A failed approach
Juan Pierre wore a T-shirt and shorts after the Phillies' latest loss, and his voice was all that could be heard in a silent clubhouse.
A failed approach
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
Juan Pierre wore a T-shirt and shorts after the Phillies' latest loss, and his voice was all that could be heard in a silent clubhouse.
He was attempting to find some silver lining to another series loss, clinched by a 7-4 defeat to New York.
"Better than before when we weren't scoring any runs at all," Pierre said. "Pick your poison. Once you score, you want to keep scoring. But we're starting to move the ball better. A couple days got out of hand late and we couldn't bounce back. We're starting to move the ball throughout the lineup. That's a good sign."
True, but the Phillies once again scored early only to fold later. And there are concerning trends to an offense Charlie Manuel believes is pressing.
"I think we're tight," Manuel said. "I think we try too hard. That's why we chase bad balls out of the strike zone when we're ahead in the count. I think that's why we swing at first-pitch bad balls and so on. I think when we have to do something, that's how they feel - we have to do something, and we have to do it right now."
The numbers support that statement.
When ahead in the count, Phillies hitters have an .845 OPS. That is the worst in baseball; the league average is .960. Incredibly, in the 395 plate appearances in which a Phillies batter is ahead in the count, he has drawn a walk only 69 times. Those 395 plate appearances are more than 11 other teams. But their 69 walks are the second-fewest in baseball. Only the Pirates (66) have fewer.
With a three-ball count, the Phillies have an OPS of .780. That is the worst in baseball; the league average is .975.
With a full count, the Phillies have an OPS of .552. That is the worst in baseball; the league average is .815.
What we're talking about is a systematic failure to succeed even when the situation favors the hitter. The Phillies actually rank 18th in the majors with a .476 OPS when the pitcher is ahead in the count.
When last winter began, the Phillies talked about their hitters adopting a smarter approach at the plate: Play situational baseball; see more pitches; lay off the breaking balls when the count is in your favor.
To even tread water, they must improve their offensive thinking.
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
- As a player, RS couldn't lay off a slider in the dirt from a RHP, so hopefully he can teach that better than he can execute it. There is a nice program they can get on their laptops that can teach applicable pitch recognition (http://www.sloansportsconference.com/?p=5486). I know they don't go for all that modern hoo-hah and prefer to steal signs, but I think it would be effective in helping them figure out how to hit.
— jtj06 - Also I think it should be pointed out that the patient hitters from the past (werth, Ibanez etc.) are gone, replaced by swing hard and strike out hitters. Only Pierre has the plate discipline we are looking for.— Trot
- Whoever "coaches" hitting in Philsville is obviously not getting the job done. It's time for BOTH Manuel and Gross to move on. Promote Sandberg and find a hitting coach who knows BOTH hitting AND coaching. It may be Sandberg in both cases. To paraphrase JF Dulles, "The test of leadership is not whether you have problems, it whether you have the same problems you had last year." That said, methinks Amaro may have to go too.— Xyzzyx
- The more analyses you look at, the more the obvious conclusion screams out - the Phils just don't have many good hitters on the roster. And as guys with big names approach their thirtysomething years, decline is inevitable. It has very little to do with "approach", but that makes the problem sound more solvable.— Bobby G
- Bobby G, 100% correct! This is a team of third-rate players on offense. Pence is not a savior. He did better when he had Howard batting next to him. Rollins is played out as is his one-pitch at bats. The bench is awful. Who is their leading hitter? Ruiz? The focus on pitching has left this team with a bunch of .220 hitters who strike out in clutch situations. — carnivor52
- The whole thing has grown stale. Charlie's isn't the problem, but he's most certainly not the solution. That said, it's time to put him out to pasture and bring in Sandberg.— beegal99
- The self-proclaimed "hitting guru" has been found out to be a fake, phoney, fraud. Some of us knew this 5 years ago.— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
- Trot, Greg Gross was an excellent hitter off the bench. But he's not getting the job done as a coach, and since Charlie's probably not going anywhere just yet, it will be GG to be the first to go. Then maybe the players will get the message. It's not like we can sit any of them and let someone else get a chance. At least Pierre is getting on base and Mayberry seems to be finding his swing.— The K Man
- The Phillies are almost all the way back to their dysfunctional management days when Bill Giles and Ed Wade were running the team. Why even bother fielding half a team? Sure the starting pitching is great but that little consolation when the rest of the team is in disarray. Thank goodness they had a few good years thanks to Pat Gillick. The things he did for this organization can never be overestimated.— AvoidSundanceVacations
- Can't the manager change all this by just putting on the "take" sign until he wants the hitter to swing? It's painfully obvious that he can't trust the players to make a right decision. Who runs this team anyway?— Mark1npt
I am a Charlie Manuel fan and feel indebted to him for the World Championship he captained. If any Phils fan can be honest about this, the team Manuel took over from Bowa was an up and coming young team with major league talent. The ownership felt the team was turning off Bowa so CM was brought in. Fast forward 5 NL East Division titles, a World Series Championship and we are now at the cross roads of an aging nucleus, hurt and/or under achieving. Serious questions must be answered if this team does not respond soon. That team that would run through a wall for Charlie IS NOT the team that takes the field today. Nothing should be owed for this current team as was owed the 2008 World Champs........From the 2011 4 Aces and 102 wins to this is just unacceptable......- So much for "small ball." The other night with two on, nobody out, Mayberry hitting (he never actually hits), he doesn't bunt. He's NEVER put down a sac bunt. The Phillies did not score that inning.— 4thand10
Get back to me in July.— verve- Hitting coaches have nothing to do in the majors. Players make it to the majors on their talents. The already know how to hit or they wouldn't be in the majors. The lone exception, Galvis who needed more time in the minors to learn to be a better hitter but was rushed by necessity. Hitting coaches aren't going to chnage anything at the major league level. Players trying to change from what got them to the majors only makes for more trouble. (as I said all winter, leopards don't/can't/won't change their spots).....so Amaro needed to go out and get more of the types of players that he needed to play this different type of baseball. The only player of this tyrpe he brought in was Pierre and he's worked out great. Everybody else is the same old, same old they've always been, or worse. You can't put a quarterhorse in the Kentucky Derby and expect him to go the distance and win. He ain't that kind of horse. This is as painful as having watched Andy Ried try to fit a square McNabb peg in his round hole of a WCO for 9 years and wondering why he never won a championship. You gotta have the right parts in place for the right style of play or you get this dysfunctional type of team. No one can argue that the Eagles haven't been dysfunctional for many years and now the Phils are too....— Mark1npt
- Exactly. Hitting "coaches", bench "coaches", etc. are only really there for one reason. To huddle with the skipper as advisers and buddies. They are there to give Charlie someone to talk to and reflect with, but don't do any real instruction to the established players other than to offer a suggestion here and there of what they're "seeing." The guy who gives massages is probably more useful. So, if GG is sacrificed it will be to appease the masses but is unlikely to make one iota difference in the product you see on the field. Sometimes there are no answers other than to say this team isn't very good and/or lucky at seizing opportunities at the moment. They just aren't playing winning baseball because of concentration lapses and an overall unmotivated style of play. Sometimes things run their course and it's just time for a change (ask Larry Brown, 76ers, circa. 2003)
— Sam Crow
