There's no doubt about it. The 2012 Philadelphia Phillies are off to a dreadful start at the plate. If it wasn't for a terrific pitching staff, there would be no way this team is at .500 after 14 games. What's more of a surprise is how fans seem "up in arms" about their sticks as if they haven't seen anything like this before. That's far from the truth.
Through 14 games this season, the Phillies have scored 41 runs for an average of 2.92 runs per game. Their team batting average is .247 and they have only hit seven home runs. Even more brutal, they are 0-5 when they give up more than two runs in a game. They are leaving little margin for error out of the starting rotation. They probably have the mindset of "If I give up a three-run home run at any point, we will lose."
This is not a new thing for this franchise, however, as collective slumps and lack of hitting started back in the 2009 season and has had stretches of ineptitude ever since then. Check this out:
Recent 14-Game Stretches
2009: Games 122-135, scored 37 runs (2.6 per game) for a 6-8 record.
2010: Games 39-52, scored 25 runs (1.8 per game) for a 4-10 record. Six home runs in those games.
2010: Games 115-128, scored 44 runs (3.1 per game) for a 7-7 record. Six home runs in those games.
2010: Postseason vs. Cincinnati and San Francisco, scored 33 runs for 3.7 a game and a 5-4 record.
2011: Games 9-22, scored 39 runs (2.8 per game) for a 9-5 record. Nine home runs in those games.
2011: Games 31-44, scored 35 runs (2.5 per game) for a 6-8 record. Eight home runs in those games.
2011: Games 144-157, scored 33 runs (2.4 per game) for a 4-10 record. Seven home runs in those games.
2011: Postseason vs. St Louis, scored just 10 runs in the last four games (2.5 per game).
So while this lack of offensive prowess has been frustrating for the Phillies and their fans to open the 2012 season it is also nothing new. The Phils won 97 games in 2010 and went through a stretch that saw them go to New York to take on the Mets and they didn't score a single run the entire series. That was with Ryan Howard and Chase Utley in the lineup. For disclosure purposes, Jimmy Rollins was missing for that series.
Just last season, early in the season, the Phils' bats looked a lot like this. Here is the breakdown of games nine through 22:
Game nine: Win vs. Atlanta, 3-0
Game 10: L at Washington, 4-7
Game 11: W at Washington, 3-2
Game 12: W at Washington, 4-0
Game 13: L vs. Florida, 3-4
Game 14: W vs. Florida, 3-2
Game 15: L vs. Milwaukee, 3-6
Game 16: L vs. Milwaukee, 0-9
Game 17: W vs. Milwaukee, 4-3
Game 18: W at San Diego, 3-0
Game 19: W at San Diego, 2-0
Game 20: W at San Diego, 4-2
Game 21: W at San Diego, 3-1
Game 22: L at Arizona, 0-4
An entire 14-game stretch where the Phillies never scored more than four runs in a game and they still went 9-5. Mercy! Now that was without Utley in the lineup and prior to trading for Hunter Pence. The moral of all of this is to relax.
Charlie Manuel's team can be a maddening bunch and when they struggle at the plate it can take some time to bust out. Their hitters have shown a history of success and they will get hot. Hopefully Utley and Howard can return with some sort of resemblance of their old selves and the Phillies heat up in September just in time for a playoff run.
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