- Another sleepwalking effort by the Phillies, who lost to the last-place Marlins on Labor Day. The Braves lost to the Red Sox so the Phils stay 4 back of Atlanta in NL East. The problem is, this is the week the team should be picking up ground, prepping for the end of the month when they play Atlanta 7 times. While the Braves face the Bosox and Doamondbacks this week, the Phillies battles the lowly Marlins and Mets.
But you gotta beat those teams, who aren't going to roll over. Miami is playing hard, while New York always seems to have the Phillies' number.
We know about the many flaws on the Phillies team, which are now being exposed in the pennant race- poor defensive, inconsistent hitting, shaky bullpen, confusing managing. The starting pitching has carried the team all summer, but aside from the brilliant Nola, the other starters seem to have hit a wall.
Young hurlers Pivetta, Valasquez and Eflin are not stepping up Arrieta has been a free agent disappointment. Who do we count on now, this year and beyond?
Wouldn't Cole Hamels look good in Phillies' red pin-stripes now?
25 games left, and even though Kapler claims he isn't panicking and the Phils still have time, I'm raising the white flag. Let;s face it-the braves are better. Do we forget that Atlanta beat up on Philly earlier this season. Why should that change now?
The Phillies aren't good enough. The front office didn't go all in and didn't want the playoffs bad enough this season. And they once again badly evaluated the players they did get ( Loupe, Avalin) and the players they didn't get ( Hamels and Machado).
It's been fun, even though Kapler's brand of analytical baseball isn't always entertaining. Too many strike-outs. Walks over hits. Little runner movement on the bases. But after 7 years it was fun again to scoreboard watch.The fans never really believed in the team, hence all the empty seats. They were often boring to watch and inconsistent with no real stars to watch, other than Hoskins and Nola. Plus the players, even the good ones, lacked personality that the fans could relate to.
As the team slides closer to the .500 mark hopefully free agents like Harper and Machado will still want to come to Philadelphia. There are bright spots in Hoskins and Quinn, if they are used properly. And the club does have trade chips in Hernandez, Santana, Herrera and Franco to improve the team, although I don't have confidence in GM Matt Klantak to make the right moves.
I hope I'm wrong but I see the Phillies falling short of the playoffs. Improvement this season? yes. Still disappointing, after being in 1st place for over a month? Yes.
- Farm director Joe Jordan is leaving the organization. The start of things to come?
- Ryan Howard retired today. Thanks to the Big Piece for many memories. I'll never forget his 58 home run season, never forget his titanic homers, never forget how sad it ended when he blew out his Achilles during his final at-bat against the cardinals in the NLDS in 2011.
Will he be the next one on the Wall of fame?
- What's wrong with Eagles head Coach Doug Pederson snapping a the media dung his recent press conferences? Is the pressure getting to him? Is the power going to his head? Why play games when it came to the Wentz/Foles QB debate?
Is Pederson frustrated because he does see the Birds as being fat and sassy after winning the Super Bowl?
Pre-season is generally meaningless. Last season the Browns went 4-0 in the pre-season then went on to go 0-16 in the regular season. The Falcons had an even worse record than the Eagles this pre-season.
The Birds know what it takes tow in. Hopefully they get their injured players back and Foles plays like the playoff Foles last year. If so, everything will be forgotten. Til then the fans worry that Vitai's attitude of "not listening to the coaches" and "needing to forget about winning the Super Bowl" hasn't invaded other players on the squad.
The pre-game ceremonies, the raising of the championship banner, should be spectacular. The fans will be revved up and nuts. Emotion will carry over to the first quarter, but what happens late in the game? Atlanta will be seeking revenge. It will be hot and humid. The tailgaters will have all day to drink. It's going to be a night to be remembered.
My Eagle preview and NFL preview will be in the blog tomorrow, with my predictions for the season.
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