Phillies

Will the Phillies Ever Score Another Run? Some Data to Chew on

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Apr 9th, 2026 · 11:09 AM EDT

---

The Phillies are 6-6 and haven’t scored a run in 20 innings. Rob Thomson thinks the team is trying to do too much at the plate:

Rob Thomson on the Phillies offense:

“I think they’re trying to do too much, no doubt. They’re frustrated. We’re just going through one of those times. We’ll come out of it. It’s frustrating.” pic.twitter.com/l4TcWHa0aN

— Phillies Tailgate (@PhilsTailgate) April 8, 2026

Certainly not the end of the world since we’re 12 games in. This team won 96 games last season and was .500 on April 25th. They were 8-8 around the same time in 2024 after splitting a four-game home series with the Pirates.

Here are some bulletpoints stats to exemplify the current offensive struggles:

• Justin Crawford leads the eight qualified Phillies batters with a .306 average. He’s getting on base at a higher clip than everyone not named Kyle Schwarber, and that’s because Schwarbs leads the Phils with 11 walks.
• Otto Kemp and Rafael Marchan have 3 hits in 30 plate appearances.
• Bryson Stott’s .405 OPS sticks out like a sore thumb. He started well in April last season and dipped in May, so this is the opposite of what we saw in 2025.
• They can’t hit lefties. Currently slashing .159/.264/.238 for a .502 OPS. Only the Rockies are worse against left-handed pitching.
• They’re fine against righties. .247 average, .728 OPS. Nothing to be concerned about there moving forward.
• RISP hitting stinks early. They’re 29th in batting average with runners in scoring position (.200) and have the 26th-worst OPS.
• Strikeout percentage is fine. It’s at 21.8% and 12th-best in MLB. They were at 21.7% last season.
• Walk rate is 9.6% and 20th out of 30 teams. They were 12th last year with an 8.6% rate.

Looking at the all-important chase rate data, they’re sitting at 30.4% right now, which is 12th most. Coincidentally, or not, that’s the same exact number they had last season, which was third-highest in MLB. What’s particularly noteworthy here is that they only hit 51.9% of pitches thrown out of the zone, which is 23rd. They hit 48.1% of pitches they chase, which means they’ve got the 8th-highest whiff rate.

Last year, while they did chase at a high rate, they hit the ball more when thrown out of the zone. This year? Not so much.

But it’s early! They’ve got a nine-game homestand coming up and the weather looks decent enough.