Noah Feingold
06-02-2011, 09:46 AM
The Phillies Report
34-22
Best Record in Baseball
The Phillies look a lot different than they did a week ago. Not just because Chase Utley and Domonic Brown are on the roster, but also in the way they are playing. The addition of these two players has helped the Phillies not just by their presence, but by the trickle down effect they have caused. The addition of these two players has allowed Wilson Valdez, Ben Francisco and John Mayberry Jr to return to roles they are more familiar with and more suited for. The Phillies were forced to use their depth for almost two months, now it can become a strength again.
These three players did a decent job of filling in with Utley, Brown and also Victorino (lately) missing games. However, the team also leaned heavily on their strong pitching. Now that everyone can return to a more comfortable role, it seems that everyone is able to play more relaxed. This is definitely showing the way the offense has performed since the return of Utley and Brown. Even though Utley has yet to come around at the plate, the fact that the rest of the team has returned to more natural roles seems to have helped. And when he does start hitting like we all know he can, the Phillies rotation won’t be all that other teams fear.
The Phillies look to have weathered the first storm of the season. They have gone through a May that had them face contender after contender. They played the Rockies, Rangers, Reds, Cardinals, Braves and Marlins. In June the only teams with records over .500 that the Phillies will face are the Marlins, Cardinals, Red Sox and Mariners (who are barely over .500 at 27-26). They also play 17 of the 28 games they have scheduled for June at home. Another team of note that the Phillies have on their schedule for June is the Athletics who have allowed less runs than any other teams this year and struggle to score runs. There could be some serious pitching duels in that series.
May was a tough month for the Phillies, but they should be better for it. It started strong as the Phillies won 7 of their first 11 games, but they went on a horrible stretch following this losing 6 of the next 9 games and scoring 15 runs combined in these games. It was around this time that Utley and Brown returned to the club. For the last 9 games of May, the Phillies won 6 of them and seemed to put their offensive struggles behind them scoring 51 runs in these 9 games. Overall the Phillies went 16-13 in May. Considering their schedule, this could be considered a successful month, considering their talent it was not a very successful month. Still, ending any month with the best record in baseball has to be considered good.
The Phillies enter June with the best record, and are just starting to see their team healthy.
The Good from May:
The Phillies have the best record in baseball
Ibanez started hitting much better
Utley and Brown are back in the majors
The Phillies have continued to have to have great pitching performances
Valdez got his 1st career win
The Bad from May:
The Phillies saw they could be vulnerable offensively if even a couple of pieces get injured. When Utley, Victorino and Brown were all injured or rehabbing the offense played worse than any other in baseball.
The Other:
Going 13-10 in a month is neither good nor bad for the Phillies. Given schedule and injury it is a solid performance, but given the way the pitching staff performed it could have been much better.
I suppose Valdez’s win could go here also
The 19-inning game the Phillies won against the Reds is the longest game so far this year in the majors.
34-22
Best Record in Baseball
The Phillies look a lot different than they did a week ago. Not just because Chase Utley and Domonic Brown are on the roster, but also in the way they are playing. The addition of these two players has helped the Phillies not just by their presence, but by the trickle down effect they have caused. The addition of these two players has allowed Wilson Valdez, Ben Francisco and John Mayberry Jr to return to roles they are more familiar with and more suited for. The Phillies were forced to use their depth for almost two months, now it can become a strength again.
These three players did a decent job of filling in with Utley, Brown and also Victorino (lately) missing games. However, the team also leaned heavily on their strong pitching. Now that everyone can return to a more comfortable role, it seems that everyone is able to play more relaxed. This is definitely showing the way the offense has performed since the return of Utley and Brown. Even though Utley has yet to come around at the plate, the fact that the rest of the team has returned to more natural roles seems to have helped. And when he does start hitting like we all know he can, the Phillies rotation won’t be all that other teams fear.
The Phillies look to have weathered the first storm of the season. They have gone through a May that had them face contender after contender. They played the Rockies, Rangers, Reds, Cardinals, Braves and Marlins. In June the only teams with records over .500 that the Phillies will face are the Marlins, Cardinals, Red Sox and Mariners (who are barely over .500 at 27-26). They also play 17 of the 28 games they have scheduled for June at home. Another team of note that the Phillies have on their schedule for June is the Athletics who have allowed less runs than any other teams this year and struggle to score runs. There could be some serious pitching duels in that series.
May was a tough month for the Phillies, but they should be better for it. It started strong as the Phillies won 7 of their first 11 games, but they went on a horrible stretch following this losing 6 of the next 9 games and scoring 15 runs combined in these games. It was around this time that Utley and Brown returned to the club. For the last 9 games of May, the Phillies won 6 of them and seemed to put their offensive struggles behind them scoring 51 runs in these 9 games. Overall the Phillies went 16-13 in May. Considering their schedule, this could be considered a successful month, considering their talent it was not a very successful month. Still, ending any month with the best record in baseball has to be considered good.
The Phillies enter June with the best record, and are just starting to see their team healthy.
The Good from May:
The Phillies have the best record in baseball
Ibanez started hitting much better
Utley and Brown are back in the majors
The Phillies have continued to have to have great pitching performances
Valdez got his 1st career win
The Bad from May:
The Phillies saw they could be vulnerable offensively if even a couple of pieces get injured. When Utley, Victorino and Brown were all injured or rehabbing the offense played worse than any other in baseball.
The Other:
Going 13-10 in a month is neither good nor bad for the Phillies. Given schedule and injury it is a solid performance, but given the way the pitching staff performed it could have been much better.
I suppose Valdez’s win could go here also
The 19-inning game the Phillies won against the Reds is the longest game so far this year in the majors.