My Fellow Phans,
I don't know where to begin this post. This is going to center on the Phillies recent struggles which has seemed to go on for awhile now. I'm sure you all remember the good times when the Phillies played with the swagger of a team who was of championship caliber? It seems ages ago sometimes. Where did that swagger go? I can't answer that question. I have no explanation. I'm not if most of the players don't notice it or just don't care to try to regain it. Jamie Moyer is one player who notices what is happening: “There’s some new faces in here,” Moyer said. “As teams change, there’s responsibility among those who remain to carry on that swagger. We just haven’t found a way to get going on all cylinders.”
Yes, there are new faces, but several of the key ones still remain from seasons past; Rollins, Victorino, Howard, Ibanez, and Werth. Ironically it are these players who are part of the reason the Phillies sit where they are. There is still talent on the field, it is just not producing anything and that is the saddest part of all. Jayson Werth especially seems to like to strikeout with guys on base when all we need is a flyball to take the lead. He has been an abomination recently. Good luck getting your gigantic ass contract while playing like this.
We can't blame the fill-in players such as Wilson Valdez, Juan Castro, Greg Dobbs,and Dane Sardinha. Hell, Dobbs is hitting .350 in the last 10 games. The only regular hitting anywhere near that is Howard, who is hitting .333. The next highest? Ibanez at .261. I wouldn't say that is getting the job done by any stretch of the imagination. Until the 5 guys mentioned in the previous paragraph start producing, there will be serious struggles for the Phillies.
Oh and in an update on the great double play race: Valdez only trails Albert Pujols by 2 GIDPs. Pujols, who many consider to the be the game's best player, had played in over 30 more games, but Valdez trails him by just 2. Probably the only time Valdez will ever be compared to Pujols. Overall, Wilson ranks 4th in the NL with 13 double plays.
Pitching wise, it seems that everyone outside of Roy Halladay has struggled. Hamels and Moyer have had their Ups and Downs while the bullpen has been downright dreadful. Contreras and Baez have both been pretty horrific recently and recently for Baez actually means the entire season. If we actually get a lead to the late innings we can't hold it, but usually we cant score enough runs to have a late lead.
Here's what I saw from a baseball standpoint this Atlanta series. I saw the best team in the National League East beat a team that could be the best team if they showed any life. Sadly, we haven't shown any signs of breathing and here we sit 6 games back. It is far from the end of the world, although when you have no life, no swagger, it looks pretty sad.
I recently saw an article on a fellow Phillies blog that discussed Charlie Manuel as a problem for the Phillies. I do not blame these struggles on Manuel. Granted his All-Star selecting ablities clearly suck, and his devotion to his players, if that is what you call it, can cause serious issues like leaving pitchers in too long on nights where they may need an early rest. I think things need to be mixed up. The bottom of the order is bad and maybe mixing up a few things would help. maybe moving Victorino down in the order to help at the bottom or something like that. I don't know really; anything can help.
Tonight begins another big series with the Reds in town. Joey Votto has something to prove and I am rooting for him to have a good series. Maybe the Phillies can finally get on the right track hopefully...
Until we meet again Phillies Fans; Happy Readings and Go Phillies!
No comments:
Post a Comment