It is time for a change
by Scott Butler 6/26/09
I think we have reached the point where something drastic needs to be done with the 2009 Philadelphia Phillies. They are making an incredible amount of mental mistakes, the starting pitching is simply not good enough, and the bullpen is showing signs of overuse.
I have never seen this Phillies team seem so lost. One thing we have always known about this group is that they play good defense, or at least try to play good defense and make good decisions. The mental lapses right now are staggering. Let me remind you of the most recent knucklehead plays. On a sac fly, Pedro Feliz forgot how many outs there were AND Matt Stairs jogged to the plate so the run would not count. Jimmy Rollins flipped to second rather than throwing out the lead-footed Pat Burrell. Marco Scutaro went all the way to second on a walk. Rolen stretched a single into a double when Mayberry lazily fielded the ball. Ryan Howard was not paying attention when he picked up an errant pick-off throw and allowed Kevin Youkilis to advance to third.
These are not the type of mistakes typical of a World Champion, but they are epidemic and now a change needs to be made.
As much as I pointed out the faults of the hitters, I am going to suggest that something needs to be done with pitching.
The fact is this: the Phillies have the MOST runs scored in the league and the WORST starting pitching in the league and second-worst overall pitching in the league. We might complain about the hitting and defense, but THE PITCHING IS THE PROBLEM.
If you can fix the pitching, the rest of the team can relax and they can start playing the type of baseball we expect.
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