Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Williams’ aggressive swings part of surge
PHILADELPHIA » The Phillies were doing what the Phillies do before Nick Williams arrived. Gliding through losses with the greatest of ease, not doing much collectively at the plate, cruising along at a .333 “winning” percentage pace or thereabouts.
Then Williams, a key acquisition in the multi-player deal with Texas that saw Cole Hamels go to the Rangers in 2015, was finally given his first major league promotion June 30, with the Phillies taking on the Mets at Citi Field. As is their way, the Phillies would lose the first two games of that series to fall to 26-53. Williams, however, had a hit in each of those games, then a couple in the series finale July 2, which the Phillies won, 7-1.
Since then, Williams and the Phillies have been on a three-week climb of sorts.
Williams took Milwaukee starter Junior Guerra deep to the opposite field for a two-run home run in the fourth inning Sunday, kickstarting the Phillies to a 6-3 win over the Brewers, and a second straight series win.
Not that the new guy is surprised or anything.
“I like to do whatever I can to start the momentum or get guys going,” said the soft-spoken, 23-year-old Williams. “If I do something exciting, they’re like, ‘Oh, he’s playing hard.’ But everyone’s been hitting and everyone’s been just playing the game right and doing all the little things, and that’s how we’ve been able to come out with some victories.”
Including that getaway win in New York, the Phillies have gone 8-9 over the past three weeks. They’ve also gone 6-4 in their last 10 games, since just before the AllStar break.
Certainly different for them, if nothing to write home about. But news of Williams’ major league arrival probably has his hometown fans in Galveston, Texas cranking up the excitement.
“He’s aggressive; I like him,” manager Pete Mackanin said about his left-handed right-fielder. “That’s about pretty much all I can say. He’s swinging the bat. He swings at some bad pitches, but he doesn’t miss mistakes. That’s what makes him a very aggressive, productive hitter, at least so far.”
Noting Williams’ penchant for hitting the ball either straightaway or the other way with power, Mackanin added, “That’s the impressive thing about him, he has that opposite field power. I saw that in the spring and realized he had power.
“But when he joined us recently, just watching him take batting practice, it really struck me how much power he has to dead center and to the opposite field. That could bode well in this ballpark.”
It should continue to do just that the rest of this season, especially if general manager Matt Klentak is able to do what’s expected of him and swing a deal that will free up some outfield roster room.
It’s fair to say Williams’ arrival has shaken the Phillies awake. Through 19 games he’s slashing .309/.347/.603 with four home runs, 15 RBIs and 10 runs scored.
With Howie Kendrick returning to the lineup, and Aaron Altherr now expected back later this week from a stay on the DL with a hamstring strain, Williams’ arrival has also caused a bit of a traffic jam in the open fairways of Citizens Bank Park.
Kendrick continued his superb season (when he’s been healthy, anyway) with another couple of hits Sunday, boosting his batting average to .353.
That’s superb news for Klentak, since Kendrick is his top tradeable talent with the non-waiver trade deadline looming next Monday. A pending free agent, Kendrick is extra valuable because of his versatility, able to play infield in a pinch. In that regard, he could be retained, at least until just prior to the Aug. 31 deadline for waiver deals, presuming he’d clear waivers then.
The same situation exists with outfielder Daniel Nava. But with center fielder Odubel Herrera literally back in the swing, and Williams earning every-day status and Altherr close to a return, the Phillies might want to expedite at least one trade of a veteran outfielder.
“We’ll wait and see what happens at the trade deadline,” Mackanin said. “I don’t think it’s going to be an issue.”
Either way, it’s a nice problem for the manager to have, with Kendrick one of his team’s best hitters, Altherr becoming a powerful fixture in the lineup this season, Herrera recovering from a sickly start by hitting .321 in June and .350 so far in July, and Nava posting a .303 mark in limited duty.
Oh, and then there’s the new guy...
“We’ve been able to knock a lot of guys in,” Williams said. “It’s just that hitting’s contagious. I always say when one guy does it, why can’t the next? That’s how I think of it.
“It feels great. We’re playing some good baseball out there. We’ve lost a few one-run games lately, but to have two series wins back to back, it’s been great.”
*** Jerad Eickhoff got another bolt of confidence Sunday by winning his second game in three starts since the All-Star break. This after going winless in his first 14 starts of the season.
Eickhoff went a strong six innings, allowing two earned runs and only three hits, striking out six Brewers. Part of his turnaround, he acknowledges, is the way the Phillies are hitting better since the start of July.
“Any time you get runs, especially early on, those help tremendously,” Eickhoff said. “To get that four-run inning (in the fifth), that was huge. I was able to go out there and relax and just kind of make pitches.”
*** NOTES » Luis Garcia pitched a clean ninth inning to earn his first save of the season, and first since Oct. 1, 2015 . ... With six wins in the last 10 games (but also four wins in the last five), Mackanin isn’t exactly getting carried away. But he couldn’t help but make a comparison of sorts to a certain Phillies crew of the not-so-distant past: “My first year here as a coach was ’09, and in no way am I comparing ourselves to that team, but it was reminiscent the way we’ve been swinging the bats, of us coming back and coming from behind and catching up and beating other teams. It reminds me (of that) to a certain degree.” ... Mackanin on the trade worthiness of Howie Kendrick: “If I were scouting for another organization I’d recommend him. Not only is he a good hitter, but he plays solid defense out there.”