By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Staff 
The Philadelphia Phillies (53-42) may not have been the big winner in the Manny Machado sweepstakes, but they are already in first place in the division – a feat accomplished through strong starting pitching. There have been a few stumbles along the way, but a rotation that was a major concern to many heading into the season is largely the reason that the Phillies find themselves with the third best record in the National League coming out of the All-Star Break.
An argument could be made that the late Spring signing of Jake Arrieta has a lot to do with that. His 7-6 record doesn’t exactly inspire, but his ERA stands at 3.23 and he has brought a veteran leadership with him to a very young starting pitching staff.
The Phils will turn to the veteran right-hander to begin the second half of the season against the San Diego Padres (40-59).
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| San Diego Padres (40-59) | Philadelphia Phillies (53-42) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LHP | Clayton Richard | RHP | Jake Arrieta | ||
| (7-8, 4.43 ERA) | (7-6, 3.23 ERA) | ||||
LHP Clayton Richard, Age: 34
- 2018 vs. PHI: N/A
- Career vs. PHI: 1-4, 2.66 ERA, 9 G, 5 GS, 40 2/3 IP, 32 H, 15 R, 12 ER, 4 HR, 11 BB, 23 SO, 1.057 WHIP
- Career at Citizens Bank Park: 0-2, 3.86 ERA, 5 G, 2 GS, 16 1/3 IP, 17 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 3 HR, 5 BB, 7 SO, 1.347 WHIP
Originally drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the eighth round of the 2005 MLB draft, Richard made his debut with the club in 2008. Despite coming up through the White Sox system and making his debut with the club, Richard has spent parts of eight of his ten seasons in the majors.
Richard has a career 4.34 ERA and has shifted between being a starter and a bullpen arm for much of his career. Upon being granted his free agency in 2013, Richard spent most of the 2014 season without a contract. He ultimately appeared in only one game at the AAA level and three in AA that season before resigning with the Cubs in 2015. He was traded back to the Padres in 2016 and, in his first full season since returning to the Padres, led the National League with 15 losses.
This season, Richard posted a strong month of June, but has struggled the rest of the season. Excluding his five starts in June, Richard has posted a 4.84 ERA with a strikeout to walk rate of 1.76 compared to the league average of 2.60. In his three starts prior to the break, Richard has struggled with his control. He has walked 14 batters while striking out only eight. Much of that is due to the fact that his strikes from swinging are down to just five percent compared to his career 10% strike swinging rate. This is a trend that the Phillies hitters could really take advantage of, specifically those like Carlos Santana, Cesar Hernandez and Rhys Hoskins who have controlled the strike zone incredibly well this season and have 74, 61 and 51 walks respectively this season.
RHP Jake Arrieta, Age: 32
- 2018 vs. SDP: N/A
- Career vs. SDP: 2-1, 2.74 ERA, 4 G, 4 GS, 23 IP, 16 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 3 HR, 9 BB, 20 SO, 1.087 WHIP
- Career at Citizens Bank Park: 5-2, 2.11 ERA, 11 G, 11 GS, 68 1/3 IP, 49 H, 24 R, 16 ER, 7 HR, 20 BB, 61 SO, 1.010 WHIP
After joining the Phillies late in spring training, the former Cy Young and Silver Slugger award winner has provided a veteran presence to a young rotation. Arrieta has had a bit of a reverse split this season as Richard. He had a very poor June, but has otherwise posted a 9-2 record with a 2.21 ERA.
Arrieta’s struggles have not been entirely his own fault, however. In addition to being let down by the shift quite a few times, the Phillies defense has let Arrieta down numerous times. Arrieta leads the majors with 15 unearned runs. Of course, some of that can be attributed to Arrieta being unable to get need outs following errors, but it also shows just how bad the Phillies defense has been behind him. Advanced statistics show that the Phillies defense allows 0.64 additional runs to score each nine innings Arrieta pitches.
Although his ERA is higher than it was in May, batters are getting fewer hits against Arrieta in July than in any other month this season. He will look to keep his strong start to the month going tonight.
Starting Lineups:
| San Diego Padres (40-59) | Philadelphia Phillies (53-42) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | RF | Travis Jankowski | L | 1 | 2B | Cesar Hernandez | S |
| 2 | 2B | Carlos Asuaje | L | 2 | LF | Rhys Hoskins | R |
| 3 | LF | Wil Myers | R | 3 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L |
| 4 | 1B | Eric Hosmer | L | 4 | 1B | Carlos Santana | S |
| 5 | 3B | Christian Villanueva | R | 5 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R |
| 6 | CF | Manuel Margot | R | 6 | RF | Aaron Altherr | R |
| 7 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S | 7 | SS | Scott Kingery | R |
| 8 | C | Austin Hedges | R | 8 | C | Jorge Alfaro | R |
| 9 | P | Clayton Richard | L | 9 | P | Jake Arrieta | R |
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 7:05 p.m.
- TV: NBCSP
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
Game Notes:
- Phillies outfielder Odubel Herrera currently leads all center fielders in the Major Leagues with 52 RBIs – two ahead of Mike Trout.
- Since returning from the disabled list, Hoskins is slashing .278/.364/.511 with seven doubles, eight home runs, 17 walks, 28 RBIs and 21 runs scored.
- Both Hoskins and Santana enter the second half with over 50 RBIs and 50 walks as well as 14 home runs a piece, creating a strong control of the strike zone at the top of the batting order.
What’s Next:
- Saturday, July 21, 2018: vs. San Diego Padres, 7:05 p.m.
- Citizens Bank Park
- TBA vs. RHP Vince Velasquez (5-8, 4.93 ERA)
- TV: NBC 10; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
