Phillies Won't Get Momentum Back with A Lineup Full of Backups
It has sure been an amazing year for the Philadelphia Phillies. They assembled a starting rotation for the ages, and that rotation came out and lived up to every one of the expectations placed on them. They may have even over performed this year. An offense that has been spotty at times this season seemed to ignite with the acquisition of Hunter Pence from the Houston Astros. Through it all, the Phillies just kept finding ways to win.
Their winning ways have ensured them that they will have home field advantage throughout the playoffs this year, and that they will have the best record in all of baseball for the 2nd straight year. All of that is very impressive. Here comes the but...
The fans of this Philadelphia Phillies team have rewarded the hard work of this franchise and it's players with 200+ consecutive sellouts at Citizens Bank Park. The franchise has rewarded the fans with deeper pockets and more spending to assemble this team. It has been a nice marriage up until this point.
I don't mean to be ungrateful, but this team has now been stuck on 98 wins for days. They keep sending out reserves and getting their butts handed to them. When this season started I believed we would see a team capable of 101-110 wins during this season. And at least the 101 is still within sight , but suddenly this Phillies team is scuffling.
They hardly look like the team that has been the best team in baseball for the entire year. The momentum that carried them for so long is gone, and now they have no rhythm whatsoever.
As much as I hate it, I understand the concept of resting players. I just get concerned when I see a team with a delicate offense fall out of step. It reminds me a lot of 2010, and I know I'm not alone in saying I don't want a repeat of that playoff performance.
Charlie Manuel said after last night's game that he wants to get the regulars back playing together for at least 5 games before this regular season concludes. Hopefully that will be enough to get them back on the same page, and winning games.
