Uncustomed Heroes of 2021: Phillies

 

The Philadelphia Phillies had an MVP, a Cy Young candidate, and a sleeper standout named Ranger, along with so much talent, a few former All-Stars, an ex-MVP and some awesome trade deadline energy...and EVEN THAT couldn't get them into the playoffs. 

Look...I imagine it's tough. Especially in the NL East, where pretty much everyone was human and had flaws. But the Phillies had a chance in July and August to take the East, and lost the lead, paving the way for the Braves to take the east and eventually the MLB. 

The Phillies had most of the season with their rotation hydra of Wheeler-Nola-Eflin, but after 18 games, Eflin hit the IL. To that point, he'd had a 4.17 ERA and 99 Ks, but a 4-7 record. If he'd stayed healthy, yes we might not get the legend of Ranger Suarez, but maybe there'd be more rotation security and less reasons to start Chase Anderson and Matt Moore.

2022 Prediction: A healthy year, with better numbers, dwarfed by Wheeler and Nola still. 

2021 marked the return of Bamboo Brad to Citizens Bank Park. After being a trusted bench bat in St. Louis, Brad Miller kept the magic going in Philly, with 20 home runs and 49 RBIs in 140 games. More importantly, he became a steady replacement for Rhys Hoskins after his injury.

2022 Prediction: So many people could sign him. I'd honestly say the Red Sox, A's and Braves have the best chance. Unless the Phils bring him back, which I'd love, but I'm not 100% sure will happen.

With Adam Haseley, Scott Kingery and Roman Quinn all failing to make a run at the center field spot...Odubel Herrera returned from exile to take it back. Accusations be damned. In 124 games, El Torito had a comeback campaign, with a .260 average, 13 homers, and solid defensive numbers.

2022 Predictions: I get this sinking feeling that the Phils are gonna bring him back.

THANKFULLY, Hector Neris will not be playing for Philadelphia next season. I know, he did have some moments of success, and struck out 98 this season with 13 saves, but his save blows, his 3.63 ERA, and his inconsistency continued to piss off fans and management alike. 

2022 Prediction: Not even the Astros can save him, and he'll be trying to keep his ERA under 4 all year.

Didi Gregorius was injured for a portion of the year, so Joe Girardi did exactly what he did the last time Didi got injured under his watch- HE WENT AND GOT RONALD TORREYES AS BACK UP! Seeing Toe in Philly brought a tear to my eye, as he's just as fun as he was with the Yanks. In 111 games, Toe hit .242 with 41 RBIs and 7 homers, plus some dazzling defensive plays and fun moments. I think the Phillies fans enjoyed him as much as the Yankee ones did.

2022 Prediction: Somebody cool signs him, and he does well enough there, albeit in a bench role.

As for the rookies who tried to find playing time this year, Luke Williams played the biggest role in one of his first games, where he had an insane walk-off that made the fanbase learn his name very quickly. In 58 games he hit .245 with 24 hits and 6 RBIs, a decent outfield audition but not enough to get past Herrera.

2022 Prediction: Falls into a backup role.

The real impressive rookie audition came from Matt Vierling, the contact aficionado who hit .324 with 23 hits and 6 RBIs in 34 games, just coming onto the scene and immediately catching fire. Vierling had the most presence late in the season, which paved the way for potential 2022 success.

2022 Prediction: There's a starting spot with his name on it, and he's gonna keep pounding them where they ain't all the way to a .300 average.

The trade deadline returned Freddy Galvis to Philly, where he came to prominence as an everyday slap-hitter. Galvis's magic has worn off, but he still did decently enough on his return to Philly, hitting .224 with 14 RBIs and 5 homers in 32 games.

2022 Prediction: A season in the Korean leagues to ramp him back up to some humble late-career years in a few years.

And when we needed a closing option, Ian Kennedy came along off of an exceptional start in Arlington, and....Philly happened to him. As it does to all great closers who come this way recently. Kennedy did have 10 saves, let's be clear, but he also had a 4.13 ERA, and 3 blown saves. He was not this human in Texas. The Philly adjustment did a number on him, and even if he had 27 Ks, he was still a bit stifled by it all.

2022 Prediction: A cheap closing option somewhere. Maybe he returns to Arlington.

Tomorrow, some last remnants of another forgettable Pirates team.

El Torito Stikes Again

(Yeah, this one's going on my wall.)

