Philadelphia Phillies' Biggest Weakness So Far In 2016 Is Hitting

By Nick Vorholt

The Philadelphia Phillies are close to turning the ship around. For much of the early part of the season they were above .500, but their talent has caught up to them. The pitching is great, but so far in 2016 hitting has been their biggest weakness.

The Phillies are last in MLB in batting average, OBP and doubles. They would be last in another half of a dozen categories, but the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets are also weak offensively. To put it into perspective, the Phillies are 60 points behind the Boston Red Sox in batting average, which is nearly two hits per game.

To start the year the offensive weight of the team was placed on the shoulders of the Phillies’ corner infielders, Maikel Franco and Ryan Howard. They have returned mixed results. Howard is second on the team in homers to Franco, but he has been benched in favor of rookie Tommy Joseph. The combination of Howard and Joseph have the worst batting average and OBP of any first base combination in the National League. In the meantime, Franco is trying to maintain his reputation as a top prospect. He is third on the team in hits, but is only batting .235. His slugging is among the team leaders too, but he has trouble consistently getting on base.

To give credit where credit is due, Odubel Herrera is having a fine year. He leads the team in hits, runs scored, batting average at .301 and OBP at .395. Those last two are both respectable numbers. And there are other bright spots on the team, as Cameron Rupp leads the team in doubles while sharing catching duties with veteran Carlos Ruiz.

The Phillies contended out of the gate thanks to strong pitching. A few pitching injuries later with a lack of run support and the Phillies find themselves sinking in the standings. Unless hitting turns from their biggest weakness to a strength in the second half of the 2016 season, the Phillies won’t be doing much come September.

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