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