Lack of .300 hitters may be a coaching philosophy in Philadelphia?

Written by Mike Mariano | 22 September 2009

The last time a Phillies starter batted over .300 was in 2007.  Chase Utley batted a phenomenal .332 and Aaron Rowand had a career year at .309.  Since then, there have been zero guys in two years if 2009 continues down the path that it is currently on.  In 2008, Utley and Victorino finished at .292 & .293 respectively.  This year, Victorino is the only chance the team has at a .300 and he's got a good chance at it.  Sitting at .297 with over 10 games to play, it could easily happen.  However, they are one of the few teams in the league to have this, the Braves are the only other winning team without a .300 guy.  Also, they are only the second team this decade to win the World Series without one (the 2005 White Sox being the other).

Now my question is, why?  Is it a coaching philosophy or mere coincidence?  The Phillies offense has hit more home runs 30 more home runs than any other NL team.  Only the Yankees and Rangers have clubbed more as teams.  The Phillies made it through the playoffs and won the World Series almost essentially off the long ball (offensively at least).  The team has some good runners, but largely it's all about the big bop.  Get a few guys on and swing for the fence.  Ryan Howard is the obvious case.  I don't think the Phillies care if he hits .240 as long as he hits 40 home runs.  They'd love .280, no doubt, but it's the 40-50 home runs that they really care about.  But what about everybody else?

This might surprise, but I think most of the lineup is under a similar mandate.  I've heard many stories from kids I've known in the minors who were told by their teams, "hey, .300 is great, but we'd much rather 25-30 homers."  That is most likely the mindset of Ibanez, Werth, and Utley at least.  Rollins & Victorino, maybe not, but first half sucktitude is the reason that Rollins didn't hit .300.  That leaves Chuuch & Feliz.  Neither guy is a particularly pure hitter or a plus power guy.  In Feliz's case, he absolutely gets the call to look for the long ball and Chuuch is something similar.  The team knows Ruiz won't hit over .260-.270, so why not swing for the deep ball?

I'm not saying that the team tells guys to screw the averages and hit homers, but the preaching is much more about driving balls into the stands and much less about spraying the ball around the field.  That mandate (or whatever you'd like to call it) would/does go a long way toward lowering the averages to rise the home run numbers.

The sub-.300 phenomenon might have something to do with the type of players also, but plenty of these guys are more than capable of .300 seasons.  Chase Utley, Ibanez, & Victorino are definitely guys who can get it done.  I don't mean to slight the difficulty of hitting .300 in the major leagues but these guys have displayed the ability to make it happen.  I think the team preaches home runs and the averages suffer because of it.  However, the brand new rings the Phillies are sporting shows that it is hardly a problem.