Phillies Not As Bad As It Feels
I feel okay about the Phillies. Not great, but not a fatalist at all. The Phillies aren’t exactly where they or I thought they’d be at the break, but it kind of should’ve been much worse.
THE FACTS:
The Phillies lost their leadoff hitter and starting LF Andrew McCutcheon, who was one of, if not the best leadoff hitter at the time.
They lost their starting often-bone-headed CF Odubel Herrera for being a vile human being.
That’s two-thirds of their starting outfield…FOR THE YEAR.
They have a second baseman, Scott Kingery, playing centerfield.
They have a second baseman, Cesar Hernandez, playing second base and he’s not the best second baseman on the team, i.e. Kingery.
They are among the league worst in third base production. Franco started hot and finished the first half cool, but they still rank at or near the bottom of third base production in OPB and SLG.
Sean Rodriguez has started 12 games. That’s 12 games too many for any MLB team.
The Phillies basically have a bullpen catcher as their backup catcher in Andrew Knapp. He is arguably the worst backup catcher in all of the major leagues. He’s batting a pathetic .050 with Runners In Scoring Position in 27 plate appearances.
The Phillies have placed 16 players hit the injured list—twice as many as the Braves.
They’ve had 9 injuries in the bullpen, most in the MLB. That’s basically an entire bullpen.
Arrieta stinks.
They don’t have a 5th starter.
AND YET, despite all this adversity, they are four games above .500 at the halfway point. FOUR GAMES ABOVE .500!
They’d be tied with the Cubs for first place in the NL Central if they were in the Central, but they aren’t. They’re in the National League so it’s going to take a bit more them to get into the Playoffs.
However, if the season ended today, the Phillies would be a Wild Card team. With all the bullshit they’ve gone through they’d still be a Wild Card team.
As much as I’m indifferent to Gabe Kapler, it says something about him with the team not completely imploding. Jay Bruce has definitely helped there. Nice work Klentak, but you’ve still got work to do. Is it Gabe? How much is Gabe? I can’t get a handle on him. He’s a total enigma.
How is this team above .500? I don’t know if it can get much worse for the Phillies in the second half and I’d rather not find out.
I do know that Tommy Hunter is back and has looked dependable. Robertson is supposed to be back in the near future. Seranthony may be returning to the bullpen may look more like the Opening Day bullpen sooner rather than later.
Will the Braves and Nationals stay hot and healthy? It’s a long season and these things tend to even out over the course of a season so probably not.
After reflecting on everything that happened in the first half of the season, I’m going to enjoy tonight’s Midsummer Classic, and prepare for onward and upward for the Phillies in the second half. It has to get better…right?
That worst is behind the Phillies. The worst is behind the Phillies. The worst is behind the Phillies?