Monday, August 3, 2009

Phillies Breakdown: 2008 v. 2009

With an off-day today, now would be a good time to review where the Phillies were last season as compared to this season. Below are the two standings through 103 games:

2008 Season (as of 7/25/09)
  1. New York (56-47)
  2. Florida (54-49)
  3. Philadelphia (54-49)
  4. Atlanta (49-53)
  5. Washington (38-65)
2009 Season (as of 8/3/09)
  1. Philadelphia (59-44)
  2. Florida (55-50)
  3. Atlanta (53-52)
  4. New York (50-54)
  5. Washington (33-72)

Even with the Phillies' struggles in June and recent skid on the road, they are substantially better than they were last season. Despite less-consistent starting pitching, the team is taking care of business against the teams they should beat. Let's take a closer look at how their numbers stack up:

Hitting
2008: .256 BA, 506 R, 141 HR, 85 SB, .331 OBP, .439 SLG
2009: .260 BA, 547 R, 143 HR, 79 SB, .339 OBP, .445 SLG

Pitching
2008: 921 IP, 4.01 ERA, 440 RA, 675 SO, 109 HR
2009: 933 IP, 4.37 ERA, 475 RA, 730 SO, 135 HR

So while Phillies fans might be a little down on the team's latest road trip, there is much to be optimistic about. The Phillies are way ahead of where they were last year at this time. That being said, there is much work to be done in the final part of the season. Last season, they finished this stretch of the season 38-21 and a similar finish this year would put them at 97-65 which will almost certainly be enough to win the division.

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