Comments on: No, you don’t understand: we really, really want a pitcher and not a belly-itcher

By: DaMannse

DaMannse — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 01:50:09 +0000

Any team can go cold in a short series, I imagine. The thing is that having a lineup less dependent on a couple key guys makes a team less vulnerable to going cold in the playoffs. Having some guys who are tough outs to augment the core guys we have ought to help extend our playoff life. I don’t see those players in our system right now.

It will be interesting to see how Amaro goes about readying this team for next year. Will he look for offense? I wonder. It will be interesting.

By: egrissom

egrissom — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 18:04:05 +0000

Also, there seems to be some evidence the Phillies are having trouble in the playoffs. I do think that great starting pitching is a good foundation for a playoff team. But not scoring a lot of runs and not playing good defense is a bad combination.

Finally, I think it’s really important to remember that when the Phillies won the World Series in 2008, it wasn’t with great starting pitching. It was in spite of the fact that their starting pitching wasn’t very good.

By: egrissom

egrissom — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 17:47:21 +0000

The thing that kills me is that the Phillies seem to be making a huge effort to put defensive position players on the field — Polanco, Galvis, Martinez, Valdez. And they’re still terrible at defense. Those guys don’t have much chance to help you offensively.

I agree that the difference in wins between 2011 and 2012 points out how critical the pitching is to the Phillies.

By: Greg

Greg — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 17:22:17 +0000

I think the difference in WAR between 2011 and 2012 and the difference in wins just goes to show where this team’s problem really was in 2012. It is also my belief that teams that are built like this, regardless, will not excel in the playoffs. I guess we’ll see how RAJ feels soon.

By: DaMannse

DaMannse — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 10:59:54 +0000

Ah. That would be true. Too true, in fact. Point made, and agreed. I mean, wouldn’t it be nice to have a couple of bats that weren’t so streaky? They needn’t be HOF bats. Just some guys who used up a lot of pitches every at bat, were tough outs, on occasion cleared the left field wall, and didn’t depend on the phase of the moon to make contact.

By: egrissom

egrissom — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 00:35:09 +0000

I hear ya. Mostly I just meant that the Philllies are going to need some really other-wordly pitching if they are going to continue to get this kind of contribution from their non-pitchers.

By: DaMannse

DaMannse — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 23:27:13 +0000

Honestly, pitching isn’t my priority. Kina tired watching a lineup that is so inconsistent.