Without Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber, Phillies’ offense struggles in loss to Miami
Despite a quality start by Aaron Nola, the Phillies couldn't do much damage to Marlins pitcher Roddery Muñoz, who held them to five hits, two earned runs, and two walks.
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Rob Thomson said Friday night that the Phillies might need to create some runs without Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper in the lineup. But they failed to do so on Saturday, in a 3-2 loss to the visiting Miami Marlins.
They faced the first pitcher in MLB history to allow at least 15 home runs in his first eight career starts in Roddery Muñoz.
“The guy today we had never seen before, so that can make it a little bit tough,” said Thomson, the Phillies’ manager. “But I think guys maybe tried to do a little bit too much, so they’ve just got to relax, be themselves, take good at-bats.”
Muñoz held the Phillies to five hits (including one home run), two runs, and two walks with four strikeouts in 4⅔ innings. The Phillies didn’t get another hit or score another run from there against a Marlins bullpen that has a collective ERA of 4.08.
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Trea Turner, who went 0-for-4 with one strikeout, echoed Thomson’s sentiment that they were pressing a bit. In fact, the team as a whole has been chasing more this month — even before Schwarber and Harper were placed on the injured list.
The Phillies chased at a rate of 28.3% in the month of May, according to Baseball Savant. They started swinging a little more freely in June, at a rate of 30.9%. As a whole, the lineup tries to stay selectively aggressive, but with runners in scoring position, in particular, they’ve been overly aggressive.
The chasing has amplified over the past two games. It’s a small sample, but a trend they are looking to change, nonetheless.
“You want to do the same thing, right, but I think sometimes guys try a little bit harder in situations,” Turner said. “I know today that was probably the case with me. Just trying to do a little bit too much, missing some good pitches to hit, and started chasing.
“So I think it’s really easy to look at from afar, but when you’re out there, it’s hard not to try a little bit harder without those guys. So yeah, just a little bit.”
Garrett Stubbs hit the lone home run of the day for the Phillies — his first since Sept. 27, 2023. Alec Bohm gave them the lead with a sacrifice fly off in the fifth inning to score Johan Rojas, but that was the extent of the Phillies’ offense.
Their pitching kept it close. Aaron Nola gave the Phillies another quality start, throwing 6⅔ innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits with no walks and nine strikeouts. Matt Strahm entered in relief with a runner on second and two outs, and allowed a single to Jazz Chisholm Jr. to tack an earned run onto Nola’s line. Strahm struck out Bryan De La Cruz to end the inning.
José Alvarado retired Josh Bell, Jesús Sánchez, and Jake Burger in order in eighth. Orion Kerkering allowed a leadoff single, but induced a forceout, and a strikeout-caught stealing double play in the ninth (Tim Anderson was nailed on a strong throw by catcher Rafael Marchán).
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Meanwhile, the Phillies were unable to push another run across. Bohm, Brandon Marsh, and Nick Castellanos went down 1-2-3 in the eighth. Then Marlins reliever Tanner Scott struck out Cristian Pache, Edmundo Sosa, and induced a flyout from Marchán to end the game.
There is no magic formula to stop players from chasing, and with Harper, Schwarber, and J.T. Realmuto out of the lineup, it is easier said than done. But the Phillies have worked hard to make sure players are aware of excessive chasing when it happens, which they believe is the first step in rectifying it.
For a veteran like Turner, awareness matters less. He knows when he is chasing. Now, it’s a matter of keeping things simple. Watch some tape, go to the indoor batting cage, and try not to think so hard in the box.
“We were in the game today, had plenty of opportunities to win the game, so that’s the positive,” Turner said. “But obviously we came up short. We’ve got a lot of good players, still, even with the guys we have out. Our pitching is still there, obviously. We’ve got really good starters going the last few days for us, the bullpen has been great.
“So we’re in each and every game. We know we’re just one hit away. I guess that’s all the confidence we need.”