Phillies belong in the basement right now
Last place is the last place you want to be even in the middle of April.
Phillies belong in the basement right now
Bob Brookover
Last place is the last place you want to be even in the middle of April.
But that's where the Phillies stand in the National League East, a division they have dominated for the last five seasons.
They begin a four-game series Thursday night in San Diego in last place and it is the exact place they deserve to be right now.
They have played four series and lost three of them.
They lost two out of three to the Pittsburgh Pirates, a team that is last in baseball in runs scored.
They lost two out of three at home to the New York Mets, the team that just about everybody believes will finish last in N.L. East.
They lost two out of three to the San Francisco Giants even though they had a starting pitcher provide them with 10 scoreless innings Wednesday night at AT&T Park.
Those are the kinds of efforts that anchor a team at the bottom of a division.
Everybody knew when the Phillies left spring training that they were flawed, but it's different when you actually see it.
The Pirates have the worst offense in baseball, but the Phillies without Ryan Howard and Chase Utley are only slightly better.
When manager Charlie Manuel tries to inject some offense, he does so at the risk of exposing players with defensive shortcomings.
Placido Polanco's slumping bat was left in the rack Wednesday night against the Giants, but that meant Ty Wigginton had to defend at third base while Laynce Nix played first. A normally outstanding infield defense instantly becomes mediocre at best.
Wigginton made the 11th-inning error that allowed the Giants to pull out a 1-0 victory that Matt Cain deserved every bit as much as Cliff Lee.
Charlie Manuel had a chance to be the man to make a difference, but he defied conventional wisdom by letting a left-handed hitter face a left-handed pitcher when he had the option to do otherwise.
With Carlos Ruiz at third base and one out in the top of the 11th, Manuel sent up Jim Thome to hit for Lee, who had provided the Phillies with one of the most memorable pitching performances in franchise history during a game that was played at a pace that defied television-commercial delays.
When Giants manager Bruce Bochy replaced righthander Sergio Romo with lefty Javier Lopez, Manuel had two decent options: Polanco or John Mayberry Jr.
They'd be better options, of course, if they were not both mired in early-season slumps. Manuel explained after the game that he thought Thome was his best option to drive a fly ball deep for a sacrifice fly. He recited Thome's numbers against Lopez and noted he had put the ball in play eight times in 11 at-bats.
Not this time, however. Thome struck out, Mayberry hit for Juan Pierre and grounded out softly to end the top of the 11th. Wigginton's error was followed by Melky Cabrera's game-winning hit to right field off Antonio Bastardo.
Polanco was 1-for-7 against Lopez, but had never struck out against him and is still a better option to make contact than Thome. Mayberry had never faced Lopez until the at-bat after Thome struck out and his weak grounder to shortstop would not have plated the run.
You can't win if you can't score and it does not appear as if the Phillies' struggle for runs is going to end any time in the near future.
That's the main reason they are in last place for the first time since April 20, 2007 and it has to be the main topic of discussion when general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. and his band of decision makers are behind closed doors.
Great starting pitching and the schedule are the two things the Phillies have in their favor as they attempt to escape their unfamiliar place in the standings. They play eight of their next 11 games against the Padres and Chicago Cubs, who are a combined 6-19. Three games against a good Arizona Diamondbacks club are sandwiched in between.
After a nine-game stretch against division rivals — three in Atlanta, three in Washington and three at home against the Mets — the Phillies play seven games against the Padres, Houston Astros and Cubs, who may be the three worst teams in the National League.
The latter stretch ends May 18 and if the Phillies are still in last place then, this team will have more flaws and issues than we ever could have imagined.
