Will the Real Phillies Please Stand Up
After yesterday’s 2-1 win over the Reds thanks to 2 home runs by Ryan Howard, the Phillies have won 13 of 14 games. And as a typical Philadelphia fan, I can only be skeptical of a run like this early in the season after I saw the Phillies open up the season 1-6. At first, I want to say that this is the real Phillies squad that will be here all season since the team is getting into a groove as their starting rotation heats up and the bats are starting to make the contact we expected at the beginning of the season. Jon Lieber had his best outing of the season on Saturday and finally looks on track to be the number 1 starter for this ball club, and Brett Myers continues to be the most consistent and solid pitcher on the team. Cole Hamels just came up for a start and his future looks quite bright and he should prove to be a great addition to the team. As for the team at the plate, Burrell and Howard have provided long balls when needed and Chase Utley has been as clutch as ever during this streak.
After I have all these good thoughts, I come back to that original Phillies view of “they will find a way to screw this one up soon enough.” There are just as many reasons to be optimisitic about the team’s play as there are about doubting how long this latest Phillies truly will last. First off, the Phillies lost Aaron Rowand to the DL thanks to his spectacular catch and a broken nose. Replacing his presence in center and his .310 batting average at the plate won’t be an easy task for backup Shane Victorino. As for the Hamels project, it could potentially backfire if he struggles against the veterans of the MLB who know exactly how to exploit a young inexperienced pitcher. It could also hurt Ryan Madson’s confidence if he doubts why Charlie Manuel put him back in the bullpen (Slightly evidenced by 2 home runs Madson gave up the other night coming out of the bullpen). The 2 other possible problems involve Jon Lieber and Bobby Abreu. Lieber could return anytime to his early season form when he was getting rocked in each outing and had an ERA above 9. As for Abreu, he has recently missed 2 games due to back spasms and now he is being rumored as a potential replacement in the Yankees lineup for the recently injured all-star Hideki Matsui. These trade rumors could bother Abreu and hurt his game by keeping his mind of the game itself.
I think the next 9 games will be very crucial to the Phillies season. First, they will take on the Brewers who have a 19-19 record and hopefully the Phils can keep the streak going in order to get past the Mets in the N.L. East. Then they face off against Boston and the Phils generally don’t bode well against the Red Sox so let’s hope to win 2 of the 3 games at Citizens Bank. The final 3 games are the most crucial as they play the Mets. They need to win as many division games as possible and the Mets won’t be pushed aside easily.
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Posted on May 15, 2006 by Kyle Garis | Filed Under Philadelphia, Phillies
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I hope the Brewers series isn’t the answer to your call for the real Phillies to please stand up;-)
[...] ning streak where they seem invincible, then they struggle. Kyle recently asked for the Real Phillies to Please Stand Up. Ever since he asked that [...]