I understand it’s just cause it’s the Giants, but last night’s game makes it a little tough to avoid flashbacks to the Phillie playoff exits of the last two years. Cliff Lee was just unbelievable. He pitched and pitched and pitched, needing just 102 pitches to throw ten shutout innings. The Phillies didn’t score. Literally. And the Giants beat them 1-0.
At least Lee can commiserate with Halladay.
After 12 games of the season, the Phillies are 14th in National League in runs scored. They have three players on the team with at least five plate appearances and an OPS for the year of .700 or better — Wigginton .710, Ruiz .814 and Pence .880. Their team on-base percentage is .284, which is 14th in the league. They have 22 extra-base hits for the year, which is 15th. Their pinch-hitters are hitting .067 (1-for-15 with a Juan Pierre single and no walks). The one pinch-hit they do have came on April 14 in the eighth inning of a game they were losing by four runs and eventually lost by five.
The Phillies are 5-7 on the year after falling 1-0 to the San Francisco Giants in eleven innings last night. The Giants take the series two games to one, winning the last two after the Phils take the opener.
Cliff Lee got the start for the Phillies and went ten scoreless innings, allowing seven hits and no walks. One of the hits went for extra-bases, a double. He struck out seven and did not walk a batter.
Lee has made three starts for the year, throwing to a 1.96 ERA and an 0.70 ratio while striking out 18 in 23 innings. The Phillies are 0-3 in those games. They have scored a total of three runs in the three games he has started.
Angel Pagan and Melky Cabrera singled back-to-back to start the bottom of the first, putting runners on the corners for Pablo Sandoval. Sandoval flew to right for the first out with the runners holding. Buster Posey was next and he hit a ground ball to Wigginton with the Phils turning the double-play to end the inning.
Wigginton starts a big double-play early in the game. Late? Not so much. No run for the Giants after putting runners on first and third with nobody out.
Another worrisome first inning for the Phillies, although they do keep San Francisco off the board. Opponents are now hitting .407 against the Phils in the first and .239 against them after the first.
Lee struck out Ryan Theriot and Nate Schierholtz while setting the Giants down in order in the second.
He struck out Brandon Crawford and pitcher Matt Cain in a 1-2-3 third.
Sandoval singled with one out in the fourth. Posey was next and hit a ball to Nix at first. Nix fielded, went to Rollins at short for the second out and took the relay from Rollins to end the inning.
Second double-play in four innings turned by the Phils with a corner infielder getting it started each time.
Brett Pill doubled to center to start the fifth. He was left at second when Theriot, Schierholtz and Crawford all went down on ground balls behind him.
Lee threw a 1-2-3 sixth, getting pitcher Matt Cain on a ball Victorino took in right center after a long run.
He struck out Sandoval and Posey in a 1-2-3 seventh.
He struck out Theriot in a 1-2-3 eighth.
Switch-hitter Hector Sanchez hit for Cain to start the ninth and hit a ball to first that Nix didn’t handle for an error. Gregor Blanco ran for Sanchez at first, but was quickly erased when Pagan grounded into a double-play. Cabrera followed that with a single, but was left at first when Sandoval flew to center to set San Francisco down.
Third time a double-play helps the Phils keep the Giants off the board.
Lee had thrown just 89 pitches through nine innings.
He was back to start the tenth. Posey led off with a single, but Pill was next and he grounded into another Giants double-play. Theriot singled to left before Schierholtz grounded to second to end the inning.
Thirteen pitches in the frame had Lee at 102 for the game.
Bastardo started the eleventh and struck out Crawford for the first out. Belt was next and he singled into center. Pagan hit a double-play ball to third, but the ball went off the heel of Wigginton’s glove for an error that put runners on first and second with one down for Cabrera. The switch-hitter Cabrera singled into right, just over the glove of a leaping Galvis. Belt raced around third and slid into home just ahead of the throw from Pence, giving the Giants a 1-0 win.
The double-play magic runs out for the Phils on Wigginton’s big error. Cabrera has similar numbers for his career against lefties and righties, maybe a little bit better against righties.
