The Phillies’ June swoon has been abetted by countless factors: A flimsy rotation, relievers tossing gas on every fire, injuries, a tissue-thin bench, downright laziness and an overmatched manager who declares he will “deal with authority” against those who don’t hustle – and then does nothing.
I could fill this fine newspaper with a list of their sins. My editors can’t give me enough space.
So, instead, I’ll focus on just one: The inane strategy that wins and loses games based entirely on home runs. In this case, mostly loses.
The Phils, like many current teams, have altered their offensive approach in recent years to one of “three true outcomes”: Walks, strikeouts and home runs. Strikeouts are no longer a red badge of shame – witness that 13 of the 17 position players they’ve used this season strike out more than 20 percent of the time.
Home runs are the supposed panacea for all ills. Never mind trying to beat the shift by going the other way; let’s swing from the feet and try to launch Mr. Rawlings onto Ashburn Alley. A nice gapper splitting the middle in a close game? Hell, no, not when we can aim for a 100 mph exit-velocity parabola toward the Delaware River.
The problem with home runs is that both teams tend to hit them. In this case, the team facing the Phils’ pitching staff hits a lot more. While Rhy Hoskins, Bryce Harper and Co. blasted 91 homers, the guys in red pinstripes have coughed up a lusty 129.
That puts this staff on pace to allow 271 dingers, which would be an all-time MLB worst – except that the pathetic Orioles will beat them to that dubious record. Baltimore’s pitchers are on pace to allow 324 souvenir balls. As I said, the game has changed.
If you can’t outbash your opponents, you must find other ways to beat them. This is where GM Matt Klentak and manager Gabe Kapler have failed. I’m no fan of the old bunt-‘em-over small ball, but there is a time for strategy beyond grip and rip.
Through 77 games, this team has a paltry 26 stolen bases. That projects to 55 for the entire season – their lowest team total in 46 seasons. They never attempt to hit-and-run, they can’t hit behind the runner, and no Phillie ever tries shortening up with two strikes to simply poke one over the infield.
Last week, St. Louis’s Matt Carpenter conquered the Marlins shift by bunting down the third-base line and cruising into second with a double. When’s the last time you saw one of Gabe’s pull-happy lefty hitters show the brains to do that? It’s as if they consider it unmanly.
Good players – and smart managers – find their way out of slumps by being creative. The only ingenuity Kapler has shown recently was throwing his hitters’ names in a hat and pulling out a lineup that features Harper and Hoskins batting 1-2.
To the manager’s credit, both sluggers hit homers over the weekend. To his discredit, the offense created just 15 runs in its seven-game losing streak heading into Monday night’s series opener against the Mets.
Blame the players first, that’s fair. And more than Kapler, blame the organizational mindset that cheapens every strategy beyond swinging as hard as you can.
The Phillies aren’t alone in transforming Major League Baseball into beer league softball. But they don’t currently have the talent to win this way.
And they obviously don’t have the creativity to try something else.
