The Phillies, who looked so good at times in the Boston Red Sox series, have made a complete turn in the opposite direction in the series at home with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Time after time, the Phillies have been making mistakes from the pitching, to the offense, and especially the defense.
Delmon Young really looked bad yesterday in right field, he dropped a catchable ball, and he seems like he can’t bend down at the knees to pick up a ball that he needs to out there in the field most of the time. If this is an upgrade from Hunter Pence, you’d really have to do a lot of reaching to come up with some reasons why. I’d like to know why Young almost looks comical when he chases after a ball like he is tiptoeing through a tulip field and then bends at the waist to try to pick it up. The real reason why is this player is still totally out of shape and it’s a wonder he is playing professional baseball.
Charlie Manuel even threw his hat into the ring last night, when after Jimmy Rollins singled to right field as a pinch hitter, he was lifted for a starting pitcher, Kyle Kendrick. Flashbacks of last week came into mind as when Cliff Lee was put in as a key pinch runner, he got picked off of first base promptly. The same thing happened to Kendrick last night, he was picked off of second base (although the video replay showed that the shortstop, Jean Segura, didn’t have control of the baseball when he tagged Kendrick) an exact duplicate of what had happened with Manuel just a few days ago. Manuel tried to explain that he didn’t have anyone left to use on the bench but this doesn’t sound right.
The Phillies have sunk to new lows in this series with the Brewers, every time they face a poor team like the Brewers are, the Phillies end up looking even worse than the supposedly bad team they are playing. It’s happening against the Marlins and other clubs like the Brewers. It’s a sign that the Phillies aren’t that good and their record shows it.
Cliff Lee looks to salvage this series today at CBP, the fans should start voicing their displeasure at this team, it’s in need of a major overhaul. Charlie Manuel shouldn’t be managing this team anymore, he’s run out of credible reasons when players aren’t doing well. The moves he is making lately are mirroring what is going on in the front office as well with Ruben Amaro and all the players that he has signed for this season, like the underperforming Ben Revere, and inept Delmon Young, and the recent signing of Carlos Zambrano to a minor league deal with the promise of more. Since when did the Phillies become a team of ‘last resort’ when it comes to picking up players?
