Photo: Philliedelphia/Andrew Gillen
Last night, the Phillies did exactly what they needed to do. The team continued to hit the ball well, and give themselves a good opportunity to win the game. Despite throwing so many pitches, A.J. Burnett labored well through his five innings, and set the team up for success. Jimmy Rollins and the rest of the offense strung together six runs in a winning effort, and the team was able to survive a near-meltdown ninth inning from Jonathan Papelbon. Some difficult news did emerge from the evening, though, as Cliff Lee was sent to the 15-day DL with a mild elbow strain. Taking his place is Darin Ruf, making his first trip to the Phillies major league roster this season.
Kyle Kendrick is still without a win this season, a meaningless statistic, but factual nonetheless. In eight starts, Kendrick has an 8.8% K-BB%, which ranks 48th out of the 59 qualifies National League pitchers. K-BB% essentially represents how well a pitcher can control a strike zone throughout the ballgame, as demonstrated yesterday by Dave Cameron on FanGraphs.com. What it means, essentially, is that Kendrick is not very good at balancing his strikeouts and walks effectively, and his numbers are showing it. On the road, Kendrick's FIP is 4.20, while his K-BB% dips a bit to 8.6%.
Averaging nearly 96mph on his fastball, Nathan Eovaldi is well known for having a lightning arm. He has essentially become the ace of the staff since Jose Fernandez went down with his injury. Eovaldi is actually pitching better than some of his base numbers show, as his FIP sits 41 points lower than his ERA. He also nearly doubles Kendrick's K-BB%, with his season total at 16.6%. As do the numbers of most Marlins players, Eovaldi's stats only look better when he pitches at home.
Game Notes:
- Darin Ruf is back with the Phillies roster for the first time since 2013. In 73 games last season, Ruf provided an OBP of .368, 14 HR, and 30 RBI.
- In five games at the leadoff position this season, Jimmy Rollins has two homeruns, and is getting on base at a .421 rate. Rollins is two hits behind Richie Ashburn and 19 behind Mike Schmidt on the Phillies all-time hit list.
- Similar to Rollins, Carlos Ruiz shines in a particular role, the second spot in the lineup. The biggest number you need to know: .588. Ruiz, when batting second, has an OBP of .588, an incredible number.
Phillies Lineup
- Jimmy Rollins SS
- Carlos Ruiz C
- Chase Utley 2B
- Ryan Howard 1B
- Marlon Byrd RF
- Cody Asche 3B
- Domonic Brown LF
- Tony Gwynn Jr. CF
- Kyle Kendrick P
Marlins Lineup
- Christian Yelich LF
- Derek Dietrich 2B
- Giancarlo Stanton RF
- Casey McGehee 3B
- Garrett Jones 1B
- Jarrod Saltalamacchia C
- Ed Lucas SS
- Marcell Ozuna CF
- Nathan Eovaldi P
Location: Marlins Park, Miami, Florida
Weather: 78° – Clear – 0% PoP
Start Time: 7:10 PM Eastern
Andrew Gillen, Philliedelphia Managing Editor/Gameday Coordinator
