Turning Wheels

The Phillies' inconsistency at the plate has hampered their play early this year. Their struggles have left them in second to last in the NL East with a 9-11 record, winning four of their last ten.

Roy Halladay pitched another quality game yesterday allowing three runs in seven innings but the offense failed to back him up yet again in a 5-1 loss.

The Phils showed signs of life in their series with the Arizona Diamondbacks, scoring 20 runs in their last 19 innings, but they couldn't figure out Cubs starter Paul Malholm. Malholm has not been nearly as good this year as the Phillies made him look on Saturday, coming in with an 8.36 ERA.

Phillies stranded runners early on in the game and allowed Malholm to work his way out of jams. Their only run came on a solo shot from Ty Wigginton. Wigginton has been a surprising bright spot for the Phillies, he's hitting .320 and has a hit in each of the Phil's last nine games.

The Phillies need to start some urgency on the field and some more patience at the plate. It's much too early to write them off, but it if this pace continues for too long there is definite cause for concern. They need to stop waiting for Utley and Howard to show and start playing baseball. If they don't strand runners the pitching will win games.

Joe Blanton will be on the hill tonight for the Phillies who will try to cause a little more of a stir at Citizen's Bank Park, where they are only 3-4 so far this year.

"We won a game yesterday. If we win one today, that’s two in a row. We win one tomorrow, that’s called a winning streak. It has happened before."-Lou Brown, Major League

Last night was another big step forward for the Phillies.

Joe Blanton looked great in his first start of the season, locating fastballs with good velocity. He allowed only three hits through seven innings to a very intimidating lineup which hasn’t really hit its stride just yet.

Chad Qualls got himself into a little bit of a jam in the eighth but fought his way out of a scary situation by striking out Giancarlo “Don’t call me Mike” Stanton. Qualls gets some serious movement on that fastball.

Even though he didn’t come in, it was good to see someone had the presence of mind to warm-up Antonio Bastardo with Logan Morrison possibly coming up to bat later in the inning. I don’t know if I’ll notch that compliment up for Charlie Manuel just yet, but somebody in the dugout had the wheels spinning.

Papelbon notched his first save at Citizens Bank Park. It’s huge to have a reliable guy in the ninth, haven’t felt this safe with a Phillies closer since Brad Lidge was doing his thing back in 2008.

Da-damn damn, did you see Ty Wigginton get into that slider Mark Buerhle floated up in the zone? If he can hit more no-doubters like that then the Phils will be in business.

 You obviously want to score more than three runs in a game but it is relieving to see seven of the eight starting fielders last night had a hit. Placido Polanco got a hit last night, production at the two-hole should be a big deal, and he’s seemed pretty feeble at the plate thus far.

It’s always fun when the Mets come to town. David Wright returns to their lineup and Cliff Lee gets a chance to dice up the Mets again tonight. He’s 2-0 with a 0.43 ERA in three career starts against New York’s JV squad. 

Offense Looking Up

Ozzie Guillen wasn’t in the dugout for the Marlins last night. He was still in Miami apologizing for his infatuation with Fidel Castro. That was a shame because he missed something that hasn’t happened yet this season. The Philadelphia bats woke up.

The Phillies offense reared its head on Wednesday, chasing the Marlin’s ace with 11 hits in 3.2 innings. In nine innings the Phillies posted 7 runs, nearly equaling their run total in their previous four contests (8).  

Josh Johnson hasn’t really looked like himself so far this season, coming off a shoulder injury which shelved him since last May. He has allowed more than 10 hits in both of his starts this year.

Hunter Pence stayed hot at the plate going three for five with a run and a run batted in, and Carlos Ruiz provided the power for the night, hitting a double, and going deep to left in the bottom of the seventh.

Freddy Galvis got his second Major League hit as well, another 2 run double. He might not be hitting great right now, but he’s definitely showing up at the right times.

Halladay maintained the Miami bats through seven innings allowing one run on five hits and striking out three. Chad Qualls and Mike Stutes kept things quiet in the last two innings and rounded out the win.

Joe Blanton will make his first start of the season tonight at Citizens Bank Park. He’s 6-2 with a 3.33 ERA against the Marlins for his career. Lefty veteran, Mark Buehrle will take the mound for Miami.

PANIC

Well after four games, it might look like a good time to panic. I was lucky enough to make it to the home opener today, and lets just say that the Phillies offense, as it has been so far this season, was...lackluster.

The Fightins have scored only 8 runs through these first four games, but if you didn't expect some offensive struggles, well then you haven't been paying attention for the past few months.

