Starters vs. Bullpens

You've probably noticed that I often mention the Phillies' succcess against opposing bullpens as compared to starters. Well I have been keeping track of this very success (or lack thereof) this season, and I think after Dave Bush took a no-hitter into the 8th against us, it would be an appropriate time to look at some of those stats.

Through 14 games:
The Phillies have faced opposing starters for 82 innings
They have faced relievers for 40 innings
Despite the fact that the starters have more than double the innings, we have scored the same amount of runs against both. 36 against starters, 36 against relievers.
11 of our 18 home runs have come against relievers this season.
Against starters, we are hitting just .226 and they have a combined 3.51 ERA against us.
Against relievers, we are hitting .306 and they have a combined 7.88 ERA against us.

I don't know what all of this means necessarily, and the only thing I have to compare it to is other teams against Phillies pitchers:

Starters: 76.2 IP, 108 H, 61 R, 61 ER, 21 BB, 65 K, 23 HR, 7.16 ERA, .320 AVG.
Bullpen: 47.1 IP, 38 H, 26 R, 26 ER, 23 BB, 42 K, 8 HR, 4.94 ERA, .211 AVG.

Once again, I really don't know what all of this means. It may not be a bad thing necessarily, but we are certainly put in a tough spot when our starters are giving up as many runs as they are and opposing starters are dominating our lineup. Yes, we are very good at coming from behind, but at some point that will probably come back to haunt us. Make of this what you will, but if you like baseball, you probably like stats, so you're welcome.

In other news, I didn't get to watch the game. Again. Saint Kevin Petzold was concerned that I had missed a few games, and yesterday he gave me his name and password for MLB.TV. Thanks again, Petz. Unfortunately, MLB.TV blacks games out if I'm in the viewing area. Seriously? Why would I have MLB.TV if I could watch a game on TV. Why would I do that? What kind of sick freak would prefer to watch a game on a slight delay on a computer over completely live on television? If anyone can answer this, please do. So I still didn't get to watch the game last night due to the Sixers game, and I didn't watch today because of class. I know, I'm just as disappointed as everyone else that I went to class rather than watching the game, but it just had to be done. And kudos to Cheese - he texted me during class with an update from the game. Bean also texted me a few updates and I don't want her efforts to go unnoticed.

I'm going to end this post here, but look for a Marlins series preview tomorrow afternoon. This weekend is Blue White weekend, so I may be on a bit of a delay after tomorrow afternoon.