Posted: Monday, June 23, 2008, 12:37 PM | 27 comments |
 

We're Back, Phillies Fall Back
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Chase Utley gets a hit and scores in yesterday's 3-2 loss to the Angels. They could use more of that this week from Utley.

Like The Onion's Jim Anchower would say, "Hola, amigos. It's been a while since I rapped at ya," but I left the country this weekend for a wedding. But I'm back in the States and packing for a three-city, nine-game, 10-day road trip through Oakland, Texas and Atlanta.

What did I miss while I was gone?

Oh, yeah. The Phillies are in a nasty funk, losing seven of their last eight games. Since June 8, when the Phillies swept the Braves at Turner Field, the Phillies are 3-9, which ties them with the Astros and Blue Jays for the worst record in baseball. Fortunately for the Phillies, nobody in the NL East is really playing well -- the Mets are 7-5 while the Marlins and Braves are 6-7 since June 8 -- so they've been able to hold onto first place. But there's no question they need to pull themselves together on this road trip.

Charlie Manuel called their just completed 1-5 homestand against the Red Sox and Angels a good test.

They flunked.

*

Chase Utley finally snapped his hitless streak. I think it's safe to say they really could stand for him to go on a tear this week.

*

In the Phillies Notebook, what was So Taguchi thinking yesterday?
Posted by Todd Zolecki @ 12:37 PM  Permalink | 27 comments
27
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:24 PM, 06/23/2008
    Hey everybody, Dad's back. Hurry up and hide all bad stuff so he thinks we were good while he was gone.
    — timm
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:39 PM, 06/23/2008
    Thanks for the chuckle, Timm!
    — KarenA
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:17 PM, 06/23/2008
    Taguchi sure isn't having a great run so far in Philly. That misplayed ball in left the other night made Burrell look like a gold-glover. Charlie's had things pretty sweet so far this year, but he got bit on this one. Taguchi should have been taking all the way, and it really shouldn't have been Taguchi at all. Plus, it was a no-brainer that once the runner went to 2nd, they'd walk Jimmy. So much for thinking 2 moves ahead. As for the team overall? They're definitely not this bad. But without starting pitching to at least keep them in games, they'll be vulnerable to bad stretches like this when the offense goes cold.
    — bobby
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:38 PM, 06/23/2008
    Why is Taguchi on this team? Bring up Golson and let him play LF/run for Pat. SOOO Long!
    — Casey
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:43 PM, 06/23/2008
    Casey, Golson is hurt. He has a bad left wrist. He is going to be side lined for another couple of weeks.
    — Beef69
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:56 PM, 06/23/2008
    Welcome back Zo. I was at the game yesterday and could not believe my eyes when I saw So swing at that pitch. Either way the offense stunk and they need to get their act together or it'll be a battle of the 85 game winners come September.
    — davemarsh
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:58 PM, 06/23/2008
    JIMMYMACK: Glad to hear you're not afflicted with GavinFloyditis. You are right, he wasn't that impressive when he was here. The question is, why not? I understand that some guys take a bit longer to develop and all that, but really. When one pitcher after another either does well before they get here and then pitches poorly with us(i.e. Millwood), or pitches poorly with us and then turns it around with someone else(i.e. Floyd), doesn't that say something about us? Why are we not turning around guys who struggled elsewhere? Why are we not getting more out of the guys we have? It is not just happenstance. Just look back to a week ago Saturday against the Cardinals. Lohse pitched much better than he ever did for us and Ryan Franklin, who was lousy for us, got the save. Pitching coaches like Duncan and Mazzone are worth their weight in gold. Maybe if we had a pitching coach of that quality(and a couple more in the minors, as well) we wouldn't need to be wringing our hands over whether or not we should trade Carasco and Bastardo in an attempt to land a top of the rotation starter.
    — bski
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:11 PM, 06/23/2008
    Zo, do you get the feeling the players think everthing is still fine or do you think they know deep down the team is flawed? Do they look around the clubhouse and say to themselves "Damn, we have a championship team here!" It's just frustrating becasue the team is playing absolutely terrible and there does not seem to be long-term consistent play in sight. Enough games have been played that some players (Howard) who shall be nameless (Meyers) are most likely not going to get much better. We can say all we want that these players will "turn it around" but at what point is that not even relevant? I certainly see the Phils winning 82-88 games, but anything more than that is probably wishful thinking.
    — MrPhillie
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:19 PM, 06/23/2008
    Why do they need to remove Burrell??? His defense is not that bad and So what has stunk up the place all season long. I never understood why they made a defensive switch that is such a waste. Ramirez never gets pulled in Boston and he makes Pat look like a gold glover. Charlie has been frustrating in his calling duties again he seems to hit a wall at times or panics and makes bad decisions in terms of pulling players. Lets all Calm down more games to play and The East Stinks!!
    — geektothecorenj
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:37 PM, 06/23/2008
