Phillies vs Padres Series Preview

The Padres start a 3 game set against the Philadelphia Phillies after losing 2 of 3 from the Miami Marlins. The Friars haven’t lost 3 consecutive 3 game series yet this year.

The Phillies are 33-26, but have lost 4 straight. They visited the Dodgers who just so happen to lead the Major Leagues with 41 wins. Make no mistake, this is a good Phillies team.

Pitching match ups

Aaron Nola 6-0 4.18 ERA vs. Eric Lauer 4-4 4.45 ERA

Jerad Eickhoff 2-3 4.10 ERA vs. Chris Paddack 4-3 2.40 ERA

Jake Arrieta 5-5 3.96 ERA vs. Joey Lucchesi 4-3 3.96 ERA

Hitters to watch

Manny Machado 3/24 0 HR 1 RBI .250 OBP .125 BA last 7 games(the proverbial “he’s due”)

Hunter Renfroe 11/26 5 HR 7 RBI .423 OBP .500 BA last 7 games

Bryce Harper 10/27 2 HR 9 RBI .370 OBP .370 BA last 7 games(still taking Machado in this head to head match up)

Scott Kingery 7/28 1 HR 3 RBI .276 OBP .250 BA last 7 games

Aaron Nola vs. Eric Lauer

After an awful April, Nola was excellent in May. He went 4-0 2.73 ERA. However, he was wild at times. He racked up the strikeouts but also had 4 games with 3+ walks. The Padres could get plenty of opportunities with runners on base. Lauer has had 3 consecutive dominant outings after his May 10th implosion at Colorado. He gave up 8 ER in 3 innings that day. Since then, he’s given up just 3 ER combined in 18 innings of work.

Jerad Eickhoff vs. Chris Paddack

Eickhoff has given up 4 ER in each of his last 3 starts. He’s not a big strikeout pitcher, which may help the Padres who average the most strikeouts per game in all of baseball. They’ll have plenty of chances to barrel up and manufacture some runs. Paddack is coming off of his worst start as a big leaguer. He gave up 3 home runs and 4 ER in 5 innings against the Yankees. He also had nearly 10 days rest which would hurt any pitcher that’s in a rhythm. He’ll have a good chance to bounce back as he matches up well against the Phillies.

Jake Arrieta vs. Joey Lucchesi

Arrieta got hit hard his last time out against the Dodgers. He have up 10 hits and 5 ER in 5 innings of work. Prior to that, he had back to back solid outings. Of course his 2 before that were terrible. Arrieta has been up and down all year, but he’s still a really good pitcher. He’ll never match his 2015 Cy Young campaign, but he’s always a threat to go deep into games. Lucchesi was sensational in the month of May. He was just 1-1 due to poor run support, but had a 2.97 ERA in 30.1 innings of work. He’s been more aggressive in going after hitters lately. As a result he’s been more effective and gone deeper into games.

The Padres had a disappointing start to the home stand after losing 2 of 3 to the Marlins. Don’t expect that to disrupt the good vibes in the dugout though. The veteran leadership will never let these lulls hurt the team long term. The Phillies are an excellent ball club, but the match ups are very favorable for the boys. In reality it wouldn’t be a surprise if they won or lost 2 games. Lucchesi and Lauer are pitching well, plus we have an angry Paddack on the mound. Could we pull off a sweep? We shall see. This team continues to surprise us in good and bad ways, so you never know.