No one said this West Coast trip would be easy for the Phillies, especially this weekend. Three games at Dodger Stadium, the ultimate house of horrors for the Phils. The Dodgers have the best home record in baseball at 24-7.
LA won on a walk-off home run by Will Smith, his first major league homer, in a 4-3 win. Hector Neris blew the game, surrendering his first home run since late April. He has melted down at Dodger Stadium before. It will be interesting to see if Gabe Kapler uses him today if there is a save situation.
Speaking of Kapler he continues to lean heavily on the side of analytics. Down 2-1 in the 7th inning, Scott Kingery laced a ringing double off the left field fence. Cesar Hernandez, maybe the teams' best bunter, flied out to right instead of trying to sacrifice Kingery to third base with less than two outs. Kingery was ultimately stranded at second.
Kapler did the same thing in Thursdays' game against the brewers at home. down 5-3 with no outs in the 8th inning, runners on first and second,and Hernandez up again, he wasn't allowed to sacrifice bunt. Instead he popped up to third and the runners were stranded.
Analytics are fine with it means adding increased information to make a reasonable judgment. They should go along with common sense and old-fashioned baseball sense.
Kapler has been more honest and open in his post-game comments this season ( after having dinner with Andy MacPhail during the off-season and committing to treating fans with more respect and offering honest opinions). But last night after the loss Kapler went back to making excuses and defending his players, even when they obviously screwed-up.
Take for instance Vince Valasquez. He botched an attempted pick-off play at second base late in the game, his pick-off throw sailing into center field. That allowed the Dodger runner to take third and eventually score.
Kapler defended Valasquez, saying they 'work on that play all the time in spring training" and that "it was a good play but the throw wasn't executed ( no kidding)."
The media needs to call him out when he is not forthcoming. Plus the non-sacrifice by Hernandez was not even brought up by the press after the game.
Bryce Harper continues to hit. He crushed a two-run homer to left to tie the game at 3-3 in the 8th inning. Overall the offense still remains stagnant.
Reports are that the Phillies are close to acquiring outfielder Jay Bruce from Seattle. Bruce, who has clubbed 14 homers so far this season, would give the Phils much-needed left-handed power. When he isn't starting Bruce would add punch to the bench, where power has been lacking.
Bruce would also fit nicely in the No. 5 batting spot in the order, hitting behind Rhys hoskins and making it more difficult for opposing teams to intentionally walk Hoskins, as St. Louis did repeatedly this week.
Bruce is 32, is owed $14 million and is signed through 2020. He can play both corner outfield spots plus first base.
Kapler started reliever Jose Alvarez against LA and the plan held the Dodgers to four runs all day. Cole Irvin gave up a pair of runs but pitched several innings, striking out five. Kapler thought the lefty Alverez would be effective against the left-handed Dodger line-up. It worked but I would hate to see Kapler get into a habit of using an "opener" a lot, taking a page from the Tampa Bay Rays style of ball.
I still think the Phillies should try and trade Hernandez in July. His value will never be higher, especially if he continues to play well and makes the All-Star team. The team still needs a starting pitching and bullpen help. Plus a center fielder may be in the cards too. Prospect Adam Heasley may be the answer in the long run, but probably not this season. The duo of Andrew McCuthon and Kingery will try to man center for the rest of the summer.
If Hernandez is traded the team could slide Kingery back to second base, his natural position. The organization didn't sign him to a long-term contract a few years ago for noting. Kingery deserves a stable position, not to be the "super utility guy" who seems to be learning new positions daily.
This series was deemed to be a "measuring stick" for the Phillies, and how they stack up against the best team in the national League in Los Angeles. So far the Dodgers are clearly better. Hopefully GM Matt Klentek is closely taking note There are still holes to fill or else the Phils will not go to the World Series in 2019.
One reason why the Dodgers have won the first two games of this series is because they have never trialed. It was important for Philadelphia to get out to an early lead and take control. They haven't scored a run in the first inning. In fact the Phils didn't get their first hit on Friday until the 5th inning.
Playing form behind on the road in a tough place to play like Dodger Stadium is a recipe for disaster.
The Phillies wrap-up their Dodger series today, sending Nick Pivetta to the mound to face lefty Rich Hill. They start another three-game series Monday nigh tin San Diego where they take on the Many Machado-led Padres. The club is home next weekend to face Cincinnati.
With the loss the Phillies drop a game in the division. They are still in first place, two games ahead of Atlanta. The braves finish their weekend set with visiting Detroit this afternoon.
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