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Thank God we have a self-proclaimed "hitting gure" holding down the fort. I'm sure his .198 lifetime average will be an inspiration to all the stiffs RAJ signed in the off season. Anybody venture a guess how many extra base hits Polly Wants A Cracker has had since Aoril 2011?— Wilhelm Von Humboldt- THIS team is absolutely horrible. Painful to watch. Hamels, Halladay, and Lee, are the real victims here. Hope they all get traded to a winner! Cholly couldn't teach a fish to swim!— shady24
- They wouldn't have to rely on signing free agents already in decline to multi year deals kf they ever spent money in the draft or internationally. A team with this much revenue should not be consistently in the bottom of the league in draft spending. They spent more on Thome, Nix, and Wigginton then they spent on the entire draft. RAJ doesnt seem to grasp the value of pre-arb contracts when players generally outproduce their salaries, it is like he enjoys overpaying for past production.— Ed Gein
- Hey Ed how's the lampshade business?— Phillip Phan
- when you give up on a player who heretofore had done well, claim he is through, then he goes to another team and is resurrected, what's that tell you? i'm thinking of dobbs who, for sure, sucked his last season here. marlins pick him up and he's doing very, very, satisfactorily, maybe even as good as laynce nix. hitting coach? hitting gooroo?— bubba church & granny hamner
- The Phils can turn things around by hitting the baseball. Until they show the fans that they are finished, I will reiterate what I (and many, many other fans) have been saying: The Phils have not hit for 2 years - forget Howard and Utley, they have not hit and, very likely, never will again - and currently lack the ability to demonstate otherwise. Good luck, Roy, Cole and Cliff - you had better develop home-run swings, it is all on you!!!— billtfla
- Why couldn't you "experts" covering this team see this coming or were you afraid to write it in spring training lest you lose your pass to the free spread after the game? Look at the life time averages on each player that will only go down with age and how could you not see this coming.....case closed!!!!— John Harvey
- For the guys debating Howard's injury and his setback...I have some inside that says Ryan got the infection from abrasion from working out in Clearwater in new baseball shoes but wearing them without socks for the first week or so. He got an infection in the incision site from the rubbing and sweat moisture. What a colssal oversight. No socks leading to an extra month or two on the DL. Stupid.— Chrisnchris
- Can we please stop all this Charlie Manuel bashing? It's really dumb. This isn't Manuel's fault. The Phillies are not the '82 Cardinals, stealing bases all the time and laying down bunts. They aren't constructed that way. They need a legit #4 hitter the most. Whether Howard can fill that role again when he comes back remains to be seen. More than anything, it's age. Replacing the player Utley used to be isn't exactly easy.— p-diddy
- Just love reading the laments of you poor Philly fans. Oh, my, if only we had Ryan (Mr. "Gulp" with men on) back. Really, let's give him another ten million bucks. We need Chase (mystery of the knees) back in the lineup. Face it people. This isn't a soft, walkover division anymore. The Phillies are toast. To those of you who keep saying it's a "long" season; yep, that's right, especially if you are among those contributing to the CBP sellouts.— fredfromjersey
- Its a long season. CM in my opinion is finding out who he can count on for what, and no doubt has been a little disappointed. He's never been shy about playing hot hands and benching others. Playing Galvis instead of a vet goes against many posters thoughts that he always plays the vets or his buddies. I think he only wants to win. Stick with him for a while.— KvK
this is not an issue of being positive or negative. Facts: Hardly anyone, other than the pitchers, are acting like or playing like major league baseball players Absolutely no energy from rollins, victorino,polanco,mayberry. Has anyone ever watched such uninterested players as they they strike out or ground out and stroll to and from the plate? No emotion, no energy.
Nix and wiggington have never excelled and are playing their usual low caliber offense and defense.
Jim Thome, love the guy, but his game is gone-he needs to refund his salary and retire.
The manager has lost his magic touch, as demonstrated by his 'moves' last evening in San Francisco. Amaro knew he would not have a second baseman for several months, and if he listened to the orthopedist, he would have known that Howard had virtually no chance of playing this year. Yet he did little to bolster the lineup.
We have no offense, very average defense and a great bunch of pitchers.
This is going to be a long year. The fans and the pitching staff deserve much better.
Maybe next year...
the phlash- Managers know the stats, fans and writers don't— dwilly
- Eilex826,by OCTOBER you and a BANKfull of fans will have jumped off any bridge near you. This OLD ,no HITTING, no MANAGER TEAM won't be in or near the playoff.— tobyjoe
- I'm sick and tired of reading these articles. These writers are doing nothing but perpetuating the nervousness and panic that were tipped off by previous poor offensive performances in the postseason. We are dealing with having our two best power hitters out of the lineup, in addition to declines from current players, particularly Placido Polanco. Everyone has kept saying that we should not be surprised to see the performances that we've been seeing so far. I feel like I've been reading the same articles for 4 months straight now. We all know the offense stinks right now and the pitching is superb. That is the way this team is built and has been dealing with injuries. Remember this team managed to win 102 games last season and are playing in a relatively weak National League. We've played 13 and are 6-7. At the end of the day, we will have Utley and Howard back (hopefully) and if not, I would be shocked to not see a trade from Amaro. So, relax, get over the fact the season has been playing out the way we all predicted it and let them finish the remaining 149 games— jewishcraig