Bastardo takes the loss, charged with a run in a third of an inning. He has now made four appearances in which he has thrown a total of two innings, allowing a run on three hits and two walks and striking out five. He has an ERA of 4.50, a ratio of 2.50 and has struck out 22.5 batters per nine innings. He threw 12 pitches in the game.
The Phillies lineup against righty Matt Cain went (1) Pierre (2) Victorino (3) Rollins (4) Pence (5) Wigginton (6) Nix (7) Ruiz (8) Galvis. Kinda tough to complain about Pierre leading off when he’s hitting .346. Polanco on the bench with Wigginton at third and Nix at first. Wigginton at third against a righty isn’t that fantastic as he’s not especially good offensively or defensively. Makes a lot more sense to me against a lefty when you can if you need to rest Polanco. This article suggests that Manuel had planned to rest Polanco today, but decided to do it a day early instead.
The Philies went in order in the first and again in the second.
Galvis lined a single to center with one out in the third and Lee bunted him to second with the second out. Pierre popped to short for the third out.
The Phils went in order in the fourth.
Wigginton started the fifth with a single into center. Nix struck out swinging for the first out before a walk to Ruiz moved Wigginton up to second. Galvis grounded into a double-play to end the frame.
Third double-play that Galvis has hit into so far, bringing back ugly memories of Wilson Valdez. Galvis is currently on pace to hit into about 41 for the season — the good news is that that won’t even happen.
The Phils went in order in the sixth, seventh and eighth.
Lee hit for himself to start the ninth in a scoreless game and flew to center. He had thrown 79 pitches through eight shutout innings Pierre popped to short and Victorino grounded to first to set the Phillies down.
Pence singled off of righty Santiago Casilla with one out in the tenth. Wigginton was next and hit a ball back to the mound. Casilla threw to second, where Pence was forced for the second out with the Giants unable to get more. Nix followed and hit a ball that second baseman Theriot knocked down in shallow right field. Theriot hopped on the ball and made an underhand toss to first just in time to get Nix and end the frame.
Ruiz lined a double to left off of righty Sergio Romo to start the ninth. Galvis bunted Ruiz to third with the first out. Thome hit for Lee. Lefty Javier Lopez took over for Romo. Thome stayed in the game and struck out swinging 2-2 for the second out. Mayberry hit for Pierre. Righty Clay Hensley came in to pitch to Mayberry and got Mayberry on a ground ball to short to turn the Phillies away.
First thing is Thome against a lefty, which really seems fine to me despite the fact that it didn’t work out. Jim Thome is Jim Thome and I’m glad to see him up there, especially if Mayberry is the other choice given how awful Mayberry has been so far this year. Given that what the Phillies needed was a single against a lefty, I’m a little surprised that they didn’t hit Polanco for Thome or Polanco for Pierre. But I still think you want to see Thome at the plate in situations that matter as much as possible.
I like letting Thome hit against the lefty with one out and a man on third a lot better than bunting with Galvis for the first out. I think you’re better off running for Ruiz at second with Orr or Polanco, then letting Galvis, Lee and Pierre (or Galvis and two pinch-hitters) try and knock him in.
Huge double by Ruiz should to start the inning should have been enough to put the Phils on top.
Pierre was 0-for-4 to drop his average, and therefore his on-base and slugging percentages, to .300. I also claim April 27 in the when-will-Pierre-draw-his-first-walk pool and the 14th of Never-everness in the when-will-Pierre-get-his-first-extra-base-hit pool. He was 2-for-10 in the series. Mayberry was 0-for-1 in the game and 0-for-5 with a strikeout in the series. He’s 1-for-his-last-10 and hitting 212/212/242 for the season.
Victorino 0-for-4 in the game and 3-for-13 with a double in the series. 277/333/362 in 52 plate appearances for the year. 6-for-his-last-26 (.231) with a double and one walk. Wish you were here.
Rollins 0-for-4 last night and 1-for-12 with a walk in the series. 286/314/306 for the season with one extra-base hit, a double.
Pence was 1-for-4 with a strikeout in the game. 4-for-11 with a home run and two RBI in the series. 326/380/500.
