“Why can’t we beat the Astros? Why can’t this team get themselves playing October baseball? Why does Charlie Manuel think Tyler Walker is good? Why won’t the Braves lose?”
That’s as far as I got last night before I realized I was too frustrated to keep writing and frankly didn’t want to think about baseball for the rest of the night.
So where is my head at this morning?
- Why are Phillies’ fans nervous even though we still have a 99.4% chance of making the playoffs? Because we’ve seen this story before, only we’ve been on the other end of this the last 2 years. We know full well that the Braves might win the rest of their games and we might tank like the Mets. Is it likely? No. But it’s possible, and that’s enough to get the butterflies going.
- I’m anxious enough that I figured out that our Magic Number to beat the Rockies in the Wild Card is 5. Maybe they will actually lose some games.
- It certainly seems like the main reason the Phillies are struggling is fatigue. Combine the extra-long season last year, with a full year this year, with a unusually few days off in August/September due to make-up games, with an very over-worked and injured bullpen, and you’ve got a tired squad. It might seem like that wouldn’t matter much in baseball, but it only takes a millisecond off your swing to make a huge difference.
- Hopefully they can do something to really excite the home crowd and perhaps a playoff atmosphere will rejuvenate them a little. Last night the crowd had very little to get going.
- The most concerning slumper is Utley. His OPS for September is .693 and he’s only put up 2 HR and 7 RBI. He is usually our most consistent hitter among our many streaky ones. He has left a lot of players on base recently, and we’ve been lucky that Ryan Howard has cleaned a lot of that up.
- I’m done following the Braves games after watching the Marlins walk 11 batters (including the first 3 of the game) and not score a single run on offense after having the lead-off man on in the 1st and 2nd, and the first 2 men on in the 6th and 7th. It’s bad enough watching us play poorly, but watching the team the Braves are facing do the same only makes it worse.
- If we can’t win 2 of 3, at least, against the next 3 Astros’ pitchers (Lopez – 8.44 ERA, Moehler – 5.21 ERA, Paulino – 6.51 ERA), then I’m seriously tempering my expectations for the playoffs.
Overall, I think this team needed to clinch early so they could get some rest for their regulars. Hopefully they can do so before the Florida series so we can get our rotation set and get guys some rest. In the playoffs, I’m still hopeful, because the only team really playing well right now, the Braves, are still 2 games out of the playoffs.
As we know with baseball, it can all change in a few days, and here’s hoping the Phils do what they should against some mediocre right handers and allow me to start writing a playoff preview sooner rather than later.
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{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
This is ridiculous. The Phillies can’t hit or play small ball at all. Everyone glorifies the long ball. The truth is, the Phillies can’t hit. Period. How horrible is Jayson Werth, he can’t do anything good in situational hitting and goes on LONG streaks without any production at all besides walks and home runs. And big deal he gets a lot of walks, no one behind him in the lineup is doing a damn thing either. I THOUGHT Pedro Feliz was going to put a great comeback season together hitting wise, but he’s turned out just as horrible as everyone else. Ibanez is pulling off the ball terribly and can’t hit with power the opposite way since he’s come back from the DL. I just wish that the Phillies would have a couple, just a couple, 300 hitters so they would have some chance of putting a big inning together without hitting two home runs in five batters. I can’t help but cringe whenever Tyler Walker comes into games, but who else is Charlie going to use? Can’t use Lidge as a set up man because he’s even worse in non save situations than normally and everyone else is hurt or struggling besides Condry. All I know is the only way we’re getting into the playoffs this year is if we win at least two more games, because I seriously doubt the Braves are going to lose more than one of their remaining two against the Marlins and four with the lonely Nationals. Even if we make the playoffs, unless we get CG’s from Lee and Hamels in the first round, I think we’re due for an early exit against any team in the NL.
Pete, you’re right on about Utley. He was atrocious in Milwuakee, and Chase Utley very rarely performs atrociously. We’re very lucky Howard has gone on his – now annual – late-season tear.
Yorman Fucking Bazardo?! Really?? Two hit by Yorman Bazardo?? I don’t even know what to think about that. The one highlight of the Brewers series is that even though they lost 2 games they were still able to average 6 runs/game in the series.
If the pitching is going to fall off a cliff, they at least need the bats to work if they want any sort of momentum going into the postseason.
Adam: stop freaking out. “The truth is, the Phillies can’t hit. Period.’ – Does that make sense?
Pete: you’re right about needing to clinch early. now we’re in a time hole. but the Phils always shine in the face of adversity. gotta look at the bright side!
