The Philadelphia Phillies have been a team of extremes the entire season. They boast the best record in MLB since firing former manager Rob Thomson and promoting Don Mattingly, after previously having one of the worst records in MLB.
The Phillies are ranked 29th in team batting average, yet have the MLB’s leading hitter in Brandon Marsh. They also have the MLB’s leader in home runs in Kyle Schwarber, but consistency still eludes this lineup.
After snapping a streak of 13 games scoring four runs or fewer, during which they went 7-6, it’s fair to question who this Phillies offense is and whether it is conducive to winning.
Not Sustainable
Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper has also been one of the few bright spots on the Phillies offense with 14 home runs, 36 RBIs, and a .866 OPS. Yet Harper knows the Phillies will need more from their offense to make any sustained run.
After beating the San Diego Padres 3-2 on Tuesday, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia, in his June 2 article, wrote about Harper discussing the sustainability of the Phillies’ offense.
“I don’t think over the course of a season it’s super-sustainable,” Harper said. “Obviously, we’ve done a good job as of late. Our starting pitching has been lights-out, and the bullpen has been very good. Obviously, as an offense, we want to score more runs, and we need to score more runs. We’ve got to keep plugging and do the best we can. We’ve got to score more runs and win games bigger than one, two or three or runs.”
Harper got his wish with the Phillies scoring six runs in their final game of the series against the Padres and eight runs in their first game of the series against the Chicago White Sox. However, in game two of the series, the Phillies once again failed to score four runs in a 6-3 loss. While the team is still searching for consistency on offense, there are some encouraging signs.
Adolis García Resurgence
Adolis García had about as poor a month as an everyday player in the MLB could have in May. In 27 games played last month, García hit .125 with 11 hits, a single home run, four RBI’s, and seven runs scored. In the first week of June, García has nearly outpaced his May performance.
So far, García in June is hitting .333 with six hits, two home runs, four RBI’s, and three runs scored in five games this month.
García, who is having an offensive resurgence, would go a long way toward stabilizing the Phillies’ offense, and he is putting in extra work to reclaim his 2023 form.
Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic, in her June 4 article, wrote about García taking extra batting practice at Citizens Bank Park on his day off.
“We agreed (that), ‘We have to find a way to get out of this rut, slump right now,’” García said via team interpreter Diego D’Aniello on Wednesday. “That’s something we were all agreeing on: that we had to put a little more work in to try and get as good as we could.”
So far, the hard work is paying dividends for García, and the Phillies need the positive results to continue if they want their offense to become consistent finally.
Phillies Trying to Find Consistency With Their Offense