Phillies suddenly feeling good
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Phillies suddenly feeling good
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
Shane Victorino is all heart, so you tend to know exactly how he is feeling, regardless of the actual words that are coming out of his mouth. When he is speaking in run-on sentences and barely pausing for a breath and taking multiple detours in a single answer, he is usually feeling really good, and that is how the Phillies center fielder was speaking last night. Yesterday at Busch Stadium III, the vibe emanating from this Phillies team was as upbeat as I can remember it being this season.
The trick, of course, is making it last, which is why they play the games, but you have to be encouraged by how the Phillies have responded since they dropped the first two games of their series against the Nationals earlier this week.
Offensively, it all starts with Carlos Ruiz, and the early results of his move to the clean-up spot are intriguing. Forget about his individual performance for a minute and consider that Victorino is 4-for-8 with a walk, two doubles, a home run, three runs, and five RBI over the last two nights since moving into the five-hole.
Hunter Pence does not have a hit in his two games back in the three-hole, but he has drawn three walks, and has scored three runs. And all of that makes you think that maybe Ruiz really is a clean-up hitter, and that the best lineup Manuel can field at this point in time has his one-time No. 8 hitter as the centerpiece. It makes some sense. For whatever reason, the last two players to make extended attempts at filling in for Ryan Howard at cleanup have failed. Jayson Werth did not respond well in a brief tryout, nor did Hunter Pence in a longer one. Manuel said after last night's game that he does not understand, that a hitter should be overjoyed to be hitting fourth, but he also admitted that many of todays hitters are creatures of habit who can allow a simple change in their batting order position to throw their equilibrium out of whack. Ruiz, on the other hand, does not get thrown out of whack easily, except by injury, which is the one glaring concern about his taking on such an important role in the offense. Ruiz has shown in his postseason performances that pressure does not really affect him, at least not from a negative standpoint. So maybe it does make sense to put him at No. 4 and let Pence and Victorino hit in spots where they are more comfortable. Time will tell if the last two nights have been the start of something good.
"I used to hit him in the second cleanup spot," Manuel joked, referring to the eight-hole. "Now I moved him up to first. That's what I tell him."
Since the move, Ruiz is 6-for-9 with a double and a strikeout. He seems to hit wherever he hits. Batting seventh this season, a .347/.380/.597 line, batting sixth, .333/.429/.667, batting fifth, .367/.444/.533. You used to think part of Ruiz's production could be attributed to the fact that the pitcher hit behind him. No longer.
"This is the best I've seen him swing," Manuel said.
The Phillies have three more games against the Cardinals, more than enough time to erase the good feeling that pulsed through the clubhouse last night. On the other hand, imagine what three wins would do for the confidence of guys like Victorino.
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Nice to see Wiggington hit one long last night. I noticed something interesting in his swing. If you look at his HR swing, it was short/compact and completely relaxed. Most of his bad hits are when he takes that long striding swing. Just an observation. For all of you in love with Pierre, he is NOT hitting well over .300 any longer. His average is at .300 or below now due to reality. His baserunning abilities are average at best (the guy gets picked off 1st way too often and gets doubled up in strange spots). The real issue with Pierre is his lack of an arm in left. Each and every "long single" turns into a double. The Nats ran on him everytime possible. And if anyone noticed, Scott Podsednik hit a HR in his first start with Boston the other night. One start, 3 AB's, 2 runs, 2 hits, 1 RBI. Just saying......ya know?— drhoffman- I've said it before and I'm saying it again -- this team is at its best when the hitters quit trying topull the ball. Look at all of the hits last night that went up the middle and the other way. Not just on the Phils' side of the ledger either. The Cards got a lot of hits the other way, too. This, to me, is the key to increasing run production! And it will also apply to Howard when he gets back in the line-up. Now if GG can only get Jimmy to adopt this philosophy, because it seems like Jimmy now only has warning-track power.— southpaw57
- Totally agree. I think that Chooch has benefitted most by this approach. Look at how many balls he pushes to right. Rollins is a dead pull hitter left handed. Plus his stance is way open. I don't know how he can generate any strength to left field that way. But he needs to change, like you said. Pitchers are just not throwing him the inside fastball that he seems to always be looking for.
