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Will the White Sox ever win a series again? The Phillies kept them away from yet another win, despite this series being a mid-off. (Yes, Philadelphia was in the World Series — but they haven’t been great in 2023.) So I’ll leave you with this before breaking this game down.
White Sox entered today 40-49 over the last two years at home.
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) April 19, 2023
The Starter
Taijuan Walker was on the bump today for the Phillies. In six innings-plus, he allowed five hits, two walks, two earned runs, and only struck out three. For any other pitcher, this wouldn’t be a great start. Thankfully, Walker was facing the White Sox, which allowed him to stroll away with a win. His arsenal of pitches remained effective against batters who tried to swing at everything. Walker was also able to excel thanks to the offense the Phillies provided.
Walker’s 95-pitch outing looked like this:
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Pressure Play
In a bases-loaded, two-out situation, Alec Bahm grounded out to second in the third inning facing 2.77 LI.
Pressure Cooker
Romy González only had one plate appearance this afternoon, but faced the most pressure, ending with a 2.65 pLI.
Top Play
It might have been refreshing to finally see Andrew Vaughn homer this year, especially with his WPA being today’s highest, at .168. If only it was enough to actually win.
Top Performer
Trea Turner broke out of his slump in time to finish the White Sox off with a home run. His WPA was 0.22.
Smackdown
Hardest hit: Andrew Vaughn finally got a home run this season! But his single was actually the hardest hit in the game, being tattooed at 109.4 mph.
Weakest contact: Elvis Andrus singled in the eighth with the ball exiting at just 61.5 mph.
Luckiest hit: The enemy of this series, Brandon Marsh, singled in the third with a light tap and a .070 xBA.
Toughest out: Andrew Vaughn’s sixth-inning fly out had a .930 xBA.
Longest hit: That Andrew Vaughn fly out also traveled 404 feet, but was caught at the wall. After that, Trea Turner’s home run went 379 feet, eking past Brandon Marsh’s home run at 378 feet. Vaughn’s actual home run was tied with Marsh, at 378 feet.
Magic Number: 5
The fifth series lost, five under .500. When does it get better?
Glossary
Hard-hit is any ball off the bat at 95 mph or more
LI measures pressure per play
pLI measures total pressure faced in-game
Whiff a swing-and-miss
WPA win probability added measures contributions to the win
xBA expected batting average
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