Phillies face power shortage
CLEARWATER, Fla. - The two most assumable things when the gates swung open at Citizens Bank Park in April of 2004 were that no elite pitchers would ever want to come to Philadelphia and the Phillies would never finish last in baseball in home runs.
CLEARWATER, Fla. - The two most assumable things when the gates swung open at Citizens Bank Park in April of 2004 were that no elite pitchers would ever want to come to Philadelphia and the Phillies would never finish last in baseball in home runs.
In the ballpark's infancy, lots of guys pitched and moaned about the close proximity of the flower beds in left field to home plate.
Recently named Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz infamously called the ballpark a "joke" and "the worst decision ever made" because of how easy it was to hit a home run there.
"They'll prove me wrong if they win a championship," he said.
Smoltz, of course, could not have been more wrong. The Phillies won the World Series in 2008 and aces like Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee decided that Philadelphia was exactly the place they wanted to be in the years that followed.
Now, the Phillies also appear to be on a mission to prove the other assumption about Citizens Bank Park incorrect. A year ago, they finished tied for 20th in baseball in home runs with 125. It was their lowest total since 1997 when they hit 116. Since then, they have traded rightfielder Marlon Byrd and shortstop Jimmy Rollins, the two guys who finished first and third on the team in home runs last season with a combined 42.
There is no pretension that Ryan Howard is going to be resurrected as the most dangerous long-ball hitter in baseball or that Chase Utley is going to return to the days when he could hit 30 home runs. There is hope that Darin Ruf and Maikel Franco can become a new generation of power hitters, but the Phillies are realistic about their lack of power.
"Some guys will hit some home runs," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "We're just not going to hit a lot of them. We don't have a lot of power on our club."
During the winter caravan banquets last month, manager Ryne Sandberg started publicly sending the message that things needed to be done differently on offense.
"We need to come up with a team concept and an offensive philosophy that is not about waiting for home runs to score runs," he said. "I thought at times last year we did a good job at creating some opportunities with some bunts and getting guys at second and third with one out or bunting a guy over . . . but we couldn't get them in because we had the strikeouts.
"I'm really going to stress with the coaching staff to have a game plan to make an adjustment with two strikes to put the ball in play. Think about having quality at-bats even if they're outs to advance runners and I think that will at least be a step in the right direction with a team that could be a contact type of team."
The Phillies were not a great contact team last season. Their 1,306 strikeouts were the eighth most in baseball.
Eight different hitting coaches in this spring-training camp are all stressing similar things: Learn to become good situational hitters (move runners, make quality outs, etc.) and swing down on the baseball in an effort to hit more line drives.
"I think the overall theme so far has been to consciously try to approach the ball from the top down as opposed to trying to lift the ball," Ruf said. "They keep reiterating to swing down on the ball. What I think he hopes that creates is more of a level swing."
Given the definition of insanity, you can't blame the Phillies for trying something different. Howard is on board with a new approach, too. In batting practice, he has had a more closed stance and is standing more upright. He also has dropped his hands, an alteration he started making last season.
"He has been working on an approach for about two or three months now," Sandberg said. "I think that's something he has come up with on his own, so there is some talk to find something he can bring to the ballpark on a daily basis and be productive."
It's no secret that better pitching and less use of performance-enhancing drugs have led to fewer home runs overall. Baltimore was the only team in baseball with more than 200 home runs in each of the last two seasons. In 2004, 10 teams reached that number.
The Phillies, however, did not just have problems hitting home runs. They were also 25th in doubles and 24th in extra-base hits. Their 251 doubles were the fewest since 1996. The 403 extra-base hits were the fewest since 1995.
Not surprisingly, the Phillies also struggled to score runs, finishing tied for 23d in baseball with 619. In Sandberg's view, more runs can be scored even if the Phillies hit fewer home runs. He pointed to the two World Series teams. The American League champion Kansas City Royals finished last in baseball with 95 home runs, but they were 14th with 651 runs. The National League champion San Francisco Giants only hit seven more home runs than the Phillies, but they were 12th in baseball with 665 runs.
Give Sandberg and the Phillies credit for trying to instill a different offensive approach in this camp. It is still hard to believe, however, that a team playing in Citizens Bank Park can no longer rely on the home run as its greatest weapon.
@brookob