— zubzub - I'd feel better if they could start adding more doubles and triples to the singles they get to load the bases. Just a handful of doubles with bases loaded scattered thru their games in the last month could have them breathing down the necks of the Braves and nats, if not in first.
I guess there is something that happens to a team's psyche when they play their worst and are still only 4 1/2 out of first, like a football team that sucks in the first half but goes into the locker room at halftime only a touchdown behind, then roars back in the second half.
here's my hope. Several years ago when we were living in the Midwest we came back for our annual visit and wanted to catch some ball games. The Phillies were not doing well and fan interest was low. My son and I were told by a friend that she would have no problem getting us the box seats a collegue was not using for the Friday game against the Brewers because nobody had any interest in the tickets. Meanwhile we got two tix for the Tuesday game, Phillies started out poorly fell well behind and I could see why fans were staying home. But somehow they recovered and pulled it out in the ninth. Same thing happened Wednesday and Thursday and suddenly there was interest again and the friday tix were no longer available. While they lost the Friday game, it was quite close. After this series they started their move upward. I still have hope this could happen this year if things just started clicking.— atp2007 - Is Utley ever coming back?
I never see his name mentioned anymore....— twa318 - Murph, you mistake Vic's heart with his ADHD....which bounces around erratically based on whether his meds are working or not.....much like his production on the field.... .398 one 2 week span, .117 the next with Little League baserunning mistakes and impulsively swinging at the first high fastball he sees after the pitcher has just walked the bases loaded on 4 pitches. Next time you talk to him, ask him to please increase the meds a little and to stop skipping dosages on road trips. This team needs a lot more consistency and heads up thinking from him than it's been getting. Makes it hard to seriously consider signing him to another long term deal.— Mark1npt
- Chooch's secret? Be calm, let the bat do the work. Choooooooooch!!!— COskier
- I love Chooch's bat right now but we all know it will eventually cool and he will be swinging at that outside pitch and bouncing it to the 2nd baseman. — Jeffy3
- Batting lead off and clean up are the most difficult spots in the batting order, IMO. Both come with added pressure.— EL Zorro
There's no feeling good if the team is still in last place— shawnmac- Murph, Victorino was hitting pretty well before Chooch was moved to the 4th hole. He was batting .327 with 7 2B, a 3B and a HR with an OPS of 941 over the last two weeks.— EL Zorro
Comment removed.- @EZ...you are correct about those two spots but actually EACH spot in the order has a purpose and a job to do. That's one of the reasons this team has struggled so far. New players, new batting orders every night and a new approach(LMAO on that one) every night.
@southpaw...bingo! What people have missed about Amaro's remark regarding a "better approach" is exactly that. It's not necessarily working the count or the pitcher. It's not necessarily playing small ball. It's having an idea when you step up to the plate and having a smart AB. Take what the pitcher gives you and quit trying to hit that 2-0 pitch into the 5th deck in RF. They look like idiots when the pitcher bounces that 2-0 curveball at the plate and they've swung and missed by 2 feet because they were looking for something else! You gotta have pitch recognition and adjust. These guys don't adjust! That's why you've seen Howard, Werth, etc through the years swinging amd missing at so many different pitches so badly. A nice linedrive in the gap the other way on a fastball on the outer half of the plate is a way better approach than JNoRoll's rolling his wrists over and pulling a weak groundball to the 2nd baseman, yet again.......last night was the best I've seen our hitters do, other than a game about 2 weeks ago where Wigy and a couple of others went the other way with dribblers to score some big runs. When are these guys going to seriously get it? Never. It's too late for most every one of them, however JNoRoll had better re-invent himself soon or he is the future 8 hole hitter in every lineup Charles trots out there IMO.— Mark1npt - Is it really the players having better at-bats in games like last night or is it just substandard pitching? — Jeffy3
- Choch should play some third to keep him healthy.— NCNovaguy
