Phillies Stat Notes: Back Home in Loserville

In the past two weeks the Phillies' record has slipped from 3rd in the NL, to 9th.

And as we would expect with a .500-ish team, if the season ended today they would pick 14th in next year's draft. Chances are they will move up some before the season is done.

NL Standings and Key Stats

Pete Mackanin would not be surprised at all of the red in the hitting categories as the Phillies continue battling the Braves for worst offense in the NL. The pitching though is still solidly above average overall.

Milwaukee on the other hand has been hampered by a below-average staff, but has managed to stay close within sight of .500 with fair-to-middlin' hitting:

Comparing Phillies Stats to Last Year, and to the Brewers

Hitting

Lots of near-worst rankings down the Phillies' column for both overall hitting stats and plate discipline. The only areas where they aren't near the bottom are:

- the dubious one of sacrifice hits (both successful, and total attempted); they're also tied with Colorado for most sacrifices by non-pitchers (10).

- running the bases, where they are 8th in taking the extra base, and 10th in overall baserunning runs; that stat is weighed down by a -3.4 in base stealing, helped only by above-average baserunning in other situations.

Pitching

The Phillies starting rotation has fallen closer to the middle of the pack in both ERA (6th) and FIP (7th). Surprisingly the bullpen now has a lower ERA than the starters, and ranks higher (5th) among NL bullpens:

Phillies Hitters

The bottom of the list is gradually being replaced by other options. Peter Bourjos (and the next guys up the list) should worry, though Bourjos can claim to have an impact in the field, at least based on some metrics (Total Zone, DRS), if not all of them (UZR).