The Phillies find themselves in a very similar position to last week. They’re looking to rebound against the Reds following a tough series loss to the Mets. Philadelphia had a possible series split or better in their grasp against New York but couldn’t hold on, despite rolling their three best starters. However, much like last week, they’ve already taken the first two games against Cincinnati with two more still to come.
Stock Up
Bailey Falter
Falter started the second half of a double header with the Mets and outpitched all other Phillies starters that weekend. On a night where the Phillies desperately needed length, Falter went 6 innings while allowing just one run on two hits. It was just the second time in Falter’s career he’s gone at least six innings. The other start was also this season, on July 29th. Falter exceeded all expectations and won a game the Phillies sorely needed.
Nick Castellanos
Castellanos has now hit in 13 straight games. However, now he’s starting to finally add some power. He has a home run and a double to go along with 3 RBIs in his last three games of the streak. That is after having one and two respectively the previous 10 games. Castellanos has especially feasted on his former team. He’s hitting .364 against the Reds this season with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs in five games.
Bryson Stott
Has there ever been a Phillies rookie with this many big hits in his first season? Stott came through again in the clutch with a thunderous double that just barely missed being a walk-off home run against the Reds. Instead, it scored Jean Segura as Stott advanced to third thanks to a poor throw. Stott has an OPS of 1.046 in situations deemed high leverage from the eighth inning on. Overall, he’s hitting .357 over his last seven games with four extra base hits and an OPS of .916.
J.T. Realmuto
Realmuto is on a modest five game hitting streak after a small dip from his July-early August production. In those five games, Realmuto is hitting .450 with four extra base hits and 4 RBIs. His two-run triple tied the game for the Phillies in the bottom of the sixth after they struggled to do anything against Reds starter Nick Lodolo for the second time in a week.
Jose Alvarado
Alvarado currently has a 1.23 ERA in 8 appearances in August after allowing his first earned run of the month against the Reds. However, it’s what he did after allowing that run that was impressive. He started the inning allowing a double, single, and then another double that brought the Reds within one. With runners on second and third and no outs, Alvarado proceeded to strike out the next three batters. His gutsy pitching perhaps went unnoticed thanks to the heroics of Stott and Nick Maton, but Alvarado continues to improve into a quality late inning reliever.
Stock Down
Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, and Kyle Gibson
These three were all lined up to face the Mets at home in a series where the Phillies would not see Jacob deGrom or Max Scherzer. They combined to allow 12 runs in just 13.1 IP on 19 hits. The Phillies lost all three games they started. Their failure to get deep into games had an effect on Sunday’s loss. The Phillies were short on relievers, and they ended up blowing two saves due to their bullpen being overworked.
Kyle Schwarber
Schwarber has struggled in his return to the lineup following a calf injury. He’s in his longest home run drought of the season at 13 games played and 51 plate appearances. He’s struck out 12 times in the 7 games since he missed time with the injury and has just three walks. Schwarber is hitting .231 over that span, well above his .212 mark on the season, but he hasn’t been providing his usual power of late.
Ranger Suárez
Suárez broke a string of dominant starts with a shaky outing against the Reds. He threw five scoreless and then unraveled in the sixth, allowing three hits and walking three batters. The final two of which were with the bases loaded. He allowed three runs and left the game with the bases still loaded and two outs before Michael Plassmeyer entered the game and escaped with no further damage. There was some poor defense that didn’t help Suárez’ cause in the inning, but his command completely left him regardless.
Edmundo Sosa
Sosa’s two throwing miscues in the ninth inning almost cost the Phillies the game Tuesday night. He was only charged with one error, but he had two off-target throws that allowed runners to reach base. That led to Brad Hand allowing the go-ahead triple while trying to record the fourth out of the inning. You can’t be an all glove, no bat shortstop and have two defensive lapses in the ninth inning of a one-run game.
Rob Thomson
Thomson has been fantastic this season, particularly at managing the bullpen. However, his handling of the unit on Sunday was one of the driving factors of the loss. On a day the Phillies were going to be shorthanded due to a heavy bullpen workload while also missing their closer Seranthony Dominguez, Thomson opted to use Jose Alvarado in the sixth inning of a three-run game rather than the later innings. Thomson then sent Connor Brogdon out for the eighth and he allowed a game-tying three-run home run to Mark Canha. Finally, Thomson elected to use David Robertson despite the 37-year-old throwing 36 pitches the night before in a six out save. Robertson too allowed a home run to Canha, a two-run shot that gave the Mets a one run lead. Tyler Cyr then relieved Robertson and allowed another home run to the first batter he faced in his career. Thomson is firmly in the mix for manager of the year, but this was the first case where his management decisions were a clear detriment.
