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They say there is a silver lining to even the darkest clouds. The same goes for the Phillies during one of the worst offensive stretches we have seen. There is one major thing that has been lost in the shuffle of three straight shutouts and 4 shutouts out of 5 games, and 30 straight innings of scoreless baseball. That one thing is the pitching.
This Phillies team is clearly a team based on offensive. The Phillies have led the league in runs scored in the National League for the last two seasons. The only major question mark of this team is the pitching. Despite having sustained injuries to Joe Blanton, JA Happ, Brad Lidge, Ryan Madson, and JC Romero, the Phillies have the 5th best pitching staff in the league with a team ERA of 3.72.
Let's first take a look at the starting rotation. The Phils' starting staff has an ERA of 3.77. Here are the ERA of each of our starters:
Roy Halladay - 2.22
Cole Hamels - 3.82
Joe Blanton - 5.63
Jamie Moyer - 4.55
Kyle Kendrick - 5.04
We all know how good Halladay is, but the big worry has been with Hamels, Moyer, and Kendrick. We've talked a lot about Hamels in recent articles, but he is starting to really take on the role of a legit #2. His ERA in May is 2.45 and he's averaged 6.6 innings per start. And Jamie Moyer has been really good this year and is by no means the liability he was last year. If he can keep his ERA below 5 like he has, that is a huge boost to the rotation.
Then there's Kendrick. You gotta respect what this guy has done. After being blasted in his first few starts and seemingly destined for Lehigh Valley, yet now he looks like he might actually belong in the Major Leagues. Kendrick had a 7.61 ERA in his five starts through April. Since then, he has an ERA of 3.13. Obviously the Phillies hope to have Happ back to replace Kendrick, but the way the injuries have gone this year we may need Kendrick down the stretch.
The real worry for the team during the beginning of the season was certainly the bullpen. Guys like Baez, and Herndon were pretty awful to start the season. You had to wonder if Danys Baez was worth a loaf a bread to start the season, but he has really picked up the pace and has his ERA down to 4.15. David Herndon has been alright also, with an ERA of 4.41 now.
But its Durbin and Contreras who have been the most impressive. Chad Durbin quietly has been a stud in the pen and he has an ERA of 2.38 in 22.2 innings. Contreras has obviously been huge. This dude has only given 1 run all season.
The bottom line is this: the hitting will come around. Everybody knows that. It's not like the entire team all of a sudden stinks.
Everybody also know that we need Cole Hamels and the bullpen to pitch well if we want to win it all. Let me ask you this: would you rather lose a bunch of 10-8 games this week or get solid pitching and get shutout for an entire week with a bunch of all-star hitters who you know will come around?
I might actually be more confident in this Phillies team today than I was a week ago. Think about it.
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