With a 97-65 record the Philadelphia Phillies won the National League East. They would go on to lose the NLCS to the San Francisco Giants in six games. However this is a very good baseball team who spent just 68 days in first place and built a seven game lead. They did so by going 44-28 against their divisional opponents and 10-8 in inter league play. However they had just a 9-9 record versus the New York Mets, and a horrible 2-4 record against everyone’s favorite Triple A team the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Their offense was quite good as they scored 772 runs second best among NL clubs, and finished in the top five in the other key offensive categories. Only one of their regular nine starters finished the year with a BA over .300 but as a team they hit .260. They struck out just 1,064 times the tenth fewest among the 16 senior circuit clubs. They were able to draw the fourth most walks with 560. This is a team that does not waste at bats and that is a key part to their success.
The pitching staff was quite good and the staff ERA was 3.68. None of their starting pitchers had a losing record, three of them had double digit wins, and mid season pick up Roy Oswalt went 7-1 with a 1.74 ERA. They only racked up 1,183 strike outs, just 9th best in the NL but walked the fewest batters with 416. Two of their starters threw more than 200 innings, and this is a very aggressive pitching staff.
It seems the only thing this club could use is a left handed reliever, of course that could change depending on what happens with Jayson Werth. The club has offered him arbitration but he is a hot commodity and may end up signing with another team.
Related Links:
- Philadelphia Phillies news and notes
- The Business of Major League Baseball
- Joshua Lobdell.com
