Don Mattingly has his Philadelphia Phillies squad rolling since he received his interim promotion. After losing a series against the defending World Series champions, they return home for a three-game set against a team they swept on the road just a week ago in the San Diego Padres.
These clubs are in similar positions: Sitting in second place in their divisions, sporting inconsistent offense due to underperforming stars and being carried by strong pitching both in the rotation and bullpen. This series also marks the return of former Phillies outfielder, Nick Castellanos to Citizens Bank Park.
San Diego has revenge on the mind. Philly wants to rebound in front of the home crowd. Let's break down the matchups and see which team is better suited to add another series victory to the ledger.
Who: San Diego Padres (32-26) @ Philadelphia Phillies (30-29)
When: Tuesday, June 2, 6:40 p.m.; Wednesday, June 3, 6:40 p.m.; Thursday, June 4, 1:05 p.m.
Where: Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia, PA)
Vásquez's last start was against the Phillies in San Diego. He surrendered three solo shots - one in each of the first three innings. Even with solid overall results, the Padres right-hander has only lasted six innings one time in the month of May. In limited experience, Phillies hitters have a .409 average and five home runs against Vásquez.
Nola had maybe his best start of the week vs. San Diego last week, only surrendering runs after a bobbled grounder opened the door for a Manny Machado two-run homer. The Phillies hope it is a sign of things to come. The way he has pitched the last calendar year would point to that not being the case.
Buehler is pitching at Citizens Bank Park for the first time since three strong appearances in September as a member of the Phillies last year. While his numbers have gotten worse the last few seasons, he has pitched to a sub-3.00 ERA in South Philly. He has limited Phillies' hitters to a .244 average over his career.
Sánchez looks to extend his franchise-record scoreless innings streak - a record that he set in San Diego. the National League Cy Young favorite's ERA is 0.85 at home, nearly two runs lower than when he pitches on the road. While the Padres' .333/.356/.476 slashline against the left-hander appears damning, he dominated the lineup just a week ago, surrendering just six hits, walking none and striking out nine over seven frames.
Giolito has mostly kept Phillies' hitters in check during his career, but he has struggled mightly on the road in his two starts this season. He has allowed a .902 OPS against left-handers in his limited opportunities, something the Phillies will look to take advantage of themselves.
Wheeler does not look like a man who had surgery aftera life-altering disgnosis. He looks like the pitcher Phillies fans have grown to love since he first arrived in Philadelphia. Padres hitters have not succeeded against Zack during his career, limiting them to a .213/.247/.416 slash line. His last start in Los Angeles was an uncharacteristic one. Wheeler allowed four home runs, something he only did once bbefore in his career.
Despite their offense experiencing another horrid stretch, the Phillies somehow won their west coast swing. They scored just 17 runs, thanks in large part to a league worst .169 batting average last week.Their team .573 OPS in those six games was second-worst, only ahead of the St. .Louis Cardinals.
Two months into the season, a team with World Series aspirations sits near or at the bottom of most offensive categories. Their batting average is ranked No. 29 of 30 teams. Add in the fact they have a bottom four walk rate, and you can see how the Phillies rank last in the majors in on-base percentage at .292 - 36 points lower than just last season.
Philly is second-to-last in times their hitters have reached base, and have stranded those runners 61.25 percent of the time. The only team with a worse LOB percent has reached base 150 more times than the Phillies.
On the flip side, their pitching has been dominant - especially since flipping the calendar to May. Even with rough starts from Aaron Nola and Andrew Painter mixed in, they have the third-best starting pitcher ERA (3.00) since May 1. Overall, the staff has the best walk rate and K:BB rate, doing their best to limit base runners.
San Diego's roster is similar to that of Philadelphia's: well known and well-paid names that are underperforming two months into the season.
Mann Machado is leading the Padres in home runs but his .184 batting average is last in MLB among qualified third basemen. Fernando Tatis has continued to get on-base at a strong clip, but the superstar only has one long ball on the season. That gives him a .318 slugging percentage. Only 10 qualified hitters have a lower rate (one of them is the Phillies' Adolis García).
The other nine-figure Padres, Xander Bogaerts and Jackson Merrill, both have struggled mightly so far this season. Nick Castellanos has been forced to play right field more than anticipated and his offense looks similar to how it did at the end of his Phillies tenure.
Their bullpen is the best in the league, and some of their lesser-known stars have delivered timely hitting to keep their run differential close to even.
Without both team's pitching staffs rising to the occassion, we could easily be discussing a series between two bottom dwelling clubs.
