Charlie Manuel fine for now, but Phillies need higher-level change to win longer term

Embed from Getty Images
Former manager Charlie Manuel will be back behind the Phillies batting cage

The struggling Philadelphia Phillies baseball club stunned the fan base on Tuesday with the announcement that hitting coach John Mallee had been released, and that he would be replaced by popular former manager Charlie Manuel.

The stunning part wasn't that Mallee was let go. The Phillies offense has struggled to find any consistency in parts of two seasons with the team since his hiring in November 2017.

Offensively, the Phillies rank just 19th among the 30 teams in Major League Baseball in runs scored per game this year. They are only 22nd in hits and OPS, 23rd in home runs, 17th in stolen bases.

After changing half the starting lineup from a year ago, bringing in stars like Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, Andrew McCutchen and Jean Segura, it was expected that the offense would be the least worrisome part of the 2019 team.

More surprising was that the 75-year-old Manuel would be taking his place, albeit on what is likely to be an interim basis. Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said that this was a move which was not likely to extend beyond the balance of the 2019 campaign.

The move is certainly one that was, at least in some measure, calculated to inject enthusiasm into a fan base that was beginning to turn on the team. The Phillies have gone just 28-36 since their season high-water mark at 11 games over .500 on May 29. They had lost seven of their last 10 prior to Tuesday night.

With the Philadelphia Eagles preseason now underway and the NFL season set to begin in just three weeks, the Phillies were in danger of completely losing a large portion of their fans attention.

Phillies continue to be stymied by failure to deliver in the clutch

Embed from Getty Images

There have not been enough of these scoring celebrations in 2019

The Philadelphia Phillies just cannot seem to get on a true roll in this 2019 season. The last time that the club was 10 games above the .500 level was following a 4-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Citizens Bank Park on June 8.

Since that time, the club has gone 22-27, and they have just two winning streaks of three or more games. Beginning on July 30, the Phillies began a streak, one that is still current, in which they have alternated a win with a loss.

Win. Loss. Win. Loss. Win. Loss. Win. Loss. Four times in a row now following Tuesday night’s 8-4 defeat to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in Phoenix.

And yet, the Phillies remain in control of a National League Wildcard playoff berth. That position in the standings is thanks to two factors. One has been that all of the other Wildcard contenders have proven to be flawed as well, at least to this point.

Another is that, while not being able to assemble a big winning streak, the Phillies have not gone into a major losing skid either. The club has not lost as many as three in a row since the middle of June. In fact, since the start of July, the Phillies have only dropped back-to-back games on three occasions.

Frankly, this team has become exasperating to many fans. They can’t win consistently, and in fact have outright blown many more than their share of potential victories, continuing to frustrate everyone following the team. But that they also don’t lose consistently has kept them tantalizingly in the race.

Sure, the bullpen has blown a number of games. But if we are honest about that factor, the Phillies pen has been in shambles due to numerous key injuries, far more than could have been expected and planned for.

At present, the following relievers are on the Injured List: David Robertson, Pat Neshek, Seranthony Dominguez, Tommy Hunter, Edubray Ramos, Victor Arano and Adam Morgan.

When the 2019 regular season opened, that was nearly the entire Phillies anticipated bullpen. Most of those relievers have missed most of the season. The problems stemming from trying to replace them on the fly, of leaning too much on arms who could not have been expected to pitch so often in the roles in which they have been used, should be expected. It may be a problem without a solution in the short term.

Phillies visit the Arizona desert for key series with host Diamondbacks

Embed from Getty Images

Chase Field will be hot, inside and out, for Phils and Dbacks

The Philadelphia Phillies (58-53) are tied for the second of two National League Wildcard playoff positions as they take on the Arizona Diamondbacks (56-56) in a three-game series starting on Monday night at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona.

The Dbacks 2019 regular season has gone much as the Phillies own season, see-sawing back and forth between control of one of those NL Wildcard spots and then sitting just on the outside looking in at a possible postseason berth.

Victories in 10 of 14 games at the start of June lifted the Dbacks from fourth place to second place in the National League West Division. But then Arizona dropped six straight, and the club has pretty much tread water ever since.

At the MLB trade deadline, general manager Mike Hazen was a busy man. He made four trades on July 31, highlighted by a deal in which he dealt away the club’s pitching ace, Zack Greinke, to the Houston Astros for a four-prospect package.

