2018 Remarkable! Season Preview – Philadelphia Phillies

by | Mar 15, 2018 | Baseball

 

2017 Record: 66-96 (5th in NL East)

 

Despite not reaching the playoffs last season, Philadelphia was a must watch team with the call up of Rhys Hoskins. This offseason, the Phillies bolstered their on-base percentage after signing Carlos Santana to a three-year deal. Tommy Hunter and Pat Neshek both signed two-year deals and hope to strengthen the back end of the bullpen. Recently, they signed one of the top free agent starting pitchers, Jake Arrieta. J.P. Crawford will assume the starting shortstop role after Freddy Galvis was traded to the San Diego Padres. Let’s take a look and see some of the strengths of the Phillies 2017 season with the help of Remarkable!

 

Starting Pitchers

 

Jake Arrieta
  • He allowed a slugging percentage of .385 (25 Total Bases / 65 ABs) on the first pitch of at-bats in the 2017 season — 8th best among SPs in MLB; League Avg: .596.

  • Opponents hit .155 against Jake Arrieta (9-for-58) on changeups in 2017 — 6th best among SPs in MLB; League Avg: .252.
  • Hitters chased 83 of Jake Arrieta‘s 247 fastballs in off the plate (chase rate of 33.6%) in 2017 — 19th highest among SPs in MLB; League Avg: 27.6%.

 

Aaron Nola
  • He recorded 102 of his 178 strikeouts (57.3%) with his curveball vs right-handed batters in the last two seasons — 4th highest among SPs in MLB; League Avg: 16.1%.
  • Hitters chased 214 of Aaron Nola’s 476 breaking balls out of the zone (chase rate of 45.0%) in 2017 — 5th highest among SPs in MLB; League Avg: 32.5%.
  • Opponents had a groundball rate of 60.5% (133/220) against Aaron Nola on non-fastballs in 2017 — 8th highest among SPs in MLB; League Avg: 47.9%.

 

Jerad Eickhoff
  • He recorded 86 of his 118 strikeouts (72.9%) with his curveball in 2017 — 3rd highest among SPs in MLB; League Avg: 17.4%.
  • Opponents hit .385 against Jerad Eickhoff (30-for-78) on high fastballs in 2017 — League Avg: .232.
  • He threw non-fastballs on 46.9% (500/1,067) of his in-zone pitches in 2017 — 19th highest among SPs in MLB; League Avg: 36.6%.

 

Nick Pivetta
  • He had a strikeout rate of 30.8% (24/78) against the first batter faced in the inning in the second half of the 2017 season — 13th highest among SPs in MLB; League Avg: 20.4%.
  • Opponents hit .383 against Nick Pivetta (23-for-60) when going through the lineup the third time in a game in the second half of the 2017 season — 3rd worst among SPs in MLB; League Avg: .274.
  • Opponents had a groundball rate of 59.6% (56/94) against Nick Pivetta on non-fastballs in the second half of the 2017 season — 16th highest among SPs in MLB; League Avg: 47.6%.

 

Jake Thompson
  • Opponents hit .163 against Jake Thompson (7-for-43) with RISP in the second half of the 2017 season — 6th best among SPs in MLB; League Avg: .268.
  • Opponents had a line drive rate of 14.9% (13/87) against Jake Thompson on fastballs in the second half of the 2017 season — 7th lowest among SPs in MLB; League Avg: 22.9%.
  • Left-handed hitters had a Well-Hit Avg of .085 (5/59) against Jake Thompson in the second half of the 2017 season — 10th best among SPs in MLB; League Avg: .165.

 

Vince Velasquez
  • Opponents hit .346 against Vince Velasquez (37-for-107) on non-fastballs in 2017 — 4th worst among SPs in MLB; League Avg: .231.
  • He recorded 52 of his 68 strikeouts (76.5%) with his fastball in 2017 — 4th highest among SPs in MLB; League Avg: 43.5%.

 

Relief Pitchers

 

2017 Bullpen Ranks

Stat # Rank
AVG .253 T-21st
OBP .328 T-20th
SLG .409 T-18th
OPS .736 T-17th
BB% 9.3% 18th
K% 23.0% 15th
GB% 45.0% T-17th

 

Pat Neshek
  • He has not allowed a walk in his last 140 PA’s against a RHH dating back to April 16, 2017 (this is the longest active streak).
  • He had a strike rate of 74.1% (697/940) in 2017 — highest among RPs in MLB; League Avg: 63.2%.
  • He allowed an OBP of .111 (5/45) with RISP in 2017 — best among RPs in MLB; League Avg: .346.

  • He threw his curve/slider down for a strike 70.5% (124/176) of the time in 2017 — highest among RPs in MLB; League Avg: 55.0%.

