Last October, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and manager Rob Thomson both said they wanted to see Philadelphia’s offense adjust its collective approach at the plate, focusing less on trying to pull the ball and being OK with hitting it to other parts of the field instead.
So far this year, the Phillies’ batted-ball profile has changed. They’re pulling the ball 37.5% of the time, according to Statcast. That ranks 20th in the majors. Last season, they were 13th with a 38.5% pull rate. As a lineup, they’re hitting the ball up the middle more (37.