Phillies belong in the basement right now
Last place is the last place you want to be even in the middle of April.
Phillies belong in the basement right now
Bob Brookover, Inquirer Baseball Columnist
Last place is the last place you want to be even in the middle of April.
But that's where the Phillies stand in the National League East, a division they have dominated for the last five seasons.
They begin a four-game series Thursday night in San Diego in last place and it is the exact place they deserve to be right now.
They have played four series and lost three of them.
They lost two out of three to the Pittsburgh Pirates, a team that is last in baseball in runs scored.
They lost two out of three at home to the New York Mets, the team that just about everybody believes will finish last in N.L. East.
They lost two out of three to the San Francisco Giants even though they had a starting pitcher provide them with 10 scoreless innings Wednesday night at AT&T Park.
Those are the kinds of efforts that anchor a team at the bottom of a division.
Everybody knew when the Phillies left spring training that they were flawed, but it's different when you actually see it.
The Pirates have the worst offense in baseball, but the Phillies without Ryan Howard and Chase Utley are only slightly better.
When manager Charlie Manuel tries to inject some offense, he does so at the risk of exposing players with defensive shortcomings.
Placido Polanco's slumping bat was left in the rack Wednesday night against the Giants, but that meant Ty Wigginton had to defend at third base while Laynce Nix played first. A normally outstanding infield defense instantly becomes mediocre at best.
Wigginton made the 11th-inning error that allowed the Giants to pull out a 1-0 victory that Matt Cain deserved every bit as much as Cliff Lee.
Charlie Manuel had a chance to be the man to make a difference, but he defied conventional wisdom by letting a left-handed hitter face a left-handed pitcher when he had the option to do otherwise.
With Carlos Ruiz at third base and one out in the top of the 11th, Manuel sent up Jim Thome to hit for Lee, who had provided the Phillies with one of the most memorable pitching performances in franchise history during a game that was played at a pace that defied television-commercial delays.
When Giants manager Bruce Bochy replaced righthander Sergio Romo with lefty Javier Lopez, Manuel had two decent options: Polanco or John Mayberry Jr.
They'd be better options, of course, if they were not both mired in early-season slumps. Manuel explained after the game that he thought Thome was his best option to drive a fly ball deep for a sacrifice fly. He recited Thome's numbers against Lopez and noted he had put the ball in play eight times in 11 at-bats.
Not this time, however. Thome struck out, Mayberry hit for Juan Pierre and grounded out softly to end the top of the 11th. Wigginton's error was followed by Melky Cabrera's game-winning hit to right field off Antonio Bastardo.
Polanco was 1-for-7 against Lopez, but had never struck out against him and is still a better option to make contact than Thome. Mayberry had never faced Lopez until the at-bat after Thome struck out and his weak grounder to shortstop would not have plated the run.
You can't win if you can't score and it does not appear as if the Phillies' struggle for runs is going to end any time in the near future.
That's the main reason they are in last place for the first time since April 20, 2007 and it has to be the main topic of discussion when general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. and his band of decision makers are behind closed doors.
Great starting pitching and the schedule are the two things the Phillies have in their favor as they attempt to escape their unfamiliar place in the standings. They play eight of their next 11 games against the Padres and Chicago Cubs, who are a combined 6-19. Three games against a good Arizona Diamondbacks club are sandwiched in between.
After a nine-game stretch against division rivals — three in Atlanta, three in Washington and three at home against the Mets — the Phillies play seven games against the Padres, Houston Astros and Cubs, who may be the three worst teams in the National League.
The latter stretch ends May 18 and if the Phillies are still in last place then, this team will have more flaws and issues than we ever could have imagined.
