A Tale of Two Teams

A friend writes:

I think it's unequivocal what's going on here -- 1 team with a long history of having a very good eye at the plate, the Phillies, has lost its marbles; another team with a history of having a terrible eye at the plate, the Nats, now has one of the best in MLB.)
 
HITTING
Team batting averages:
Nats, .249
Phillies .248
Team slugging %s:
Nats .334
Phillies .331
Team home runs
Nats 6
Phillies 6
Team stolen bases
Phillies 12 (caught 1 time)
Nats 7 (caught 2 times)

PITCHING
ERA
Nats 1.92 (best in NL)
Phillies 2.48 (2nd best)
BB
Nats 39 walks issued (best of teams that played 13 games so far)
Phillies 24 (best of teams that played 12 games)
WHIP
Nats 1.01 (best in NL)
Phillies 1.10 (3rd best)

So, these are two insanely balanced teams. The Nats have an almost negligible difference tipped in their favor offensively; pitching wise, their ERA is better, clearly, but the Phils are walking far fewer people. Anyway, these are 2 teams that are incredibly balanced and -- by all these measures -- should have roughly the same record. They don't. The Nats are 4.5 games ahead of the Phillies. Why is that case? For one reason, and one single reason alone: they take pitches and walk.
HITTING
Bases on balls:
Nats 57 walks (No. 1 in NL)
Phillies 20 (tied for last with Pirates)
OBP
Nats .335 (tied for 2nd)
Phillies .284 (14th)

http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/sortable.jsp#sectionType=st&playerType=QUALIFIER&statType=hitting&page_type=SortablePlayer&season=2012&season_type=ANY&sportCode=%27mlb%27&league_code=%27NL%27&split=&team_id=&active_sw=&game_type=%27R%27&position=&sortOrder=%27desc%27&sortColumn=avg&results=&page=1&perPage=50&timeframe=&extended=0&last_x_days=&ts=1334859863229&tab_level=child&click_text=Sortable+Team+hitting