The Phillies had nine opportunities to score with runners in scoring position on Tuesday night, and failed to capitalize on any of them. On Wednesday afternoon, in their 4-2 loss to the Texas Rangers, they avoided a shutout, but only managed five hits and two walks. They only had three opportunities to score with runners in scoring position, and went 0-for-3 in those situations.
It was another paltry showing from an offense that was reunited with its best hitter, in Bryce Harper. The defense wasn’t much better; though the box score showed only one error (charged to first baseman Rhys Hoskins in the second inning), poor defensive positioning and botched catches cost the Phillies a few runs.
After a two-game sweep by the Rangers, the Phillies are now 36-34. Next, they head to San Diego for a four-game set that starts on Thursday.
Rough stretch for Castellanos continues
Right fielder Nick Castellanos has not looked like himself at the plate this season, in general, but has looked especially lost of late. He went 0-for-4 on Wednesday and hasn’t recorded a hit since June 17. He is batting .185/.267/.296 over his last seven games and isn’t hitting the ball as hard as he has in years past (per Baseball Savant, his average exit velocity ranks in the 41st percentile in MLB).
Castellanos was signed to be a middle of the order power bat — and, so far, he has held onto his middle of the order spot in the lineup. But with the he’s hitting, you have to wonder if a change is coming.
A good day for the bullpen
To give credit where credit is due: the Phillies bullpen did a phenomenal job of keeping the game in reach on Wednesday afternoon. Between Andrew Bellatti, Connor Brogdon, Jose Alvarado, and Corey Knebel, they only allowed one walk with six strikeouts.
Knebel, who has struggled with his command of late, accounted for that one walk. It was a solid outing for him. He induced a flyout, a groundout, and another flyout to end the inning, relying mostly on his fastball. Only two of Knebel’s 23 pitches were curveballs.
The legend of June Schwarber continues
In the top of the third inning, Kyle Schwarber hit a two-run home run that left his bat at 103.8 mph and traveled 427 feet into the center field stands to tie the game at 2-2. It was Schwarber’s seventh home run in the month of June. He’s batting .282/.414/.648 this month, and has a 26-game on-base streak dating back to May 26 — the longest such streak of his career.
Bumpy outing for Zack Wheeler (but the Phillies defense doesn’t do him any favors)
Zack Wheeler has been nothing short of dominant over the past two months, so it was a bit surprising to see him exit the game as early as he did on Wednesday afternoon. After allowing three runs in the first three innings, Wheeler seemed like he was about to bounce back, putting up a 1-2-3 inning in the fourth. But he allowed three hits at the top of the fifth inning, and exited the game after just four and one-thirds innings, his shortest outing since April 17, when he exited after just three innings of work.
Wheeler allowed seven hits, four runs, two earned runs and three walks on Wednesday, striking out eight. The Phillies’ defense did not do him any favors. In the bottom of the second, Brad Miller hit a single down the middle, to right fielder Nick Castellanos, that scored two runners from first and second base. In the bottom of the fifth, Kole Calhoun hit a double to right center field, that Castellanos was not able to cut off. It bounced against the outfield wall. Calhoun was out at third, but another run scored.
Wheeler’s three walks were the most he’s allowed since his start on May 29 in New York. He finished his day at 99 pitches, 63 of them strikes.
