Phillies Platitude

It’s become a cliché in baseball. Can teams repeat as World Champions even with all the parity on the league? The days of the dynasty appeared to abruptly end as we entered a new century. There are still teams who make the playoffs a habit and are always going to compete for the pennant. It’s harder to ascertain which teams will be in the World Series each year. Nobody considered the Tampa Bay Rays a team capable of evening winning the division in 2008, let alone going to the World Series. The Phillies survived the down stretch and muscled and pitched their way to the title. They are no longer the proverbial losers. But, now the Phillies are puttering along early in 2009. The pitchers are getting smacked around and the hitters are failing to smack. Can the team repeat? I break down Philadelphia’s chance, but as the brainchild of the Oakland A’s, Billy Beane, says, the playoffs are a crapshoot.
Top flight pitcher, Cole Hamels, was expected to be the backbone of the Phillies this season. Last year, the Phillies went 19-14 in games Hamels started. Philadelphia is 1-3 in Cole’s starts this season. He struggled to protect a 7-1 in the Phillies recent homestand against Washington. Head Coach Charlie Manuel is in an unfamiliar predicament with his ace, who could land on the DL for an extended period of time. Hamels threw a bullpen session yesterday but could miss his next start Tuesday in St. Louis. The Phillies number one left-hander sprained his ankle and if he misses time, will be replaced by reliever, J.A. Happ. Manuel could also call up a starter from the minors. Kyle Kendrick is a triple A right-hander with a 2-1 record and 2.77 ERA.
Hamels is not the only Philadelphia pitcher struggling. He has a 7.27 ERA and has given up an extensive 27 hits in 17 innings. Brett Myers and Jamie Moyer also have high ERAs and have yielded too many homeruns. Myers is 1-2 with a 4.83 ERA, allowing 8 dingers. Myers has a quality arm but tends to make mistakes and get down on himself for them. Against the Nationals last week, Myers walked three in an inning, including the left handed Washington starter, Scott Olsen. The third pass, with the bases loaded, resulted in a run. The Nationals outlasted Philadelphia 4-1 and Myers took the loss.
Moyer boasts a 3-1 record, pitching with a .5.65 ERA and 7 long balls surrendered. The back end rightys, Joe Blanton and Chan Ho Park, have yet to record a win and both have over 8 ERAs. Park has issues an abysmal 28 hits in just 20 innings of work and walked 11. On Saturday, he put the Phillies in a 5-0 hole because he allowed the Mets seven runs on eight hits, walking six. He pitched a little over four innings in the loss. If Park proves he cannot handle big league pitching, Manuel may be forced to put Happ into the rotation anyway. Park beat out Happ for the fifth starter in Spring training. The pitching staff allowed a homerun in all but on of their first 19 games. I realize they play at home in a bandbox but that is inexcusable for a world championship caliber team.
Closer Brad Lidge had a career year in 2008 and was the team’s cog in close games. Lidge controlled the bullpen chaos as the Phillies coasted to their World Series title. He was unreal on the mound in relief. This year, Brad has a 7.27 ERA in nine appearances. He did injure his knee last week and blames a hitch in his delivery on the ailment. The flaw is self-correcting according to the closer so the Phillies shouldn’t be without his services too long. Right-hander, Clay Condrey, has been the best bullpen arm for Manuel. The ground-ball pitcher is 3-0 in 14 games. A long relief man last season, Condrey finished with a 3.26 ERA. He’s been used in more high-pressure circumstances this year and has the confidence of pitching coach, Rich Dubee. Condrey has held opponents to a .195 batting average, tops on the team. The 33 year old has an improved changeup, nasty sinker and cutter. Ryan Madson has also been a positive, with 16 strikeouts in 11 games. Madson hasn’t issued a homerun and stands with a 2-1 record. Righty, Chad Durbin and southpaw, Scott Eyre, have been only mediocre. Overall, the team has received good work out of the pen. As a unit, they have a 4.28 ERA. While not spectacular, the relievers have been effective. If they continue with the heavy workload, the effectiveness will wear off quickly.
