April 13, 2026
Kyle Ross/Imagn Images
Kyle Schwarber leads the Phillies with 24 strikeouts and it's not even close.
The Phillies are playing "just bad baseball."
Those aren't our words, that's how Bryce Harper characterized things Sunday night, as the Phillies scored three early runs and then the bats vanished in a loss to the Diamondbacks.
The shy bats are nothing new. The Phils have scored the third-fewest runs in the entire Major League so far. Sure, 15 games is a small sample size. This offense has regularly finished in the top 10 in most categories during their four straight playoff berths. But it's pretty bad what's trotting out there every night.
Hitting issues can be mechanical, they can be mental, heck they can also be plain bad luck.
Here's a look at some stats to help illustrate just how bad the hitting has been in South Philly and where the issues have stemmed from:
The most basic stat in baseball, batting average, is pretty putrid for the Phillies. It's more than 35 points lower than last year, they're currently hitting the sixth worst in the majors.
The Phillies hitters, as a whole unit, are terrible against left-handed hitting, with the second-worst mark in the majors (.159). But it's their righties that are causing the most suffering. The Phillies' right-handed hitters rank dead last against lefty pitchers. So much for platooning.
The Phillies are the fourth-worst club in the game with two out and runners in scoring position. They also rank in the bottom 10 with runners on, regardless of how many outs there are.
The Phillies have stranded 117 runners on base this season, the seventh most of any team. So when they do, rarely, get runners on base, they don't bring them home.
Phillies hitters hit .259 the first time they face a starting pitcher, a top-five batting average. But then, the second time around, they hit .208. Generally, across the league, teams hit better the second time they face a pitcher. It's usually an advantage to the hitter to see the pitcher's stuff and tendencies. That .208 number is sixth worst.
The Phillies' combined offensive WAR — all of 0.1 — clocks in as the third-worst valuable offense in the sport. For some contrast, the Dodgers offensive WAR is already 5.7.
The Phillies have a relatively low batting average on balls hit in play, which means there is an element of bad luck. Five teams are hitting over .310 in that metric.
Phillies' hitters have an average exit velocity this season of 89.3 MPH, which is actually the sixth best in the majors. A hard hit baseball (over 95 MPH) comes more than 40% of the time, which is also an above average metric. They're hitting it hard, which is one of the few good signs so far.
One of the strengths of the Phillies in recent seasons has been their ability to make a pitcher throw extra pitches. That's not happening in 2026. Phils hitters are seeing 3.84 pitches per at bat, which is tied for the fifth fewest this season. They also rank toward the bottom in 3-0 counts, which is explained by the lack of pitches per at bat.
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