Phillies Stat Notes: Phils Face off vs. Averagish Braves

Contents

• NL Standings and team stats
• Phillies Team Stats vs. 2013 and vs. the Braves
• Individual Stats
• Today in Phillies History
• Upcoming Milestones

NL Standings and Team Stats

Braves

The Braves have a Run Differential of exactly Zero, but have two more wins than the .500 record that would project to. While they are holding on to 1-game lead in the division, the Nationals have been the better team even without Bryce Harper, who will start rehabbing this week.

Phillies Team Stats vs. 2013 and vs. the Braves

Hitting

Phillies
At .290, the Phils have the 11th highest BABIP in the NL, despite owning the second highest LD% (21.4%), behind only Milwaukee's 21.8%.

Braves
Atlanta may have run into some bad luck with sequencing, as they rank around the middle of the pack in most offensive categories, including wOBA (9th), but are only 13th in scoring.

They lead the league in swinging at the first pitch, and are near the bottom in pitches per PA, and yet still have the second highest strikeout rate.

Jason Heyward leads the Braves in fWAR, but he's doing it primarily with the glove, hitting around league average at .255/.336/.386 (104 wRC+), but leading all NL players (at any position) in defensive runs above average. The Braves also have the #2 defensive player in the NL in Andrelton Simmons.

It was expected that Chris Johnson would be in for some regression this year after posting a .394 BABIP in 2013 on the way to a 127 wRC+ season, and sure enough he's hitting only .270/.287/.348 (75 wRC+), and that's even with his BABIP holding up at a fairly robust .349.

B.J. Upton has now played 190 games with 718 PAs since signing with Atlanta, and has compiled a .194/.274/.312 line (64 wRC+), with 0.1 fWAR.

Phillies hitters at Fangraphs
Braves hitters at Fangraphs

Pitching and Defense

Braves
Atlanta has one of the better staffs in the league, with a bullpen that leads the NL in both FIP and xFIP, to go with a starting rotation that is above average.

The Phils will face all righties in this series:

Mon: Cole Hamels vs. Julio Teheran
Tue: Kyle Kendrick vs. Ervin Santana
Wed: Roberto Hernandez vs. Aaron Harang

Phillies pitchers at Fangraphs
Braves pitchers at Fangraphs

Individual Stats

Hitters

Although the Phils took four out of six on the homestand, and there were the occasional bright spots, most of the starting lineup had a rough week:

Chase Utley: .182/.250/.318 (.568 OPS)
Carlos Ruiz: .235/.316/.235 (.551)
Jimmy Rollins: .261/.292/.304 (.596)
Ryan Howard: .200/.294/.200 (.494)
Domonic Brown: .182/.208/.364 (.572)

Today In Phillies History

1894: Ed Delahanty goes 6-for-6 as the Phils beat Cincinnati 19-9

1991: Pitching the fourth inning against Cincinnati, Andy Ashby struck out the side on just nine pitches. It was only the 12th time in National League history that it had been accomplished, and the first time by a Phillies pitcher.

2010: Pitching in new Yankee Stadium, Jamie Moyer gives up a home run to Robinson Cano in the second inning. It's the 42nd major league ballpark in which Moyer gave up a home run, setting a new record.Moyer got the win in the Phils' 8-3 victory.

Yesterday (June 15)

1949: Eddie Waitkus is shot in a Chicago hotel by 19-year old Ruth Steihagen. She is sent to a mental institution, and Waitkus will return to the majors the following year.

1952: In the second game of a double-header in Pittsburgh, Granny Hamner was on third with one out when Smoky Burgess hit a pop foul in front of the Phillies dugout. The ball was fielded by Pittsburgh's catcher, but no one covered home, so Hamner scored, giving Burgess an RBI. The Phils won 6-3.

1960: Traded Wally Post, Harry Anderson and Fred Hopke to Cincinnati for Lee Walls and Tony Gonzalez

1962: Signed minor-league free agent Ferguson Jenkins [Jenkins would be traded to the Cubs in April 1966]

1968: After guiding the team through more than 1300 games, manager Gene Mauch is fired over escalating disagreements with Dick Allen. Bob Skinner is named as his replacement. Mauch's career record was 645-684-2. Skinner had been managing AAA San Diego.

1972: Traded Joe Hoerner and Andre Thornton to Atlanta for Jim Nash and Gary Neibauer

1977: Traded Tom Underwood, Dane Iorg and Rick Bosetti to St. Louis for Bake McBride and Steve Waterbury

1977: Traded Wayne Twitchell and Tim Blackwell to Montreal for Barry Foote and Dan Warthen

1978: Traded Gene Garber to Atlanta for Dick Ruthven

Also, Happy Birthday Erik Kratz, who turned 34 yesterday.

