The 10 biggest Phillie-killers of the 21st century

Phillie-killer.

There’s no dictionary definition of the word, but fans know what it means. A guy that comes up to bat against the Phillies in key moments time after time and, inevitably, comes through with a big hit. Not necessarily because he’s an incredible player, but just because that’s what he always does against the Phils.

Most fans can come up with a list of players who seem to consistently rake against the Fightins. But such lists are always a little subjective, based on one’s age, which games one happens to watch, etc. So let’s go about this list scientifically:

– First, we’ll limit the time frame to the years 2000-2024. (Apologies to Riggs Stephenson, who hit .386 against the Phillies in about 500 ABs between 1926 and 1934. OG Phillie-killer.)

– Next, we’ll limit the player pool to guys who made at least 200 plate appearances against the Phils in that time frame. Can’t be a true Phillie-killer unless you face the Phillies often enough to make fans despise you.

– Any player with an OPS less than .850 against the Phils over the time frame is also excluded. A Phillie-killer does at least that much damage.

– Without more, those steps simply yield a list of great players. Juan Soto, for example, crushes Phillies pitching to the tune of a .981 OPS. But he also has an overall career OPS of .955. In other words, he’s not really a Phillie-killer… He’s just a killer.

So the next step is to take each player’s OPS against the Phillies and compare it to his OPS against everyone else.

The result? Ten players who destroy Phillies pitching much, much more than they should, given their overall stats:

10. Lucas Duda

Lucas Duda has absolutely terrorized Phillies pitchers during his time in the majors, hitting 22 home runs against them in just 291 at-bats. That’s one home run every 13-ish ABs–basically Barry Bonds power when Duda plays the Fightins.

Duda’s OPS against the Phils is .920, which is .138 higher than his .782 overall OPS.

9. Todd Zeile

Todd Zeile posted an .893 OPS against the Phillies between 2000 and 2004, compared to an overall OPS of just .751 in those years. The .142 difference places him ninth on our list.

Zeile played for 11 different teams, including the Phillies, in his 16 years in the big leagues.

Five of the ten players on this list spent some time with the Phils in their careers. Perhaps an effort by the club to neutralize these guys?

8. Starling Marte

Starling Marte, 35, currently plays for the Mets after spending most of his early career with the Pirates. His .960 OPS against the Phils is .174 higher than his overall career .786 OPS.

Marte has also logged a batting average over .300 against the Phillies in ten of his 11 seasons in the pros, and a batting average over .400 against them in five of those seasons.

Phillie-killer.

7. Asdrubal Cabrera

Asdrubal Cabrera played 49 disappointing games for the disappointing 2018 Phillies, posting a .678 OPS. That’s pretty bad when compared to his .752 career OPS, and downright awful when compared to his career .926 OPS against the Phils (a .174 difference).

Nothing worse than a Phillie-killer who joins the Phillies and then proceeds to kill them from within.

6. Hunter Pence

Et tu, Hunter Pence?

Pence wasn’t a bad player for the Phillies, hitting .289 with an .842 OPS during his time with the team. Those numbers are higher than his career .279 AVG and .794 OPS, but they pale in comparison to his numbers against the Phils: a .313 AVG and a .973 OPS.

The .179 OPS increase against the Phillies puts Pence sixth on our list.

5. Jay Bruce

Yet another former Phillie, Jay Bruce, had a career .781 OPS, .180 lower than the .961 OPS he put up against the Phils. Bruce also hit 22 home runs against them in 285 ABs.

4. Jeff Conine

Jeff Conine is a guy you’d probably expect to find on this list even before examining the numbers. He’s a classic Phillie-killer: a player with a .772 career OPS who somehow manages to put up a .959 OPS against the Phils. (A difference of .187.)

Conine played a handful of games for the Phillies in 2006, at the age of 40. But fans best remember him, of course, as part of the early-aughts Marlins squads that gave the Phillies fits.

If you say Conine’s name three times in a mirror, Larry Bowa appears and gets ejected from a ballgame.

3. Brian Anderson

Speaking of Marlins, number three on our list is Brian Anderson, who spent seven years with the fish. Anderson has a career slash line of .251/.336/.403 (.739 OPS) overall, but a career slash line of .322/.398/.539 (.937 OPS) against the Phillies.

The Marlins are just Phillie-killers as a squad.

2. Ryan Braun

You may think that Ryan Braun’s overall career .891 OPS precludes him from being a Phillie-killer, according to our criteria. But Braun put up a staggering 1.134 OPS in 337 regular season plate appearances against the Phillies.

Braun also scored 62 runs, hit 25 home runs, and collected 73 RBI in his 79 games vs. the Phils. He hit .313 against the 2008 Phillies in a memorable NLDS, though the good guys ultimately prevailed.

1. Vladimir Guerrero

Everyone on this list can give Phillies fans nightmares. But when it comes to Phillie-killers of the 21st century, Vladimir Guerrero (the original, not Jr.) is in a class of his own.

From 2000 through his final season in 2011, Guerrero posted a stellar .931 OPS overall. But against the Fightins? In 337 plate appearances over 62 games, Guerrero’s slash line is .389/.500/.749.

That gives Vladi an incredible 1.249 OPS against the Phillies in the 21st century, which is not only the best OPS against the Phillies among all MLB players (min 200 PAs), but also the biggest disparity among all MLB players when compared to overall OPS (1.249 – 0.931 = 0.318!).

Guerrero also hit 19 home runs in his 62 career games against the Phils.

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Honorable mentions: 11) Yadier Molina; 12) Brad Wilkerson; 13) Adam Duvall; 14) Carlos Gonzalez; 15) Luis Gonzalez; 16) JD Drew; 17) Chris Coghlan; 18) Cliff Floyd; 19) Matt Diaz; 20) Adrian Gonzalez; 21) Mike Piazza; 22) Austin Riley; 23) Chipper Jones; 24) Josh Bell; 25) Matt Adams.

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If, like me, you’re the type of sicko that enjoys revisiting these players, stay tuned for a follow-up piece on PHLY regarding pitchers who are Phillies killers. (Lately, that’s sort of every pitcher, but y’know.)

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