Wigginton 1-for-4 with a huge error at third in the eleventh. 2-for-7 with a walk in the series. He’s hitting 240/310/400 for the year. 313/368/563 in his last 19 plate appearances after going 1-for-9 to start the year. Polanco did not play in the game after being hit by a ball at the plate in game two. He was 1-for-8 with a double in the series. 179/220/205 in 39 plate appearances for the year. He’s 3-for-his-last-21 and has walked once on the season.
Nix was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and an error. 2-for-8 with two RBI in the set. 188/278/313 on the season. He has 18 plate appearances for the year and all 18 of them have come against righties, which is exactly the way it should be. The problem is that he only gets to hit against his good side and is hitting 188/278/313. We might need to wait till he has more than 18 plate appearances to panic too much, though.
Ruiz was 1-for-3 with a walk. 3-for-10 with a double in the series. 306/341/462 for the year. 233/273/433 in 33 plate appearances since going 4-for-6 to start the season.
Galvis was 1-for-3 to up his average to .237. 3-for-11 with a double in the series. He’s hitting 321/321/536 over his last 29 plate appearances since going 0-for-10 to start the season.
Vance Worley (0-1, 3.75) faces righty Joe Wieland (0-1, 10.80) tonight in San Diego. The Phillies have lost both of the games Worley has started this season, although he pitched very well his first time out, holding the Pirates to a run over six innings. His other start came against the Mets and he allowed four runs over six innings. He’s allowed three home runs in 12 innings for the season, a pace that would put him on pace to allow 50 over 200 innings. Good news, though, as I think it’s just about a lock that Worley won’t give up 50 this year. Wieland turned 22 in January and made his major league debut his last time out, allowing six runs over five innings against the Dodgers. Speaking of homers, Wieland allowed three in that game. Kemp hit two and Ethier one.
April 19th, 2012 on 11:51 am
Now, if we could get both Kemp and Ethier before the first pitch tonight, we’d maybe have a couple of dingers to show for it, too. (Lordy, isn’t THAT a fantasy!)
The thing is, it looks for all the world that this is our team. Is anyone surprised by what they are doing, especially after the no-good-news-spring-training? There might be an occasional surge here or there, but the guys we are putting out there are performing about how one might expect them to perform. Mayberry is about what he was the first half of laast year, even though we might have hoped he wold be more like the second half. Wigginton and Nix are about what they have always been; two guys who might be nice on the bench but who cannot be relied upon to carry a team that wants to be in 1st place. Polanco is continuing the diminishiing arc of his offensive career; rapidly increasing strike outs, few walks, and pooreer and poorer contact with the ball. And Thome has never been much as a pinch hitter; at age 41, that is not all that likely to improve.
Galvis may be something special someday. He certainly is right now from a defensive point of view. But he is not Chase Utley with a bat. again, maybe someday. But he is the only pleasant surprise we have on this entire team. How long has it been since that has been true? A long, long time.
This is our team. A team built on the premise of having pitchers who are so good that scoring two or three runs will get the team into first place. When games like last night occur frequently, the winning premise for the team is broken.
This is our team. To expect more of them as they are constituted may not be realistic.
I heard on 610 today that we need a new hitting coach. The problem is that the quality of the coaching is not the problem.
I do wonder what is going on in the front office right about now. They have to know that unless they do something, the Phillies will stop being the hot ticket in town. Really, really soon.
April 19th, 2012 on 1:01 pm
Before we get all Doom & Gloom at our 5-7 record, let’s take a look at the record after 12 games over the last 5 division-winning seasons:
2011: 9-3
2010: 8-4
2009: 6-6
2008: 6-6
2007: 3-9
AVG: 6.4 – 5.6
We’re not terribly far off the mark, and we’re certainly outperforming that 2007 team.
Going back to the goal of 90 wins.. that’s 9 games over .500. That’s .500 ball with 2 spurts. Which is exactly what the team looks like it’s capable of.
