homer to left-center in the fifth. "The length of the lineup is impressive right now," Turner said. "We're a tough lineup to pitch to one through eight. Anyone can hit a ball over the fence and do some damage. It's fun going up there knowing you can hang a crooked number every inning." The Dodgers have scored 22 runs in the first two games of this series. They've done so on seven home runs, including two-homer games from Utley on Tuesday and Gonzalez on Wednesday. "Adrian's been under the radar," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "But tonight, huge night. Two homers, drove in five. … Good things are happening." The Dodgers also worked out of a jam in the sixth, when the Phillies loaded the bases with none out. Left-hander Grant Dayton got three consecutive flyouts to end the inning. Right-hander Jake Thompson pitched just five innings as Phillies starters have logged fewer than six innings in eight consecutive games, tying a franchise record. "Just kind of lost the feel for working down in the zone and both sides of the plate," Thompson said. "That's not a good problem to have against those guys."

PHILS PHACTS: 

• Thompson threw first-pitch strikes to just 10 of the 24 batters he faced, which tells the story of his night. He allowed five hits, five runs, four walks and two home runs as he fell to 1-2 with an 8.79 ERA in his first three big league starts. "Young pitchers tend to overthrow and try to make perfect pitches," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "Once you gain that poise and composure, you start understanding how important it is to locate those pitches. It's hard to make the perfect pitch."
• The rookie hit his 16th homer, a solo shot into the upper deck in left field in the sixth. Phillies first basemen have 31 homers this season, which is tied with the Indians for the most in baseball. "Tommy hit that ball in the upper deck, which was nice to see," Mackanin said. "I wish the bases were loaded on that at the time. We swung the bats well. We just didn't come through in the clutch."
• "It was a baserunning mistake. If you're on third base and you're not going to go because it would have been too close ... you stay heads up and the minute you see that ball go to second base, you score. He just shut it down a little bit early." --Mackanin, on Franco not scoring on a flyout to right in the sixth, when Dodgers right fielder Reddick threw to second on the play.
• Cesar Hernandez has reached base safely in 23 consecutive games. He has hit .348 with a .464 on-base percentage in that stretch. It is the longest on-base streak by a Phillies player since Darin Ruf reached safely in 33 games from Sept. 25, 2012, to Aug. 6, 2013.
• The Phillies challenged a call with two out in the ninth inning, when Odubel Herrera appeared to beat a throw to first from Utley. First-base umpire Jerry Meals had ruled Herrera out, but the call was overturned after a brief review.
• Jake Thompson was unable to complete six innings on Wednesday and the Phillies tied a franchise record. It was the eighth consecutive game their starter didn't pitch six innings and the first time it's happened since 1999.
• Cesar Hernandez has reached safely in 23 straight games for the longest streak by a Phillies hitter this season. Peter Bourjos reached safely in 22 straight games from June 16 to July 15. Over the streak, Hernandez is hitting .356 (32-for-90), including his first home run of the stretch on Tuesday.
• Stripling has had quite a bit more success in his limited action out of the bullpen. He made three long-relief appearances in July, posting a 1.54 ERA over 11 2/3 innings. In his 10 starts, Stripling has a 4.61 ERA.

NEXT GAME:

Dodgers right-hander Ross Stripling will square off against Phillies righty Jerad Eickhoff on Thursday in the finale of a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies should be happy to see the Dodgers leave town, as they've managed just one win in five games against Los Angeles this season. Dodgers second baseman Chase Utley likely won't harbor similar feelings. He has mashed against his former team since homering in his first at-bat against the Phillies in Los Angeles. In his return to Philadelphia, Utley hit two home runs, including a grand slam, to cap an eight-run seventh inning on Tuesday night. Utley and Frank Thomas are the only players to homer twice in their first games back in a city where they previously hit 200 or more home runs. Thursday's finale will be the sixth and final meeting between the clubs this season. The Dodgers have taken full advantage of a rebuilding Phillies club since its last postseason appearance in 2011. Los Angeles has won 12 of its 15 games at Citizens Bank Park dating to the start of 2012. Additionally, the Phillies have dropped 10 of their last 13 to the Dodgers and six of their last seven. Stripling (3-4, 4.07 ERA) will make his third start since transitioning from the bullpen back into the rotation. Eickhoff (8-12, 3.82) shut out the Rockies for five innings, but gave up three runs in a sixth inning where he only recorded two outs in his last start.

