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No dog days in sight: Ten eye-opening Phillies stats from an absurd August
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- No dog days in sight: Ten eye-opening Phillies stats from an absurd August
No dog days in sight: Ten eye-opening Phillies stats from an absurd August originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Where would the Phillies be without August?
When they came out slow after the All-Star break, with stars like Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper not getting much of a breather, it felt like the season could start slipping away from them.
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Instead, they put together one of the best months in the club's 143-year existence.
The Phillies swept four series of three games or more in a single month for the first time since August 1991. They also won 21 of 28 games, their second-most wins in any month in franchise history, behind only September 2010.
If you think that's wacky, wait until you see the rest of the numbers that came out of the "Dog Days of Summer."
BATS TURNAROUND
You can point to the hitters meeting in late July, the trade for Luis Arraez, the Field of Dreams game or simply a lineup finally syncing up at the right time.
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Whatever the reason, the Phillies were a completely different offense in August.
Their runs per game jumped from 4.34 from March through July to 5.25 in August. Their strikeout rate dropped from 23.7 percent to 15.9 percent. Their walk rate climbed from 7.8 percent to 11.2 percent. Their chase rate went from 33.8 percent to 29.7 percent.
They were a .256 team with runners in scoring position through July. In August, they hit .315 in those spots.
The most interesting part? Their hard-hit rate actually dipped from 41 percent to 35.9 percent, but that was tied largely to putting more balls in play. Their whiff rate dropped by more than six percentage points, their team batting average rose 34 points and their on-base percentage jumped 50 points.
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Here's how the Phillies' offensive ranks changed:
| Category |
March-July MLB rank |
August MLB rank |
|---|---|---|
| Runs per game |
T-18th |
3rd |
| Strikeout rate |
6th highest |
Lowest |
| Walk rate |
28th |
1st |
| Chase rate |
2nd highest |
20th |
| Whiff rate |
10th highest |
28th |
| Batting average |
24th |
2nd |
| On-base percentage |
30th |
Best |
| RISP average |
12th |
Best |
Wild.
HARPER WALKS WITH IT
It continues to be one of the more dominant stretches of Bryce Harper's 15-year career.
Harper is on a career-high 33-game on-base streak and is coming off an August in which he led baseball with a .496 on-base percentage. That was the 15th-highest OBP by a Phillie in a month with at least 120 plate appearances.
A big part of that came through the free pass.
Harper drew 31 walks, the third-most by a Phillie in a single month since walks began being tracked in 1901. The only Phillies with more in a month are Ryan Howard, who walked 35 times in September 2006, and Dave Hollins, who walked 34 times in May 1995.
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Harper also became far more selective.
Through July, he chased pitches out of the zone 34.7 percent of the time. In August, that number dropped to 23.7 percent. He was still hitting the ball hard, but the results finally followed. His BABIP jumped from .276 through July to .396 in August, helping his average climb from .252 to .333.
It has been some season by the 33-year-old, and he is hot at the right time.
LOVE SOSA
Arguably the season's most exciting swing came last Friday in Anaheim.
The Phillies' backs were against the wall in the series opener against the Angels. Wade Meckler had just robbed Bryson Stott of what would have been a go-ahead homer with two outs and the bases loaded. Then the Angels brought in lefty reliever Sammy Peralta.
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Philadelphia countered with Edmundo Sosa.
Sosa delivered a dramatic grand slam to put the Phillies ahead. Not even 48 hours later, in the series finale, the Phillies and Angels were locked in a 1-1 pitcher's duel until Sosa broke the tie in the seventh with a solo homer.
That is rare.
It was just the eighth instance since 1920 in which a Phillies player hit a go-ahead homer in the seventh inning or later in back-to-back games he appeared in.
Sosa joined Pat Burrell in 2006, Bobby Abreu in 2003, Carmelo Martinez in 1990, Johnny Callison in 1962, Babe Dahlgren in 1943, Irv Jeffries in 1934 and Lefty O'Doul in 1930.
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That is some list.
(Per NBCSP's Phillies researcher and statistician)
ONIONS!
Sosa's Friday salami did more than win a game. It put an exclamation point on the absurdity of this Phillies season.
Just when you think they are out, they pull you back in.
That has been this team all year, and for some reason, the light keeps turning on when they are down to their final out.
Literally.
