Video: Can the Phillies cure their offensive woes?
Video: Are the injuries to Ryan Howard and Chase Utley entirely to blame for the Phillies' early offensive ineptitude? Bob Brookover of the Inquirer discusses the Phillies' struggles.
Video: Can the Phillies cure their offensive woes?
Philly.com Staff
Video: The returns of Ryan Howard and Chase Utley are a long way off. Can the Phillies solve their offensive problems in the meantime? Bob Brookover of the Inquirer discusses the Phillies' struggles.
Comments (47)
Ruiz came up as an infielder. Until Utley returns, put him at 3rd, move Polly to 2nd and bring up Kratz to catch. Kratz was one of the best hitters in Spring Training, hits the ball hard & for power and seems to find his way on base.......or we could just keep doing what we are doing and enjoy looking up at the Mets in the standings.— kelprod2- You will soon see why Rube brought back former mentor Ed Wade. Starting Memorial Day when the Phils are solidly in last place, Rube and Eddie will start flipping this team like Brad Pitt did in his movie. By the All Star Break the Phils will be back to .500 and will begin their August/September march to a Wild Card Spot with their new MONEY-BALL roster. If we are lucky Wheeler and the other TV Analyst will be replaced in the boothe by Abbott and Costello.— garcia7
- This is the guy who can help us in the near future. He's off to a good start in Reading after two bad luck seasons. I awalys liked this kid when we got him as a 21 year old in the Cliff Lee deal:
http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120409&content_id=28274318&vkey=news_t522&fext=.jsp&sid=t522
— EL Zorro - The Phils need to put one lineup on the field and let these guys play their way into hitting shape. These guys all know how to hit and score runs. They just need some time to put it all together. By trying to empty the bench every game, the times at bat are being spread too thin among a number of players who will probably not be able to significantly help the team this year. Wigginton has been hitting fly balls 300 feet into outfielders' gloves. Nix has been turning the strikeout into a South Philly art form. On the other hand, Pierre and Mayberry have had a few hits and shown the ability to get more once their strokes become more fluid. Galvis has shown some pop and the ability to bunt and will start to hit for average as he gains more experience and confidence. Ruiz, Rollins, Polanco, Victorino and Pence are better-than-average hitters who just need some more swings to get their groove back. The Phils have a core of very good players who are competitors and hungry to win. These guys just need a few more swings and the runs will come. The Phils have started slow before and had very good seasons. This year will be no exception.— onthebucks
- BTW, bear, Podsenik reported today and played. He took the collar in 4 AB and so did Dom Brown and a lot of Piggies. They lost 8-0.— EL Zorro
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
- the bench consists of a bunch of has-beens and never-was. the uncle cholly booble-head knows more about hitting than the real-life "hitting guru." if not for the pitching this could be a long season indeed.— coloradoeagle
- I realize that for a guy Manuel's age 2007 seems like yesterday, but his only chance to get out of this is to go with youth in the line-up, written in stone, every game. Rollins, Nix, Pierre, Thome, Polanco, Ruiz, Wiggington etc. aren't getting younger or better. Neither are Utley and Howard and they both have to beat injuries. But guys in their 20s with ability just might catch fire, so you need to hitch your wagon to them, hope they develop, and that with the all-time great starters it will be enough to get into the playoffs.— jtj06
- Zorro! I am with you on Gillies. He could be a real find if the kid can stay healthy. Speed, a little pop and a very exciting player to watch. He would have been close to being here this season if he had stayed healthy. I could imagine him leading off this year and giving us a real lead off hitter. Just what we need this year instead of Pierre..lol— pattymac3
- -"and this cancer is in the farm" Reading is the future and they are 5-0. This cancer is down in the farm???? Funny— pattymac3
- "never seen a contending team, healthy or not, allow a pitcher to get away with fastballs."
This person knows nothing about baseball.— p-diddy - Odd, but teams that don't generate offense, even if they have great pitching, don't excite me. It is extremely difficult to watch this club right now. Coincidentally, there was Raul Ibanez driving in the winning run last night for the Yankees. (He has 6 rbis this year; the Phils have 8 as an entire team). Is Raul the answer? No, it's quite likely that he'll play reasonably well in the occasional DH role for NY, but we won't see much of him in the field unless Swisher, Jones, and Gardner all get hurt. That aside, there is a general feeling of deadness radiating from the Phillies right now. Hard to see this club selling out every game!— john newlin
- polanco is a big part of the problem,....he looks old and slow and will miss time for the smallest of injuries,...Beltran signed roughly the same deal as poly about a month later and beltre has hit 300 with 25 doubles and 25 hr and roughly 85-95 rbi's every year of the contract so far— SyddBarrett
- Okay, suppose I buy into your argument that a fielding challenged Dominic Brown is worth the chance if he hits at a 300 clip. Do we make that move now and put Mayberry as the everyday 1st baseman? And bring back Podesky in place of Nix? When should these moves be made? Now? Or at the end of April? Me? I prefer the latter. Let's see how the Phillies fare until then.— VANDERGRAAFK
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The Phillies Zone is the place for up-to-the-minute Phillies coverage from the Inquirer.
Matt Gelb
Inquirer Staff Writer
Bob Brookover
Inquirer Baseball Columnist
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