Takeaways as Phillies hammer heaters, Aaron Nola mixes up Padres in victory originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
SAN DIEGO — You could probably hear the ball off the Phillies’ bats if you were anywhere near Southern California on Tuesday.
Philadelphia played its version of a home run derby against Padres starter Randy Vásquez at Petco Park. The long ball has carried the Phillies in San Diego, and it was again the biggest difference in their 4-3 win over the Padres.
The Phillies also received another strong performance from their starting pitcher, their fifth in a row. This one was arguably the most important.
Aaron Nola, who entered with a 6.01 ERA, delivered one of his best outings of the season.
Six innings. Three hits. Two runs. No walks. Five strikeouts.
Homers and strong starting pitching will win you plenty of games. Just ask the Phillies since they made it out west.
BACK ON TRACKNOLS
Nola showed he still has the stuff. Sure, the Padres have been one of the worst offenses in baseball despite their strong start. But Nola’s sequencing needed refinement, and it was.
The way he will be successful going forward starts with favoring his knuckle curve in any count. For the second consecutive start, Nola threw that pitch more often on the first pitch than any other in his mix, and he was efficient with it at a 63 percent strike rate.
He generated a 39 percent whiff rate with the pitch and got hitters to expand the zone against it more than a third of the time.
Against a predominantly right-handed lineup, Nola was able to mix and match his four-seamer and sinker. He threw the sinker more than usual, using it 24 percent of the time, five percentage points above his season average. His four-seam usage dropped 10 percentage points, due in part to there being just two lefties in the Padres’ order.
Of the heaters put in play, six resulted in contact, and only two were hard-hit. The average exit velocity sat around 76 mph.
That mattered. Opponents were hitting .417 against Nola’s four-seamer entering the night. Right-handed batters were also hitting north of .400 against his sinker.
The lone blemish on his night was Manny Machado’s fourth-inning two-run shot. It probably should not have happened.
A pitch earlier, Gavin Sheets hit a ball 84 mph that skipped off Trea Turner’s mitt. There were two outs. It was scored a hit, but it was certainly a play Turner is capable of making.
On the very next pitch, Machado, who has had a down season to this point, was sitting on something in. He got a sinker on the inner black and left the yard with it.
But Nola remained unfazed the rest of the way.
In the sixth, he allowed another two-out hit, which brought the left-handed Sheets to the plate. That has been a matchup Nola has struggled with this season.
This time, he handled it. He started Sheets with two knuckle curves, both whiffs, then finished him with a 93.7 mph four-seamer off the plate.
A huge punchout and an exclamation point on an encouraging night for the Phillies right-hander.
LOUD CONTACT
Since Don Mattingly took over for Rob Thomson on April 28, the Phillies have been much better against fastballs.
Before the managerial change, the club slashed .247/.332/.395 against all heaters. Since then, they are at .270/.349/.470.
That turnaround has directly tied into their overall improvement at the plate. The Phillies actually averaged a higher exit velocity against fastballs before Thomson was let go, but their batting average on balls in play against those pitches has jumped nearly 30 points.
Tuesday’s exit velocities made that improvement look loud.
Three of their eight hits left the yard, all against Vásquez. And they were scorched.
In the first inning, Bryce Harper got ahead 2-1 and got a low-and-in cutter from the Padres right-hander. Harper golfed a line shot into the right-field seats.
It left the bat at 113.5 mph, his hardest-hit ball of the season. That came a night after he drove a ball to the center-field wall, just missing a homer.
Harper made this one count.
The next homer came the following inning. In the second, J.T. Realmuto got ahead 1-0, then mashed a low-and-in cutter, just like Harper, into the first few rows in left field.
That one left the bat at 109.3 mph, Realmuto’s hardest-hit ball of the year and his first homer since April 1.
Good things came in threes.
In the third, Turner, batting second behind Kyle Schwarber, got a much-needed get-right swing.
This one was not a mistake over the middle. It was a sinking fastball that missed about two to three ball widths above the zone, up and in. Turner tomahawked it into the Western Metal Supply Co. building.
434 feet. 109.1 mph off the bat.
All three were solo shots, and they paired perfectly with Nola’s outing.
MARSH LEAVES
In the top of the first, after Harper’s solo shot, Brandon Marsh lined a single from the cleanup spot.
He was later back-picked by Padres catcher Freddy Fermin to end the frame.
Marsh looked like he was in pain after the play, stretching out his fingers near first base. He jammed his right hand on the bag, the hand not protected by the sliding mitt.
The Phillies later announced that Marsh sprained his right middle finger and would undergo further testing.
That is a situation worth watching.
Marsh has been the Phillies’ best pure hitter to this point, batting .326, third best in baseball.
If Marsh misses extended time, Edmundo Sosa would likely see more opportunities in left field. Otto Kemp could factor in, too. It could also make the Phillies more urgent in their search for outfield help ahead of the Trade Deadline.
Not great news for a player who has been one of the most consistent bats in their lineup.
SUCCESS AGAINST RIGHTIES
It is remarkable how different the Phillies have been against right-handed starters compared to lefties.
They are now 21-14 against right-handed starters. Against left-handed non-openers, they are 4-12.
Tuesday’s win put an exclamation point on that disparity. The Phillies hit three homers off a right-handed starter, got a strong outing from Nola and secured another important series win.
That gap against righties and lefties could also help shape the front office’s thinking as the Trade Deadline gets closer.
Either way, after back-to-back series losses following six straight series wins, the Phillies picked up a big series victory in San Diego. They remain in the thick of the National League Wild Card race and are again nine games back of the top spot in the division.
