The Phillies have had a tough go of it since their return from LA. The Fightins’ have won just 4 of their last 10 games, putting them at a disappointing 21-24. Certain players have starred, others have seriously underachieved. The most consistent problems have been all too familiar to the city of brotherly love. The dreaded bullpen and the revolving door that is center field.
The Bullpen
The clip shown above has its list of issues, but it all starts with reliever Jose Alvarado, who threw the wild pitch. A common issue with not only Alvarado, but a lot of the bullpen, is the abundance of non-competitive pitches. That could be a symptom of a lack of experience in the pitchers that manager Joe Girardi pitches in high-leverage situations. Fellow relievers Bellatti, Norwood, and Nelson each have less than 60 IP in their careers. The 3 of them combined make up for 48.1 of the bullpens 163 IP(29.8%). It’s not like they’re doing all that well either, posting a 4.34 ERA in high-leverage situations. It seems as if Girardi is saving his better relievers for something, but that escapes me.
Center-field
Joe Girardi has played 4 guys this year in center. Odubel Herrera, Roman Quinn, Matt Vierling, and Simon Muzziotti. Combined, they are hitting a whooping .208 with 17 RBIs. Defensively they are ice cold, posting a -0.4 DWAR(Defensive wins above replacement). GM Dave Dombrowski and the Phillies front office have spent quite a bit of money in his tenure. Extremely little of it has gone to center field. As is the case with the bullpen, center field has gotten no attention from ownership despite its burden on the club for the last few years.
The Upside
Two words. Mickey Moniak. The former #1 overall pick is a huge x-factor for the team going forward. He’s been raking in his rehab assignment through the ranks of the minors and hopefully will hit the ground running whenever he returns. As for the bullpen, it comes down to how they are handled by Girardi and where he decides to pitch them. Regardless, the Phillies will always be held back from taking the next step as long as these issues are not solved.
Check out our Youtube!
Shop for exclusive merch on our site store.