A productive and potent power lineup positioned Philadelphia for a first place finish last year. The two best hitters for Manuel have been second baseman, Chase Utley and off-season free agent pickup, Raul Ibanez. The outfielder Ibanez is batting .360. He and Utley both have 8 homeruns (not including Raul’s launch yesterday) and 21 RBIs through the season’s first month. Ibanez ignited the Phillies with an 8th inning grand slam against the Nationals last week. Count Ibanez as another player the Mets missed out on. His defense is better than last year Phillies outfielder, Pat Burrell, too.
Utley came back from injury to club .342 at the plate so far. Jimmy Rollins, the all-star shortstop, finally raised his average to the .200 mark after hitting in yesterday’s win against New York. Rollins has a .206 on-base-percentage and the Phillies could benefit from a Jimmy hot streak. Ryan Howard, the ultra-talented, muscular first baseman, has a .281 average and is striking out too often. Because Howard swings a big bat, you can expect the ball to pass the fence with regularity. You also must be accustomed to the young slugger whiffing on more occasions. At third base, the Phillies are seeing surprise plate production from Pedro Feliz. Feliz is batting .338. Centerfielder, Shane Victorino, is the heart of the team and plays a core position on the field. Shane is batting .287, while his teammate in right field, Jayson Werth, has a .250 average. Werth and Victorino can go yard and may provide power once the summer hits. Utility player, Matt Stairs, can also be the pop needed from a bench that lacks depth. Catcher, Carlos Ruiz, has been out since April 10th, but Manuel hinted about him being activated from the DL after this weekend. Top prospect, Lou Marson, is a viable replacement, however. Marson is 4 for 17 with a .235 average since being called up.
You could argue the Phillies are one of baseball’s best comeback teams this year. They have scored 40 of their 85 runs in the seventh inning or later so far. Philadelphia has eight come-from-behind wins. The Phillies are a resilient club and have trailed by multiple runs in 13 of their first 19 games. It is too risky and hard to play catch-up all the time but they do find ways. This is a team that hangs around and kicks it into high gear when the pressure is on. The comeback ability factor is reason enough to believe the Phillies are for real, despite their major pitching woes and starters not hitting. Philadelphia is off to a slow start but I predict they will drastically improve their record by the all-star break. This six week stretch has not been kind to the Phillies. Some teams take time to get things going again, especially after winning world titles. I think that is what we are seeing with the Phillies, at least at the plate. The Phillies know how to keep pitcher’s honest with their tenacious and unrelenting lineup. A blossoming of bashing bats is not to much to beseech and would benefit benignly.
Manuel, a former hitting coach, was upset with his offense after the team was shut out through eight innings against Dave Bush and the Brewers. Bush came close to throwing a no-no at Citizens’ Bank Park. Even though Bush hit his spots, the Phillies played poorly. The team didn’t make aggressive swings and played more of a defensive style at the plate. Stairs’ solo shot off Bush broke up the no hit bid but the team lost 6-1. I think Manuel wants to see harder hit balls instead of loopy liners and shabby singles. As he so eloquently put, the hitting on this club “stinks”.
A solid defense is still present, especially in the Philadelphia infield. Rollins, Utley, Feliz, and Howard all play their positions well. The National Leaguers held the record for consecutive errorless games until Utley was charged with a 7th inning error against the Mets in a 7-4 loss Saturday. Victorino plays a magnificent centerfield and continues to gun down line drives with marvel.
Manuel has a good feel for his team and the Phillies are very capable of winning again in 2009. Last year, they won because their pitching rotation and bullpen were better than most people expected. The starting pitching is worst in baseball this year and that is the main reason for concern at this time. Philadelphia starters have allowed 83 earned runs and have a league worst collective ERA of 6.65. The rotation needs to go deeper into ball games instead of these 5 inning affairs where they drive up their pitch counts. Last year, the pitchers were credited with multiple 1-2-3 innings, but we haven’t seen many glimpses of the same this season. Myers, Moyer and Park are showing signs of settling in, and if Hamels returns healthy, the Phillies rotation will be back in tact. Blanton caught on late last year as the Phillies surged behind is stellar summer arm. They just need more length from the starting five to alleviate the pressure off the bullpen.
It may be another platitude, but Philadelphia has to be more consistent. The Phillies have the seal of approval around the league because they are still the defending world champions. The Phillies hardly look like defending champs but until they are beaten, you have to consider them the best.

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