    JIMMYMACK: Glad to see your not afflicted with GavinFloyditis. You are right. He wasn't very impressive when he was here. Makes you wonder why, doesn't it. I understand that some guys take longer to develop and all that, but really. Why is it that either a pitcher has success before he gets here and then pitches poorly for us(i.e. Millwood), or a guy who pitches poorly here turns it around after he leaves(i.e. Floyd)? Why don't we turn around pitchers who have struggled elsewhere? Why aren't more of our pitchers successful? This isn't just happening occasionally. The Phils have a long track record on this score. It can't be happenstance. Just look back to a week ago Saturday. Kyle Lohse pitched much better against us than he ever did for us while Ryan Franklin, who was lousy out of the pen for us, pitched well in earning the save. It clearly shows that guys like Dave Duncan and Leo Mazzone are worth their weight in gold. Maybe if we had a pitching coach of that caliber we'd be getting a lot more out of the pitchers we have. Add to that a couple more quality pitching coaches in the minors and we wouldn't need to even consider trading Carasco and Bastardo in an attempt to get a top of the rotation starter.
    — bski
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:43 PM, 06/23/2008
    JIMMYMACK:
    — bski
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:59 PM, 06/23/2008
    JIMMYMACK: Glad to hear you're not afflicted with GavinFloyditis. You are right. He wasn't very impressive when he was here. Don't you wonder why that is? I realize that some guys take longer to develop and all that, but I think there's more to it than that. How many times has it happened that either a pitcher who has had success before they come here pitches poorly once we get him(i.e. Millwood), or that a pitcher who pitches poorly here turns it around somewhere else(i.e. Floyd)? Why don't we turn around pitchers who have struggled elsewhere? Why don't we get more out of pitchers when they are here? It can't be happenstance. You know the Phils have a long track record for this and we're not talking about one guy here and there. You only have to go back to a week ago Saturday for another example. Kyle Lohse pitched better against us than he ever did for us, while Ryan Franklin, who was lousy out of the pen for us, nailed down the save. It just goes to show that guys like Dave Duncan and Leo Mazzone are worth their weight in gold. Maybe if we had a pitching coach of that caliber, we'd be getting a lot more out of the pitchers we have. Maybe if we had a couple more quality pitching coaches in the minors, we wouldn't be wringing our hands over whether or not we should trade pitchers like Carrasco and Bastardo in an attempt to get a top of the rotation starter for two reasons: Either 1) we would have better pitching at the major league level and wouldn't need another starter or 2) If we did need one, we wouldn't have to worry as much about trading a couple of pitching prospects because we would have more than just two of them in the farm system.
    — bski
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:50 PM, 06/23/2008
    I really don't get why we have such bad luck when we acquire *promising* players in the off-season. Don't get me started on Freddy Garcia! Bruntlett and Jenkins have adjusted pretty well. But Taguchi was going to be our savior off the bench. Best record in the majors last year! What the heck happened? Not enough playing time? Definitely bring up Snelling! (He's off the DL KarenA) I've been a supporter of his since Spring Training. (No comments from you, Clinton, NJ!) Or T.J. Bohn. ANYBODY!!!!
    — Norma
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:34 PM, 06/23/2008
    Well, Ken Mandel must have read my mind. LOL! Check out the Phillies site. In the *mailbag* someone asked about replacing Taguchi. Ken suggested he doesn't get enough playing time. But also added, he doesn't deserve it. He also mentioned bringing up Snelling or Bohn.
    — Norma
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:01 PM, 06/23/2008
    JIIMYMACK: Glad to see you are not afflicted with GavinFloyditis. You are right that he was not very impressive when he was here. Do you ever wonder why? I realize that some guys develop more slowly and all that but don't you think there's more to it? How many pitchers have we had over the years who were either successful before they got here then pitched poorly for us(i.e. Millwood), or pitched poorly for us then turned it around with someone else(i.e. Floyd)? Why don't these guys pitch well when they are here? Why don't we turn around pitchers who have pitched poorly elsewhere? Since we're talking about many pitchers over many years, it can't be just happenstance. You only need to look back to a week ago Saturday for another prime example. Kyle Lohse is pitching better for the Cardinals than he did for us and Ryan Franklin, who was lousy in our pen, nailed down the save. It clearly illustrates the fact that guys like Dave Duncan and Leo Mazzone are worth their weight in gold. Maybe we should stop looking to trade for a top of the line starter and pick up a top of the line pitching coach instead. Maybe if we had one we'd be getting a lot more out of our pitchers. In addition, if we had a couple top notch pitching coaches in the minors: 1) we might not have a need for another starter, as we would better develop what we've got and 2) if we did need one, we wouldn't need to agonize over parting with a couple prospects like Carrasco and Bastardo because they wouldn't be the only ones we've got in our system.
    — bski


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About Matt Gelb and Bob Brookover












Bob Brookover and Matt Gelb team up for their third straight season covering the Phillies for the Inquirer and philly.com.

This is Brookover’s second stint writing about the Phillies, having joined the coverage team after seven years as an Eagles beat writer. Brookover was hired by The Inquirer in 2000 as the Phillies beat writer after spending 13 years writing about the team for two suburban newspapers. While on the Eagles beat, Brookover, who had covered just two winning Phillies teams in 15 seasons, saw the Phillies move into a cash-cow new ballpark and begin playing a brand of the game he found unrecognizable. Follow him on Twitter here.

Gelb is in his third season covering the Phillies. He was hired by The Inquirer in August 2009 after graduating from Syracuse University. He has also covered baseball at The Star-Ledger and Cape Cod Times. Born and raised in Bucks County, he attended Central Bucks High School West. Follow him on Twitter here.
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