Hey Phillies Fans, Don’t Panic But Certainly Don’t Sugarcoat Things
There is a thing about “little things”. You know those little details that invade your thoughts but you ignore because things are going well? That new lady in your life has those annoying habits you seem willing to ignore but that invariably will come back to sabotage the relationship? It’s something to think about as we watch the Phillies 2024 season unfold. After watching this latest 1-4 stretch and the first three game losing streak of the season you might have had a sense of Deja vu.
The Phillies bats going MIA in Colorado was troubling, but the display in San Francisco has been a small pattern. Are there reasons to sound the alarms? Absolutely not! Should we ignore them and act like they aren’t potential foundation problems? No way!
Bohm can bomb…at the plate and in the field
His offensive performance has been absolutely outstanding. He may be the best clutch bat in baseball this season. There have been so many reasons to praise Alec Bohm this season. He has deserved all of it.
He also is leading all 3rd basemen in errors and is one off of having the most errors in baseball. While his defense has not seemed like a liability, there is no way to spin his errors as not concerning. Defense matters in close games, but not every game is going to see the offense creating the cologne to cover it up.
The outfield offensive production needs to take a huge step up!
Centerfield has long been a position where strong defensive productivity allowed you to sacrifice some at the plate. The combination of Rojas and Pache have been fairly strong defensively, but both players are not contributing enough at the plate.
Corner outfielders are expected to add power and run production. The struggles of Nick Castellanos are well chronicled and certainly are subpar. With two full years remaining on his contract after this season, moving on from him or improving that position is a challenge that Dave Dombrowski probably can’t navigate.
Brandon Marsh started the season strong but has tailed off. An outfield upgrade or reshuffling has to be discussed behind closed doors for the Phillies.
Whit were the Phillies thinking?
The 2024 season for Whit Merrifield may feature an amazing turnaround. It may also continue on in the fashion that it has evolved so far. Whit was sitting at home waiting to get his chance for this season. No team had made him an offer just days before Spring Training. I think that we now know why. His offensive game has been anemic and he isn’t a defensive asset either.
Taijuan Walker on the wild side
Spencer Turnbull was cruising along and then Taijuan Walker was ready to return from his early season injury break. Instead of leaving Turnbull in the rotation, it was understandable that Walker would be given his spot back due to his tenure and contract. Unfortunately, the rotation has stepped back since then.
He has the uncanny ability to get the win in performances that are bailed out by the team’s prolific offense. It’s becoming an issue as his ERA has risen to 5.51 and he is putting his team behind too often early in games. Will the Phillies shop for a back-of-the-rotation starter eventually? I’m not sure what the strategy will be but it might not hurt to sustain them through the grind of a long summer.
There isn’t a fire, but it certainly makes sense to not ignore signs of smoke and to check the batteries in your smoke detectors.
Watch Kincade & Salciunas on the 97.5 The Fanatic YouTube page for discussion about the latest breaking sports news in Philadelphia.
The All-Time Lineup Of Phillies Bench Players
2B- Tomas Perez
The early 2000s was not the best era for the Phillies. It was far from the worst, but there was not much going on in terms of winning. But Super Utility Man Tomas Perez quickly became a fan favorite.
He had every thing Philly fans love in a player. Most notably, heart and effort. He was a bright spot in that era. He was not strictly a 2nd baseman, but with Jimmy cementing himself as the SS in that era, he played a lot of 2nd. Wherever he played, he won the hearts and minds on Philadelphia, and earned a spot on this list.
3B- Greg Dobbs
Dobbs has 330 fewer Pinch Hit plate appearances than the Phillies all-time leader. Despite that huge gap, he is only 6 off of having the most pinch hit RBIs in franchise history.
In 2007 he lead the league in pinch hit RBIs. He followed that up by hitting .355 the next year and leading the league with 22 pinch hits.
His career after 2008 went downhill, but he was a pretty important part of the 2007 and 2008 teams.
(Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
