The Dog Days

It’s been 3 weeks since my last post which came a few games after the All-Star Break and in the midst of a tailspin. It has become the tailspin to end all tailspins but here’s the thing though, the tailspin still hasn’t stopped. I mean, things just got ugly quickly after the break. The Phils scored 13 runs in their first game after the break, and won easily against the Mets. Since then, here are their run totals for all 20 games they’ve played.

4, 0, 1, 3, 1, 1, 0, 4, 7, 2, 1, 4, 4, 1, 9, 2, 12, 2, 5, 0.

This is an average of 3.15 runs per game. In the losses they averaged 2.05 runs per game. The Phils managed to win 3 of those 20 games, those run totals are in bold. After this weekend’s latest sweep at the hands of the Nationals their road losing streak stands at 13 games. 

As Chevy Chase told Rodney Dangerfield in the penultimate money game at the end of Caddyshack, “You’re not.. you’re not, you’re not good.”

The trade deadline was fast approaching when I wrote my last post. Here is a recap of what the Phils did over the trade deadline to a team that was 6 games under .500 and over 10 games out of 1^st place and is currently overpaying basically every player they have except for Dom Brown.

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Moving on, the nightmare season continues for Cole Hamels. In his last 3 starts he has allowed 2, 0, and 2 earned runs and he has an 0-1 record to show for it during that time. He threw 8 brilliant scoreless inning 2 weeks ago against the Giants (I guess he should have thrown 9). He knocked in the only run of the game to head to the 9^th with a 1-0 lead. Jonathan “I didn’t come here for this” Papelbon came in and promptly allowed the tying and go ahead runs to score before he recorded an out. To make matters worse, the Phils proceeded to load the bases with no outs in the bottom of the 9^th and still managed not to get the tying run home en route to a cross between a gut punch / kick in the dick 2-1 loss. It was as if the Phils got together before the 9^th inning that night and said, “Hey what is the worst possible scenario to lose this game tonight?” And that’s what they did. As John McEnroe would say, “You cannot be serious!?!” This paragraph is a microcosm of the Phils' season.

Meanwhile, the staff’s other “ace” Cliff Lee hasn’t made it out of the 6^th inning for 3 straight starts, taking the L in two of the three. He’s been giving up more walks and home runs then you would think is possible for Cliff, but at this point in the season no bad news should really surprise the fans.

For the season, Hamels has received 3.13 runs per start and Lee has received 3.34 runs per start. It’s hard to have good numbers in the win loss column when this is the kind of support you get from an anemic offense. Alas..

Here are a few more miscellaneous tidbits of bad before I get to a few silver linings that have not gone unnoticed. Speaking of Silver Linings, this is just brilliant stuff if you’re a Philadelphia sports fan (Caution – DeNiro goes DeNiro with his language here).

Delmon Young was designated for assignment (to the minors) 9 at bats short of reaching a 150 K bonus. It’s funny because it’s basically a giant F U! to Delmon because the Phillies are paying Roy Halladay 150 K per out recorded and Ryan Howard 150 K per swing and miss this season. All numbers approximate.

Here are this Phillies numbers and MLB ranks since the All-Star break for offensive and pitching categories – Note this is out of 30 teams:

Batting:

Batting Average - .225 (28^th)

Runs – 76 (26^th)

Walks – 44 (30^th)

Slugging - .361 (26^th)

OPS – 640 (27^th)

Pitching:

ERA – 5.62 (30^th)

Saves – 0 (30^th) LOL!!

Batting Average Against - .293 (30^th)

WHIP – 1.61 (30^th)

Wow. To be honest, I knew these stats were going to be bad when I looked them up, but wow. Just WOW! Can’t stop thinking, saying, and typing wow. Dead last in the most important pitching categories is a sure fire way to be wretched, and the Phils are wretched right now.

Moving on, thankfully.

Darin Ruf actually looks like he knows what he’s doing at the plate. This is a serious accomplishment for Phillies not named Utley or Brown. Since joining the team full time when Ryan Howard hit the DL Ruf has reached base safely in 27 of 29 games, including the first 25 straight. He works counts and draws walks! I use the exclamation point because aside from Michael Young, nobody on the Phillies seems to care about getting on base via the free pass. He has also shown power, of his 28 hits 13 are for extra bases, 6 home runs and 7 doubles. He has been playing a mix of first base and left field, with a little bit of right thrown in. There is promise here.

Dom Brown missed two weeks after giving himself a mild concussion diving for a fly ball. There was a week or so there where Phillies outfielders were making pathetic attempt after pathetic attempt diving at fly balls. John Mayberry dove for a ball he was at least 4 feet away from catching. If John Mayberry stays in the big leagues after this year, well, let’s just hope it’s not with the Phillies. Sorry for getting off track but some things need to be mentioned, anyway Dom has been back for a week now and he has picked up where he left off. In the six games he’s been back he’s homered twice and knocked in 6 runs while moving his average to .274 on the season. He now has 26 home runs and 75 RBI, both team highs by far.

Finally, the biggest news from the past few weeks, whether you agree with the move or not, is that Chase Utley signed a 2 year contract extension worth $29 million. There are all kinds of vesting options that could make the deal worth $75 million over 5 years, but raise your hand if you think Chase will get those options to vest.

The whole Chase Utley saga is the very definition of a Catch 22. Chase Utley is to Phillies fans what Brian Dawkins is to Eagles fans. He’s the epitome of what we want in a player as Philadelphia sports fans, until he’s not. And Chase has been teetering between the guy we know and love and the guy we’re frustrated with because he can’t stay on the field. When Chase has been on the field this year, he has been stellar. Take a look at the numbers among NL 2^nd baseman.

Average  – .278 (5^th)

Home Runs – 15 (2^nd)

RBI – 45 (5^th)

Slugging – .506 (2^nd)

OPS – .846 (2^nd)

WAR – 3.1 (2^nd)

Fairly impressive right? Here’s the kicker, aside from the aggregate stats (Home Runs and RBI) Chase does not even qualify to be listed with the leaders in these offensive categories due to the 30 or so games he missed with the oblique strain.  If he finishes the season healthy, he should rack up enough at bats to officially qualify but it’s disheartening that he is not right now.

So even in a season where you feel like Chase has been healthy for a good majority of the games, he’s still not going to play in 130 of them this year. Rube is taking yet another sentimental gamble on Utley that he will hold up physically and still be able to perform better than his contemporaries. I know I’m a homer and not calculating say along the lines of a Billy Beane, but Chase has earned this right to stay and to play for the only team he’s ever known. If it blows up in our face so be it, as long as I don’t have to see him suiting up for the Dodgers or any other uniform I’m fine with it.

Until next time folks..