Reason to be Concerned?
The Phillies came up small against the Boston Red Sox this week. They haven't been playing well for more than a week, either. Reason to be concerned?
Reason to be Concerned?
Todd Zolecki
The Phillies entered a killer stretch in their schedule June 6, when they began a 24-game run in which they played 18 games on the road. That stretch included games against first-place teams like the Red Sox and Angels, and second-place teams like the Marlins and Cardinals.
It is a good test for a team with World Series aspirations.
But they’re at the halfway point of that stretch and they’re 6-6. They’re 3-0 against the Braves, 1-2 against the Marlins 1-2 against the Cardinals and 1-2 against the Red Sox, which included yesterday’s 7-4 loss at Citizens Bank Park. They've lost three-straight series for the first time since last August.
They certainly lost some games they should have won, but so far they certainly haven’t thrived like fans had hoped.
Jim Salisbury takes a look at some of the flaws that have prevented the Phillies from extending their lead in the NL East.
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Chase Utley is hitless in his last 20 at-bats, the longest hitless streak of his career. But if there’s any hitter on the Phillies that doesn’t concern me when he’s in a slump, it’s Utley. He’ll be fine. His swing is just too good to stay in a funk like this too long. But it might not be a coincidence that the Phillies are 1-4 during his hitless streak.
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Fans still are angry with J.D. Drew, who killed the Phillies yesterday.
Maybe it’s time to move on.
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In the Phillies Notebook, Kyle Kendrick’s struggles and more.
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I might be out of commission for the next few days. If I can post, I will. Otherwise ... talk amongst yourselves.
Comments (89)
It may not be time for panic as much as people think..... there are 66 games after the all-star break; currently only 23 of them will be against teams with a winning record. Of course, this assumes that teams like the Mets and Braves stay below .500, but for now the softest part of the schedule is upcoming. If the Phils have 50-55 wins by the break, they'll be fine.— drbob1- CHEWY59: Thanks for your input. I did say that adding a bat would be plan B, right? I threw this out there as an "in case we can't land another starter" scenario. I would love to pick up a bona fide #1 or #2 starter. It's just that at the deadline there usually isn't much out there. When you add the fact that we will be involved in a bidding war and most likely give up a lot in order to get one of the few decent offerings, it doesn't seem to be a very likely scenario. The only guy I feel would be worth going after is Bedard. We will give up a lot to get him, but he's still got a couple years left on his contract so we'll have him for a while(Mark, I know you don't want 3 lefties on the staff---no good for CBP). I don't like picking up 1/2 year rental pitchers at all. Too pricey for what you get. You know, after all that typing it occurred to me that what we are really missing is Aaron Rowand. He would be the ideal solution to the lineup. Werth and Jenkins may turn out to be fine, but they are not giving us what Rowand did. The dip in productivity from him to them is noticeable. I'm not saying that I would've gone the 5 years to keep him, but I wish he was still here.— bski
- Also glad today is off day. Gives everyone a chance to regroup/re-energize and getting ready to kick some butt tomorrow. bski: nice analysis--lots of positive and constructive ideas.— KarenA
I don't see any way around the need for a 2nd strong starting pitcher. No news there, right? And I really don't see a "Plan B" if we can't get one. The Phils bench players (Werth, Jenkins, Dobbs, Bruntlett, Toguchi, and yes, Coste) should be able to provide enough offensive punch. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to pick up a solid bat that's proven (think Jeff Conine of a few years ago), but to me that's a very small part of the puzzle. A quick look at this pitching staff and trying to come up with a playoff rotation, and it becomes very apparent that there's a huge hole. The steps Phils management takes (or doesn't take) to fill that hole will likely determine how far this team goes this season.— bobby
Don't we all think it's time to put away any talk about the Phillies being an elite team? Yes, they are a very dangerous team. And, yes, they have quite a bit of talent .. in some areas. But, once again, this team will only go as far as its pitching will take it. Right now, any of us who has followed the Philles for 40 or more years will say that this team's pitching is not very good. The big guy with the weird eyebrows has proven again and again this year that, as a starter, he's regressed. His concentration is awful. Hamels has been good, and Moyer is servicable. But, this pitching staff isn't fearsome. And, in October, it's all about the pitching.- I've been a Phillies fan for 40+ years and have been reading this blog (painful as it is at times) for 2. Yes, there are high hopes for the Phils, but I don't recall a single instance of anyone here claiming that they are "an elite team." On the contrary, I think we all see the weak spots very clearly and most of the talk on here involves how to improve the club so we can be playing in October.— bobby
