For The Leadoff Spot, It Is Time For Change

The Phillies will head into the All-Star break after this weekend's series at the Miami Marlins in a pretty good position to make the National League playoffs. They've had quite a surge of late, having won 21 of their last 28 games, largely due to a lot of terrific starting pitching and just enough hitting when that pitching hasn't been reliable. 

On June 2, when the team was 25-31 and mired in an offensive mediocrity that this city didn't envision from a lineup that included so many good hitters, manager Rob Thomson inserted left fielder Kyle Schwarber, a notorious torrid June hitter, into the leadoff spot in the lineup. 

Scwharber stayed true to form for much of the month, hitting monster home runs and surging his abysmal batting average close to the .190 mark (yes, you read that right). 

Much has been made of Schwarber's comfort of being the top hitter in the order. Others point to the team making it's playoff push a year ago by going 65-46 in the last 111 games with Schwarber at the top spot. And now, since June 2, the Phillies have averaged 5.6 runs a game since the lineup change by Thomson. Isn't that the name of the game, winning? Of course it is. And for some inexplicable reason, that's what the Phillies do when Schwarber hits leadoff. 

But could it be even easier if he was hitting elsewhere in the lineup? I think it's time. His play in the outfield has been lackluster, at best, as we all know he is more suited to be what he was brought here for - a designated hitter. But until Bryce Harper is ready to play the field at first base, this is not going to happen. But putting Schwarber in a more favorable position in the batting order is. 

Though he has struggled like no other season before, Trae Turner is just the natural leadoff hitter that any team in baseball covets. Though he his batting average has lingered around the .250 mark, maybe his comfort level would rise should he be thrust into the leadoff spot. I believe that no matter where he is in the lineup, Schwarber could still hit home runs. Because as of now, he really does not do much else offensively, though he did have a huge RBI single on Thursday against the Rays. 

Yes, winning is the only thing that matters. And that's what the Phillies do with Schwarber at the top spot. So a change isn't really necessary. As of now. But is it really in the best interest of the team to have a .180 hitter with no speed and the most power on the team leading off the game? Of course not. After the All-Star break is the time to get this order to where it should be, and that's leading off Trea Turner. 

The Philadelphia Phillies road winning streak has reached 11 games following their latest win over the Tampa Bay Rays. It has been a remarkable stretch of baseball played away from Citizens Bank Park. And it is one of the longest streaks of that kind in franchise history. So, I figured it was time to take a look at the numbers over the last 11 road games. To try and see what the Phils are doing so well. Here are some interesting numbers from this awesome run of road baseball that point to the Phillies road winning streak’s origin:

In order to go on this type of a win streak, the offense has to be producing at a high level, and the Phillies’ has. Batting .264 might not sound like a lot, but the Miami Marlins are hitting .264 for the season, the 3^rd best mark in all of baseball. That puts in perspective just how hot the Phillies have been at the dish during their road-winning streak.

During the Phillies road winning streak, they have outscored their opponents by a combined 36 runs, a whopping run differential over 11 games. That means that they are scoring, on average, about 3 more runs a game than their opponents. These aren’t just one run games; the Phillies offense is out-slugging the opposition on the road, an impressive feat.

Oh yeah, it hasn’t just been the offense that has been fueling the Phillies’ road-winning streak. The pitching has been arguably better than the hitting, as evident by the 2.18 team ERA. The starters have been staggeringly good, the bullpen has been beautifully effective, and opponents have had no shot to put up a significant amount of runs. THAT is how you win baseball games.

What’s funny about this winning streak is that the Phillies’ defense has not been all that good, even with their 11 straight wins. They’ve made 7 errors in their last 11 road games, which is more than an error every other game. That’s not a good mark to aim for, and yet, the Phils continue to win games. This is not only a credit to the pitching staff overcoming rough defense, but a sign that there is still better baseball to come from this team.

1976 was the last time the Philadelphia Phillies’ franchise had a road-winning streak of 11 wins or better. That team finished with 13 straight wins on the road. Besides the 1976 team and this current streak, only the 1887 Phillies reached the 11 straight road wins mark. This has been a historically good run of games away from home, and with 4 more road games before the All-Star break, the 2023 Phillies could stand alone before long.