Phils continue slide, lose 6th straight game
Despite a strong effort by Jamie Moyer, the Phillies dropped their 6th straight game. Through the first six innings, I was amazed at how Jamie Moyer was baffling the A’s hitters. The Phillies lineup, save for the Pat Burrell homerun, was equally as baffled by now 4-10 Joe Blanton. They scratched out a measly 6 hits. Ryan Howard didn’t strike out in the game, though. A small victory I guess…
This team is built on hitting. When the middle of the lineup is not hitting, it exacerbates the lineup’s holes. The lack of speed in the middle of the lineup really hurts run production. Pat Burrell and Ryan Howard are station-to-station baserunners, so when Geoff Jenkins or Pedro Feliz actually do get a timely hit, the chances of Howard or Burrell scoring is slim. With Chase Utley in a massive funk, there isn’t much room for run production, save a solo homerun here or there. Maybe Greg Dobbs should get a little more time? Nah, he’s hitting .347 but Pedro Feliz is a stalwart in the field with that .962 fielding percentage.
It’s easy to be pessimistic in the midst of this losing streak. Let’s look on the bright side here. The Phils have lost 10 of their last 13, but still hold a one game lead in the NL East. Tonight’s matchup:
Kyle Kendrick (6-3, 5.06) v. Greg Smith (4-5, 3.51)
With Kendrick on the mound, offensive production is almost a necessity. Let’s see if the Phils can turn things around tonight. Hopefully most of us are still awake come the first pitch.
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In Jimmy Rollins hometown of Oakland, Dave Murphy catches up with J-Roll’s high school coach.
The following posts were written before our blog got up and running. There are game recaps and some good article links in them. Check them out if you have the chance.
June 24, 2008
Victorino on the Trading Blocks?
The Phillies are set on landing a starting pitcher to placate the problems in their pitching staff. Jim Salisbury writes that the Phils don’t have the wherewithal in their farm system to land one. Landing someone may require giving up someone already on the big-league roster. Shane Victorino has been coveted by other teams for years, and he may just be the player needed to make a deal.
I like Victorino. He seems to mesh well with the team and he has great energy. He’s a solid number 2 hitter with great speed and an amazing glove. It would be sad to see him go, but if it’s necessary to land a top-notch pitcher who will give them a legitimate playoff rotation down the stretch, it needs to be done.
June 23, 2008
So I know what most fans are thinking. The Phils have just dropped five straight. I would be lying if I said that these thoughts have not crossed my mind. They’ve squandered an opportunity to distance themselves from the pack in what is looking like one of the weaker divisions in baseball. They have not played good baseball against first place teams and teams that will be standing in their way if they are to play October baseball. But let’s try to find an upside here. The Phils are still leading the division, albeit by one game. Let’s see how things shake out against the A’s and Rangers. If things don’t seem to be turning around, then maybe we should be worried…
June 21, 2008
After the first two batters of last night’s game, I thought to myself, “Adam Eaton is looking pretty good out there.” He hit a few spots and his fastball seemed to have a little bite to it. Next: a Garrett Anderson double. Then a fastball fell into Vlad Guerrero’s kitchen, which he promptly deposited into the left field stands. If you’re going to let Vlad beat you, don’t make it that easy. At least make him smash a ball over the fence that was at his ankles. An inning later, it’s 3-0. Then the floodgates opened up. Poor pitching coupled with Ervin Santana’s electric stuff added up to a 7-1 Phil’s defeat.
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Jim Salisbury writes that “it’s way too early” to be thinking about the World Series. The Phillies have some flaws they need to address. The fact of the matter is that there are three big holes in our rotation in Eaton, Kendrick, and Myers. The doubt in Myers is well-founded, as he limps into tonight’s game at 3-8. Eaton has only shown us flashes of consistency since he joined the team. The Phils win when Kyle Kendrick pitches, but he gets hit hard with an ERA of 5.06.
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MLBtraderumors.com reports that Phillies special assistant Charley Kerfeld saw Ben Sheets and A.J. Burnett pitch in the Brewers-Jays series this week. Buster Olney says the Brewers would have to be “way out of it” before dangling Sheets in the market. Jayson Stark says the Phillies have kicked-tires on a number of guys. I’m positive that we need another starting pitcher to go deep into the playoffs, but we’ll have to give up a lot to get it. This begs the question, “Where does that leave us for next year?”
June 20, 2008
Please, Philly fans, when a championship finally comes to town again, let’s not act like them…
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The Phillies are 3-6 in their last three series, all against teams with legitimate playoff aspirations. Things don’t get any easier with the AL West-leading LA Angels coming to town. Here are the pitching matchups:
June 20 Ervin Santana (8-3, 3.40) v. Adam Eaton (2-4, 4.57)
June 21 Joe Saunders (10-3, 3.06) v. Brett Myers (3-8, 5.58)
June 22 Jered Weaver (6-7, 4.73) v. Cole Hamels (7-4, 3.23)
A series win would be nice, especially to keep the Marlins (not to mention the Mets and Braves) at bay.
Let’s hope Adam Eaton can keep up his stretch of quality starts. That’s all that is expected from him. On that matter, that’s all that is expected from the entire pitching staff, with the exception of Cole Hamels, our only starter with an ERA below 4.00.
It goes without saying that Brett Myers needs to give us a good start soon. Jim Salisbury wonders if Brett Myers has it in him. If Myers gives the Phils a couple more bad starts could the versatile Chad Durbin get a shot in the rotation?
Tags: Recaps
