Latest Phillies notes, observations as Trade Deadline looms

This story was excerpted from Todd Zolecki’s Phillies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

A few notes from this week at Citizens Bank Park:

The right-handed bat

Trea Turner’s recent play is a potentially significant development for the Phillies’ offense.

He is batting .350 (21-for-60) with four doubles, three home runs, 10 RBIs and a .948 OPS in his last 14 games. All three homers have come in the last three. It is a boost to a lineup that has watched its right-handed hitters significantly underperform this year, ranking last in MLB with a .612 OPS.

“I’m not missing mistakes,” Turner said. “I feel like I’m getting into some better counts. I feel like I’m driving offspeed pitches a little better. And then just using the whole field, really. I just feel good again.”

Turner offered an example following Wednesday’s 10-6 win over Pittsburgh. He popped out in the first inning against Pirates ace Paul Skenes. He homered in the second.

“Today, I kind of abandoned the leg kick after the first at-bat,” he said. “I felt like I was flying open a little bit and made a good adjustment and got some hits there. I feel like the last three, four weeks have been pretty solid.”

He said that comes from feeling better hitting with two strikes.

“I haven't done that in a little while, because I feel like my two-strike swing hasn't been the best at the beginning of the year,” he said of the in-game adjustments. “I would do that [abandon his leg kick] sometimes in Washington and L.A., where my leg kick will feel bad for whatever reason. I just kind of go to the no-stride, so I do it for a short time. I don't want to do it all the time, but you know, today I felt like I needed it.”

Nola’s struggles

Back in February, Aaron Nola expressed optimism about his chances for a bounce-back season.

It hasn’t happened, of course. He is 3-5 with a 6.04 ERA in 17 starts. He has a 6.02 ERA in 34 starts the past two seasons.

Nola was asked this spring in Clearwater, Fla., if he gave any consideration to incorporating a new pitch into his repertoire, like Zack Wheeler and Jesús Luzardo had in recent seasons. Nola said he did not.

“I can make my curveball into a sweeper,” he said. “I can make it go left a little bit more because of my arm angle. It just depends on if I use my thumb on it a little bit more. The more thumb I use, the more depth-y it gets. I’ve been grateful to stay healthy for a little while. The last thing I want to do is tinker with another pitch. I know it’s not a for-sure thing [that a pitcher will get hurt] throwing a new pitch. A lot of guys don’t. I just want to crisp up my pitches.”

But Nola threw four sliders on June 13 in Milwaukee. He has thrown 11 sliders in three starts since.

It is a new pitch, which is an acknowledgement that Nola must try something different to be even just incrementally more competitive on the mound.

“I feel like I throw so many curveballs,” Nola said. “I feel like we saw it [Monday night]. If one pops [out of his hand], usually it gets barreled.”

Nola shelved his cutter for a slider. It’s not a bad idea. Opponents had hit .419 with a .645 slugging percentage against the cutter. Super-small sample size, but they’re 0-for-4 against the slider.

“Just to try to give [hitters] another look,” catcher J.T. Realmuto said. “Just gives you another pitch to work with, maybe something to get them to think about a little bit. It's been pretty good for him. He’s mixed it in. He’s not using it a ton yet, but he seems pretty comfortable with it. There’s certain guys that he'll use it on, and so far it's been a good change of pace.”

Nola’s performance over the next few weeks could influence how the Phillies attack the Trade Deadline. The Phillies could use a right-handed bat and a high-leverage reliever, but they might feel compelled to invest resources into upgrading the rotation because they’re not getting enough innings from Nola and the No. 5 starter spot.

Crawford’s adjustments

Nobody should have gone into the season expecting rookie Justin Crawford to be a force in the Phillies’ lineup. The Phillies expected growing pains. They got them. He was batting .227 with a .610 OPS in 64 games through June 13. He has a -0.1 WAR, according to Baseball Reference. But Crawford entered Thursday batting .353 (18-for-51) with three doubles, six RBIs and a .789 OPS in his last 16 games.

Crawford has credited recent swing adjustments, including hitting without a stride to the ball.

“Definitely working on trying to be a little shorter to the ball,” he said. “Just trying to take [out] a little bit of extra movement with what will make me a tick late on the ball.”