The Phillies offense is struggling. That shouldn’t be some earth-shattering statement. Frankly, “struggling” might not be a strong enough word, as the Phillies entered their off day yesterday as one of the worst offenses in baseball over the first two months of the season.
Philadelphia’s offense ranks 27th in runs scored (230), 29th in batting average (.224), 30th in on-base percentage (.292), 28th in OPS (.673), and 29th in wRC+ (88). All of those numbers put them firmly among the three worst offenses
in baseball.
They have three hitters above average by OPS+ and they are Kyle Schwarber (154), Bryce Harper (137), and Brandon Marsh (125). The next closest is rookie Justin Crawford, whose 80 OPS+ is 20% below league average. Their two best right-handed hitters in Trea Turner and Alec Bohm have been among the worst qualified hitters in baseball. Bryson Stott is hitting in the middle of the order despite having a .644 OPS. Free agent addition Adolis Garcia would be unplayable if it were not for his stellar defense in right field but even considering that, it’s getting harder and harder to justify putting him in the lineup. J.T. Realmuto is looking every bit the 35-year-old catcher he is and would have the seventh worst slugging percentage in MLB if he qualified (Garcia is currently sixth.)
Needless to say, all of that has to improve if the Phillies want to stay in contention. Their recent string of poor offensive play hasn’t sunk them too much thanks to the efforts of the pitching staff, but that is too much of an onus to keep putting on the shoulders (literally and figuratively) of the rotation and bullpen.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a whole lot that can be actively done to the offense at this particular point in time. Sure, some trades could be made, but those are unlikely to happen until closer to the deadline at the end of July. But the Phillies can’t really wait that long, as they need some kind of offensive spark now. The options on the table are not inspiring but they do exist. They would be a lineup change, some “off days” for the most struggling hitters, a call up from the minor leagues, a signing off of the waiver wire, or the most drastic, a demotion or designation for assignment. The last two seem unlikely, especially in the case of a demotion for one of the regulars as they would have to accept it if due to their service time, but the chances aren’t zero. None of these options are guaranteed to do anything, but it’s clear that something other than counting on hitters’ track records to hold true has to be done.
So, what would you do to try and spark the Phillies offense?