How weird is it that in 2018, a Philadelphia Phillie is currently leading the NL in Batting Average with a .360 at the moment?

Odubel Herrera, after becoming one of the faces of the team after only a few seasons on the club, has reached peak numbers, hitting really well through the first 1 and 1/2 months of the year, and lifting his team up through the standings. Right now the Phillies are tied with the Nationals for 2nd essentially, which is definitely a start, as I don't think anybody thought the Phillies would tie the Nationals for anything this decade.

The entire team isn't perfect, and some guys, like Carlos Santana and Jorge Alfaro are JUST NOW getting to the offensive abilities we thought they'd be hitting from the start. But still, the core of Herrera, Hoskins, Hernandez and Franco has been pretty productive, there's a minimal bench, and Pedro Florimon and Scott Kingery have filled in admirably for J.P. Crawford. Meanwhile, Aaron Nola and Jake Arrieta are both pitching like pros, Nick Pivetta isn't far behind, and Zach Elfin has been fantastic in two starts. Brilliant developments are happening in Philadelphia, and it's about time.

The trick here, as the Mets are no longer an obstacle, is fighting the sudden incline of the Washington Nationals, who thankfully have to play the best team in the NL this week in Arizona, as well as the impenetrable lead of the Atlanta Braves and their rookies. They're in the middle of a three-team blockade, and I sincerely hope they have enough momentum to stay with it. Especially for Herrera's sake. He deserves a break.

Coming Tomorrow: Talk about an April-to-May glowup. We were all worried this guy was going to have a down season, but, as his first-place team hangs around .500, he's just getting started.

Phillies Game vs. Cardinals- 6/21/17, or AAAAUUUUUGGGHHHH!

(HNNNNNNNG! NNNNNNNGGGGGG! GYAAAAHHHHH!)

I've been picking one game a year to go to Citizens Bank Park for the past few seasons, mainly because I live 20 minutes away from it, and it's one of the best stadiums in baseball, and if the tix are cheap enough I shouldn't really resist. I like going to games there. The stadium's got character, there's great food, there's a nice devotion to its history, and the Phanatic is one of the best mascots in sports.

The last two seasons, when I've went to games, even if they've had the full '5th place and horrible' thing going, they've still won. This may have had to do with my 'winning streak'- from the 2015 season on, any game I've been to has ended with a victory from the home team. My presence in Chicago (both sides), Baltimore, New York (both sides), Philadelphia (twice) and Pittsburgh has led to victories, even including the Yankees-Cardinals game I went to two months ago.

Heading to the game Wednesday night, for Father's Day, I was hoping for the streak to stay alive, especially considering the Cardinals, whom I'd seen so pathetic and depleted back in April, were in town to play the Phillies.

Oh...how wrong I was.

I settled in my seats, crabbed a thing of Chickie and Pete's crab fries, and joined my folks, in for the game, as this was my Father's Day present for my dad. The rain had passed, and it was Star Wars night, as dozens of costumed characters were running around the field, the announcer had an Obi-Wan cloak on, and all the visiting photos had Star Wars villain photos.

The first inning went rather well- a mixture of some nice turns from the Phillies lineup and some snafus from St. Louis' defense led to a few runs scoring, and putting them up 3-0 against Michael Wacha. This was all well and good, but I had to hope our defense would hold their own. Intially, they did- Nick Pivetta gave some lights-out innings on the mound, bringing some life to a mostly weighty rotation. Cameron Perkins was making his debut, and did well enough in the outfield with a still-hot Aaron Altherr, who made an astonishing catch early on.

This sort of slowly went on for a little while, with hits from both sides, solid defense, great base running, and proof that Howie Kendrick was an ABSOLUTE STEAL for Philly. The Cards were making a ton of errors in the field, as the Phillies' lead grew to 5-0. My dad was already saying my good-luck streak was embodying the team.

Then, things started getting hairy:

The guy you see above was the Cardinals' answer to Darth Vader on this particular Star Wars night.

He hit a home run off of Nick Pivetta, a simple one-runner, in the 5th. He'd opened the floodgates, as Jedd Gyorko and the rest of the team woke up and started pounding the team mercilessly as the game went on.