CHILLAX
Phillies are 23rd in the league in team AVG this year, and rely heavily on the long ball, and I mean HEAVILY. 222 home runs this season, the closest NL team to them is the Rockies with 183. The closest playoff teams to the Phillies in avg are the Rockies and the Tigers (both still fighting for their playoff lives). the Cards have hit .263 and the Dodgers have hit .272 respectively this year, the Phillies have hit .258. Just about a week ago everyone was predicting we’d have the NLEast wrapped up by the second game of the Astros series, now I fear losing 3/4 (at best they already swept us this year) to the Astros while the Braves win the remaining two against the Marlins. Then the Phillies would pretty much have to win two games against the Marlins in the final series of the year because the Braves play the Nationals in a four game set, who they just swept a series ago. So no, I will not relax at all. With virtually no bullpen (hopefully Romero stays healthy and Meyers can somehow come back) and with Charlie showing no signs of sending Happ to the closer’s role, which he should have done by now, how can you not be scared for the Phillies?
Todd Zolecki just posted (6:55pm) a pre-game interview with Charlie Manuel:
Charlie Manuel called this a little chat, just a little pep talk for the final six games of the season.
We’ll see if it works.
Manuel called a team meeting before tonight’s game against Houston at Citizens Bank Park because his team has looked listless lately, losing five of its last seven games. Something has to change and change quickly because if the Phillies keep losing and the Braves keep winning life will become unnecessarily stressful for them.
“It was just some things I wanted to tell them,” Manuel said. “It was a very short, positive meeting.”
Did anybody speak up?
“No, I did all the talking,” he said.
The Phillies look tired out there, but Manuel said that is no excuse.
“Look, we haven’t played good,” Manuel said. “If you don’t hit, you don’t look good. If you don’t score runs, you don’t look good. Anytime you don’t hit or score runs, you don’t look good. You’ve got to play through this. Every year, you go through it. You just have to come out and do the things you’re used to doing.
“We’re not in first place because we’re not any good. We’re good. I know we’ve got the best team in our division. I feel that 100 percent.
“We’re still loose. I’d say we’re very loose. We’re not panicking.”
Well, they’re not, but they are making their fan base a little nervous.
I think Charlie has had his finger on the pulse of the team and has done a good job all year of knowing when to speak out. His previous team meetings have had their desired effect and I expect this one will too.
I’ll admit I’m nervous, but not about winning the division. I’m more worried about an early exit from the playoffs. Gotta hope they get themselves together over these final six games and head into the postseason with some momentum.
adam: anxiety wont help em win any game either. luxury of being a fan: blind optimism. why do you think the Detroit Lions still have people in the stadium.
5-2, hmmm this one should be interesting.
bski-
man do I hate Kaz Matsui
ok so i am now officially pleased with the results of the night, and my tension has been eased. I am still extremely worried about the playoffs, but at least we’ll be playing in them, less something extremely radical happens in the next week. Hopefully we clinch tomorrow and get a 2 or 3 day rest for all the position players then bring them back for the last 1 or 2 games in the Marlin series, I feel like leaving them out for the rest of the year might mess up their timing (if anyone has any). For the record, I don’t like Madson pitching the 8th and 9th in the post season, but hopefully we will have some people back so he doesn’t have to!
Awesome job by Madson to close it out. He’s growing into the role (as I predicted he would if given the repetitions) and has to have settled the closer debate for now. The 97 MPH chin music to Pence followed by another 97 MPH fastball on the outside corner was perfect pitching and showed the one thing Madson has lacked to be a complete closer: a nasty streak. Let’s hope it continues.
Under the category of “Anybody else think” … Anybody else think, “Here we go again” when the Phils couldn’t even get the ball out of the infield in the first two innings off Wilton Lopez? And anybody else think, “NO!!!!” when the announcers said Lidge was warming up in the 9th?
The Braves lost tonight! So is our magic number still 2?
(Also the Cardinals lost, let’s just hope the Dodgers do so as well!)
Magic number is 1. Can’t wait til tomorrow!
Charlie scared me when he put Madson in the 8th and I saw Lidge warming up. I started o freak out and hyperventilate. Phew!
Seems Charlie is still doing the Lidge experiment, partly. Hopefully Madson wins the job these next 2 days.
on Jamie Moyer: NOT ANOTHER PITCHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????
potential good news on pitchers…
Other Magic Numbers….
Thanks for the info, Pete. You’re right that we’ve got to hold onto the game we picked up last night and stay ahead of the Cardinals.
Thanks for the recap, Trillo Fan. I didn’t see the game last night (unfortunately I haven’t seen many lately). I checked the box score and saw that Madson pitched two innings, picking up the save in the process, and I wondered how that came to be.
I read that Madson had an easy 8th, but it sure seems like the decision went beyond that. To me, leaving Madson in for the 9th is a clear indication of Charlie’s thinking. He didn’t want to run the risk of losing a game (read: bring in Lidge) that we really needed to win.
Madson said he learned a lesson when he gave up the HR to Wright on a changeup. He has been going with the fastball a lot more since and, from what you described, it sounds like he might be “letting it go” like I talked about last week. I’m still expecting to see him go through this year’s playoffs just like he did last year’s. We really need him to, imo.
Nice to see them put together an inning like the bottom of the fourth tonight. That’s the true potential of our lineup, if they can all start making solid contact like this I like our chances.