PHILS PHACTS:

Rotational Shortcomings – Phillies manager Pete Mackanin answered a question about his bullpen on Wednesday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park, when he quickly segued into a discussion about the rotation. "We just need our starters to get out of that rut where we're not getting six, seven, eight innings," he said before a 7-2 loss to the Dodgers. "We're trying to develop nine-inning pitchers. But it has not happened like the Phillies had hoped, particularly lately. Rookie Jake Thompson yielded five hits, five runs, four walks and two home runs in five innings in his third big league start. He threw first-pitch strikes to just 10 of 24 batters as he fell to 1-2 with an 8.79 ERA. "He's 22 years old and made some mistakes," Mackanin said of the Phillies' No. 5prospect. "The interesting thing is that he doesn't walk that many people, but he's got nine walks in [14 1/3] innings. I attribute that to the fact he's 22 years old and his first go around at the big league level. Pitching is all about repeating your mechanics and making good pitches. In time, he'll get there." Mackanin said Thompson simply might be trying to impress too much, trying to follow up an impressive run at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he went 8-0 with a 1.21 ERA in his final 11 starts with the IronPigs. "I wouldn't say I'm trying to impress," Thompson said. "I'm just trying to get outs regardless of who I'm facing. Just trying to be too fine, falling behind, especially to those guys in the middle of the lineup. That's a terrible place to be." Phillies starters have pitched fewer than six innings in eight consecutive games, tying a franchise record last done in 1999. They also have not thrown seven or more innings in a game since July 26 in Miami, when Jerad Eickhoff gave up one run in seven innings. That is 19 consecutive games without a starter pitching seven innings. Phillies starters have a 7.05 ERA in that stretch, falling short of logging six innings 16 times. "We have to get it going and get back on track and pounding the strike zone, getting ahead early and running the counts deep, and getting outs early in the counts," Mackanin said. The Phillies' rotation looked pretty good early in the season, but the past few weeks have been quite a contrast. Aaron Nola will finish the season on the 60-day disabled list with an injured right elbow. Zach Eflin might not pitch again this season because of knee issues. Vince Velasquez has struggled recently, posting a 7.24 ERA in his last five starts. Thompson, who is the No. 67 overall prospect according to MLBPipeline.com, has not pitched more than five innings in his three starts. "Mentally I'm fine," Thompson said. "It's kind of how pitching goes. Every now and then you struggle with stuff. I dealt with it in Lehigh. I had a terrible first month of the season, partially due to the same thing -- erratic fastball command. We'll get in the bullpen and get it ironed out."

Nola Done – Aaron Nola's season is finished. The Phillies announced on Wednesday they've placed Nola on the 60-day disabled list with an injured right elbow to make room on the 40-man roster for right-hander Frank Herrmann. The Phils promoted Herrmann from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to replace left-hander Elvis Araujo, who was optioned to the IronPigs. "I'm pretty confident right now that everything is going to heal correctly, and by Spring Training, I should be good to go," Nola said. But Nola's recovery is not entirely certain. Dr. James Andrews examined Nola on Monday in Alabama. The righty has a low-grade sprain of his UCL and a low-grade strain of his flexor pronator tendon. "At this time nobody is talking about surgery," Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said. Nola also received a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection on Monday, and he will not throw for four weeks to allow the PRP injection to work. "We'll ramp him back up at that point to see how he responds," Klentak said. If everything goes well, Nola is expected to be ready by Spring Training. If he does not respond, what is the next step? "We haven't gone down that road yet," Klentak said. "Right now, nobody is suggesting that surgery is the way to go on this, and we feel good about the fact that there's a consensus among all the doctors that have seen him." Nola finished 6-9 with a 4.78 ERA in 20 starts this season, and he went 1-5 with a 9.82 ERA in his final eight starts. Interestingly, Nola said he does not think the injured elbow had much to do with his recent struggles. "I think it was unrelated," Nola said. "Before the last game, everything felt good. My arm felt good. I don't think this had to do with any of the previous starts before then. Just overall my body felt really good leading up to that. It was just something that happened. ... I had some real bumps in the road there. But I want to learn from those, I want to learn from the challenges I had. The experiences that didn't go well, I want to learn from them and kind of build on those." The Phillies have used this season to look at their young starters. The results have been mixed. Jerad Eickhoff has been steady, but Nola struggled mightily before landing on the DL. Zach Eflin has patellar tendinopathy in his knees and it is unclear if he will pitch again this season. His results have varied. Vince Velasquez dominated early, but he has a 7.24 ERA in his last five starts and has struggled recently to pitch deep into games. Velasquez's workload is being monitored closely. He said he could make "three or four more starts" before the end of the season. Klentak said the Phillies do not have a specific day targeted as his final start. "More than anything it reinforces the position that we've taken for most of the last year about the importance of starting pitching depth," Klentak said about the rotation's performance. "For four months, this team's starting rotation was about as healthy as any starting rotation in baseball, and for the last two, three weeks it's been something less than that. That's kind of the nature of our game." Expect the Phillies to make a qualifying offer to Jeremy Hellickson after the season. If he accepts, they will have at least one veteran in the rotation. If he rejects the offer, expect them to pursue at least one more veteran starter. "We need to figure some more things out," Klentak said. "It's fairly reasonable to expect that every offseason we'll be looking to add starting pitching depth. There's a lot of different ways to skin that cat. But I think realistically this offseason will be no different than any other."