Hazen also brought in two new arms for the rotation in veteran Mike Leake from Seattle and young Zac Gallen from Miam. Both of those pitchers will make their debut with the Dbacks in this series.

The Arizona offensive attack has been fairly solid this year, currently ranking ninth in all of Major League Baseball by scoring 5.21 runs per game. That is almost a half-run per game better than the 16th ranked Phillies. The Dbacks hitters rank 5th in the National League in both batting average and OPS, and have the fourth-fewest strikeouts in the league.

On the mound, Arizona pitching ranks 5th in the National League in batting average against and sixth in strikeouts. An area where the club truly excels is on defense, where they are by far the top-ranked defensive unit in baseball according to Fangraphs. That helped the Dbacks finish 7th in the August 1 MLB Power Rankings here at Phillies Nation.

These two teams met once earlier this season, with Arizona taking two of three games at Citizens Bank Park in the second week of June by two very different methods. They crushed the ball in a 13-8 victory in the opener, then received a gem from Merrill Kelly, who pitches the opener this time around, in a 2-0 victory in that June series finale. The Phillies won the middle contest by a 7-4 score.

Phillies crush Braves by 9-4 to salvage series finale at Citizens Bank Park

Embed from Getty Images

J.T. Realmuto blasted a grand slam as one of four Phillies homers

The host Philadelphia Phillies (55-50) used the long ball, blasting four home runs to power past the Atlanta Braves (62-43) and salvage the series finale with a 9-4 victory on Sunday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.

Atlanta took the first two in this weekend set between the NL East Division rivals despite being out-hit by the Phillies by a 36-31 margin over the three games.

Still, this was a big victory for the Phillies. It came on a day when starting pitcher Aaron Nola looked to be totally in control, was given a big lead, and then suddenly hit a wall on a hot afternoon in South Philly, nearly blowing that lead before being bailed out by his offense.

The Phillies broke out on top with a pair of solo home runs. Bryce Harper started the scoring by slamming his 18th deep to center field off a first-pitch fastball from Braves starter Kevin Gausman in the bottom of the 1st inning. Then in the home 3rd, Adam Haseley lofted his third home run of the season just over the center field fence to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead.

Phillies Nation@PhilliesNation

Adam Haseley’s solo home run to leadoff the bottom of the 3rd has made it a 2-0 Phillies lead.

94

2:22 PM - Jul 28, 2019

Twitter Ads info and privacy

See Phillies Nation's other Tweets

While Nola was keeping Atlanta off the scoreboard through the first half of the ball game, the Phillies offense was having a typically difficult time opening up their lead. That is, until the home 5th inning.  Nola led off with his second hit of the day. That was followed by singles from Scott Kingery and Jean Segura to load the bases with nobody out and the Phillies 3-4-5 hitters due up to bat.

10 weeks to go, Phillies begin priming for 2019 playoff push

Embed from Getty Images

Rhys Hoskins (L), Bryce Harper (R) lead Phillies attack

There are now 10 weeks remaining in the 2019 Major League Baseball regular season. That makes for the perfect beginning of a countdown. So, each Monday over these next ten weeks, I’ll update you on exactly where the Phillies stand in their attempts to return to the MLB postseason.

The last appearance by the Phillies in the MLB playoffs ended with first baseman Ryan Howard crumped on the ground at home plate after striking out to end the club’s disheartening defeat in Game 5 of the 2011 NLDS against the Saint Louis Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park.

That loss by a Phillies team that had won 102 games in the regular season became the swan song for a once-great aging championship team. Every starting position player was over the age of 30, with the exception of right fielder Hunter Pence. Three of the pitchers who made up the club’s vaunted “Four Aces” starting rotation were over 32 years of age.

Over the next half-dozen seasons, management would begin the process of slowly and systematically turning over the roster in what became a major, lengthy rebuilding program, one that would ultimately include a change in that management structure itself.

That rebuilding program took a major step forward in this past off-season when half the everyday lineup was turned over. Newcomers Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, Jean Segura, and Andrew McCutchen brought excitement at the outset of the season that hadn’t been seen down in South Philly since those halcyon days way back at the start of the decade.

Ryan Howard is helped off field after crumpling to ground at end of winner-take-all defeat to Cardinals in the 2011 NLDS.

The Phillies bolted out of the gate, took over first place in the NL East Division on April 25, and held that top spot until June 12. Prior to Independence Day, the club was never lower than second place in the division standings.

