I've talked about this before, but...the pitching in Philly this year is so good that it's kind of heartbreaking that the lineup and bench aren't nearly as potent.
On the list of WAR leaders on BR.com, only two are batters. Cesar Hernandez and Carlos Santana. And arguably Santana should be replaced with Nick Williams, but I'm not the stat wizard or anything. This is a team that can hit home runs, but...there's too many strikeouts, too many low average, and not enough versatility. Guys like Nick Williams, Hernandez and Scott Kingery are great in the field, and at hits, but aren't completely excelling at everything. Kingery especially, who was paid a lot of money top of the year, is barely hitting, and has been benched mostly in favor of Asdrubal Cabrera, who's doing just a smidge better.
Calling up Roman Quinn was a good idea. Trading for Wilson Ramos was a great idea. But this is a lineup that's in dire need of motivation, because there's some good numbers here and there, but nobody's completely leading the team into the Wild Card race. Odubel Herrera, whose numbers were great earlier in the year, has begun slumping big time. And Jose Bautista's power hasn't especially been seen yet.
At least the pitching's still great. Neshek and the bullpen are killing it. Nola and the rotation are solid across the board (though Pivetta's ERA has blown up a smidge after some bad starts). There are a ton of great performers there, but this has not spread to hitters, and it's costing them. The Braves are well in the lead in the NL East, and the WC spots are being dominated by teams from the Central and West. The Phils are slowly watching their playoff hopes diminish, and it's very sad, because I (and a lot of other people) thought they'd sneak in this year.
Even if they do miss the playoffs...they know how to retool, and they'll hopefully be able to keep everyone around.
Coming Tomorrow- He killed my Yankees this week. So naturally, he gets a custom.
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