Tomorrow (June 17)

1930: Chuck Klein gets a hit in his 26th straight game, setting a modern team record. He had gone 0-for-3 before knocking a single in the 8th inning against Pittsburgh.

1988: With the bases loaded and one out against New York, Steve Jeltz hits what looks like an inning-ending double play. Milt Thompson alertly holds up going into second, getting into a rundown that allows two runners to score before he's retired. Jeltz is credited with 2 RBI on the double-play.

2012: Playing in Toronto, Jim Thome leads off the second inning with a home run, his 100th as a Phillie. Thome became the 4th player in major league history with at least 100 home runs for three different teams, following Reggie Jackson, Darrell Evans, and Alex Rodriguez.

Source: Broad and Pattison

Milestones

Jimmy Rollins -- Phillies Hits Record

Rollins is the Phillies' new all-time hits leader:

If Rollins winds up being traded at the deadline, it will be the third time since Ed Delahanty set the record in 1901 that a Phillie got just enough hits to set a new team record before retiring or being traded:

#3) Richie Ashburn (1948-1959), 2,217 -- Whitey had the worst year of his career in 1959, including a career low 150 hits. He finally passed Delahanty on September 22nd, with only 4 games left in the season, to break the 58 year old record. That turned out to be the end of Ashburn's Phillies career, and he was traded to the Cubs in January 1960. This time the record would stand for 30 years...

#2) Mike Schmidt (1972-1989), 2,234 -- Schmidt got off to a good start in 1989, and with two doubles on April 20th he raised his OPS to .912, but those hits also gave him 2,218 for his career to pass Ashburn and set a new team record. However from that point through May 28th, he slumped terribly, hitting only .163/.282/.239 (.521 OPS), to drop his season's OPS to .668. On May 29th, after the Phillies had just made the trip down the coast from San Francisco to start a series in San Diego, Schmidt announced his retirement at Jack Murphy Stadium (video). Schmidt's hits record stood for 25 years before falling on Saturday.

Jimmy Rollins -- Other

• Seventeen more at bats (262 this year), will tie Rollins with Schmidt for most in Phillies history.
• When he reaches base three more times (99 total, including H, BB, HBP), Rollins will have gotten on base 3000 times in his career. He will become the 3rd Phillie to do that, joining Schmidt (3820) and Richie Asburn (3202). He will likely pass Ashburn by next year if he is still here, but Schmidt is out of reach. Rollins will also become the 12th active player with 3000+ times on base.
• With five more strikeouts (53 on the year), he will tie Greg Luzinski for 4th in team history, at 1098.
• The next time he is caught stealing (his 3rd this year), he will tie Schmidt for 2nd most on the Phillies list at 92. Larry Bowa holds the team record with 94. Caught stealing stats have been kept since 1951.

Chase Utley

• Utley needs four more runs scored (39 for the year) to tie Bobby Abreu and Del Ennis for 9th in Phils history at 891.
• His next home run (6th this year) will tie Greg Luzinski for 6th most in team history at 223. He has only hit one since April 13th.
• Two more HBPs (9 total this year) will tie Utley with Kid Elberfeld for 17th most all-time, at 165. Derek Jeter is 16th (166), and Alex Rodriguez 15th (169). Elberfeld was a turn of the century infielder who first came up with the Phillies (his SABR bio).

Ryan Howard

• Two more intentional walks (7 total) will make him the 49th player in history, and only the 5th active player, with 150 or more. Mike Schmidt at 201 is the only other Phillie with 150+.

Cole Hamels

• Six more strikeouts will tie Hamels with Chris Short for third in Phillies history at 1585, behind only Steve Carlton (3031) and Robin Roberts (1871).

A.J. Burnett

• Two more walks (45 total) will make Burnett the only active pitcher with 1000 in his career.

Jonathan Papelbon

• Two more saves (17 total) will tie Papelbon with Doug Jones for 23rd most all-time, at 303.
• He is the 3rd youngest to reach 300 career saves:

1) 31 yrs, 166 days – Francisco Rodriguez

2) 32 yrs, 251 days – Robb Nenn

3) 33 yrs, 199 days – Papelbon

4) 33 yrs, 264 days – Lee Smith

5) 33 yrs, 265 days – John Wetteland

6) 33 yrs, 306 days – Trevor Hoffman

…

34 yrs, 181 days – Mariano Rivera

• He did it in the 2nd fewest games, behind only Mariano Rivera:

1) 537 - Mariano Rivera

2) 552 - Papelbon

3) 553 - Trevor Hoffman

4) 556 - Troy Percival

5) 570 - John Wetteland

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For reference:

- Phillies All-time hitting leaders
- Phillies All-time pitching leaders