The 40 Game Mark

Before the season began, Charlie Manuel asked everyone to be patient and give the Phillies 40 games to figure out what he had. Since we haven't seen an official 40 game report card from Manuel, let's break down the team through the first quarter of the season.

Hitting - C
This team has really underachieved their expectations at the plate. Last year's torrid offense has turned into a middle of the pack offense this year. Just like last year, their situational hitting has been very poor, especially with runners in scoring position. Thome has really struggled early with a .203 batting average and 1 home run, finishing off the first quarter of the season on the disabled list. The dreaded "decline" is being bandied about to explain Thome, it will take another month or so to know if that is the case, or if this was just a horrendous cold streak. Rollins is struggling to find first base with a .293 OBP, he struggled to start off last year, so hopefully it's a cold weather thing. Abreu has been on fire to end off the first quarter and Burrell was on fire to start the year, both have strong stats to date, which is good news indeed. Bell has not been playing well at all, with a .237 BA to go along with 8 errors. Utley has been hitting very well in his half of the platoon with a .287 BA / 7 HR. Polanco has been sub-par, but has been scoring runs, which is the most important stat for him. Lieberthal has been struggling at the plate, especially with runners in scoring position, making last year's cold start look like an annual occurance. Center field has been average with Michaels/Lofton/Byrd/Chavez combining for respectable numbers.

The Phillies certainly have room for improvement at the plate, especially with runners on base and certainly when they are in scoring position. They have enough bright spots to give them a grade of C, but improvement is required for this team to excel the rest of the year.


Defense - B+
This team was cruisin' along with one of the best defenses in the league until Monday night's disaster in the field. If it weren't for Bells 3 errors and Rollins 2 errors that night, the Phillies would have an A for the quarter. Luckily, those errors were overcome by a strong outing from Lidle and the Phillies still managed to beat the Cardinals. Quickly around the horn, Bell is struggling in the field at 3rd, Rollins looks as solid as ever (1 of those error on Monday was due to a spectacular diving play to get to the ball, then throwing a one-hopper to Howard who couldn't make the scoop). Utley looks like a much stronger defender than advertised and plays hard every day. Thome still has the soft hands. Lieberthal is having trouble throwing runners out, nabbing only 3 of 16 base stealers. Abreu and Burrell continue to be strong defenders and the center field platoon is managing fine.

Keep doing what they are doing, and by the end of the year, the Phillies should once again be one of the best teams in the league defensively.


Off the Bench - C+
The Phillies bench, considered to be a strength at the start of the season, has been more adequate than anything. The platoon situations have been relatively effective, though Polanco should probably be seeing more starts at 3rd base. Thomas Perez has been his usual solid self. Todd Pratt won a game last week all by himself, just missing the cycle by a triple. For the record, he has 3 triples in his career, the last one in 2003. Offerman has been fairly ineffective at pinch hitting with a .182 BA, though he did take a ball off his helmet to help the Phillies win a game at Wrigley Field and hit his first pinch hit home run on Thursday to add an insurance run in the victory against the Cardinals. That home run is actually the last at bat he had for the Phillies as he was cut on Friday to make room for the return of Kenny Lofton. Ryan Howard has been dissappointing in his call up to replace Thome, what did we expect, another Jim Thome straight out of the minors? Actually, yes, but we are a demanding bunch of fans.

Overall the Phillies bench has been slightly below expectations, but continues to be one of the deepest in the majors. With the unique ability to switch players around at several positions, they can navigate there way through injuries very effectively. Chavez adds some nice speed off the bench and Howard adds the power (if he stays up). By the end of the year, the bench will play many more important roles in winning games for the Phillies, and should end up an overall strength.


Starting Pitching - A-
The starting pitching has been a definite bright spot for the Phillies, placing them in the top 4 or 5 teams in the NL. Coming into the season, we weren't quite sure how the staff would fare, with Wolf and Padilla coming back from injuries, Lieber one year removed from Tommy John surgury, and Myers dissappointing 2004. This year it seems to have all come together for the Phillies starters. Lieber has been the same consistent starter that won him 20 games with the Cubs in 2001. As a ground ball pitcher who doesn't walk many batters, he seems to be a perfect fit for Citizens Bank Park. Myers is the story of the year so far, with the 3rd best ERA in the National League, just behind Clemens and Dontrelle Willis. He is a changed pitcher from last year, not letting the occasional home run ruin an entire outing, and avoiding the mental mistakes that plagued his 2004. It certainly looks like his potential has finally arrived, and with a little better run support, he could be a 20 win candidate. Lidle has been the model of consistency and has performed very well out of the back of the rotation. His 200 quality innings will be one of the biggest keys to success for the Phillies in 2005, his stats may end up average, but the consistency helps the rest of the staff immensly, especially the relief. Wolf had a very rough start to the season, but has come back to pitch 4 quality start in a row. Padilla hit the DL out of Spring Training and has struggled to regain his form, though his last outing looked his best.

The poor starts of Wolf and Padilla are all that keeps the starters from receiving an A+. As long as everyong can stay healthy, they should keep the Phillies in most games, with the potential to be a special staff.


Relief Pitching - D-
So far this season, the relief pitching has been the Achilles heal of this squad. On paper, these guys looked like one of the best staffs in the majors. Wagner has certainly delivered, but getting to Wagner has been an adventure so far. Madson has been the most consistent (with the exception of 1 or 2 games), and Cormier still seems to be getting left-handers out. After that, the relief staff is worse than failing. Worrell has had a mental blow out to go along with his pitching blow outs. For a guy that has been as consistent over the years as he has been, this is certainly cause for concern. His quality innings were written in ink to start the year, and missing those innings has hand-cuffed the team so far. Terry Adams has also been a disaster, he's only had 2 solid appearances this year, and has to be considered for a demotion at this point.

The Phillies relief staff is more talented than this. If Worrell can return, and the rest of the staff can start to put it together, they can still be one of the better staffs in the game.


Coaching Staff - Incomplete
Manuel has made some interesting decisions during the season so far, and most have not worked out. The biggest issue is with the early exit of starters, which has over-extended the relief staff a bit. His determination to bench Utley against all lefties has also been an area of concern, as well as his loyalty to a struggling Bell at third. But, on the positive side, the team seems to be much more comfortable with Charlie at the helm, and in the long-run that could be just what the doctor ordered. So, at this point he gets a pass and we will give him until the All Star Break to give him a grade.

Dubee looks like the star of the staff so far, with how the starters have performed. Dumping Kerrigan looks like a master stroke so far. Dubee does need to get the middle relief shaped up, or we are in for a long and dissappointing season.

Milt Thompson has been a positive force in the clubhouse, but needs to get the team out of their funk when it comes to situational hitting. The Phillies simply have too much talent up-and-down the order to not score a ton of runs.


Overall - D+
The first 40 games have not been kind to the Phillies. They have an NL worst record at 18-22 and have greatly under-performed with the exception of some individual efforts. The team really hasn't gelled, with key players struggling, and overall inconsistent play from day in to day out. The starting staff is a bright spot, along with Wagner, Abreu and Burrell. The good news is that they are within that magic 5-or-so-games-out-of-first-place position that means anything is still possible. The bad news is they have 4 other teams to leap-frog if they are to win the division. While the first 40 games have been tough, the team is still in a position to turn it all around, but it has to start now.