But the Phillies have pretty much been treading water for the last two months. McCutchen was lost for the season, blowing out his knee and taking a huge piece out of the lineup. Since May 25, the Phillies record is just 21-27, and they have fallen to third place.

Phillies bats go cold during a 5-1 loss on a hot Saturday night in Pittsburgh

Embed from Getty Images

Joe Musgrove gave the Pirates a strong starting effort

The Pittsburgh Pirates (46-51) pitching cooled off the Philadelphia Phillies (51-48) bats on a steamy, hot summer night at PNC Park to give the hosts a 5-1 victory.

With the win, the Bucs rewarded the sellout crowd who showed up to pay homage to their 1979 Pirates club in celebration of the 40th anniversary of that “We Are Family” team winning the World Series.

As part of that celebration, both teams wore throwback uniforms. The Pirates adorned in black, the Phillies wearing their popular powder blues from that era.

The sharp-looking uniforms wouldn’t help the visiting Phillies even a little bit. They managed to muster just three hits all night, and their only run was of the unearned variety.

Pittsburgh jumped out on top first, scoring three times in the bottom of the 3rd inning, and it was the Pirates starting pitcher Joe Musgrove who got it going. He doubled, then rolled home with a head-first slide on a Bryan Reynolds base hit. Reynolds then scored on a double by Starling Marte, who then scored himself on a base hit off the bat of Josh Bell.

The Phillies finally pushed through with an unearned run off Musgrove in the top of the 5th inning before a short rain delay caused a stoppage. When play resumed, Musgrove stayed as hot as the weather, striking out Scott Kingery with a runner at third base and two outs.

In the home 6th, the Pirates traded a double play for a run to up their lead to 4-1. Then in the bottom of the 7th, newcomer Mike Morin took the mound after being acquired by the Phillies just this morning in a deal with the Minnesota Twins for cash considerations. Morin surrendered doubles to both Marte and Colin Moran, the latter driving in the run that provided the final 5-1 score.

Phillies defense improving, led by trio of Gold Glove Award candidates

Embed from Getty Images

No Phillies player has won a Gold Glove since 2012

The Philadelphia Phillies are currently one of the most inconsistent contending teams in Major League Baseball.

The biggest problem for the team in getting on a long winning run has been consistently poor pitching from both the starters and the bullpen group.

Offensively, they are a middle of the pack team, with the Phillies run production having fluctuated wildly all year long. The club’s hitters are collectively tied for 15th among the 30 MLB teams with 4.81 runs scored per game.

The one area of the game at which the Phillies have been solid this year is on defense. The gloves are currently tied for sixth in the NL in fielding percentage, having committed 55 errors, tied for fifth-lowest in the league.

The SABR Defensive Index of individual player performances was released through games of July 7, just about 10 days ago. For the seventh consecutive season in 2019, the SDI will be used to help select the winners of the Rawlings Gold Glove Awards. The SDI accounts for approximately 25% of the Gold Glove selection process, added to votes from the managers and coaches.

Based on the SDI as of July 7, the Phillies have three players who are legitimate National League Gold Glove Award contenders. Those three are right fielder Bryce Harper, catcher J.T. Realmuto, and perhaps surprisingly to some, left fielder Jay Bruce.

All three of those Phillies players are ranked second by the SDI at their positions. Harper’s 3.7 mark trails well behind the 7.6 of Dodgers right fielder Cody Bellinger and his 7.6 SDI rating. In left field, Bruce’s 4.4 is right behind the 4.7 of positional leader David Peralta of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

J.T. Realmuto might be the best chance for a Phillies player to actually win a Gold Glove Award in 2019. (Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire)

Realmuto, the one Phillies representative on this year’s NL All-Star team, has an 8.5 SDI. That is the third-highest mark in the entire National League among all players. Unfortunately, one of the two ahead of him is San Diego Padres catcher Austin Hedges and his 9.1 mark.

Aside from those three, the rest of the Phillies defenders do not fare as well. Shortstop Jean Segura has a positive mark of 0.8, which places him at 8th among the 17 players rated. Maikel Franco has a -1.3 rating, putting him at 13th of the 19 third basemen rated.

Jay Bruce comes through again, Phillies walkoff Mets in 10 innings

Embed from Getty Images

Jay Bruce about to get doused after his Wednesday walkoff

The Philadelphia Phillies (42-38) completed their first walkoff victory of the season, downing the New York Mets (37-44) by a 5-4 final score on Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park in South Philadelphia. With the win, the Phillies remain tied for an NL Wildcard playoff spot.

