Charlie Manuel had an out of body experience the other night right in the midst of the current disaster flick his team has been watching all week, ``Ed Wade’s Revenge.’’ He actually got to punch out his lineup card with the eight names he projected would be there all season, yet had only played together a measly seven previous times: Rollins… Polanco…, Utley… Howard… Werth…. Ibanez… Victorino… Ruiz…
Surely, playing at full strength, everyone figured the Phillies would finally take off. After all, if they’ve been able to win without Jimmy Rollins….without Chase Utley… without Ryan Howard… without Carlos Ruiz, then surely nothing could stop them when all those so-called big bats are together,
Funny how things work in the real world. Rather than taking off and leaving the pesky Braves in the dust as they roll to their fourth straight N.L. East crown, the Phillies have come apart at the seams.
Particularly at the plate, where the offense has been virtually non-existent. While Utley and Howard may be back in body, they apparently left their bats someplace else. Utley has struggled since making his way back earlier than expected from a broken wrist.
Howard has looked even worse since returning from a sprained ankle, going a pathetic 1-for-17 with 10 strikeouts during the Astros’ series.
And with no one else picking up the slack the Phillies looked lifeless against a Houston team filled with players deemed unwanted by them, eager to stick it to their former team. Starting with Brett Myers and J.A. Happ on the mound, with Michael Bourn tormenting the two-time defending National League champs in a myriad of ways, and even Jason Michaels chipping in, the Phillies were overmatched in every phase of the game.
No, it didn’t help that both Jayson Werth and Ben Francisco fell asleep on the bases and got picked off, killing potential rallies. Add to that the celebrated beefs Manuel, Howard & Co. had with the umpires and it would be easy to say the Phils were getting a raw deal.
But reality—there’s that word again—says the Phillies got exactly what they deserved. Having managed just seven runs in four games against a Houston team most thought wasn’t in their league, only goes to prove that you can never be sure what you’ll get once you step between the lines.
Was it just an aberration; the kind of ``Murphy’s Law’’ series that is bound to crop up over the course of 162 games? Or is this a harbinger of things to come, as the Phils’ shortcomings have been exposed for all to see?
Not that they were any secret before. But this season, more than any in recent memory, every chink in their armor has betrayed them. Their maddening trait of striking out in key situations, their inability to manufacture runs, their inconsistencies on the mound—particularly at the back end of the rotation and in the bullpen—has cost them time and again.
The end result is with the team headed West to face the Padres and Dodgers for three apiece, followed by a makeup game vs. the surging Rockies, the Phillies have placed themselves on the edge of danger. Now three full games behind Atlanta in the Division and trailing the Giants by ½ game in the wild card race, with both the Cardinals and Colorado close on their heels, they’re in serious jeopardy of not even getting a chance to defend their title, let alone making it back to the World Series.
But before you say the sky is falling, remember the Phillies have been here before. This has never been a team that makes it easy for itself, so why start now?
They still have strong pitching—even if Cole Hamels hasn’t had a win since the all-star break. Hamels, Roy Halladay , newcomer Roy Oswalt, and even Joe Blanton have been pitching well of late, with closer Brad Lidge arguably throwing as well as he has since his brilliant 2008 season. They still play solid defense, particularly Carlos Ruiz, Utley and Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino up the middle.
And they still have one of the most fearsome lineups around—at least potentially fearsome. For all their faults, the eight men Manuel can roll out on a nightly basis, can be as good as there is. The problem this year is that they’ve seldom played that way, which undoubtedly can be attributed to a near epidemic rash of injuries.
Clearly the Phils didn’t feel sorry for themselves and use that as an excuse, as they compiled an impressive record without ever being at full strength. But as we’ve seen, just because they’re all back now doesn’t mean they’re REALLY back.
They’ve got just over a month now to figure it all out—and will likely need all of it—to learn whether or not they can punch their ticket back to the post-season. For Charlie Manuel and the rest of the Phillies the clock is ticking. And if you think filling in his full lineup card was an out-of-body experience, imagine him spending the first week of October having nothing to do but wonder what went wrong.
Thanks to the Phillies alumni—Houston chapter of Myers, Happ, Bourn and no doubt giddy General Manager Ed Wade—suddenly that seems a distinct possibility.
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