On Tuesday night in San Francisco, the Phillies faced left-handed Giants’ starter Robbie Ray. The 34-year-old lefty entered the contest with two solid starts under his belt, a 5 1/3 inning performance against the Yankees in which he gave up two earned runs on five hits with four strikeouts in a 3-0 loss, and a 5 1/3 inning outing in which he allowed two runs to the Mets on three hits and three walks with seven strikeouts.
But against the Phils, he was even better, logging 6 2/3 innings of shutout
baseball, giving up three hits and three walks with 7 Ks against a makeshift lineup that featured right-handed platoon hitters Edmundo Sosa in place of Bryson Stott, Otto Kemp in left instead of Brandon Marsh, and Dylan Moore subbing for an injured Alec Bohm. Adding injury to insult, J.T. Realmuto had to leave the game after taking a foul ball off his foot behind the dish, with Rafael Marchan replacing him before Realmuto’s first at-bat.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson, along with the team’s analytical department, likes platoon match-ups. Marsh and Stott in particular have traditionally struggled against left-handed pitching. Sosa has long been one of the best utility infielders in baseball and rakes against lefties, while Kemp is a right-handed bat Dave Dombrowski and the rest of the front office has been overly enthusiastic about since last year ended.
So far, left-handed pitchers have owned the Phillies, particularly their right-handed hitters.
The Phils have slugged just two dingers off left-handed pitchers this season, one by back-up catcher Rafael Marchan and one from Bryce Harper. Their .158 team batting average against them is dead last in MLB, their .268 on-base percentage (OBP) is 4th-worst, and their team .510 OPS is 3rd-lowest.
Their strikeout and walk rates are middle of the pack. They’re just not squaring anything up. That can be seen clearly with a 14.9% line drive rate and 21.6% hard-hit rate that both rank 27th out of 30 teams. It’s a lot of weak contact, lazy fly balls and pop outs.
Here are the lines left-handed starters have put up against the Phillies thus far:
- MacKenzie Gore (Rangers): 5 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 7 K
- Jacob Latz (Rangers): 4 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 3 K
- Foster Griffin (Nationals): 5 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 5 K
- Robbie Ray (Giants): 6 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 7 K
They are 0-4 in games started by a left-hander and 6-1 in games started by right-handers. Against all righties, the Phils are hitting a robust .260 with a .333 OBP and a .429 slugging percentage. Their .762 OPS against right-handers is 6th-highest. Thankfully, most pitchers throw with their right hand, but enough throw with their left for it to be kind of a significant problem.
Last year, the Phillies enjoyed pretty good success against lefties. Their .747 team OPS against southpaws was 6th-best, with a wRC+ of 106 that was 9th. Schwarber, a lefty himself, was best against them, sporting a team-high .964 OPS with 23 home runs. Three right-handers followed, Sosa (.895 OPS), Trea Turner (.836) and Alec Bohm (.818), with Harper (.815) the only other regular with an OPS above .800 against them.
In a more limited sample size this year, only Marchan, with a 1.000 OPS in just five plate appearances, is over .800. Bryson Stott, who usually sits against left-handers and very rarely starts against them, has the 2nd-highest OPS (.750) in six PAs. Harper is next with a .748 OPS in 23 PAs.
While Schwarber is off to a really slow start (.461 OPS, .150 AVG) against them, it is the Phils’ right-handed batters that are dragging their production down. Adolis Garcis is hitting only .200/.200/.200 in 10 PAs, Kemp is batting .143/.205/.143 in eight PAs, Turner’s slash line is an obscene .059/.158/.118, and Realmuto has yet to get a hit off a left-hander in just four plate appearances.
It is still early days in 2026. Thomson will continue to implement his platoons, but at some point, some tinkering may need to be done with the back-end of the roster.
Right-handed hitting outfielder Bryan de la Cruz has followed up a solid spring with a powerful start to the season in Lehigh Valley, sporting an .866 OPS and three home runs in his first nine games. And power-hitting prospect Felix Reyes, who opened some eyes with his raw power this spring, is learning to play the outfield and has an .827 OPS in nine games at AAA. Both could be options to replace Kemp if his defense in left field and offensive production doesn’t pick up in the next few weeks.
As for the rest of the lineup, it’s going to require the team’s right-handed stars, Turner, Bohm, Garcia and Realmuto, to start making a dent against left-handed pitching.
