97.5 The Fanatic Phillies Notebook: Cubs Series A Sigh Of Relief
The Philadelphia Phillies returned to Citizens Bank Park after losing nine of their previous 10. The pressure ratcheted up, but a series win over the first place Chicago Cubs forced…
The Philadelphia Phillies returned to Citizens Bank Park after losing nine of their previous 10. The pressure ratcheted up, but a series win over the first place Chicago Cubs forced the Phillies to smile amidst intense doubts about their World Series hopes.
Phillies vs. Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park
- Friday 6/6: Loss 5-4
- Saturday 6/7: Loss 2-1
- Sunday 6/8: Loss 2-1
Phillies vs. Chicago Cubs at Citizens Bank Park
- Monday 6/9: Win 4-3
- Tuesday 6/10: Loss 8-4
- Wednesday 6/11: Win 7-2
Phillies Sneak 2/3 In Cubs Series
All wins count in the standings, even wins in extra innings littered with mistakes, like the series opener against the Cubs.
The Phillies committed the same types of mistakes Rob Thomson warned against during his pregame availability.
“It’s natural to try and do too much when you’re going through something like this. Every team goes through something like this every year. My 40 years in the game – especially in the big leagues – every year our team’s gone through something like this. You’ve just got to fight. These guys are doing the right things as far as preparation, playing hard. I think the energy level is up – but, of course – the frustration level is up as well.”
-Rob Thomson
Edmundo Sosa and Nick Castellanos both ran into outs desperately trying to stretch singles into doubles. Alec Bohm struck out looking and immediately slammed his helmet and bat to the opposite side of home plate in the passionate frustration of a losing streak.
The Phillies grounded into three double plays and stranded an additional 12 runners.
Four bunts somehow helped them to a win in 11 innings, but the Cubs got the best of Mick Abel in the second game of the series with four home runs.
The Phillies failed to counter with a similar power surge on a hot night at Citizens Bank Park. Their consecutive four-run games might’ve looked more passable than the weak performance at the plate during the weekend in Pittsburgh. However, they were far from impressive offensive games.
Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty ImagesThe series rubber match pulled the week together in the type of performance that drowns the ugly win on Monday as a trivial footnote in a 162-game season.
The Phillies remarkably hit 23 singles and only three extra-base hits in the first two games against the Cubs. They followed it up with four extra-base hits in a 7-2 win.
Alec Bohm drove home four runs. He finished the series 7/13 with a home run and 6 RBI. The embattled righty hit in the three-hole in each of the three games. He showed some of the same tendencies hitting to all fields that helped him drive in 97 runs in 2024 with a .301 average with runners in scoring position.
Bohm also finished tied for fourth in the majors with 44 doubles last season. His gap power helped the Phillies finish fourth among MLB teams in doubles. However, he's on pace to hit only 21 this season while the Phillies have slipped to 17th as a team.
The Phillies also won two of three at Wrigley Field in April. They've officially secured the season series against the Cubs, a team currently in playoff position, for potential tiebreaker and seeding scenarios.
Jesus Luzardo: Problem Solved?
Dave Dombrowski struggled to patch the roster’s key areas of weakness during the MLB offseason. However, he also bolstered the starting rotation into the conversation with the best staffs in the majors.
Jesus Luzardo stormed out of the gates in 2025, allowing only 16 earned runs in his first 11 starts. He then surrendered 20 runs in two miserable outings against the Milwaukee Brewers and Toronto Blue Jays.
Jayson Stark told The Mike Missanelli Show he suspects opposing hitters benefitted from some sort of tip to hit Luzardo’s fastball after such a drastic shift in results.
Luzardo didn’t let the apparent tip derail his season any further. He threw six strong innings and fanned 10 Cubs hitters to bring the Phillies a win in the series finale.
He threw a higher percentage of four-seam fastballs than in his previous two starts. The Phillies breathed a sigh of relief after Luzardo confidently threw first-pitch fastballs to the first three Cubs hitters of the afternoon and continued without hesitation in an impressive performance.
His sweeper, a pitch he’s added to the arsenal since joining the Phillies, had become an excellent swing-and-miss pitch in his first 11 starts. Luzardo leaned on the sweeper less after throwing it more than any other pitch his previous two starts.
According to Matt Gelb of The Athletic, Luzardo and assistant pitching coach Mark Lowy fixated heavily in their start preparation on the possibility of runners on second base identifying tendencies.
Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images“A sense of relief understanding that the stuff’s still there. I feel great physically. The adjustments that we needed to make – whether it’s pitch selection, more conviction behind certain pitches, being more fine as to where we’re going. The adjustments that we made obviously worked, so we’re happy about that.”
Pitching technology impacts modern baseball drastically more than in the era of shrewd hitters like Chase Utley and Carlos Beltran who could impressively scrutinize an opposing pitcher’s tendencies.
The analytical advantages of identifying the slightest tip in a pitcher’s patterns can determine a game’s outcome.
John Middleton and the Phillies have invested heavily in research of pitching biomechanics as one of the primary focus points of the organization's analytics department.
Although Luzardo weathered the storm against the Cubs, the Phillies will continue internal assessments of his biomechanics to maintain any possible competitive advantages.
Their breakout lefty experienced similar issues with the Miami Marlins, and Dombrowski recognizes the importance of staying ahead of the curve in the evolution of analytics and technology in baseball.
“It’s amazing the amount of information that we produce and we cipher through and give to the staff members. I think it’s something we always need to do, and I think if you’re stagnant, if you’re ever satisfied, somebody else is going to pass you up. You need to always be progressing and looking at any new ways that you can get better.”
Looking Ahead
The Phillies will host a Father's Day weekend set against the Toronto Blue Jays at Citizens Bank Park. Toronto took two of three from the Phillies north of the border in Rob Thomson's homecoming series June 3-5.
- Friday 6/13 at 6:45pm: Ranger Suarez (4-1, 2.70 ERA) vs. Kevin Gausman (5-4, 3.87 ERA)
- Saturday 6/14 at 4:05pm: Cristopher Sanchez (5-2, 3.10 ERA) vs. Bowden Francis (2-8, 6.12 ERA)
- Sunday 6/15 at 1:35pm: Zack Wheeler (6-2, 2.85 ERA) vs. Jose Berrios (2-2, 3.38 ERA)
All numbers as of the beginning of play on June 12. All advanced stats courtesy of StatCast, Baseball Reference, and FanGraphs.
