SAN DIEGO — As a general principle, Phillies manager Gabe Kapler believes the No. 2 and 4 spots in a batting order should be reserved for a team’s two best hitters. But on the Phils’ just-completed six-game trip out West, their No. 2 and 4 hitters combined to go 4 for 43 with 10 strikeouts.
Needless to say, Rhys Hoskins and Carlos Santana have had better weeks.
It was little wonder, then, that the Phillies generated a total of only 15 runs in the six games against the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres. They went 5 for 41 with runners in scoring position and scored a run in only seven of the 59 innings in which they batted.