The Phillies started their brutal stretch of a schedule in May by blowing a six-run lead in the ninth inning to the Mets. Things looked like they were headed for a downward spiral when they set off for a West coast road trip through Seattle and Los Angeles. But they were able to start their first road series win and just their third overall against the Mariners.
Stock Up
Jean Segura
Segura has caught fire over the last week, as he’s 12-23 in the last seven games with three home runs and six RBIs. He’s now raised his season average to .299 when it was .229 so begin May. Not only has Segura been the team’s most consistent hitter, he’s also made some great plays at second base and manufactured a run with great baserunning. He was a major factor in the wins over his former team in Seattle.
Rhys Hoskins
Hoskins was originally a lock to be on the stock down section of this article. Entering the series in Seattle, Hoskins was hitting .189 with an OPS of .638 and just two home runs in 27 games. Hoskins ended that series with a grand slam for his third homer of the series that provided all the offense in a 4-2 win. He’s now hitting .222 with a .753 OPS with five home runs. It seems Hoskins is primed for one of his patented home run binges after a brutally cold stretch.
Ranger Suárez
Suárez rebounded from a bit of a rough outing against the Rangers with six shutout innings with seven strikeouts in Seattle. He gave the Phillies exactly what they needed in a game after a doubleheader that featured essentially a bullpen game in the second half. Suárez allowed just four total hits, three of which were to rookie phenom Julio Rodriguez.
Bryce Harper
Harper has started collecting hits in bunches. He’s hitting .357 with an OPS of 1.079 over the last seven games. He has two home runs over that span as well as three stolen bases. Harper actually has six steals on the season, putting him in a five-way tie for the fourth most in baseball and just four behind the leader Julio Rodriguez
Stock Down
James Norwood
Norwood was the first reliever sent to the mound in the ninth inning to hold the ill-fated six-run lead the Phillies had against the Mets. He immediately surrendered three straight hits including a two-run home run and a double. By the time he was mercifully pulled. Norwood had allowed four hits and been charged with four runs after recording just one out. Norwood has allowed eight earned runs in just eight total innings pitched this season.
Corey Knebel
Knebel was the final blow for the Phillies chances in that collapse. He was rushed into the game on his second day of work after the 7-1 lead devolved into a save situation. He didn’t fare much better than Norwood, as he surrendered three runs on four hits before he finally recorded the last two outs of the ninth. However, Knebel gets some points for his four-out save that clinched the series in Seattle.
Odúbel Herrera
Herrera is set to receive most of the playing time in center field after Matt Vierling was demoted. But Herrera hasn’t been much better than Vierling of late. Herrera is hitting .200 over the last seven games with a paltry .450 OPS. Over his last 15 games, Herrera has 14 strikeouts to just one walk. He is swinging and missing at over 47% of the pitches he’s seen that are out of the strike zone. That is while pitchers are throwing him just 40% of pitches actually inside the zone.
Kyle Schwarber
Schwarber is struggling mightily out of the leadoff spot again. He’s hitting just .208 over the last 15 games and has an OPS of just .447 over the last seven games. Schwarber will most likely never hit for a high average, but the Phillies need more from him in the OBP department. Especially so if he’s going to continue to bat leadoff where he currently has a .179 OBP.