 

Tommy Hunter
  • Right-handed hitters had a line drive rate of 11.4% (10/88) against Tommy Hunter in 2017 — 5th lowest among RPs in MLB; League Avg: 20.9%.
  • Opponents hit .194 against Tommy Hunter (27-for-139) on pitches in the strike zone in 2017 — 13th best among RPs in MLB; League Avg: .285.
  • Hitters chased 120 of Tommy Hunter’s 285 breaking balls out of the zone (chase rate of 42.1%) in 2017 — tied for 23rd highest among RPs in MLB; League Avg: 32.8%.

 

Hector Neris
  • He allowed an OPS of .485 (94 PAs) with RISP in 2017 — 20th best among RPs in MLB; League Avg: .760.
  • Opponents hit .364 against Hector Neris (16-for-44) on high fastballs in 2017 — tied for 5th worst among RPs in MLB; League Avg: .222.
  • Hitters swung at 67.2% of Hector Neris’ pitches (250/372) with two strikes in 2017 — 27th highest among RPs in MLB; League Avg: 61.1%.

 

Luis Garcia
  • Opponents hit .068 against Luis Garcia (7-for-103) with two strikes in 2017 — 3rd best among RPs in MLB; League Avg: .168.

  • He had an average fastball velocity of 97.2 MPH in 2017 — 17th hardest among RPs in MLB; League Avg: 93.4.
  • Opponents hit .133 against Luis Garcia (11-for-83) on non-fastballs in 2017 — 25th best among RPs in MLB; League Avg: .211.

 

Edubray Ramos
  • He recorded 62 of his 75 strikeouts (82.7%) with his curveball in 2017 — highest among RPs in MLB; League Avg: 11.6%.
  • Opponents hit .433 against Edubray Ramos (39-for-90) on fastballs in 2017 — 5th worst among RPs in MLB; League Avg: .268.

 

Hitters

 

2017 Offense Ranks

Stat # Rank
AVG .250 T-19th
OBP .315 T-23rd
SLG .409 25th
OPS .723 26th
BB% 8.1% T-21st
K% 23.1% T-23rd
QAB 2498 24th
wOBA .320 26th

 

Rhys Hoskins
  • He averaged 4.65 Pitches per Plate Appearance (985/212) in the second half of the 2017 season — highest among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 3.9.
  • He had a Well-Hit Avg of .217 (25/115) with two strikes in the second half of the 2017 season — tied for best among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .098.

  • He had 18 HRs in 170 ABs (9.4 AB/HR) in the second half of the 2017 season — 2nd best among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 27.2.

 

Cesar Hernandez
  • He batted .519 (27-for-52) on the first pitch of at-bats this season — best among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .348.
  • He had a groundball batting average of .341 (76 GB hits out of 223 GBs) in 2017 — tied for 6th best among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .249.
  • He chased 19.5% of pitches out of the zone (163/834) versus RHP in 2017 — 7th lowest among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 29.1%.

 

Aaron Altherr
  • He slugged .669 (91 total bases in 136 ABs) versus relief pitchers in 2017 — 2nd best among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .403.

  • He had a Well-Hit Avg of .395 (15/38) on the first pitch of at-bats in 2017 — 7th best among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .235.
  • He had 14 HRs in 187 ABs (13.4 AB/HR) at home in 2017 — tied for 9th best among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 26.1.

 

Nick Williams
  • He batted .526 (20-for-38) when ahead in the count in the 2017 season — best among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .350.
  • He had a swing rate of 59.2% (720/1,217) in 2017 — 2nd highest among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 47.0%.
  • He averaged just 3.42 Pitches per Plate Appearance (438/128) versus relief pitchers in 2017 — 4th lowest among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 4.0.

 

Odubel Herrera
  • 4.8 percent of Odubel Herrera’s plate appearances have lasted eight or more pitches (27/563 PAs) in 2017 — 12th highest among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 3.3%.
  • He batted .380 (35-for-92) on low fastballs in 2017 — tied for 13th best among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .285.
  • He chased 25.0% of pitches out of the zone (71/284) on the first pitch of at-bats in 2017 — League Avg: 15.1%.

 

Maikel Franco
  • He had an OBP of just .281 (623 PAs) in the 2017 season — 4th worst among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .324.
  • He had a line drive rate of just 13.5% (17/126) versus LHP in 2017 — 4th lowest among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 21.2%.

 

Jorge Alfaro
  • He batted .375 (27-for-72) versus RHP in the second half of the 2017 season — best among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .254.
  • He chased 57.8% of breaking pitches out of the zone (48/83) in the second half of 2017 — highest among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 32.3%.

 

J.P. Crawford
  • He had a line drive rate of 30.6% (11/36) versus RHP over the last 30 days of the 2017 season — 19th highest in MLB; League Avg: 21.9%.
  • He averaged 4.68 Pitches per Plate Appearance (407/87) over the last 30 days of 2017 — 2nd highest in MLB; League Avg: 3.9.

 

 

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