It's much too early to freak out about the Phillies' bats. The offense will struggle, but they'll improve (they have to). What worries me the most, is the wily old guy who makes the on-field decisions.

Charlie Manuel's extremely suspect bullpen decisions seem to be what cost the Phils their last two games against the Pirates, and the ways he is constructing these lineups are questionable. If the Phillies had won either of those games, the loss today wouldn't sting quite as much.

The noticeable drop off in the run production can be attributed to one glaring issue: no one can hit for power. The Phillies have had the luxury of hitting homeruns on homeruns for years now and that luxury is clearly gone. Pence has the lone homer thus far.

A less glaring, but still apparent issue is the gang of guys who get the ball after the starters, but before Papelbon (who Charlie really hates giving the ball to. I think Ruben made Manuel give him the ball today). I really don't like David Herndon, I don't think anything good has ever happened with him on the mound.

Opening Day Lineup

The actual starting lineup:

Victorino CF
Polanco 2B
Rollins SS
Pence RF
Wigginton 1B
Mayberry LF
Ruiz C
Galvis 2B
Halladay P

Opening Day

The Phillies open up their season today against the Pittsburgh Pirates. They’ll toss the good doctor, Roy Halladay, on the mound against the left-handed Erik Bedard. Exactly what their starting lineup will look like is anybody’s guess.

Charlie Manuel has been very hush about his lineup, but we can makes some guesses from things he’s said this spring. Manuel has said that he would be hesitant to use Thome against lefties, which makes me think that John Mayberry Jr. could be a probable for the start. JMJ hasn’t had the best spring but Uncle Charlie has also said that Mayberry would be given an opportunity to play his way into an everyday role.

Freddy Galvis, with the help of some injuries (Utley, M. Martinez), has played his way into a starting spot at second base. He brings a stellar glove to the infield and has shown some pop this spring. I’m interested to see what he can do in the regular season.

Laynce Nix can also be counted out of the equation, he’s done poorly against lefties in his career and last year he received only 28 at-bats against them, hitting .228. Charlie also seems to have taken a liking the speedy veteran, Juan Pierre. I wouldn’t be surprised if he tosses him at the top of the lineup.

Here’s my guess at what the starting lineup will look like:

1.       J. Pierre LF

2.       P. Polanco 3B

3.       S. Victorino CF

4.       H. Pence RF

5.       J. Mayberry Jr. 1B

6.       J. Rollins SS

7.       C. Ruiz C

8.       F. Galvis 2B

9.       R. Halladay P

Thesis Statement

This blog has been titled 2012: The Hunter Pence Project because that’s exactly what this Phillies season should be called.

So much talk has been circulating around the “window” of contention the Phillies currently see closing in front of them. You might attribute it to age, injuries, or declining statistics, but the bottom line is that the longtime nucleus of Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and Ryan Howard are trudging through the rigors that come after the prime of a player’s career. Rollins, a player whose success relies so much on his superior athleticism, turned 33 this offseason. Utley has a chronic knee condition. Howard has seen his numbers decline over the past three years, and suffered a very serious injury at the end of last year. Neither Utley nor Howard will spend the first month of the season in the lineup.

Pence will be the catalyst of this offense, whether he ends up hitting third, fourth, or fifth (Charlie Manuel has said he plans to use some different lineups). He’ll be the centerpiece, not only for this year, but for the foreseeable future.

Boasting a pitching staff with big names like Halladay, Lee, Hamels, and Papelbon, the pitching will be stellar, that’s a known commodity. But, as you could see in the Phillies NLDS exit last year, when the offense doesn’t show up, it’s hard to win big games.

With all the negatives having been said, I’ll make this clear: I’m optimistic about this season. The reason for my optimism is because this team’s successes lay on the capable shoulders of Hunter Pence. I’ve only seen him play 54 games in a Phillies uniform and I already love the guy. Sure he might be a little unorthodox (see: swing, throw, running style), but damn it if he doesn’t play as hard as anyone on the field and get the results to back it up. He exemplifies what Philadelphia looks for in their professional athletes.

In his short tenure in the red pinstripes Pence hit .324 with 11 homers, 35 runs, and 35 runs batted in, putting him in or very close to the team lead in each statistic in that period of time. He also plays a solid right field (dude has a cannon).

Time will tell if Uncle Charlie can successfully manage the “small ball” approach he’s been talking about lately, but one thing is obvious this year: The anchor of the Phillies lineup will be Hunter Pence.