An Omen? The Phillies Trip Up on Opening Day
EVEN BEFORE the Phillies were hammered today, I was less optimistic about their chances this season than many of my fellow Phloggers. Sure, the Phils are going to score a lot of runs, the bench looks pretty good, and defensively, they should be okay, but there are just too many questions surrounding the pitching staff for me to think they're going to leapfrog over the Braves and the Mets.
Start with the rotation Jon Lieber is solid, but on most good teams he's a No. 2 or 3. Brett Myers can get huffy and protest being dissed all he wants, but until he wins 18 or 20, he should shut his piehole and just pitch. Cory Lidle? Eh. And Ryan Madson and Gavin Floyd are nothing if not question marks. At the back of the bullpen, Arthur Rhodes and Tom Gordon are well traveled veterans who know how to pitch, but whose age and mileage are cause for concern. And the long guys and pre-setup arms have been wildly inconsistent over the last couple of years.
Young players such as Ryan Howard and Chase Utley still have room to get better, and Aaron Rowand is a likable enough player. But Mike Lieberthal and David Bell are in decline, while guys such as Bobby Abreu, Pat Burrell, and Jimmy Rollins have likely plateaued. Then there's the Charlie Factor. It's way too easy to pin losses on the manager's befuddlement, but the fact is that Charlie Manuel seemed simply lost last year trying to manage in the National League.
Feel free to tell me "I told you so" if we're watching meaningful October baseball, but what I'm seeing is 89 or 90 wins and another wild-card near-miss.
Ahhhh. My two teams won by a combined score of 28-7. Happy spring!
Posted by: Jer | Tuesday, April 04, 2006 at 11:04 AM