A while ago, I wrote about the way that the Phillies approached Shohei Ohtani in their series in Philadelphia. I find those kinds of matchups one of the more fascinating things about baseball as it gets us down to a more granular level of analysis. While we aren’t privy to the kinds of scouting reports that circulate through the team meetings prior to a series, when one goes through a matchup after the fact, it makes the game that much more interesting. How does a team go about preparing for one of the best hitters on the planet?
Conversely, how does a batter go about preparing for one of the best pitchers on the planet?
The Yankees were in town this week and that meant Juan Soto and Aaron Judge were going to hit against Phillies pitching. Normally, that would be a somewhat even matchup. Two of the best hitters in the game against some of the best starting pitching going right now. On Monday evening, Zack Wheeler was struggling a bit, loading up the bases with one out and he had to face Soto. As the left handed slugger strode to the plate, the score was 3-2, a manageable total that needed to stay where it was if the Phillies had any hope of winning the game. These are the batter vs. pitcher matchups that make the game so much fun. High leverage, key point in the game.
We know the ultimate outcome: Soto doubled in two runs, the wheels came off for the Phillies and the rout was on. But it was this at bat where we could witness how good a hitter Soto actually is and how Wheeler may have changed course a bit to get much needed out. Let’s analyze
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