Friday was the fourth time this season that the Phillies hit a go-ahead homer with two outs in the ninth inning. That leads baseball. No other team has three.
Historically, it is tied for the second-most in a single season. The only team with more is the 2022 Giants. The 1983 Phillies also had four.
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Sosa's grand slam was also the Phillies' first pinch-hit grand slam in the ninth inning or later since Ozzie Virgil in 1983.
A WILD SCHWARBOMB
Don't let Sosa's magic erase one of the Phillies' most exciting wins of 2026.
On Aug. 23, the game before they began their 10-day West Coast trip, the Phillies trailed the Cardinals by four runs in the ninth inning and were down to their final out.
Then they manufactured one of the wildest comebacks you will see.
Schwarber finished it with a walk-off homer that sailed over the batter's eye in center field.
It was just the second time in Phillies history they won a game after trailing by four runs with two outs in the ninth. The only other time came April 13, 1983, against the Mets at Veterans Stadium.
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(Per NBCSP's Phillies researcher and statistician)
CONSISTENT DIGITS
Staying on the field is one of the hardest things to do as a catcher. J.T. Realmuto has made it look routine.
On Sunday, Realmuto hit his 10th homer of the season, giving him double-digit homers for the 12th consecutive year.
He became the 10th catcher in MLB history with 10-plus homers in at least 12 straight seasons, joining Yogi Berra, Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez, Mike Piazza, Johnny Bench and Gary Carter.
You can add Joe Torre to that Hall of Fame list, too, although he was inducted as a manager.
(Per NBCSP's Phillies researcher and statistician)
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BENCHMARK DAY IN SEATTLE
The Phillies' series finale in Seattle brought two major checkpoints.
Schwarber hit his 40th homer of the season, tying Ryan Howard for the most 40-homer seasons in a Phillies uniform with four.
That same day, Jesús Luzardo recorded his 200th strikeout for the second consecutive season.
Together, that made a little history.
It was just the fourth instance in MLB history in which a hitter hit his 40th homer and a pitcher recorded his 200th strikeout in the same game for the same team. It was the first time it happened in 16 years.
Schwarber and Luzardo joined Prince Fielder and Yovani Gallardo with the 2009 Brewers, Manny Ramirez and Hideo Nomo with the 2001 Red Sox and Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson with the 1994 Mariners.
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(Per NBCSP's Sean Kane)
WITNESSING LEFTY HISTORY
Luzardo was not the only Phillies left-hander to reach 200 strikeouts in August.
Cristopher Sánchez did the same Saturday night. It was also his second consecutive season reaching the 200-strikeout mark.
And that is starting to look like a Philadelphia thing.
Sánchez and Luzardo are just the third pair of left-handed teammates in MLB history to record 200 strikeouts in consecutive seasons.
The other two?
Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels with the 2012-13 Phillies, and Rube Waddell and Eddie Plank with the 1904-05 Philadelphia Athletics.
Sánchez and Luzardo both earned contract extensions in the offseason. For a club that prioritizes starting pitching, the Phillies are seeing the return on those investments.
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MCLEVERAGE
Alex McFarlane has been one of the most talked-about Phillies prospects in 2026, and for good reason.
The Phillies' bullpen has struggled for much of the season, especially when trying to get the ball to Jhoan Duran. When deadline addition Caleb Kilian went down with an injury, Philadelphia turned to McFarlane.
He has been sensational.
McFarlane has posted a 0.87 ERA through his first 10 appearances, tied for the fifth-lowest mark through a reliever's first 10 career outings in Phillies history since ERA became an official stat in 1913.
The only Phillies relievers ahead of him are Seranthony Domínguez, Todd Frohwirth, Ryan Madson and Ricky Bottalico.
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He has also not allowed a hit in his last five innings.
And on Monday, with two on and nobody out, McFarlane recorded three huge outs to earn one of the Phillies' four holds. That tied for the second-most holds by the Phillies in a game since 1969.
(Per NBCSP's Phillies researcher and statistician)
ROLLERCOASTER OF A SEASON
When the Phillies topped the Angels last Friday, they moved to 75-60, 15 games over .500.
That is wild considering where this season started.
The Phillies opened the year 9-19, 10 games under .500. By climbing to 15 games over, they became just the 27th team since 1901 to go from at least 10 games under .500 to at least 15 games over in the same season.
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They are the first Phillies team to do it since 1952.
Zowie.