For a third consecutive night the Phillies fell behind early. And for a third straight game the offense rallied to bring home a victory. For a club that had languished in a disheartening three-week slump, you can almost feel the energy turning around them, building with each bamboo-inspired victory.

After Phillies starter Nick Pivetta and Mets starting pitcher Jason Vargas battled through the first three innings scoreless, the visitors jumped on the board first courtesy of the longball. Dominic Smith drove his 7th homer of the season out on a line to left to put New York on top 1-0 with one out in the top of the 4th inning.

In the top of the 5th it was new Phillies-killer Jeff McNeil blasting his 6th home run of the year over the center field wall to make it 2-0.

The Mets scored twice more in the very next inning to double their lead. Smith led off by drawing a walk. He then stole second base, and when J.T. Realmuto threw the ball away, Smith went to third. Amed Rosario then walked, and then Tomas Nido singled to bring Smith home, making it 3-0. With two outs, McNeil did it again, ripping a double to right field that scored Rosario to make it 4-0 for the visitors.

In the bottom of the 6th inning, Jean Segura finally got the Phillies on the board with his 9th homer to left-center field. Then the Phillies got even by putting up a crooked number, scoring three times in the home 7th to tie it up.

Dbacks and Phillies combine for MLB record 13 home runs in 13-8 win for Arizona

Embed from Getty Images

Eduardo Escobar's big night helped power Dbacks past Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies (37-29) are no longer all alone in first place in the National League East Division standings. After being crushed by a 13-8 score on Monday night by the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks (35-32) at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies now find themselves tied at the top with the Atlanta Braves.

This marks the first time since April 25 that the Phillies were not at the top of the division by themselves. The Braves crushed the Pittsburgh Pirates tonight in Atlanta by 13-7 to earn the tie. It was a fourth consecutive win for the Braves, the fifth win in a row for the Dbacks, and the Phillies second straight loss.

The Phillies and Braves are set to meet this coming weekend down in Atlanta in a key mid-season series, the first meeting between the clubs since the Phillies swept the Braves in the first series of the season back in late March.

The vast majority of the 21 runs scored by the two teams came via the long ball. The two clubs combined for a Major League Baseball record 13 home runs in this contest. Unfortunately for the home side and their fans, most of those were slugged by the visitors.

Arizona jumped all over Phillies starter Jerad Eickhoff (3-4) about as hard as you can jump on a pitcher. The Dbacks first three batters – Jarrod Dyson, Ketel Marte and David Peralta – all homered.

Credit Eickhoff in the immediate aftermath of that potentially demoralizing opening. He settled down to retire the next nine straight Arizona batters as the Phillies slowly fought back with solo runs in each of their first three at-bats to get back to even.

Jean Segura‘s sixth home run of the season got the Phillies on the board in the home 1st inning. In the 2nd, Scott Kingery ripped a one-out triple and scored on a ground out by Maikel Franco to make it 3-2. They tied it up in the 3rd when Rhys Hoskins singled home Segura, who had reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second base.

A grand welcome to the Phillies starting lineup for Jay Bruce

Embed from Getty Images

Jay Bruce greeted after his 5th inning grand slam in San Diego

Man, did the Philadelphia Phillies (34-27) ever need this kind of a game? At Petco Park in San Diego, the offense finally awoke after a week-long slumber. As a result, the Phillies drubbed the host Padres by a 9-6 final score on a beautiful Tuesday night in San Diego.

The victory took just a little of the sting out of the pre-game announcement that outfielder Andrew McCutchen would miss the rest of the 2019 season with a torn UCL in his knee, which he injured in a rundown on Monday night.

The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Phillies. It also pushed them back in front of the Atlanta Braves by a half-game in the NL East Division standings, though the two teams are tied in the loss column.

The Phillies got on the scoreboard first in the top of the 2nd inning when newcomer Jay Bruceand new third baseman Scott Kingery ripped back-to-back doubles. It was only the beginning of what would prove to be a memorable first start in a Phillies uniform for Bruce.

San Diego briefly took the lead in the home 3rd inning when Ian Kinsler led off with a double. That was followed by Phillies starter Jerad Eickhoff hitting Austin Hedges. Eickhoff’s counter-part, Chris Paddack, then bunted the two runners over to second and third. Greg Garcia followed with a double to right, scoring both and putting the Padres up by a 2-1 score.