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Regardless of left-right matchups, I felt Thome was the wrong guy, period, because you need a contact hitter there. Polanco, despite his struggles, would have been the better choice. But now hearing that Thome had made good contact vs. Lopez, and that Polanco's numbers were poor, it wasn't a horrible choice statistically. (Still not the best option in my view.) At a certain point, players simply have to come through in clutch situations. Because with this club, there are going to be a LOT of close games. Already, this team is a few clutch hits away from being 7-5 or even 8-4... It's still early, but Thome is starting to feel like a bad option in almost any situation. That seems like a decision for early May.— PhilaLogic- Time to fire gross and bring in a professional hitting coach like Milt Thompson------oh never mind.— tmkatz
- time to start trading ( sorry doc and cliff ) and rebuild— moremaui
- Refreshing to see this type of candor from the media regarding the efforts of this team right now. We thank you.— Sam Crow
Comment removed.- It is only going to get worse.— eaglesman1
- Seasons Over— FABER
- It doesn't really matter how good your pitching staff is if you can't consistently put up 3 or more runs most nights. They could have had Ryan Franklin starting last night and gotten the same result.— Bobby G
- At least the Phils pitching has been good. Just got to find some players who can hit.— zeke128
- Cholly manual again rears his massive incompetence and LOSES a game for the Phils and I don't mean literally "lose" because he can't pitch or hit......but he is responsible for putting the right player out there at the right time but did he? NO! He used Tome in a critical situation with Ruiz on second and one out and then stuck with him when Bochy brought in a lefty because Tome is Cholly's buddy! He left Wiggington at third base knowing that defense was now the priority in late innings, inexcusable! How long can Phillies fans tolerate the astounding ineptitude of Cholly Manuel? These examples from last night perfectly support the case I have presented for three years now, that Manuel is one of the most incompetent field managers in Major league baseball and that he has erroneously been credited with the Phillies winning ways over the last 5 years where in reality, he was only an impediment and its a credit to the teams talent that they won DESPITE his inept, imbecilic field management. Now that he is exposed without Utley and Howard to save him, its quite apparent that the case for Manuels incompetence is now explicitly demonstrated and will continue to show itself in all its ugliness. Cholly might be a nice guy, I have got nothing against him but he is a huge detriment to the team and now more than ever since he took over from Bowa, they desperately need a real MANAGER who is skilled with field tactics, strategy and can communicate in coherent, 21st century English. The Phils will likely end up in last place or at least 4th and the only way we can pressure the team to cleanse itself of their inept management will be to fire Amaro, Manuel and all the coaches along with their scouts and minor league management. The Phillies need a purge and they need it now!— daystrum
- Brookover wrote the article just for you Bisquit? daystrum. It must mean they are listening to you. You write with such panache and with such conviction how could an normal thinking solid American not just hang on your every word. Any moment I bet Dave Montgomery will be calling you for your advice about how to go forward. You should really be running the club. Just wondering if Dave knows which screen name he needs to check to find out where to contact you? ( lest there be a doubt ,this is sarcasm , don't wait up for the call)
— DUDESKINS - We don't know if the sky is falling -- yet. Of our first 19 games (through April 25), 13 are on the road. If we emerge from that at, say, 9-10, OK. Not great, but OK. Then, 18 of our next 26 games are at home, through May 23. If we're not at .550 or better by then, we can tape tin foil on the windows and huddle in our basements.— eman
- The GM did not do his job. There were bats available. He spent too much on Paplebon and at a garage sale. The GM is at fault. The manager can do so much. Pitching is important for success, but so is hitting. For the old timers, the Indians had 4 20 game winners and could not win a World Series. You have to score to win.— wmontanez27
- Don't know how much more time is needed to grasp the glaringly evident realization that Thome, Wigginton, Nix, and Polanco no longer have what it takes to be on a MLB roster.— Seegs
- Utley really threw this team under a bus and Amaro put blind faith on hims that he would be honest with them. Utley could have told them that his knees still hurt and he might not be ready for the season, but he says nothing until 2 weeks until the start of the regular season and Amaro is left scrambling. At least with the hitting, it is an easier fix than pitching or D. One idea is maybe taking a flier on Carlos Lee. Even if the Phils have to go over the luxury tax to get him, he would be pretty cheap and can fill in at 1st until RH comes back and then put him in LF (cant be much worse than Ibanez or Burrell). Big boost to the offense.— ESFjellin
