After losing the series in disappointing fashion to the Marlins at home, the Phillies went over to Cincinnati for a four-game series and end up splitting the series. This is the final time the Phillies see the Reds in the regular season.
PITCHING
Bailey Falter, Taijuan Walker, Matt Strahm, and Aaron Nola were the starters for the four games in this series with Nola and Walker getting the wins.
Falter struggled greatly in his outing, allowing five runs in just 4.2 innings of work. Walker seems to be getting more comfortable in a Phillies uniform, only allowing one run in the six innings he pitched. Strahm had his worst outing of the season in his start, allowing his first earned runs (3) in just 2.2 innings. Nola had his best start of the season, allowing just two runs in a full six-innings pitched, his first six-inning game of the season.
The bullpen, aside from the five-run Josh Harrison appearance, did an adequate job. McKinley Moore struggled the most and was eventually sent down to Lehigh Valley, with Luis Ortiz being the one to be called up to replace him. Brogdon, Bellatti, Vasquez, Soto, Kimbrel, Dominguez, and Alvarado all had great outings throughout the series. Ortiz also did not allow a run in his game-four outing.
OFFENSE
The offense is still inconsistent, but there were a lot of positives regarding the hitting in this series. Bryson Stott, who had his first home run of the year, and Alec Bohm kept up their hot starts, continuing their hit streaks to 16 and 10 respectively. Schwarber and Realmuto, who also had home runs this series, seem to be heating up and getting more comfortable. The hitting with runners in scoring position was still an issue this series, but it is something that will improve over time.
SERIES THOUGHTS
They need to start getting consistent and hit with runners in scoring position. The Phillies have five players hitting well over .300 but have a -16 run differential. The situational hitting has to improve, and it will as time goes on. The pitching is the biggest issue currently. I expect the pitching to improve when everyone is healthy, but the currently healthy pitchers are good enough to get the job done. It’s still early so there is nothing to freak out about, but that does not mean the subpar play can be ignored. It was an encouraging end of the series, so hopefully they build off of this. Their next series starts off with a doubleheader in Chicago tomorrow.