I say “briefly” on that Padres lead, because the Phillies would take it right back in the top of the 4th inning. It began with a great at-bat from J.T. Realmuto, who won an eight-pitch battle with Paddack by lining a base hit. Bruce then followed by driving a ball out over the wall to the opposite field in left, the two-run shot giving the lead back to the Phillies by a 3-2 score.

Paddack may have been a little shaken by that blast. He went to 2-0 on the next hitter, Kingery, who then blasted his fourth homer of the year deep into the left field upper deck to push the Phillies lead out to a 4-2 margin.

Big four-game series between Phillies and Cubs continues at Wrigley Field

Embed from Getty Images

Wrigley Field is the site of a four-game series between Phillies and Cubs

The Philadelphia Phillies (28-19) woke up this morning in the Windy City with the club sitting at nine games over the .500 mark for the first time since last September 2.

On Tuesday night at Wrigley Field the Phillies will try to clinch at least a tie from this four-game series with the host Chicago Cubs (27-18) as the two first-place teams continue their battle. In last night’s wild series opener, the Phillies captured a 5-4 victory in 10 innings.

The Phillies have now won four straight close affairs to fashion their first four-game winning streak since capturing the first four of the 2019 season. During this stretch, the Phillies have won three times by a single run and won by two runs in the other game.

From July 31 through August 5 of last season the Phillies won five in a row. That pushed the club to 15 games over the .500 mark for the first time since the 2011 season. It was also the last time that the team won five straight games. They won six in a row twice during last season. On Tuesday night they will try to get five straight for the first time in the 2019 season.

TUESDAY STARTING LINEUPS

PHILLIES LINEUP

1. Andrew McCutchen LF
2. Jean Segura SS
3. Bryce Harper RF
4. Rhys Hoskins 1B
5. J.T. Realmuto C
6. Cesar Hernandez 2B
7. Scott Kingery CF
8. Maikel Franco 3B
9. Zach Eflin P

Cesar Hernandez is holding off critics with a hot start to the 2019 season

Embed from Getty Images

Cesar Hernandez has been hitting well for over a month

This piece has to begin with a disclaimer. Few writers who cover the Philadelphia Phillies on a regular basis have been more critical of second baseman Cesar Hernandez over the last couple of years than yours truly.

If I’ve called for the Phillies to jettison Hernandez and install Scott Kingery as the starting second baseman once, I’ve done it a hundred times since the winter prior to the 2018 campaign.

Hernandez registered career highs of 15 homers, 60 RBIs, and 91 runs scored. He led the Phillies with 19 stolen bases, tying his career high mark.

However, Hernandez slashed just .220/.321/.332 over the 2018 season’s final two full months. The Phillies were in first place and 11 games over the .500 mark when his poor hitting began in earnest on July 29. By the time it all officially came to an end on September 29, the club had finished in third place. They were 10 games out, and produced a sixth consecutive losing season.

Hernandez wasn’t the only reason for that 2018 collapse. Not by a long shot. But he was consistently unproductive. Many of the other players who made up the bulk of the losing during the previous few seasons were gone already. Freddy Galvis, Dom Brown, Cody Asche, John Mayberry Jr, Cameron Rupp, Tommy Joseph. All either released or traded away.

The 24-year-old Kingery had struggled in his first taste of the big-leagues last season, but also had been forced out of position to shortstop for most of the year, a position he had never previously played. Kingery had been a star in the minor leagues during the 2017 season, after which he was signed to a club-friendly long-term contract.

The Phillies looked to make wholesale changes to their lineup entering the 2019 campaign. Trades brought in a new shortstop in Jean Segura and a new catcher in J.T. Realmuto. Both Andrew McCutchen and Bryce Harper were signed to take over the corner outfield spots. Rhys Hoskins was moved back to his more natural first base position.

The idea that the Phillies could upgrade the second base position as well was a natural for those of us in the anti-Cesar camp. Find a taker for a player who would turn 29-years-old this year. Turn the Keystone over to Kingery at his own natural position, where he had won a 2017 minor league Gold Glove.

The calls got even louder as the first few weeks of 2019 unfolded. Kingery came out blazing hot, slashing .406/.457/.719 over his first 14 games. Meanwhile, Hernandez was slashing just .246/.329/.391 with just five extra-base hits over his own first 18 games.