Crawford Dealing With Injury – Phillies top prospect J.P. Crawford remains sidelined with an injured oblique, but it probably will not affect his chances of being promoted to the big leagues before the end of the season. Crawford, 21, has not played since Aug. 9 after tweaking the oblique while making an acrobatic play in the field for Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He is hitting .258 with nine doubles, one triple, three home runs, 25 RBIs and a .681 OPS in 306 plate appearances with the IronPigs. "J.P. is day to day," Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said on Wednesday. "I expect he'll be back in the lineup in Lehigh sometime in the next couple of days. He's been playing catch. He's been hitting off a tee. He's been doing a lot of work on the side. We're just trying to be a little careful with him and make sure he doesn't re-aggravate it." Crawford is the No. 3 prospect in baseball, according to MLBPipeline.com. He could be the Phillies' everyday shortstop as early as next season, but the Phils might not promote him until 2017 because of 40-man roster considerations. The Phillies have to protect multiple prospects before this year's Rule 5 Draft. The list includes 12 of their Top 30 prospects, according to MLBPipeline.com: Nick Williams (No. 3), Dylan Cozens (No. 7), Mark Appel (No. 11), Andrew Knapp (No. 12), Ricardo Pinto (No. 16), Nick Pivetta (No. 18), Elniery Garcia (No. 20), Malquin Canelo (No. 22), Carlos Tocci (No. 23), Ben Lively (No. 24), Jose Pujols (No. 27) and Alberto Tirado (No. 29). There are others not on that list, too. Crawford does not have to be protected yet, so keeping him off the 40-man roster until next year would allow Philadelphia to protect an additional prospect it feels is at risk of being selected in the Rule 5 Draft.

Today In Phils History – In his 1886 debut, Charles Ferguson gets the win over Boston and go on to collect 12 more victories and 4 ties in 16 games. 20 years later, Kitty Bransfield hit an inside-the-park grand slam against St. Louis. In 1909, Arlie Latham became the oldest player in MLB history to walk and steal a base when the Giants inserted the coach into the lineup against the Phillies. In 1960, the Braves Lew Burdette threw a no hitter against the Phillies with only Tony Gonzalez reaching base when he was hit by a pitch in the 5^th inning. Larry Bowa hit his 1^st MLB homerun on this day in 1972… he had amassed 1,745 plate appearances before hitting the inside the park homerun at the Vet. Steve Carlton and Tom Seaver faced off for the last time in 1981 with Seaver, once again getting the victory and improving his head to head record to 12-2. In 1990, Tommy Greene made his Phillies debut. 5 years later, the Phillies sent 4 Kevins to the plate against the Giants (Stocker, Elster, Flora, and Jordan). 2 years later, for only the 2^nd time in franchise history, the Phillies hit 2 grand slams in the same game as Mike Lieberthal and Billy McMillon both connected against the Giants. Lieberthal once again etched his name in Phillies history on this day in 2006 when he caught his 1,125^th game passing Red Dooin as the all-time leader in games caught and celebrated the milestone by throwing out 2 baserunners and connecting for a homerun in a loss to the Nationals.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 56-65 this season putting them on pace to beat most preseason predictions. All time, the Phillies are 44-62-0 on this day. I expect the Phillies to finish in the bottom half of the division but not last in the NL East by finishing the season with a 77-85 record.

Closer But Still A Loss

GAME RECAP: Diamond Backs Shut Down Phillies 4-1 

Zack Greinke extended his winning streak to seven as he tossed eight outstanding innings to lead the D-backs past the Phillies, 4-1, on Saturday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park. Greinke (10-3) has won seven straight starts and on Saturday, after he allowed a first-inning homer to Odubel Herrera, he did not allow another hit until Andres Blanco led off the seventh with a single. Overall, the right-hander allowed three hits and a walk to go with six strikeouts. "I threw a lot of strikes, and there were a lot of balls put in play early," Greinke said. "There were a couple of longer at-bats that got the pitch count up a little bit. But mainly just attacking the zone and trying to get balls put in play weakly." The Phillies had a 1-0 lead until the fifth when Nick Ahmed tied things up with his fourth homer of the year. Later in the inning, Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run blast and Jake Lamb added a solo homer in the seventh to cap the scoring.

