4 Notes From Ricky Bo Before The Blue Jays Series
Phillies are off to Canada for a quick two game series. The Blue Jays are coming off a series loss at home against the Chicago Cubs. The Phillies are coming off a 6-4 homestand that started great but finished with a thud! The Phillies dropped the final two games of the series to the Twins because of a power outage from just about everyone in the lineup. Phillies were 0-14 with Runners in scoring position Saturday and Sunday. They faced some legit starters over the weekend and the pitching won the battles.
Zach Wheeler Needs To Start Looking Like Zach Wheeler
Zack Wheeler starts Tuesday nights game against the Jays. He is coming off of two starts that were just ok, against the Nationals and the Marlins. If the Phillies are going to make a big run at the end of the season, he will need to be one of the guys that steps up in a big way. Adjustments are a big part of starting pitching, and Wheeler had been one of the best I’ve seen at making them in game and pitch by pitch. It seems as though he is fighting that a bit this season. Getting back to basics is a must.
Bats Need To Bounce Back From Rough Weekend
The Phillies offense struggled in the last two games, they did get 14 hits but the timely hits have eluded them. Kyle Schwarber was a victim over the weekend. He was 0-3 on Saturday with RISP and then Sunday it was ugly, he came up with bases loaded twice in the game and struck out once and popped out in the other. It wasn’t just Schwarber, much of the lineup had their issues. Bryson Stott has fallen from the .300 rankings and is now down to .297 after the weekend.
Put Frustrations Behind You
Frustrations showed on Sunday afternoon when a call up umpire missed a call to Alec Bohm in the 7th inning in a huge situation, bases loaded two outs and Bryce Harper waiting on deck. A 3-2 pitch to Bohm was definitely inside and should have been a walk, the ump missed the call and the inning ended with Bohm being ejected. Yes, that happened but now the Phillies have to put that in the rear view mirror. It will be a big series for the offense, confidence wise, they need to show they can win in more ways than just homers, just a little improvement with RISP will go a long way.
Bullpen Needs To Fight Through the Fatigue
The Bullpen needs to find a way to fight fatigue. August is never easy for a reliever, but picking each other up is what these guys need to do. Inherited runners, that’s how you pick up your teammate, pitch well in situations that command grit. Gregory Soto, he has been good for the most part, but lately he is showing kinks in the armor. He has worked a lot but there is no six man rotation for the bullpen. Craig Kimbrel has had a heavy workload this season, and is worth keeping an eye on his appearances and his innings. This team needs Jose Alvarado back now. He could be a very large piece to get this pen to the finish line.
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Don’t Forget Why the Philadelphia Phillies Are Buried in the NL East
0-3 Against the Top Wild Card Contender
Trips to San Francisco have been historically an issue for the Phillies. A listless three-game sweep by the Giants makes their upcoming series at Citizens Bank Park more critical. The Wild Card series can’t involve another trip West.
The Math is Easy
If you played as well as the Braves against just the Mets and Marlins, you would wake up this morning just three games out of first place. Even a little worse showing could have you five games out.
The Phillies and the Braves meet seven more times this season, and the Phillies could have made those games meaningful. We all know that none of that matters come October as the Phillies proved last season, but a pennant race is something a payroll and star-studded lineup like this should be able to deliver.
