One of the Final Trips to Oakland—Series Preview: Phillies at Athletics, June 16 – 18

The Phillies aren’t the only team that has had a historic season in the past two years. As we all know, the 2022 Phillies made a historic turnaround after firing former world-champion manager Joe Girardi, leading the squad all the way to the Fall Classic in Houston. However, the Athletics unprecedented season developed quite differently. Amid a historically bad season where the A’s linger 24.5 games out of first place with a .268 winning percentage, their organization is also facing reverse boycotts and a likely relocation to Las Vegas.

Needless to say, it has been a wild ride for the 2023 A’s.

As expected, the Athletics had a quiet offseason, staying under the radar and keeping their payroll low. They signed former Phillies reliever Jeurys Familia as well as former Met Trevor May. Familia—who posted a 6.39 ERA in 14 appearances—was designated for assignment on May 4, and May has been shaky since his return from the IL at the beginning of June.

In an attempt to bolster their lineup in the offseason, they signed power bat Jesus Aguilar to a one-year contract, which aged poorly after his designation for assignment on May 29. The A’s also traded for J.J. Bleday, who has a .214/.319/.398 slash line in 98 at-bats.

Evidently, the A’s have not been competitive in 2023. Here are two keys to a sweep:

Trea Turner Stays Hot

The formula is rather simple: When Trea Turner is hot, the Phillies are hot.

A presence at shortstop and a five-tool bat in the middle to top of their lineup, Turner is paramount to the Phillies’ success. In June, the Phillies have won ten of their fourteen games, and Turner is batting .316 and has six extra-base hits.

Ultimately, his success is not just beneficial for him, but for everyone who hits behind him. At the top of the lineup, Turner getting on base sets up the rest of the lineup for success, leading to many of the Phillies’ big innings. He also has six walks in June, bringing his OBP for the month up to an impressive .381.

Turner has reached base in eight consecutive games, and in his last three games, specifically, he has notched five hits.

Turner is batting second in game one on Friday.

Starting Pitching Steps Up

It’s no secret that the Phillies starting pitching has been average, at best, in 2023. However, after a long two-and-a-half months, the starting pitching has started to turn it around. And if this resurgence has shown anything, it’s that there is a very relevant correlation between the starting pitcher’s performance and the outcome of the game. In three of the Phillies’ last four losses, the starting pitcher failed to make it past the fourth inning. However, in the Phillies; ten wins in the month of June, their starting pitchers in those games have a collective ERA of just 1.03.

Taijuan Walker, who is pitching in the first game of three for the Phillies, is coming off a strong outing against the Dodgers at Citizens Bank Park, where he threw five scoreless innings, struck out five, and allowed just four base runners.

For Walker, his key to success centers around his control. In five of the six starts when he has earned a win in 2023, he has walked two batters or less. Against the Reds on April 9, Walker had good stuff, but he had to be pulled after allowing two runs in 4.2 innings because of a walloping five free passes.

In Zack Wheeler’s last start against the Diamondbacks, he allowed just one run in six innings and struck out seven batters.

Game Times and Broadcasts

• Friday, June 16, at 9:40pm ET on NBC Sports Philadelphia, WTTM 1680 (Spanish), and 94.1 WIP
• Saturday, June 17, at 4:07pm ET on NBC Sports Philadelphia, WTTM 1680 (Spanish), and 94.1 WIP
• Sunday, June 18, at 4:07pm ET  on NBC Sports Philadelphia, WTTM 1680 (Spanish), and 94.1 WIP

Pitching Matchups

Game 1: Taijuan Walker (RHP, 6-3, 4.67 ERA) vs. J.P. Sears (LHP, 1-3, 4.15 ERA)

Game 2: TBD vs James Kaprielian (RHP, 2-6, 6.89 ERA)

Game 3: Zack Wheeler (RHP, 5-4, 3.73 ERA) vs. Hogan Harris (LHP, 2-0, 4.84 ERA)

By the Numbers

• Run Differential
• Phillies: -20
• Athletics: -196

• Runs Scored Per Game
• Phillies: 4.46
• Athletics: 3.62

• Runs Allowed Per Game
• Phillies: 4.75
• Athletics: 6.38

Game coverage will be available on Philly Sports Reports’ Twitter account.