PHILS PHACTS:

• Eickhoff started the game strong. He struck out four batters in the first two innings and didn't allow a run until the fifth. The first time Peter O'Brien -- who hit two home runs in Friday's 10-2 game -- stepped to the plate, Eickhoff sent him a fastball up and in. He threw a couple more on the inside corner and continued to attack the inside portion of the plate for much of game. "That's what I've always done," Eickhoff said. "Going inside is important, and I feel like I do that. I was able to do that for the most part today." Even in the final two innings, Eickhoff and Phillies manager Pete Mackanin felt he was still attacking. Instead, Eickhoff blamed balls finding the holes, as he gave up two homers. Mackanin said he thought Eickhoff lost his command the final two innings, so he eventually turned to Andrew Bailey with the bases loaded and two outs. "He could've gotten out of it, but I chose not to leave him in there," Mackanin said. "Bailey did a nice job bailing him out, going right after the hitter. I hate bringing a guy in with the bases loaded, but I felt like I had to."
• The Phillies set a franchise record in Friday's game, allowing their 17th home run over four games. The pattern continued into Saturday. Although the Phils did not join the 1977 Yankees as the only team to allow at least five home runs in three consecutive games, they came only two shy, with Eickhoff surrendering two in the fifth (becoming the sixth Phillies player to allow multiple home runs in an inning since Tuesday). Mackanin sees a disheartening trend in that a number of the home runs have come on two-strike counts. Both Goldschmidt and Lamb's blasts came with two strikes, 0-2 and 1-2, respectively. "It boils down to being able to command your slider or your breaking ball or secondary pitch or fastball up and in," Mackanin said. "You have to command that pitch, and if you leave it out over the plate, you get burned."
• When Mackanin made out the lineup card Saturday, Maikel Franco was penciled in the lowest spot he'd hit this season, sixth. It also included, in an attempt to stimulate the offense, Cody Asche hitting leadoff for the first time in his pro career and Herrera out of the top spot for the first time since April 19. But Mackanin's message was to Franco. After Friday's game, he said he believes Franco is getting into his own head and that he was going to move him down significantly. Mackanin kept his word, but it didn't help his young third baseman. Franco came to the plate as the tying run with one out in the seventh. Blanco stood on third and Jimmy Paredes on second. Greinke fell behind 3-0 to Franco. Yet, the at-bat ended with Franco's helmet on the dirt of the batter's box after he struck out swinging on a 3-2 curve from Greinke. "We sure need his bat," Mackanin said. "We need him to be what he's capable of. For some reason, he just got out of sync. He's not giving us disciplined, professional at-bats right now. Partially I think that's because he's overanxious, and he feels he needs to do too much." Franco denied that he was pressing, but he admitted that he might be over-swinging at times. "It's totally frustrating for everybody," Franco said. "You wanna do something, you want to go out there with energy and everything like that. Nothing good is happening right now. It's frustrating for everybody."

NEXT GAME:

Zach Eflin (0-1, 27.00) will make his first career start at Citizens Bank Park at 1:35 p.m. ET. In his Major League debut against the Blue Jays in Toronto, Eflin didn't make it out of the third, allowing nine runs on nine hits while serving up three home runs. The 22-year-old right-hander is ranked as the Phillies' No. 13 prospect by MLBPipeline.com

PHILS PHACTS:

Eickhoff Improving – Jerad Eickhoff got ahead no balls, two strikes on Peter O'Brien with no outs in the second. Then he sent a message. On the third pitch, Eickhoff fired a 91-mph fastball up and in. O'Brien dipped and dove out of the way, but Eickhoff made it clear: He was going to own the inside part of the plate in the Phillies' 4-1 loss to the D-backs on Saturday. "That's what I've always done," Eickhoff said. "Going inside is important, and I feel like I do that. I was able to do that for the most part today." Manager Pete Mackanin had been disappointed with the lack of aggressiveness his pitchers have shown, speculating that it contributed to the 20 home runs the staff has allowed over the last five games. Adam Morgan agreed after not making it out of the fifth inning in his start on Friday. Eickhoff was not deterred from the inner third, though. He continued to attack O'Brien inside, setting him up for a sweeping slider over the plate that the D-backs' rookie whiffed at. Eickhoff struck out O'Brien twice more before leaving the game after 5 2/3, having allowed three runs on nine hits. Through four innings, the 25-year-old right-hander had yet to surrender a run and had recorded five of his six strikeouts. He was pitching with moxie and challenging D-backs hitters, who had mustered no more than singles off him. The fifth inning wasn't the same story. Nick Ahmed kicked off the scoring with a home run to left-center. Jean Segura followed with a single, and Paul Goldschmidt brought him home with Arizona's second blast of the inning. It was the sixth time in five games a Phillies pitcher allowed multiple home runs in an inning. But neither Mackanin nor Eickhoff felt the starter backed off. "I went after them like I had the whole game," Eickhoff said. "Balls just found the holes, and that's kind of what I'm looking at it as." Where Mackanin felt Eickhoff faltered was with his command in the sixth inning, which he did not make it out of. After loading the bases, Mackanin pulled Eickhoff with two outs, calling on Andrew Bailey to erase the threat. "He could've gotten out of it, but I chose not to leave him in there," Mackanin said. "Bailey did a nice job bailing him out, going right after the hitter. I hate bringing a guy in with the bases loaded, but I felt like I had to." Eickhoff has been the lone bright spot on a starting staff that had an 8.45 ERA over their last eight games before Saturday. That number included Eickhoff's six shutout innings in Toronto. Over his last four starts, Eickhoff has gone 25 1/3 innings, allowing six runs (2.13 ERA). In comparison, twice in the last week, other Phillies starters allowed at least that many runs in a single start. On Saturday, Eickhoff offered an example of what it will take to turn it around.