Remember, too, that you’re looking at a totally different brand of baseball. The total runs / game should be way down. The 2008 team was perfectly capable of scoring 8 runs and losing. This team, more so than that one is perfectly capable of scoring 1 run and winning. The goal is to score 1 more run than the other guy, whether than means 2-1 or 10-9. (Have to admit, though, the other way is more fun to watch.) Sometimes you don’t achieve the goal. You just need to achieve it more often than you fail.
I do think RAJ needs to have some irons in the fire. Polanco is most likely spent. Mayberry isn’t looking great either. We have too many bench guys getting starts. Some of this comes down to how they feel about Utley & Howard, but neither of them play left field or third base, so those are great places to find some help somewhere anyway; either try Galvis at 3rd if he wants to continue to play like he didn’t go 0-for-10 to start he season (and then who’s on second? don’t know, probably another bench guy for now), or give Brown another shot (even though he’s hitting .240 in AAA), or start trading Blanton or some baby aces for help. April is too soon for most clubs to want to trade, though; they don’t know if they’re buyers or sellers yet.
April 19th, 2012 on 1:18 pm
I don’t think 5-7 is a problem at all. I think the problem is that the Phils don’t look they ought to be a whole lot better than that. I don’t think it’s time to give up hope at all, but I also think the current team has close to no chance of winning 90 games without offensive additions. I think the offensive additions will come. How much work they have to do when they arrive has a lot to do with what the current team does now. What the current team is doing now is losing games when their starter throws ten shutout innings.
April 19th, 2012 on 1:42 pm
Interesting trend: the Phils are on pace for 40 walk-off losses. I’m pretty sure they won’t get there. That would have to be a record.
I think even this club wins more than it loses when the starter throws 10 shutout innings. Didn’t happen last night. But at least 8 out of 10 times, they probably scratch a run together.
Perhaps I’m being a little optimistic, but under the premise of “go with the hot bat” I’d think about moving Galvis up to the 2-hole. I’m actually pretty sure that I’d do every lineup this year different than Charlie did.
April 19th, 2012 on 2:27 pm
I would actually be interested to know what a team’s record is when it’s starter goes ten shutout innings. I would guess it’s closer to .500 than you’d guess right away, cause your starter can’t throw ten shutout innings unless the other team pitches very well too.
I agree that this Phillies team will have a good record when their starter goes nine shutout innings.
I actually am glad to see Galvis playing as well as he has, but hitting him second seems a little too much to me. He seems like a lock to be worse the rest of the way than he has to this point. Right now he’s at 237/256/395. I can see him hitting .240 and on-basing .260 or even a little better, but I will be very happily surprised if he slugs .395 or close the rest of the way. I wouldn’t feel real comfortable trying to guess how the at-bats are going to break down in terms of hot or not if I feel like the final line isn’t going to be real good.
April 19th, 2012 on 2:44 pm
True.. we should probably try Galvis 6th before we try the 2-hole.
April 19th, 2012 on 5:43 pm
Jim, your last paragraph about irons in the fire? Yup. right on.
April 19th, 2012 on 6:32 pm
BTW, I am not doing doom and gloom. I believe that going forward means looking realistically at what is and what is not. What is, is that we are getting from this team what the players have pretty much delivered historically. Maybe a little more from Jimmy and Vic might be expected, but mostly each guy is kind of on track.
If so, Amaro has work to do, even with his crazy good starting staff. This year is not lost unless the front office deludes itself into thinking that things will just get better “somehow”. This is our team right now. Amaro has to get us at least one bat. Somehow. And no, I have no idea how he does that. Or who. That is above my pay grade.
April 20th, 2012 on 12:58 am
Vance. Not bad for a kid wearing goggles.
April 20th, 2012 on 9:52 am
It amazes me how good he’s been.. and he’s been consistent, even as a September call-up in ’10..
April 20th, 2012 on 11:00 am
That strikeout to end the 7th was the mark of a real competitor. With the skills to compete
April 20th, 2012 on 12:56 pm
I agree. Worley was great in the game and that was a huge at-bat. And it was a strikeout. The only thing that wrecks it a little for me is that the ball was so far off the plate.