Shallow | Center

Week Three | Something Old, Something New

A surprisingly strong string of starts is mitigated by the familiar woes of inconsistent hitting and an inability to manage injuries.

The third week of the Phils' season saw them go 3-3, winning a series over the Astros and dropping one to the Mets, all six games at Citizens Bank Park. At this stage of the season you'd be forgiven for thinking that the Phillies' sub-.500 record was due to spotty pitching, but so far -- and last week, especially -- the team has gotten unexpectedly good efforts from the rotation. Alas, that old nemesis, inconsistent hitting, has reared up, with only Chase Utley and Pat Burrell continuing to swing hot bats. Ryan Howard is in one of his dreadful fogs, and Jimmy Rollins has been hobbled by a bad ankle for a couple of weeks, which brings up Complaint No. 2: It took the Phils nearly two weeks to realize that what was initially thought to be a day-to-day injury was actually a situation that needed a complete shutdown. Ruben Amaro and Charlie Manuel can yap all they want about J-Roll's lack of symptoms and his desire to keep playing, but the fact is they have squandered valuable healing time for the league's reining MVP. The Phillies have too many flaws and too little margin for error to engage in such dawdling with so necessary a player. S|C

Tags: Phillies, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley

What Do You Do When Your Shortstop Is Thinking About 'Hello Kitty'?

After running my first two practices as coach of my daughter's t-ball team, I'm trying to figure out with whom I can empathize more: her kindergarten teacher or Charlie Manuel.

Would it clarify matters to point out that we're talking about 10 5- and 6-year-old girls here? No, I didn't think so.

I played six years of organized baseball as a kid, and watched every practice and game of last year's t-ball and soccer seasons, but nothing prepared me for being the guy standing at first base and leading everyone in stretching. I thought holding one kindergartener's attention for more than two minutes was tough; a whole team's worth is damn near impossible. And while our girls did great hitting off the tee and catching grounders, and you can't stop them from running around the bases, by far the most enthusiastic reaction came when I unveiled our purple tie-dyed uniforms. Sadly, no one asked me to explain the infield fly rule.

That said, I'm having a blast with it. The girls are sweet and very interested in learning and trying, and as a coach, can you ask for anything more? Hell, I don't even mind that they leave runners on base. S|C

Tags: t-ball, coaching

Week Two | Defensive Indifference

The Phillies' 4-3 week included a couple of cringe-worthy defeats, with clumsy fielding playing a major role in the losses. Yesterday Chase Utley's 10th-inning gaffe allowed the Cubs to score the winning run, and while Utley is certainly going to win the Phils more games with his bat than he'll lose with his glove, it was still a tough pill to swallow. And, this being the Phillies, we had an injury bug to contend with as well: Jimmy Rollins was on the shelf for several games with a sprained ankle, and yesterday Shane Victorino tweaked a calf muscle and was placed on the disabled list.

On the plus side, the starting pitching solidified a bit over the week; even Adam Eaton has looked like a major leaguer on the mound. Pat Burrell and Utley continue to hit, and Ryan Howard has started to put some good wood on the ball. And, let's face it, the fact that the Phillies are only one game under .500 two weeks into the season is reason enough to celebrate. S|C

Tags: Phillies

That's More Like It

The Phillies' one-two punch finally combine for a pair of strong starts

Brett Myers got his footing back Friday night, Cole Hamels continued his strong April last night, and, hey, the Phillies have taken two straight from the Cubs. Myers needs to man up and pitch like a No. 1; he had been nibbling far too much in his first two starts. If he can get his swagger back, it will go a long way toward mitigating Kyle Kendrick's early-season struggles. And Hamels just keeps getting better. This could be the last season he's not the Phils' Opening Day starter for a number of years.

The team has, thankfully, gained some equilibrium; we can only hope that it has shucked that dreaded awful-April trend for good. The Phillies are at .500 and have the look of a squad that's determined to make some noise, unlike in years past, when their look was one of expectation, as if they were waiting for the rest of the division to roll over on them before they finally realized in June that they had to start playing for real. S|C

Tags: Phillies, Brett Myers, Cole Hamels

Troubling Trends on Display at Shea

Butterfingers in the field, awful aim from the mound end the Phils' mastery of the Mets

Of course the Phillies' streak over the Mets was bound to end sooner than later, but to lose thanks in large part to four errors in three innings and an absolutely horrid start (2.1 innings, 6 walks) by Kyle Kendrick is damn troubling. The Phils' inability to catch the ball in the early going -- they are dead last in the major leagues in number of errors committed -- is a dreadful trend. Philadelphia has too many flaws to give opponents extra outs. And it's not hard to imagine Kendrick back in the minors by summer. He's a textbook case of an unknown who took the league by surprise when nobody knew who he was, but is poised to fall to earth once hitters catch up.