Pitch, Hit, & Run At CBP – Of more than 600,000 Scotts Pitch, Hit & Run participants nationwide, 23 descended on Citizens Bank Park on Saturday morning to determine the Phillies' team champions and compete for a possible trip to San Diego for the MLB All-Star Game. The 23 competitors consisted of three baseball and softball participants each in the 7/8, 9/10, 11/12 and 13/14 age divisions. Those lucky enough to play on the same field as the Phillies got there by beating our hundreds of others at eight Delaware Valley sectional competitions. To move on to Petco Park for National Finals -- which will take place prior to the T-Mobile Home Run Derby on July 11 -- a player must finish in the top three in the age group nationwide. The winner of the baseball 13-14 division, Karim Mullen Jr., has high hopes of making it to San Diego, but just playing at Citizens Bank Park was exciting enough for him. "It's very cool," Mullen said. "I've never experienced something like this before." Softball isn't even Amelia Atkins' favorite sport. It takes second place to horseback riding for the Chester Springs, Pa., native. But that didn't stop her from showing off her skills and winning the 7-8 softball division. Atkins, like every one of the eight first-place finishers, said Ryan Howard is her favorite player. The slugger's recent struggles haven't overshadowed his community involvement and role on the Phillies' division-winning ballclubs. Mullen wears No. 6 because of Howard. "I play first base, he plays first base," Mullen said. "He hits home runs, I hit home runs." Scott's Pitch, Hit & Run is part of Major League Baseball's Play Ball initiative, a partnership program with USA Baseball that encourages widespread participation in all forms of baseball activities among all age groups, especially youth. This marks the 20th year of the Pitch, Hit & Run competition. List of the winners, by age group: Baseball 7-8: Tyler Reinhart (Lebanon, Pa.); Softball 7-8: Amelia Atkins (Chester Springs, Pa.); Baseball 9-10: Bronson Kilmer (South Gibson, Pa.); Softball 9-10: Meghan Fisher (Dauphin, Pa.); Baseball 11-12: Callan Fang (Yardley, Pa.); Softball 11-12: Abby Tobelman (Gap, Pa.); Baseball 13-14: Karim Mullen Jr. (Philadelphia); Softball 13-14: Zoey Gross (Mays Landing, N.J.).

Today In Phils History – Double trouble seems to be a trend on this day in Phillies history beginning in 1927 when Jack Scott started both games on the mound of a double header against Cincinnati going the distance in both the earlier win and latter loss. 2 years later, the Phillies and Giants completed a double header in 7 hours and 42 minutes (the longest double header of the decade) with the Phillies dropping both games. The only faceoff between Hall of Famers Jim Bunning and Tom Seaver happened on this day in 1970 with Seaver dominating the Phillies while Bunning lasting only 2 batters. The following year, Larry Bowa recorded 2 stolen bases on a single play as he reached third on the double steal and advanced home when Oscar Gamble got caught in a rundown (Gamble also reached second safely thanks to Bowa’s aggressiveness). Some of the other notable occurrences include Willie Jones inside the park grand slam in 1951 and Randy Wolf surrendering a homerun in what would be the last in a team record 12 straight starts in which they allowed a homerun.   

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 30-39 this season putting them on pace to beat most preseason predictions. The Phillies finished the spring exceeding most expectations compiling a record of 15-11-3 (18-11-3 if you include the exhibition games against Reading and the University of Tampa). All time, the Phillies are 47-55-0 on this day. I expect the Phillies to finish in the bottom half of the division but not last in the NL East by finishing the season with a 77-85 record. Let the rebuild begin!

Phillies Take Stock On The Day Off

GAME RECAP: No Game Yesterday

Phillies take the day off after a successful weekend series in Miami which improved their season record to 4 games ABOVE .500!

PHILS PHACTS:

• Morgan is looking for his first win over the Braves. He is 0-3 lifetime with a 4.00 ERA against them. However, he has pitched well at Turner Field. Though he lost both decisions, the lefty has a 2.77 ERA in two starts there.
• Wisler lost his only appearance against the Phillies. He went just 4 2/3 innings, yielding seven runs on eight hits.
• Wisler is looking to turn things around at Turner Field this season. In three starts, he is 0-1 with a 4.42 ERA. Wisler has given up 10 runs (nine earned) on 16 hits over 18 1/3 innings.

