Items after the jump:
- Phils batters vs. projections
- Phillies stats vs. 2011, and vs. the Braves
- NL Standings and team stats
- Milestones: Rollins, Utley, Victorino, Pierre, Halladay, and Howard's race to 300
Phillies Team Stats vs. 2011 and vs. the Braves
The Braves have one of the better offenses, in the NL, with the 4th highest wRC+, and 3rd most runs per game. They're patient, seeing a lot of pitches (2nd), and drawing walks (3rd), but when in hitters counts the've tended to hit away even more than the Phillies have (13th in pitches taken in those counts). They don't sacrifice much (15th), and are 14th in steal attempts.
Their pitching is about league-average, although of course their bullpen (2nd lowest FIP) is much better than their starting rotation (14th).
NL Standings and Team Stats
Atlanta is five games behind Washington in the East, but would get the 2nd wild card spot if the season ended today.
Milestones
Jimmy Rollins
- Rollins' next home run (10th this year) will tie Willie Puddin' Head Jones for 12th on the Phillies all-time list with 180.
- His next triple (6th) will tie him with Sam Thompson for 3rd on the Phillies list at 106.
- He needs 5 walks (39 total) to tie Darren Daulton for 9th on the Phillies with 607.
More on Rollins' assault on the Phillies record book in yesterday's milestones post.
Shane Victorino
- He needs 8 more hits (103 total) to become the 34th player in Phillies history to reach 1,000 with the team. Of course, with a possible trade looming, there is a very good chance that these three games against the Braves will be the last chance he has to get there.
Chase Utley
- Utley's next Sacrifice Fly (2nd this year) will tie him with Pat Burrell for 9th on the Phillies all-time list, with 42.
- He needs 3 home runs (7 total) to tie Bobby Abreu for 9th on the Phillies' list at 195.
Juan Pierre
- Pierre's next stolen base (24th this year) will tie him with 19th century outfielder Tom Brown for 19th on the all-time list with 578. Next will be Ozzie Smith (#18 - 580), and Maury Wills (#17 - 586).
- He's higher on the Caught Stealing list, since CS's weren't tracked before 1951. Five more (9 total) will tie Bert Campaneris for 5th all-time at 199.
Roy Halladay
- With his 1st K on Sunday (his 66th of the year), Doc will become the 67th pitcher in history to reach 2,000. He will also be the 6th active pitcher, joining Javier Vasquez (2,536 - who knew?), Jamie Moyer (2,441), Andy Pettitte (2,310), CC Sabathia (2,134), and Kevin Millwood (2,056).
Vasquez is included because he hasn't officially retired. He pitched for the Marlins last year and was 8-3 with a 2.15 ERA in the second half, and was even named NL Pitcher of the Month in September (5-0, 0.71). But he's not playing this year and is not planning to play any time soon. More from Rob Neyer.
Erik Kratz
- His home run on Tuesday not only began the Phillies' remarkable comeback from a 6-1 deficit, but also allowed him to briefly join an elite group of only 4 other players who had three hits in a season with all three being home runs. Alas he wrecked it all with his first-inning RBI single on Wednesday and then compounded the error with two doubles, including one in the 10th which became the winning run.
Ryan Howard
- Howard needs 5 extra base hits (11 for the year) to tie Cy Williams for 10th on the Phillies' list with 503.
- With 290 career home runs, he needs 10 in his next 45 games in order to reach 300 in the fewest games in history, surpassing Ralph Kiner's record of 1,087. Howard was already the fastest to 100, 200, and 250. More detail in yesterday's milestones post.
For reference:
- MLB All-time leaders: Hitting and Pitching
- Phillies All-time leaders: Hitting and Pitching