The biggest problem with the Phillies these days is not their awful defense or even that nobody, and by nobody I mean Victorino, Wigginton, Polanco, Rollins, Mayberry and Galvis all have at least 170 plate appearances for the year and an on-base percentage under .320, can get on base. It’s that the team is built on pitching and the pitching is terrible.

During April, the Phils were fourth in the NL in runs allowed. In May that dropped to 12th. So far in June they are 14th — only two teams, the Rockies and the Astros, have allowed more runs in June than the Phillies.

Here’s a look at the final numbers for the 2011 Phillie pitchers and the pace for the current staff:

ERA Ratio R ER H BB SO
2011 3.02 1.17 529 495 1320 404 1299
2012 4.00 1.25 708 646 1444 374 1327

The Phillies are on pace to allow 708 runs over 162 games. That’s 179 more than the 529 they allowed in 2011. The rate at which they have allowed unearned runs has nearly doubled from 2011. After allowing 34 unearned runs in 2011, they have already allowed 26 so far in 2012 and are on pace to allow 62 for the season.

So the defense is hurting the Phils a lot more than it did in 2011. But the Phillies are also on pace to allow 151 more earned runs than they did last year.

The Phillies are striking batters out at a higher rate in 2012 and allowing fewer walks. That leaves hits.

So far in 2012, opponents have hit 259/309/426 against the Phillies. In 2011 they hit 240/296/361.

Here are the percentage of batters that have gotten a hit, walk, strikeout, extra-base hit or home run against the Phillies this year and in 2011:

% H % BB % SO % XBH % HR
2012 23.8 6.2 21.8 8.6 3.0
2011 21.7 6.7 21.4 6.6 2.0

Again, more hits, including extra-base hits and home runs, but fewer walks and more strikeouts.

So far in 2012, opponents are hitting .259 against the Phils and slugging .426. That’s an isolated power of .167. In 2011, opponents hit .240 and slugged .361 against the Phillies. That’s an isolated power of .121. So far in 2012, the average hit surrendered by the Phils has gone for 1.64 bases. In 2011, the average hit went for 1.50 bases.

So not only are the Phillies allowing more hits overall, but the hits they are allowing are worse. The Phillies are currently on a pace to throw about 21 fewer innings than they did in 2011, but to allow 53 more doubles, 11 more triples and 61 more home runs.

The Phillies allowed 120 home runs in 2011. So far in 2012 they have allowed 76, putting them on pace to allow 181.

Against right-handed hitters, the Phillies have allowed more hits in 2012 than they did in 2011, but, more importantly, the hits they have allowed have been much worse. Righties are hitting just .248 against the Phillies after hitting .238 against them in 2011, but slugging .425 (isolated power of .177) after slugging .357 against them in 2011 (.119).

Lefties are also hitting for more power against the Phils in 2012, but the increase is not as dramatic. They are getting a lot more hits, though. Lefties are hitting .274 against the Phils in 2012 with an isolated power of .152 after hitting .243 against them in 2011 with an isolated power of .125.

Here’s how the percentages of hits, walks, strikeouts, extra-base hits and home run for 2011 and 2012 look broken down by what lefties and righties have done against the Phils:

% H % BB % SO % XBH % HR
2012 v R 22.9 5.3 22.7 9.2 3.3
2012 v L 24.7 7.2 20.8 7.9 2.6
2011 v R 21.7 5.8 22.0 6.4 2.0
2011 v R 21.8 8.1 20.4 6.7 1.9

So, again, the hits overall against lefties are up more, but extra-base hits and home runs are up more against righties.

Carlos Ruiz still way behind Molina and Posey in All-Star voting. Votechooch.com has the latest numbers and voting links.