The defending National League champion Philadelphia Phillies are in an excellent position to return to the postseason, but concerns over the team’s pitching have emerged down the stretch.
While unrest continues to grow among the Philly faithful over the team’s hurlers, it’s likely much ado about nothing. The starting staff and bullpen have recently dealt with difficulties on the mound, turning several potential victories into tough losses. However, the numbers prove the Phillies staff rivals any other in the majors.
Heading into Thursday’s action, the Phillies starting staff leads MLB with a 14.9 WAR and their bullpen is second (5.7) to only the Baltimore Orioles (7.4). Meanwhile, the Phillies starters and relievers combined have the best WAR (20.6) in all of baseball, ranking just ahead of the Seattle Mariners (19.0), per Fangraphs.
One stat never tells the whole story, and over the last week or so, Phillies pitching hasn’t passed the eye test.
The Phillies have seen several leads vanish late in games recently. Last Wednesday, the Phillies squandered an opportunity to sweep the Los Angeles Angels after Craig Kimbrel allowed three ninth-inning runs in a 10-8 series finale loss.
Then, the Phillies lost two of three to the Milwaukee Brewers, kicked off by a brutal 7-5 defeat. Third baseman Alec Bohm committed a brutal error in the eighth, leading to a four-run inning for the Brewers, but not before reliever Jose Alvarado loaded the bases with one out.
Meanwhile, starters Aaron Nola and Michael Lorenzen were roughed up in their most recent outings, allowing a combined 13 earned runs over 10.2 innings pitched, resulting in two losses for the Phils.
However, one of the most endearing things about baseball is there’s always tomorrow. And the Phillies staff showed what they’re capable of on Wednesday, knocking off the San Diego Padres 5-1 behind a strong start from Zack Wheeler and solid work by the bullpen.
Wheeler allowed only one hit while striking out seven over six innings, improving to 11-6.