The Phillies, as one would do, decided to leave this game to the bullpen. This, however, proved to be a supreme misjudgment from Pete Mackanin's part, as the Phillies' bullpen this year is the absolute worst in baseball. Nobody can even remotely keep a side down. Everyone's either over-the-hill or out of their element. One by one, they came up, then went back to the bullpen after the deficit got worse. Jose Martinez, a pinch-hitter none of us had heard of, hit another home run, bringing the total to 5-4.

Top of the ninth, one out. I'm already packing my shit up, we're all ready to leave, we just want it to end. Hector Neris is on the mound, he's the closer, he's supposed to shut people down, we should be fine.

And Tommy Pham decides now's the absolute best time to hit a home run. Tie game. The Phillies fans start booing, not just the Cardinals, but their own team. The ineptitude of the bullpen had single-handedly caused this. And now they were going to extras over some BS.

After a half-inning of extras that didn't get any better, with even more Cardinals runs, this time on Philadelphia errors, my folks decided it wasn't worth it. We left mid-10, as the Cards had two up on the Phils with a do-or-die inning coming up (and the Phillies, at this point, had become rather inept at the whole 'doing' part).

The Phils lost, 7-6, in extras. It was honestly one of the most infuriating things I've ever witnessed firsthand at a baseball game. However, my dad still says it was a great game, and a wonderful Father's Day gift, so I'm calling this a draw.

Coming Tomorrow- One of the best strikeout artists in baseball, pitching his AL Defending Champs back into first.

Doctored Phils

Yeah, the title pun's a bit of a stretch, but it...kinda works.

Going into this year, I sort of settled on the fact that the Phillies, my hometown team, would be sort of ineffective throughout the majority of the year. It wasn't their division to own anymore. Now's the time for Mets and Nats and things like thats.

Yesterday...the Phils did something I didn't think they'd be able to do...they made headlines. In a positive way.

Vince Velasquez, a guy whose ML Debut I'd witnessed firsthand (he was okay), threw 16 strikeouts for my team, and completely dominated the Padres, which isn't hard to do these days. Moreover, the team actually hit while Velasquez was mowing down Padres. The team offensively gave some leeway, which is something the Phillies rarely do these days.

Now...they're not gonna be anywhere near first...but now, I'm starting to think they aren't even bad enough to be in last...mostly because that's where the Braves go.

People like Maikel Franco, Odubel Herrera and Freddy Galvis are still here, and while this isn't absolute perfection, it's pretty close. Our pitching staff has the makings for a nice, cool, young rotation, featuring Aaron Nola, Jerad Eickhoff and Jeremy Hellickson, who's surprisingly back to where he was in Tampa. We don't have a lot, but we don't have absolutely nothing, either.

The Phillies are definitely gonna lose some games this year, but I'm personally looking for the ones they win. These guys, with some more call ups and better days, could be really good again. Maybe we'll get some peeks into when that will be.

Coming Tonight (?): The catcher-turned-third-base-turned-DH for a midwest slugger-heavy team.

Custom Card of the Day: Herrera Edition

The really crappy part about the Phillies being successful for a nice chunk of time from 2008 to 2012 was that, because we gobbled up stars like cashews, our farm system...was not great. We gave people like Michael Bourn, Jon Singleton, Carlos Carrasco, J.A. Happ, Jonathan Villar and Jarred Cosart away to various teams (mostly the Astros), in exchange for people that didn't do all that much for us (Cliff Lee being the exception).

So now that the Phillies are sucking, they now have a chance to hang onto their prospect, and also gain ones from people trading for THEIR bigger contracts. Which means Odubel Herrera has his chance to shine, steal bases and be a fun player...in a Phillies uniform.

I'm gonna say it right now: I really, really like Odubel Herrera. I saw it in Spring Training, I said 'this guy will be good for us this year', and lo and behold, he's stealing bases and hitting and doing so well, even when the Phils don't (which is quite often this season). I think he's the burst of fun that this roster needed, because Utley and Howard are getting old (at least Howard's hitting), and Ben Revere cannot hit. Herrera is young, he's powerful, and he's a lot of fun to watch.

I would love to see this guy become like a Bobby Abreu-like presence in Philly, staying for a ton of seasons and gaining a huge load of fans. I know it's a lot to ask of a guy who just started this year, but it'd be kind of nice.

Coming Tonight- Hey, did I mention the Astros are doing really well? Here's a guy who left a subpar Cubs team and is hitting up a storm in Houston.