- Thankfully someone has mentioned the main source of the ill's facing this team, Aaron Rowand. They miss him dearly. They could have signed have signed him 3/40mil and overpaid to win a series this year but didnt. CHEAPNESS will destroy you everytime. How good would his .300 plus avg look in our 6 hole? Not to mention his leadership.— Truth
- Thankfully someone has mentioned the main source of the ill's facing this team, Aaron Rowand. They miss him dearly. They could have signed have signed him 3/40mil and overpaid to win a series this year but didnt. CHEAPNESS will destroy you everytime. How good would his .300 plus avg look in our 6 hole? Not to mention his leadership.— Truth
- Truth, your like those green head flies on the beach. Nasty,annoying,makes you stay away from the beach. Were 10 games over .500, 1st place survived injuries to Rollins and slumps from Utley and Howard , our #1 pitcher has been terrible. Our leader is Manuel, the players love him they won't quit on him. Besides look at the big picture, we need money freed up for Burrell, Howard and Hammels. How's Rowands leadership in San Fran ? Thier in last place.Were in great shape to run away with this division. As for the play-offs thats mostly whos hot and gets the breaks anyway. ALL WE NEED IS TO GET THERE ! The problem with green-heads flies, they don't go away. So I guess will have to put up with your negativity ...— pat h
- Regarding the Phils' chances, I agree with the bulk of the posters here; they're competitive and probably contenders and I expect them to make the playoffs, but their SP (while not at all bad) has to be about one front-of-rotation guy better for them to have realistic chances of going all the way. I'd expected Myers to be that, and he still might be, but he's yet to prove it. No need to change the offense at all. There will be some appropriate SPs available at (maybe before) the trade deadline; question is, at what price? And should the Phils pay it? This team is very close to its peak years right now; Howard will be gone in a couple of years, Burrell might be gone after THIS year, and Rollins FAs in 2012. Of the core, only Utley is around for a while (until 2013). So maybe this IS the time to trade the upcoming talent for a stud rental SP (though that would mean the Phils will enter a losing mode soon for a few years). I personally am against that; I like the idea of having a team that'll be a continual postseason threat, but I completely understand the opposite viewpoint.— marty
- BOBBY & TRDOUGHERTY: I agree completely that pitching is the name of the game, especially come playoff time. Let me explain where I'm coming from. The reason I started this whole plan B debate is because I doubt very much that we will pick up a #1 or #2 starter. Two years ago Gillick picked up Moyer. Last year he picked up Lohse. At best I expect more of the same this year. If I read both of you correctly, neither of you would say that adding a Moyer/Lohse level pitcher will set us up for the playoffs. While it's always possible Gillick may surprise us with a big pick up(he may have another McGriff/Fernandez for Carter/Alomar up his sleeve), I find it unlikely. A couple weeks ago, a lot was made about the fact that the Phils had a pile of draft picks. We were told it was very important for them to restock the farm system. Do either of you think Gillick is going to turn around and package the few prospects we have to pick up a top of the rotation starter now? Do you think he should? I don't, especially if he's only getting a half-year rental in return. If we have a few prospects who can truly help us starting next year, I'd rather hold on to them and just go as far as we can this year with what we have. That's where my plan B of adding another bat came from. I realize that pitching wins championships but, in lieu of that, outscoring people may be our best option this year. Maybe I went with the wrong plan B. If we're going to roll the dice, I'd prefer to bring up a starter from the minors to take Myers' spot in the rotation. That will allow us to move Myers to the pen where he can pitch the 7th or 8th inning and help out Gordon, who can't handle as much work as he is getting. I think that would be a better, less costly gamble than trading several prospects for a pitcher at the deadline.— bski
- CHEWY59: The same message goes for you, as well. In addition, with regard to the disparity in ERA between Coste and Ruiz; I believe that Coste has caught most, if not all, of Myers' starts. If so, I attribute any difference in catcher ERA to Myers and not to Coste. As far as Jenkins and Werth, I just get the feeling that neither one of them is playing enough to really get comfortable. This limits what each of them gives us individually and in turn what we get from the position of right field collectively. Werth, for one, played much better when he was the everyday centerfielder in Victorino's absence.— bski
- Bottom line...can our offense beat the D-backs pitching staff???? I can see it now, come October, thats what the dilema will be!— Clinton, NJ
- The BSKI Zone. Maybe he can borrow Clinton's blow up doll when he isn't using it. That would cut down on his 10 posts per hour. BSKI, freedom of speech notwithstanding, find a new toy. Enough is enough. 'Nuff said.— Nick from the Northeast
- Nobody gets my baby!!!— Clinton, NJ
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