Phillies Are Back in the Fold
Bobby Abreu. Gone. Corey Lidle. Gone. Bobby Abreu yearned for the limelight of New York City and the aura of the Yankees. Lidle ripped the Philadelphia Phillies association for not living up to its potential, and he too, also craved the Yankee glare of publicity. And they certainly got that. Anybody who becomes a Yankee automatically becomes a “star.” And if they actually cared about winning, which they never demonstrated as Phillies, this weekend’s Boston Massacre was possibly a sign of good things to come for the Yankee faithful and their post-season aspirations. But if the Phillies weren’t contenders when Abreu and Lidle left, they certainly are now. They are 15-8 since the big trade with the Yankees, and are now only 2.5 games back of being the wild card leader. The Phillies may have been thought to have been sellers on trading day, but I’m buying them as the N.L. wild card.
The Phillies resurgence since the trading deadline has been one of the best showings in Major League baseball, other than the Dodgers. Having cut there deficit on the wild card race by half, the Phillies have been playing superb baseballâÂ?¦offensively. Because I will be the first one to admit that their E.R.A is not up to par, but even with their number 3 hitter taking AB’s in the
Bronx, the Phillies are still hammering away in the runs scored department. But how far can a team go on just hitting the baseball? Pitching is supposed to be the key to winning divisions and wild card races. But is that the case here?
Think about like this, an Ace pitcher is to baseball, what the goal keeper is to hockey. The NHL teams that have the best goalkeeper, playing his best defense, in the playoffs, are the teams that go on to win Stanley Cups. In baseball, it is quite the same, but with a twist. The teams that have the best aces, throwing their best stuff, down the stretch and in the playoffs, will get into the playoff and win the World Series if – that’s right – IF! If the bullpen is on top of its game and can close the game out! Because let’s face it, unlike a goalkeeper, the pitcher cannot go an entire game, and thus not only is the bullpen an extension of the ace, but it is the most important part of an Ace’s relevance to his team.
So let me qualify my analogy from before. The bullpen is to baseball, what the goalkeeper is hockey. The bullpen does the dirty work. The bullpen faces the strength of the lineup, in the most pressure filled point of the game, and actually ends the game. One of my favorite high school coaches always used to start the game with 5 kids on the basketball court, but only 1 of them ever was on the court in the 4th. That was because he believed in the old adage, “It’s not how you start, but it’s how you finish.” The same way it doesn’t matter that the Red Sox started off the first half of the season with a decent lead over the Yankees. What matters is that the Yankees just got done splattering the Red Sox hopes and dreams all over that right field pole in Fenway Park.
I bring all this talk of staring and finishing, and aces and bullpens, to say that the Phillies are in prime position to take the Wild Card and beat somebody in the playoffs. Remember that high E.R.A., 4.77 to be exact? Well, forget all that. Look at their bullpen. The Phillies are the only team in the National League that has not lost a lead going into the 8th. Never. Not once this season. So what does that mean? It means if their bats get going, and with their National League leading runs scored per game average, they are going to have the lead going into the 8th quite a few more times this season. With their bullpen’s ability to close out the game, time and time again, there is little hope for this team being beaten in a 7 game series, no matter how many runs their starters give up. Yes, they starters can’t give up 10 runs or exit the game after 2 innings, but an average to just below average start by any of their starting pitchers will guarantee that the Phillies are in a position to win the game. Ryan Howard continues to be a force that you cannot pitch around due to Chase Utley’s on base percentage and Jimmy Rollins’ sudden ability to take the ball deep to go along with his batting average. The Phils also just acquired another pitcher, Jamie Moyer, who may be very average at best, but that’s all they need to get to the 8th.
I have to admit once again, but I think the Phillies have a real good chance to do something special. It is going to be hard to beat out the Reds, but if they can pass up Cardinals, I truly like Philadelphia’s chances against them. The Phillies have proven that they can beat the Mets, and they have proven that they can a series at any point because their bats will out perform the opposing pitching more than 60% of the time. But that’s just my opinion, and you may not buy what I’m selling. But you probably didn’t buy the Phillies when they where apparent sellers at the trading deadline, either. So if you haven’t already jumped on the Phillies’ bandwagon after their drumming of the Mets, I don’t want to see you at the end of season buying Phillies’ stock on margin, when their buying the N.L. Wild Card.
