Phillies hitters have made adjustments, but need a power boost. Can they achieve a balance?

New York Times

14-07-2025

SAN DIEGO — Bryce Harper worked a favorable count against Nick Pivetta in Sunday's fifth inning, then took a curveball that was called a strike above the zone. He didn't chase. He would force Pivetta to come to him. And the Padres righty did, throwing Harper a center-cut, 94 mph fastball.
Harper crushed it.
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The ball sailed 371 feet, but it lost steam in the California air. It plopped into left fielder Bryce Johnson's glove. Harper raised his arms in disgust. He put his hands on his hips.
'I've hit so many of those over the wall,' Harper said.
He came to bat again in the eighth inning and jumped ahead 2-0 in the count. The Phillies have worked the 10th-most 2-0 counts of any club this season. They have often been in an advantageous spot to hit. It is crucial. However, after getting to 2-0 counts this season, they have slugged .396 — their worst output in those situations since 1991 and 122 points below last season.
They have not hit for consistent power in the season's first 96 games.
In that eighth inning, Harper took a strike and fouled another. He went into two-strike mode. He slashed an elevated fastball down the third-base line and hustled to second base. Two batters later, J.T. Realmuto took a 3-0 strike, then jumped a hanging slider for a run-scoring double. That was the game, a 2-1 Phillies win.
They went into the All-Star break with the Most Phillies Game — a strong pitching performance, a shaky escape from the bullpen and barely enough offense. It was appropriate.
'I think everybody needs a break right now,' Phillies manager Rob Thomson said.
Why?
'I just think we've been grinding,' Thomson said. 'There haven't been many games where you've felt really comfortable. Everything's been a close game, whether we're down, whether we're up. And I think everybody just needs a little break right now.'
The manager is not wrong; numerous players have pushed through dings and dents in the last few weeks. They scattered after Sunday's game for some vacation time.
There will be trades to make later this month, and while major-league sources have said the Phillies plan to prioritize bullpen additions, they will have to think about obtaining a power boost from somewhere. The reality is that slugging is down across the whole sport; many clubs are in search of a right-handed hitter.
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The Phillies entered the break fifth in slugging percentage in the National League and 14th in MLB. They are seventh in the NL in runs scored.
But they are doing many of the things the front office and coaching staff requested in the wake of last season's bittersweet defeat in the National League Division Series. The Phillies wanted their hitters to use the whole field. They wanted them to chase fewer pitches out of the zone. They wanted a better two-strike approach.
Their hitters have, largely, made those adjustments. They are carrying their lowest chase rate since 2021 — while seeing the fewest percentage of pitches in the strike zone than any other club. They have the eighth-lowest strikeout rate in baseball. Their .329 on-base percentage ranks fourth in MLB.
However, in recent weeks, some veteran hitters have wondered if the dip in power is related to the agenda shift. It's hard to have it all. The Phillies constructed a lineup filled with aggressive-minded hitters who are not prototypes for 'controlling the strike zone.' Team officials were suggesting novel concepts. The previous approach was exploited in two consecutive Octobers.
It is hard to change, and it is even harder to have it all.
'There's a correlation to it, you know?' outfielder Brandon Marsh said. 'The teams that chase a lot and have a lot of strikeouts also probably lead the league in homers. Or are up there. But I don't necessarily remember us having a meeting or a sit-down of, like, stop chasing. Maybe just, like, 'We need to put better at-bats together. Pass the baton.' Stuff like that. But nothing in particular.'
Realmuto, who has rediscovered his gap power in recent weeks, said something interesting earlier this month. He is a timing hitter — always has been — and this season he has not often had his timing. But some of the messaging had muddled things even further.
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He ditched a lot of the mechanical thinking.
'Just trying to get my 'A' swing off as often as I can,' Realmuto said two weeks ago. 'Lately, I think I've just been a little too mechanical at the plate. Maybe thinking too much. So I'm just trying to go up there and let the game come to me and be ready to hit.'
Did the team-wide adjustments come at the expense of power?
'It's a good question,' Thomson said. 'I don't know. I don't know.'
The Phillies know this much: They could benefit from more homers. They've hit 102 through 96 games. That is 16 fewer than at this point last season and the club's fewest through 96 games since 2017. Outside of Harper or Kyle Schwarber, who is fifth in the majors in homers (30), it's unclear who will supply the power.
'I mean,' Thomson said, 'at some point, you just got to believe that they're going to get it going.'
The manager identified Marsh and Alec Bohm as two candidates for some second-half pop. Max Kepler is another, Thomson said. Kepler ranks 133rd among 155 qualified hitters in slugging percentage this season.
It's not hard to see where the Kepler situation is headed. Thomson dropped Kepler to eighth in the batting order Saturday, then pinch hit for him in the eighth inning against a lefty reliever. He was not in Sunday's lineup, marking the first time all season Kepler sat when a righty starter opposed the Phillies.
In many ways, the Phillies are what they are. It would be best if they could somehow achieve a balance. Let the aggressive hitters swing away, and maybe they run into a few more homers. It doesn't have to be everyone. But Realmuto's surge — he's hitting .336/.373/.412 since June 1 — is instructive. He hasn't homered since May 21. But the nine doubles have helped. Only Trea Turner has more since the beginning of June.
'Simplify my approach and just do less, really,' Realmuto said. 'That's what it comes down to. Just let them supply the power, and just try to get the barrel to it.'
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The break, Realmuto said, will help a team like the Phillies. They lean on their regulars. Their starters log a ton of innings. Everyone can recharge and rethink what has worked and what has not.
They have ideas to consider.
'Our slug is definitely down a little bit, for sure, as a team,' Marsh said. 'But I also think that we've had better at-bats for the last month or so. So, there's that seesaw. Better at-bats, maybe see a couple extra pitches. But fewer homers with less aggression. So, who knows? We might come back in four days and just jump right back on it.'
(Top photo of J.T. Realmuto: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)