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4 Phillies Notes From Ricky Bottalico- Bullpen Is Concerning

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Author Ricky Bottalico
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - AUGUST 8: Craig Kimbrel #31 of the Philadelphia Phillies reacts after allowing a solo home run to Joey Meneses #45 of the Washington Nationals (not pictured) in the top of the ninth inning during Game Two of the doubleheader at Citizens Bank Park on August 8, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Nationals defeated the Phillies 5-4.

Starting pitching over the last five games has not been the best.  Taijuan Walker battled through his last start, he struggled early and rebounded to put in a gutsy performance.  We just saw the same thing with Zack Wheeler yesterday, he gave up one run in the second inning and two more in the third. But he rebounded to go six innings.  Ranger Suarez has had his issues lately but, he gave the Phillies 5 2/3 strong innings on Tuesday night.  The starters are in a six-man rotation to try to stay fresh going into September. I think we know why Rob Thomson did that now!

The Power Is Back

The Phillies team that has shown up for the Royals series and at least the first two games of the Nationals series, is the team we expected early in the season.  No matter the score, no matter the deficit, they are not quitting, this team is not going away!  Bombs away as a matter of fact….The Phillies have hit 12 homers in a span of 5 games since last Friday.  Kyle Schwarber has started his typical homer in bunches time.  Bryce Harper seems to have found a bit of a power stroke, he has two recently, and Nick Castellanos has it dialed in as well.  This is a team that, jokingly, I’ve called a softball team. Well, that term would have fit well in their last five games.  And, in all honesty, this is what I love to see from this team, big bats and a lot of run production.

Trea Turner is Coming Around

Yes, Trea Turner seems to have turned the corner, maybe not all the way but signs are pointing in a more positive direction.  After fans gave him love over the weekend and Trea responded with a big three-run homer for them, I believe he has continued a bit of a run.  Turner put in a 1 for 3 performance in game 1 of a doubleheader on Tuesday and more impressively, he was two for four in the nightcap.  It is a slow and steady wins the race situation.   These take time, but hey, all the Phillies have with Turner is time, a lot of it.  So, good news offensively for all players, after a high-scoring weekend and a good start in one game against the Nationals.

Concerned About the Bullpen

What went wrong?  I am a bit concerned lately about the bullpen.  Not because they are bad, but because of wear and tear and the time of year we are heading into.  A good example is making mistakes out over the plate.  Joey Meneses made the Phillies relievers pay on Tuesday night, taking them deep twice.

Jeff Hoffman was the first victim, giving up a game-tying homer in the 7th. Next, it was Craig Kimbrel, he left a breaking ball up in the zone to Meneses. He didn’t miss it and deposited what was to be the game-winning run into the left-field seats in game 2 of a doubleheader.  Kimbrel has been good this year, great at times. Now would be a time to find him some breathing room. The Phillies are awaiting the return of Jose Alvarado, and he would really benefit all involved and take a lot of pressure off of the back end of the pen!

Why Trea Turner Is Thanking Philadelphia With Billboards

Trea Turner is thanking Philadelphia in a big way. New billboards have popped up in the Philadelphia area that features a photo of shortstop Trea Turner with the text “Thank you, Philly.”

This gesture is not small, nor is it meaningless. The billboard seen above popped up on a digital billboard at the base of the Walt Whitman Bridge, just a short distance from Citizens Bank Park.

Trea Turner, in case you didn’t know, plays shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies. On December 8, 2022, Turner signed an 11-year contract worth $300 million with the Phillies. Prior to that, Turner played for the Washington Nationals and the Los Angeles Dodgers. His notable achievements from his time with those teams include Rookie of the Year Runner-Up, World Series Champion, and NL Stolen Bases Leader.

When Turner was signed to the Phillies, fans had hope that he was the secret sauce that would get us to the World Series again (and possibly win this time). After all, Trea had proven himself invaluable to the MLB and any team he found himself on.

At the beginning of the season, Trea represented the USA in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He hit a game-winning grand slam during a quarterfinal game against Venezuela.

But, when the regular season began, Trea didn’t seem himself. And this wasn’t just a few off-games. No. We, as a city, had to make a decision on how we would treat Trea, who was obviously struggling each and every game.

Here’s why Trea Turner is thanking Philadelphia:

  • A Rough Season

    Turner is currently batting.238/.291/.377 with 11 homers and 39 RBI in 109 games. It’s the lowest batting average of his career since 2015 when he was first called up by the Washington Nationals for 27 games. Not only that, but he has been struggling defensively as well. As you can see in the video above, that ball should have been in Trea’s glove. Instead, he missed it entirely. And that was not the first time something like that happened this season.

  • Fans Get Frustrated

    When you sign a guy on a multi-million-dollar, multi-year contract, you want him to do well. You want him to win games. Unfortunately, Trea was not doing that. Trea has had an absolute nightmare of a season, and it was getting hard to sympathize.

  • Trea's Sad Post-Game Interview

    This is just, straight-up, a hard watch. You don’t ever want to see a person at their lowest like this. Phillies fans saw this and immediately felt that they needed to send some good energy to Trea. Him taking accountability in the way he did was admirable, but also so very sad. After this game, Trea even got moved down in the batting lineup. It was not looking good.

  • The Standing O

    Fans really felt for the guy. They stood as Trea stepped up to bat in the bottom of the 2nd inning, cheering riotously for him. The Phillies went on to lose the game, but it was a win for Turner’s morale (and ours, too).

  • The Good Vibes Worked

    It may have been because of fans sending good vibes. It may have been because Trea Turner was mad at himself and determined to do something about it. Whatever it was, it made magic. In game 2 against the Kansas City Royals Trea hit an absolute moonshot to deep left field, answering the call. The three-run home run helped push them over the edge for the win.

  • Thank You, Philly

    Trea Turner has had a really rough start in Philly. Instead of jeering and turning our backs on the struggling shortstop, we attempted to lift him up. In many ways, it worked. Trea went on to approve messaging that would pop up on billboards in the Philadelphia area, thanking fans for their support.

  • The Takeaway

    Philadelphia is known as a largely negative sports city. It seems we’ve turned over a new leaf, though. Maybe it’s because our teams are pretty good right now. Maybe it’s something in the water. Whatever it is, it’s great that we’ve learned that positivity wins over anything else. Giving Trea a standing ovation was no small gesture. It gave him the drive to perform for us. He saw what we did for him and how it affected his game in a positive way. There’s something to learn here about the power of positivity. If we extend grace to our fellow Philadelphians, things work out in our favor. Something to think about.

Ricky Bottalico, is a co-host of the afternoon drive show "The Best Show Ever" on 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia. He has been with the station for 2 years in July of 2024. Ricky was a professional baseball player for 12 years, after retiring, he then pursued a career in T.V. , getting a job as a baseball analyst which he also holds to this day. As a content creator, he writes articles for 97.5 The Fanatic, he writes articles on the Phillies, Flyers, Sixers and Eagles.

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