After a shaky start, the staff has improved dramatically the last two months. In the last 11 games, the pitchers have a 2.45 ERA.
It hasn’t reached a point where the Phillies no longer see a need for a top-of-the-rotation starter. Yet if their pitching continues on its roll, they soon will detonate the rest of the National League East Division.
On May 31, the Phillies starters had an unsightly 5.96 earned run average, and opponents were batting .299 against them. The more astute among the fans at Citizens Bank Park were wearing helmets instead of caps.
Since then, they have had a 3.71 ERA and their opponents had hit .260 against them going into last night’s game against the Florida Marlins at Land Shark Stadium.
The Phillies had won 10 of 11 before last night, and the main reason was the starting pitchers, who had a 2.78 ERA while holding opponents to a .208 average. Overall during the 10-1 run, the staff had a 2.45 ERA, with a .198 average against them. Both statistics led the majors.
“This has been a real nice stretch for us,” pitching coach Rich Dubee said.
One reason for the improvement was the replacement of Chan Ho Park in the rotation on May 23 with rookie J.A. Happ, who will take a 6-0 record and 3.03 ERA in his 10 starts into tomorrow’s last game of a four-game series.
Dubee believes that Happ established the tone for what became a 10-1 surge with his complete-game shutout of Toronto on June 27. It just so happened that was the day Dubee called a meeting of the staff and basically told them to be aggressive, stop nibbling, throw strikes, and trust their stuff. The Phils won 12 of 16 entering last night, and a bullpen that was stretched so thin through April and May is rested.
“Probably the biggest thing is we started pounding the strike zone more often,” Dubee said. “Our first-pitch strike ratio has gone up. We’re not going deep into counts as much as we were before and we’re not walking guys as much, and I just think the aggressiveness is paying off.
“I think he [Happ] set the tone and everybody kind of followed, and it’s been going that way ever since. You know, everything in this game is contagious.”
Dubee also thinks the competitive nature of his starters has come into play.
“These guys are competitors, and nobody wants to be outdone,” he said. “Everybody wants to keep a good roll going, so whether it’s because their focus becomes better or their motivation becomes stronger, I’m not sure. You get on waves and you hope those good waves are long ones.”
Of course, the staff’s improvement won’t prompt Dubee to tell general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. there’s no need to deal for Toronto’s Roy Halladay.
“I don’t know what our front office is going to do, but you’re always looking to get better,” he said. -philly.com
Has anyone else noticed this during our spur of wins here? Our pitching has stepped up huge. Numbers don’t lie and I’m a numbers / facts type of guy. Great to see our pitching stepping up and doing a great job. Bank me on this one, Pedro will be a HUGE help to this team and will help this team in the playoffs more then we expect!
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