WickNE

Back on June 9th I wrote about my angst in getting too caught up in the Phils chances this season. On that date, they held a 3.5 game lead in the NL East. Ironically, as of today they are 3.5 games back in the division, with only 16 games left. Can we expect another Mets collapse this season as we did last year? Looking at their schedule, it is highly doubtful. Keep in mind, last year the Phils played a series with the Mets as the Mets gave up their 7 game lead with 17 to play. There are no more head to head games left this season. That is a lot of ground to make up in a short amount of time. What kills me is the Phils go to NY last weekend and take 2 out of 3, then come home and drop 2 or 3 to the fading Marlins.

Well, at least we have the Wild Card right? Ah, ah, ah, not so fast. They are 4 games back of the Brewers in that department. The good news is that they are playing host to the Brewers starting tonight for a 4 game series and could pull even with them. The bad news is that by Sunday evening they could be 8 games behind them.

So what happened? Or shall I say, how did this happen THIS year. Pitching. STARTING PITCHING to be exact. Allow me to break it down:

Myers (9-11): How often does your opening day starter get sent down to the minors? And not just AAA, we’re talking A, as in singular. Yeah, like, oh I don’t know, how about NEVER. Mr. Myers was SO bad that he holds the distinction of not only playing at 4 levels of professional baseball (A, AA, AAA and MLB) in one season, but LOSING at everyone of those levels… in one season. Although he has been better since coming back up, it’s too little too late.

Hamels (12-9): He is the ace of the rotation, just as long as it is not a big game. Then, well, you get Adam Eaton (I’ll be getting to that). Last weekend, after Myers and Jamie Moyer pitch outside of their minds against the Mets (with neither one of them giving up an earned run), Hamels, the previously mentioned ace, goes 5 innings giving up 9 hits and 5 earned runs. Not to mention the 2 BOMBS he gave up to Delgado. The first HR was after Hamels was up 0-2 in the count. The second HR still hasn’t landed. Now Hamels has been pretty good this season and he hasn’t always gotten the run support this season, but this game would have pulled the Phils dead even with the Mets and given them tremendous momentum. So do you expect your “ace” to be “pretty good” and not able to come up big in the big games. I sure don’t!

Moyer (13-7): At 45 years young, I guess he could be considered the ace as well as anyone in this rotation. He’s 13-7 and has won 8 of his last 10 decisions. How he keeps winning is probably the 8th wonder of the world. But hey, in the immortal words of Richard Gere in An Officer and a Gentleman… “I got nowhere else to go!”

Kendrick (11-9): 11 wins??? Really? I guess that is the 9th wonder. 7 loses in his last 10 decisions. And in those 7 losses, 2 games had 6 earned runs and in another 2, he had 7 earned runs! In his last 6 games, he is averaging 3.5 innings of work, with the capper coming 2 nights ago with a 1 1/3 inning outing whilst giving up 7 earned runs. Is there any way we can play a game without a pitcher, when it is his turn in the rotation???

The rest (i.e. Blanton, Eaton, etc.): Does it really matter. They suck. The one move the Phils make is to get Blanton from the A’s, where by the way. He sucked. The thinking behind this move? This still boggles my mind… was that since he pitched so well AGAINST the Phils, they thought he’d be a nice addition to the team. Forget about the fact that he sucked against all other teams, which by the way, he has to pitch against. Seriously, this was the reasoning. I really hope the front office knew that he couldn’t pitch against the Phils and still get a win. I looked it up, MLB is very much against this practice.

Now the bats haven’t always been alive and each hitter it seems has gone through the share of slumps. That is going to happen in any season with any team. The bullpen, has been above average in my estimation, especially with the amount of work they get, particularly when Kendrick is starting! It goes back to your starting pitching and the fact that once again the front office has not seen the need to bring in a legitimate ace. I think Hamels can be that guy, but not yet. Not until he can prove he can handle the pressure.

Everyone is going to focus on these next 16 games and will say that they didn’t do what they need to down the stretch. Guess what folks, the games in April, May and June count just as much as the ones in September. And when I sit in the stands and watch Myers give up his league leading 24th home run (and the second of the night to Vlad) against the Angels, I would venture to say that it was probably too late, although they did send him down the next day. Bringing in Blanton was a joke. Keeping Eaton on the roster at all, at any level is a joke. I really believe they had the tools this year if they honestly had a solid #1 guy in the rotation. What they really have is a #2, two #3’s, a Kendrick and a Blanton. These decisions needed to be made in the off-season, back when it was obvious that it was going to be their biggest hole to fill. So now they have that hole, and a 3.5 game hole to get out of. The good news is that pitchers and catchers report in 5 months.