Seriously, though: Of all the teams for the Phillies to make their bitch for a while, how sweet is it that they chose the Mets? S|C

Tags: Phillies, Kyle Kendrick, Mets

Week One | Not What We Were Told

The Phillies start the season with a pair of meek series against lesser foes

It was supposed to be different this year, wasn't it?

That division championship was supposed to give the Phillies a better sense of what was needed to contend all season long, so that a September collapse by the Mets wouldn't be necessary to secure a playoff slot. This year, the Phils told us, they'd be ready right out of the gate. Promise.

Oops.

Saying the Phillies have looked like Little Leaguers over the first week of the season is an insult to Little Leaguers. Bad defense, bullpen blowups, mediocre starting, and silent bats have all added up to a 2-4 record against hardly imposing Nationals and Reds squads. Even worse, they're 0-3 thus far in games started by Brett Myers and Cole Hamels. Myers has been a major disappointment, getting knocked around unexpectedly in his two starts; Hamels, at least, was sparkling in his one turn.

Philadelphia is playing right now as if Jimmy Rollins's 100-win prediction will come true simply because he said the words. With only Chase Utley and Pat Burrell(!) seeming to have any clue at the plate in the early going, I continue to worry that the fabled switch that was going to be thrown on Opening Day has a few of its wires crossed. S|C

A Rainy Sunday Afternoon ...

We now pause from our usual frivolity for some different frivolity.

I've been "nominated" by my fellow fantasy baseball co-owners to live-blog our annual draft so that those not available to be on site can see who's been picked in real time. Apologies to Bill Simmons.

Rule changes are being discussed now. Picks to be posted as they happen ...

One Down, Ninety-Nine to Go

Mid-game rally and late gift lift Phils to first win

Well, they gave it a good try, didn't they? Despite their best efforts, the Phillies failed to start the season 0-3, eking out a one-run, 10-inning win against the Nationals this afternoon. Many of their flaws of recent years were on painful display: a horrible outing from the starter, in this case Jamie Moyer; a shaky performance from the closer, in this case Tom Gordon; awful fielding, in this case four errors; and an unacceptable number of men left on base, in this case 22. If not for the Nats' own perpetual haplessness catching up to them after a blessed 3-0 start to their season, the Phils would be winging to Cincinnati with nary a victory in their pocket.

My worry about the good vibes of last September is that they will obscure the team's obvious shortcomings. Am I the only one who worries that the Phillies only barely made it into the playoffs last season? Or that they were escorted meekly out the door by the Rockies? Swagger is all well and good, but Philadelphia is strutting around as if it owns the National League. Pat Gillick didn't do nearly enough last winter to make a 2008 playoff spot a foregone conclusion. Best for Jimmy Rollins & Co. to remember that. S|C

The M-W Phrase

If it's early April, Phillies fans must be getting nervous

Has the second game of the season ever felt so much like a must-win?

That phrase gets thrown around way too much during the course of a season, but for the 2008 Phillies, you can make an argument that Game 2 qualifies:

• The team's inability to get out of the gate fast has been damaging in recent years, and nearly cost the Phils a playoff slot last year.
• Brett Myers's lousy Opening Day outing means that if the Nationals get to Cole Hamels tonight, the Phillies will be 0-2 and facing a significant drop-off in their starting rotation over the next three games.
• Pedro Martinez's hamstring injury last night closes the pitching gap between the Phillies and the Mets. It's critical to take advantage of whatever time Pedro might miss.

Okay, it's not a must-win; even I won't go that far. But a lot of people -- fans, the media, the players themselves -- will feel an awful lot better about the 1-1 Phillies than the 0-2 Phillies. S|C

Tags: Phillies, Cole Hamels, Brett Myers

Pitching and Moaning

Hurlers torched in Phils' Opening Day loss

It was cold and damp but festive. The beer and the Schmitter were delicious. There was bunting and introduction of rosters and Fogerty playing over the PA system.

It was, in other words, a typical Opening Day at Citizens Bank Park, right down to the mediocre outing by our No. 1 starter and the destruction of our fill-in closer:

• B. Myers: 5 innings pitched, 5 hits, 4 runs, 3 earned runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, 5.40 ERA
• T. Gordon: 0.1 innings pitched, 4 hits, 5 runs, 5 earned runs, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 135.01 ERA

Nice to see the Phillies were able to turn that fabled switch on. They just forgot to change the light bulb. S|C

Tags: Phillies, Brett Myers, Tom Gordon