On a Downward Arch—Series Preview: Phillies at Royals, August 23 – 25

The Philadelphia Phillies are heading out to the Midwest in quite the tailspin since the All-Star break, as they are 12-19 ( 2-7-1 in series) since the break. Their most recent series loss came against a wounded Braves team that is pulling guys off waivers to start for them yet still gaining ground on the Phillies for the division lead (that number is down to just six). In the Atlanta series, he Phillies’ lineup struggled mightily, scoring six runs combined over the three games, without facing Spencer Strider or Chris Sale.

Did the Bats Fly South for Winter Already?

When a team is in a freefall like the Phillies have been, you turn to your leaders to snap you out of it. Unfortunately for Philadelphia, the top four hitters in the lineup (Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Bryce Harper, and Alec Bohm) have gone 16/83 (.193 avg.) over their last six games). Bryce Harper is currently mired in a 1-19 skid while Trea Turner alone has seven of those sixteen hits.

This team full of sluggers has just three home runs over the last week. Their only extra-base hits against Atlanta were doubled from Johan Rojas, Weston Wilson, and J.T. Realmuto. That type of production is not going to win you many games.

A Potent Offense

Kansas City enters the weekend series on a much better note. The Royal have won five of their last six games and 12 of 16 overall to climb within two games of the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians. Matt Quatraro’s team has been riding on the back of superstar Bobby Witt, Jr. and their starting pitching to climb into playoff contention. The 24-year old shortstop leads major league baseball in hits (178, 23 more than #2 Luis Arraez) and runs scored while sitting at third in doubles and tied for second in triples. Over the past week, he is hitting .417 with a home run, three RBI, and eight runs scored.

The rest of the Royals lineup has been helping to provide some punch behind Witt as well. Vinnie Pasquantino has hit .391 over the last week with a home run, six runs, and ten RBI after being 6-34 before that stretch. Dairon Blanco had a great two-game stretch against the Reds, where he went 5-8 with three home runs, four runs scored, and a whopping eight RBI. Veteran backstop Salvador Perez has cooled off considerably since the All-Star break, but veterans Hunter Renfroe and Adam Frazier have chipped in when called upon, hitting .412 and .500, respectively, over the past seven days.

Pitching In

The starting rotations for both teams have been very good on the year, with the Phillies boasting the fourth-best team ERA and the Royals holding a respectable tenth place. In a Royals rotation with Seth Lugo, Brady Singer, and Cole Ragans, the two “Michaels” have been the top dogs lately. Michael Wacha has pitched to a 1.38 ERA over his last two starts and struck out a combined 15 batters, while Lorenzen has been almost as impressive, earning a 2.12 ERA in 17 innings of work.

The Phillies will get Wacha to start the series and are then set to face Singer and Lugo. Both Pitchers have struggled a bit recently, Singer giving up six earned runs over five innings two starts ago before bouncing back against Cincinnati. Meanwhile, Lugo has had two good starts to bookend two awful ones in his last four. In the two bad outings, he struggled to the tune of 15 hits, 11 earned runs, and six walks in just over nine innings.

The Phillies do not have a starter confirmed for either of the last two contests of the series, though Ranger Suarez is expected to be back from injured list to pitch in one of the final two games of the series. According to Rob Thomson’s post-game interview on Thursday, a spot start is likely to fill the other spot.