Philadelphia Phillies at San Francisco Giants 6/18/21 - MLB Picks & Predictions

The Philadelphia Phillies will go on the road to Oracle Park to take on the San Francisco Giants who currently hold the best record in the MLB, in the best division in baseball. The Giants pulled off a four-game sweep of the Diamondbacks, capped off with a 10-3 win in the finale to improve to 44-25 on the year. The Phillies avoided the sweep with a 2-0 win on the road over the Dodgers, but it won’t get any easier with another NL West series on the road. 

San Francisco is a top-10 scoring offense averaging 4.79 runs per game and is 15th in team batting average hitting .237. Veteran shortstop Brandon Crawford is having a solid season leading the Giants in batting average (.249), home runs (15), and RBIs (44). Catcher Buster Posey is hitting .337, but hasn’t had enough at-bats to qualify and is second on the Giants with 12 home runs and 26 RBIs. 

The right-hander Johnny Cueto will get the ball for the Giants, he’s off to a solid start to the season going 4-3 with a 4.00 ERA in his 10 starts this season. His last start was a rough one, surviving 5 ⅓ innings allowing five runs and nine hits while walking three and striking out two. Something to look at in this game is his struggles in the last two starts, since the MLB announcement of cracking down on sticky substances. 

Philadelphia is a solid offensive unit this season hitting .241 as a team that ranks 12th in the MLB in team batting average, but is scoring just 4.20 runs per game ranking 19th in scoring offense. The core three of Rhys Hoskins, Bryce Harper, and JT Realmuto have all continued to produce despite Harper and Realmuto missing significant time. 

Harper is having a solid season hitting .274 with 8 home runs and 18 RBIs but is listed on the injury report as day-to-day. Hoskins is leading the Phillies in home runs (13) and RBIs (36), while hitting .234 as a team. Realmuto is hitting .276 but has seen his power numbers dip with just 6 home runs and 27 RBIs. 

The right-hander Vince Velasquez will get the ball for the Phillies and is 2-1 with a 4.25 ERA this season after bouncing between the back end of the rotation and bullpen. Velasquez is coming off a solid start against the Yankees, pitching 5 strong innings allowing two runs on six hits while striking out 5 and walking one.