The Philadelphia Phillies head to Texas at the wrong time with the Texas Rangers surging, winning six straight and starting their home stand with five straight wins. The Phillies, on the other hand, are reeling. They’ve dropped 12 of their last 15 games. As the Rangers try to get back into the AL West race, the Phillies will try and stop the bleeding.
This series will be contested from Tuesday, May 16, 2017 through Thursday, May 18, 2017 at Globe Life Park in Arlington.
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Pitching Matchups
Yu Darvish will make his second consecutive start against the National League on Tuesday, but is first every against the Phillies.
Darvish is 7-2 with a 2.26 ERA in 12 career starts against the NL and has returned to his pre-surgery form based on his early season numbers. He’s 3-2 with a 2.96 ERA in his eight starts this year, spanning 51.2 innings of work.
He’s striking out more than a batter per inning and the Phillies have been sat down on strikes 297 this year.
Darvish will be looking to out duel the Phillies’ Jerad Eickhoff. The right-hander has yet to record a win this year. He’s 0-3 with a 4.76 ERA in his seven starts. Over his career, he’s started 48 games with a 3.63 ERA. His FIP this year is relatively in line with his career norms, but his walk rate has increased significantly as command has played a role in his struggles.
Eickhoff’s last three starts have been especially troublesome. After his first four starts, he was pitching to a 2.55 ERA, but has allowed 14 runs in his last 15 innings.
The rest of the series will feature Zach Eflin against Andrew Cashner on Wednesday and then Nick Pivetta toeing the rubber on Thursday opposite southpaw Martin Perez.
Eflin has been the best arm for the Phillies so far while Pivetta has struggled in three starts.
Eflin has made five starts and has yet to record a decision, but has pitched well, allowing just a 2.81 ERA in 32 innings of work. He’s made the opposition work their way on base with just four total walks, keeping the base runners to a minimum. Eflin has also allowed only four homers.
Pivetta, by comparison, has already surrendered five walks and five bombs in just three starts, spanning 14.2 innings. He’s also already given up 23 hits which leaves the opposition with nearly two base runners per inning.
Flipping over to the Rangers, Cashner has been great in his six starts, justifying his lofty offseason contract so far. He’s just 0-3, but that’s more a result of poor support and an inconsistent bullpen. He’s pitched to a 2.43 ERA. His FIP, however, is 5.14 as he does walk more than his fair share and has gotten a bit lucky.
Perez’s ERA of 3.89 is right in line with his FIP, but he’s been unlucky in terms of his record. He’s 1-5 in eight starts. He’s delivered back-to-back quality starts and three quality starts in his last four games.
Who's Hot?
The Phillies aren’t winning, they’re not getting production from their veteran additions and they’re bullpen, outside of Pat Neshek, has been unreliable at best.
All of that said, there are a few bright spots for this Phillies club. Aaron Altherr has been an absolutely revelation. The outfielder is filling in for the injured Howie Kendrick and in 99 plate appearances has hit .333 with a 1.149 OPS. He’s hit eight home runs, 16 extra base hits total and has 22 RBIs, just behind Maikel Franco and Freddy Galvis for the team lead.
In addition to his bat—and to a lesser extent the bats of Cesar Hernandez and Cameron Rupp—the Phillies have been a very consistent defensive club. They’ve made only 17 errors, 10 fewer than the Rangers, limiting extra outs. That’s not exactly resulted in wins, but can make a big difference in a close game.
As for the Rangers, Matt Bush has locked down the closer role. The bullpen let this team down early. Late game wins were a trademark of this team in the last few years, but they were losing them thanks to early bullpen struggles.
Since Bush take over in the ninth, the Rangers have started playing much better ball. He’s allowed three runs this season, but only one in his last 12 innings and has now had five straight scoreless appearances.
Who's Not?
The Rangers offense has hit its fair share of home runs, but as a team they’re getting on base at a .305 clilp.
Texas hasn’t gotten much of anything yet from Mike Napoli who is hitting .165 despite seven bombs. He’s posted a .578 OPS after a .800 OPS and 34 homers last year in Cleveland. Nap was supposed to help lengthen this lineup, but he’s failed to get going.
Napoli is not alone. Rougned Odor has struggled to a .197 average and while Joey Gallo’s been reasonably productive thanks to 12 home runs and 27 RBIs, he’s still hitting just .195.
Maikel Franco is slumping for the Phillies. He’s supposed to be the cornerstone of this offense, but he’s hitting just .209 and hasn’t been the same players since breaking onto the scene in a partial season in 2015.
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