A June to Note in Liberty City

With June over, I was taking a look back at the month for various teams and Philadelphia really stood out to me because of four players and the team overall. In June, the Phillies went just 11-15 and yet they expanded their lead by a game. As a team, they hit just .249/.320/.423 leading to a below average .326 wOBA.

The starting pitchers compiled a very solid 2.4 strikeouts per walk ratio, but a below average ground ball rate and a slightly elevated home run figure kept them right around average overall. Meanwhile, the bullpen was almost the opposite with a mediocre 1.34 strikeouts per walk, but a fabulous 46% ground ball rate kept the home runs at bay.

Moving on to the players themselves, here are some of the more interesting lines. First, a pair of mashers.

Jayson Werth heated up big time in June, which was an accomplishment given his .379 wOBA through May. 18 walks to just 20 strikeouts was an improvement and his ten extra base hits included seven of the long ball variety. Overall, it was a .930 OPS and a .406 wOBA, good for about eight runs over average. Exceeding that was Chase Utley. Utley came into June with a .436 wOBA, and he bettered that with a .440 wOBA in June. That included a matched 21 strikeouts and walks and fifteen extra base hits with a triple and six home runs.

On the other end of the spectrum was Jimmy Rollins. Rollins has had one of the most baffling seasons of late. Coming off five straight seasons of at least four wins, Rollins has been worth -0.6 wins to date. It was a horrible first two months and June was even worse. Rollins’ line ended at .167/.206/.292, bad for a .227 wOBA.

On the pitching side, Cole Hamels entered June with just so-so numbers so far. He had a good 76:16 strikeout to walk rate, but 11 home runs in just 81 innings. Here is what a dominant month looks like. 45% ground balls, one home run allowed in 76.2 innings, 26 strikeouts, just six walks.