
Phillies Favored Behind Spencer Turnbull in Series Finale Against Tigers
The Philadelphia Phillies face a familiar strategy on Wednesday afternoon. The Detroit Tigers will use an opener, left-handed reliever Tyler Holton, to face the top of the Phillies lineup and then turn the ball over to Keider Montero. It’s a strategy the Brewers used to some success last month at Citizens Bank Park.
At least the Phils are used to seeing it and they probably caught a break in the pitching matchup since Jack Flaherty, who will be one of the top pitching targets at the trade deadline, was pushed back a day.
The Phils are throwing Spencer Turnbull in the Taijuan Walker spot in the rotation:
It's a big afternoon for the Turnbouls pic.twitter.com/DlZL25ZACS
— Kyle Pagan (@CBKylePagan) June 26, 2024
It’s a fascinating position for Turnbull, who is back in the rotation facing his former team. Turnbull turned in a handful of respectable starts when he was in the rotation back in April. He only allowed 17 hits in 32.1 innings and struck out 36 batters. He had six or more strikeouts in five of those six starts. Turnbull’s hits allowed and strikeout lines both sit at 3.5. The hits allowed over/under is a little brave of a line to set. The Tigers got 15 total hits off Aaron Nola and Ranger Suarez the last two nights.
You could make the case that the Phils just need five solid innings out of Turnbull to then turn the ball over to the bullpen, which then limits his potential to give up big innings. He hasn’t started since April, but he has thrown at least 2.2 innings in three of his four June relief outings.
As for the other end of the pitching matchup, Montero has a 1-4 record with a 5.03 ERA and a .272 batting average against with Triple-A Toledo. Lefties are hitting a whopping .337 against the right-handed pitcher, which explains why the Tigers are opening with Holton. The Phillies loaded their lineup with four left-handed hitters in the No. 6-9 spots, so this might be a spot where Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh thrive.
I would look into the Phillies money line at -165 and the team total over of 4.5 runs. Bryce Harper hit a home run off Holton in the series opener and the Phils tagged the Detroit bullpen for five runs in the first two games of the series. As long as Turnbull tosses a solid 5-6 innings, the Phils should be in great shape to finish off another series victory.