For the Phillies’ hitters that got at least 200 plate appearances in 2007, here’s a look at how many of their plate appearances came with at least one runner on base, their OPS in plate appearances with at least one runner on base, their total plate appearances and OPS for the season, and the percentage of their plate appearances that came with at least one runner on base:

Runners on  Total

PA
OPS
PA
OPS		  %
PA
Howard 367 1.123 648 .976 57
Rowand 326 .821 684 .889 48
Rollins 292 .914 778 .875 38
Utley 290 .945 613 .976 47
Burrell 287 .947 598 .902 48
Ruiz 212 .810 429 .736 49
Victorino 209 .775 510 .770 41
Dobbs 185 .707 358 .781 52
Helms 167 .725 308 .665 54
Nunez 148 .559 287 .600 52
Werth 136 1.027 304 .863 45

Four of the 11, Dobbs, Utley, Nunez and Rowand, posted a lower OPS with runners on than with the bases empty. Of the group, Werth was the hitter whose OPS improved the most with men aboard with Howard not far behind.

It’s great to see Howard as the guy getting the highest percentage of his plate appearances with men on base. All those base runners for Nunez is not.

One of the things that was striking about the numbers to me was how often the guys at the bottom of the order, specifically Dobbs, Helms and Nunez, came up with men aboard. This makes sense when you think about Utley, Howard and Burrell hitting 3-4-5 for the Phils. All three have a reasonable chance to on-base .400 in ’08 and that means a lot of ducks for the guys that follow and especially the six-hitter, who looks like it should be Jenkins or Werth much of the time in ’08.

The other thing that sticks out is the lack of a real two-hitter in the Phils lineup, meaning that when Utley hits third he does so with nobody aboard more than you would like him to.

Leadoff hitter Rollins, who was one of the five best hitters on the team, hit with nobody on base significantly more than even the worst hitters on the team. I think you can make a good case that Rollins should be hitting leadoff, but not using the numbers presented here. They seems to suggest just the opposite.

Finally, I always find it interesting that Howard and Utley posted the same .976 OPS in 2007.

David Wright says the Phils are the team to beat in the NL East this season.

The Phillies continue to monitor Kris Benson and this article says they are a lot more serious about him than they’ve led on. A healthy Benson would help the Phils a lot.