NEXT GAME:

After an off-day on Monday, lefty Adam Morgan gets the nod on Tuesday when the Phillies conclude their road trip with a three-game series in Atlanta. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. ET. Morgan has allowed three earned runs in each of his previous two outings this season, with no decision in either. Matt Wisler, fresh off his best performance in the Major Leagues, goes for the Braves. The right-hander threw one-hit ball over eight innings on the road against the Mets last Tuesday. Wisler struck out four batters while walking two. He also hit a batter in the Braves' 3-0 win -- his first of the season. 

PHILS PHACTS:

Joseph Could Be Nearing Majors – There has been a little more interest than normal lately in the happenings at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Specifically, can anybody there help the Phillies' offense? One name to watch closely is Tommy Joseph, who has been crushing the baseball with the IronPigs. Joseph joined the Phillies in July 2012 in the Hunter Pence trade with the Giants. But a series of concussions and injuries derailed the 24-year-old's catching career. Now a first baseman, Joseph is hitting .392 (31-for-79) with seven doubles, six home runs, 17 RBIs and a 1.126 OPS in 23 games. Joseph could be playing his way to his big league debut. "I think this is what our scouts saw when they recommended him in that trade," Phils player-development director Joe Jordan said. "We're seeing the healthy, confident version of him and what he can do. He's making a case." The Phillies outrighted Joseph from the 40-man roster in October, but he remained in the organization because he had not accrued enough time in the Minor Leagues. It could be a lucky break for the Phils, who looked to have nothing to show for from the Pence trade. "There's an opportunity here, if he can swing the bat and play the position," Phillies assistant general manager Scott Proefrock said prophetically in October. "We don't really have a first baseman at the upper levels." If Joseph reaches the big leagues, it would be a fantastic comeback story considering his history with concussions. Plus, there are few players in the organization more liked or highly regarded, so it seems everybody is rooting for him. "We're pleased more from a personal standpoint than anything, because he's gone through a lot challenges," Jordan said. "He's looked great since Spring Training, and he just hasn't quit hitting." Defensively, Joseph has room to improve at his new position, but if he keeps hitting like this, everybody can afford to be patient. "He's very, very invested in it," Jordan said about Joseph learning first base. "He's a smart guy and I think he understands that he's got to be able to do that. He's not bad out there. I think the offense is coming easier right now, which is good because he's spending a lot of time and effort on the defensive side."

Other Minor Updates – Everybody also wants to know about the progress of Double-A Reading shortstop J.P. Crawford and Lehigh Valley outfielder Nick Williams. They are two of the Top 100 Prospects in baseball, according to MLBPipeline.com. Crawford (No. 3 overall, No. 1 among Philadelphia's prospects) is hitting .270 (27-for-100) with four doubles, two home runs, six RBIs and a .781 OPS for Reading. He has walked 24 times and struck out 19. Williams (No. 60 overall, No. 3 among the Phils' Top 30) is hitting .280 (26-for-93) with two doubles, two triples, two home runs, 15 RBIs and a .709 OPS at Triple-A. "Nick got off to a rough start," Jordan said. "He got his feet underneath him, but he's getting exactly what he needs: Triple-A experience, Triple-A pitching. That's a challenge J.P. is going to be ready for in the near future. He's doing what we need him to do. There's a lot of good arms in the Eastern League, so he's not suffering at all being there for the time being. He's doing a great job."

Today In Phils History – Today started an interesting sequence of events in 1959 after a game started by Jim Hearn was suspended. Hearn took the loss when the game was completed in July despite the fact that he had since been released and had retired. Definitely a first, at least to my knowledge. Speaking of unique occurrences, it was on this day in 1967 when Hank Aaron hit the only inside the park homerun of his career off of Jim Bunning. Years later, in 1980, another Hall of Fame picture fell victim to the inside the park homerun as Tom Seaver surrendered the only one of his career to Larry Bowa.  

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 18-14 this season putting them on pace to beat most preseason predictions. The Phillies finished the spring exceeding most expectations compiling a record of 15-11-3 (18-11-3 if you include the exhibition games against Reading and the University of Tampa). All time, the Phillies are 35-54-0 on this day. I expect the Phillies to finish in the bottom half of the division but not last in the NL East by finishing the season with a 77-85 record. Let the rebuild begin!

