The Phillies played three games in the hands of the Astros this week. They are still in a strong position with a 47-34 advantage, but have a poor offensive rate and rank 25th in scoring. Maximum Kepler Always struggling as he hit .167/.265/.350 in June’s 68 set appearance.
Between June 22 and 25, Kepler withdrew from the roster for three consecutive games. Phils faces left-handed starting pitchers in every game and hopes to beat left-handed batsman to an unfavorable platoon showdown. It was not getting along well with Kepler, who told Sports’ Matt Gelb on Thursday that he was told he was “will be the starting left fielder” when he signed a 10mm free agent deal with Philadelphia. He added that not every day affects his rhythm.
The veteran outfielder doubled down on the comments today. “I signed here that I’m going to be the left fielder who starts every day,” he told reporters ahead of the series opener in Atlanta tonight. “That’s why I’m here.” Manager Rob Thomson has some knowledge of Kepler’s pain and noted that he has played in the 60-game team’s starting lineup for 81 games. He will finish fifth in the first game against Atlanta tonight Elder Bryce.
To be clear, there is nothing to suggest that the relationship between Kepler and Thomson has become untenable. The outfielder said today that if he was pushed into the backup role, he would “catch it and hope to make the most of it.” However, it’s clear that he wants more game time against Southpaws. His career .221/.291/.362 batsman pitched against lefty, and he hit .222 with a home run in 49 sets against lefty this year.
What is even more worrying is that Kepler did not use the advantage of platoon. He played the .205/.307/.389 slash against the right in tonight’s game. Kepler has stable April, but has a .179/.270/.364 line since early May. It’s not surprising Thomson hopes to incorporate another right Bat with the lefties into the roster when Kepler doesn’t execute. Otto Kemp These three appearances moved from first base to left field Friend Kennedy or Edmundo Sosa Enter the lineup.
Kepler’s struggle is when outfield prospects Justin Crawford Hitting triple A. The 21-year-old Crawford is a former first-round draft pick and scored .332/.408/.435 at the highest level in the minor league level. son Carl CrawfordJustin has the smallest power but high speed and shows improved board discipline. Gelb wrote that while some other teams questioned his offensive approach, the group was optimistic about Crawford. His ground rate among minors is 63%, which is Jose Iglesias Already at the MLB level (minimum 100 disks appear). Thomson told reporters Thursday that Crawford “absolutely” brought himself into a major league call.
It left the front desk before the transaction deadline and made some interesting decisions. Baseball Operations president Dave Dombrowski said this week that the bullpen is their top priority. He downplayed the possibility of increasing the offense. Meanwhile, Phillies produces minimal production from two corners of the scene. Kepler and the company were not good at the left; Nick Castellanos Always a solid batsman, but still a defensive responsibility.
They might turn to Crawford, but that might require sitting on the bench of Kepler or Castellans. (Crawford can play midfield games, but Brandon Marsh Has been one of the best batsmen on the team after a frustrating April. The Phillies fought fiercely against the Mets in the NL East and wouldn’t be too patient if he was going to struggle.
The lineup should be greatly improved Bryce Harper Will be returning due to wrist injury. Harper has not competed since June 6, but told reporters this afternoon that the return for next week is “absolutely working” (linked via MLB.com’s Paul Casella). He did live batting practice at Truist Park and planned to hit a pair of Pheles minor league pitchers tomorrow. This could lead to more out-of-field game time for Kemp, who is their preferred fill time first. The 25-year-old rookie didn’t play a lot of tons in 17 MLB games, and although he did win Deep on his first career home run, he paired it with a .313/.416/.594 clip in Triple-A.