Phillies Fail To Deliver Gift On Harang’s Birthday

GAME RECAP: Mets Edge Phillies 3-2

Mets center fielder Juan Lagares picked the perfect time to snap a slump in Saturday night's 3-2 victory over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. He crushed a two-run home run in the seventh inning against Phillies right-hander Aaron Harang to give the Mets a one-run lead. It snapped an 0-for-16 skid for Lagares, who connected on his first home run of the season. "It was a little struggle the last couple games," Lagares said. "I went out there looking for a good pitch to hit, and I hit it out." The Mets' bullpen dodged a major bullet in the eighth inning when Carlos Torres and Alex Torres loaded the bases with one out. But right-hander Buddy Carlyle got Carlos Ruiz to ground into an inning-ending double play to end the threat. "We kept fighting," Phillies shortstop Freddy Galvis said. "We couldn't win today. We'll go after it tomorrow."

OTHER NOTES FROM THE DAY:

• Harang had been pitching efficiently and effectively through six innings when he allowed a leadoff single to Mets pitcher Jon Niese in the seventh. Two batters later, Lagares homered. Harang allowed eight hits, three runs (two earned), one walk, one home run and struck out two in seven innings.
• Galvis started the eighth inning with a double against Carlos Torres. He advanced to third on a fielder's choice, then Alex Torres walked Grady Sizemore and Cesar Hernandez to load the bases. The Phillies needed a ball hit out of the infield to score the tying run. Instead, Carlyle entered and induced the rally-killing double play.
• The Mets had runners at the corners with two outs in the fifth when Lucas Duda hit a routine ground ball to second baseman Cesar Hernandez, who was positioned in shallow right field. Hernandez got caught between hops and did not come up with the ball. The error allowed the Mets to take a 1-0 lead, which loomed large in a one-run outcome. Hernandez said the ball caught the lip of the outfield grass. "Unfortunate play on a routine ground ball bouncing like that," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "That's an out right there."
• Chase Utley notched a pinch-hit single to right-center field in the ninth inning. It snapped an 0-for-19 slump and pushed his batting average to .109. Utley's average had dropped to .099 following Friday's series opener. "It's good to see Chase have a real good at-bat there," Sandberg said. "A nice line-drive stroke. Maybe that's something that'll get him started."

NEXT GAME:

Right-hander Chad Billingsley makes his home debut in Philadelphia and hopes to see improvement from his first start in more than two years. On Monday in Atlanta, he allowed five runs in five innings. Expect to see Utley, Ryan Howard and Cody Asche back in the lineup. They sat Saturday with Niese, a left-hander, making the start for the Mets.

PHILS PHACTS:

Too Many Gifts – Some birthday wishes don't come true. In the Phillies' 3-2 loss to the Mets on Saturday night, right-hander Aaron Harang left two pitches over the plate in the seventh inning. One was a 72-mph curveball to pitcher Jon Niese. The other was a 90-mph cutter left higher in the zone than intended to center fielder Juan Lagares. After the game, Harang, who turned 37 Saturday, said he wished he could've had those two pitches back. Harang worked Niese into a 1-2 count after throwing two fastballs and a changeup, none of which Niese even took a hack at. For the fourth pitch of the at-bat, Harang opted for a curveball, a pitch he had only thrown three times in the game. In his mind, the mistake was the pitch selection, not location. "I probably should've thrown a slider or just a fastball with him," Harang said. "Instead I threw my fourth-best pitch. I went back and watched it and it was down, and he just got it and was able to catch it out in front and hit it with the end of the bat and get it out of the infield." With the pitch to Lagares, Harang also harped briefly on pitch type but said he believed that mistake was more an issue of location. "It was supposed to be a cutter down and away, and I just totally missed my spot," Harang said. "You could tell by the swing he was looking fastball, he was looking something hard and straight. I think a straight four-seamer doesn't run out to the barrel and probably gets him to pop it up and he just wouldn't have hit it as well." Coming off a sixth inning when the Phillies took a 2-1 lead, Harang said he thought Lagares was looking to swing the lead back the other way. "Any other hitter in their lineup is probably taking that pitch," Harang said. "But playing down one, he was hunting a fastball and trying to do anything he could to change that game." Those pitches aside, Harang (3-3, 2.38 ERA) continued the script of his season. In seven innings, he allowed only two earned runs, both on the home run, striking out two. The outing was Harang's sixth quality start of the season, a mark that ties him for the Major League lead. In Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg's mind, one or two bad pitches shouldn't tarnish a strong outing. "Harang was outstanding," Sandberg said. "One high fastball he would like to have back. Everything else was down at the knees and quality."

Coming Up Empty – At the very least, the Phillies should have tied the game. Phillies shortstop Freddy Galvis started the bottom of the eighth inning of Saturday's 3-2 loss to the Mets with a double. He advanced to third on Darin Ruf's groundout to first base, putting the potential tying run 90 feet from home. But after Mets left-hander Alex Torres walked Grady Sizemore and Cesar Hernandez to load the bases, Mets right-hander Buddy Carlyle got Carlos Ruiz to hit into an inning-ending double play. The Phillies came up empty. "I had a chance to turn around the game," Ruiz said. "I didn't get it done." Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg had Ryan Howard and Chase Utley at his disposal in the inning. They started the game on the bench with the Mets sending out left-hander Jon Niese. Sandberg said he considered them but stuck with Ruiz. "There was some thought there," Sandberg said. "We also knew we would like to have them in the ninth with the bottom of the order [coming up]. You know, [Ruiz] was already swinging the bat pretty well early in the game. He's also a contact-type of a guy with the whole field." The inning was setting up nicely with Ruiz at the plate. He hit a hard grounder to the right of Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada, who made a nice backhanded grab. He threw the ball to Mets second baseman Dilson Herrera, whose throw just beat Ruiz to first base. One wonders if Herrera would have made such a perfect throw if Hernandez had slid through the bag instead of popping up. "You're looking for a double-play ball there," Carlyle said. "Luckily, with [Ruiz] running down the line, he hit it pretty hard, so Ruben did a great job fielding it and Dillson turned it with someone right on him. You think double play off the bat because of the angle, but sometimes those are hits. This time it was a double play." "He hit it pretty hard, so I tried to keep the ball down," Tejada said. "When I saw my glove, it's in there, so I threw the double play. Good play, in a good situation." In the ninth, Utley snapped an 0-for-19 slump with a pinch-hit single to raise his batting average to .109. Howard, who has a 1.017 OPS in his last 16 games, flied out to center in the next at-bat.

Moving To The Outfield – Phillies infielder Cody Asche is not in the lineup Saturday for the second game of a three-game series against the Mets, but he still is seeing some time on the field. Asche is continuing to shag fly balls in the outfield during pregame warmups. It is anticipated that the third baseman will be asked to move to the outfield when highly touted prospect Maikel Franco is recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Before Saturday's game, Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said Asche has been progressing well in learning to play the outfield. "He's looked fine," Sandberg said. "He seems to have the moves and the foot speed for it. He seems to be doing all right if that would ever be the case." Given Franco's Triple-A numbers this season, this change would be unsurprising. Franco, 22, is hitting .342 with an OPS of .904 in 27 games with three home runs and 12 doubles. That being said, Sandberg indicated that no timetable exists for when Asche might be ready to play in the outfield. "That's yet to be determined," Sandberg said.

No Comparison – Mike Schmidt wanted no part of the conversation, because he sees no similarities between May 1989 and May 2015. But this is the way sports works, fairly or not. Chase Utley sat on the bench Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park with a .099 batting average -- the lowest batting average among qualified hitters through his team's first 30 games since 1914, according to Baseball Reference -- and Phillies fans have been asking if his struggles are similar to Schmidt's before he abruptly retired in 1989. "I don't think it's time to start thinking about Chase Utley being at the end or anything like that," Schmidt said just inside the Phillies' dugout. "I put money on him being Player of the Month next [month]. It'll turnaround that fast. A couple of scratch hits, a couple of balls find holes, the whole aura of the game can turnaround for you like that. You have to have that feeling. "I've seen it happen. A broken-bat hit, I don't know, you do something and it just lets the air out of the balloon, you relieve the pressure and you go, 'How the heck did I ever do what I did?' You find yourself in a 15-for-30 streak or something like that with a couple game-winning home runs. All that stuff that happened in the early part of the year is over with." Schmidt hit .203 with seven doubles, six home runs, 28 RBIs and a .668 OPS in 42 games when he retired at age 39. He hit .088 with seven RBIs and a .316 OPS in his final 70 plate appearances. Utley entered the night hitting .099 with three home runs, 14 RBIs and a .373 OPS in 103 plate appearances. Schmidt said he still sees the same player, the same bat speed from Utley. "I don't see anything [different]," Schmidt said. "I don't see any difference in Ryan Howard, either. I really don't see it. "Chase is what, 36? I would say I would have never dreamed Chase could have the results he's had because of his hitting ability. I always figured Chase was, worst case, always going to get hits. I admire the way he seems to have handled it. Every day seems to be a new day to him. He's trying to figure out a way to help the team win a ball game every time. Ryne [Sandberg] keeps putting him in the two- and three-hole. A lot of respect, which he deserves. I had my share of slumps when I was a player. Not many guys could say they've gone through 9-for-100 or whatever it is. That's pretty tough. He's a mentally tough guy." Schmidt said Saturday is the first time anybody had mentioned any possible comparison between the two Phillies legends. "No, none," Schmidt said. "I don't think there are any parallels, actually. I don't see any reason to even think in those terms. Count me out of that conversation."

THE BEGINNING

The Phillies are starting the season as expected and are now at the bottom of the NL east at 11-20. Given the departures, aging stars, injuries, and performance this spring, don’t expect their competitive place in the standings to last. All time, the Phillies are 35-54-0 on this day.