When it rains it pours, and no I’m not talking bout the sweat beating off the face of Blake Parker. This was another tough game to lose. It’s starting to look like a lot of these will be tough ones. While not a complete melt down like the night before it’s still pretty bad! Let’s dive in shall we.
The Offense. While not spectacular, it was a tad below our 5 run average. They scored 4 runs on ten hits which for most nights would be enough but sadly this was not one of those nights. I have to hand it to Bryce Harper, despite being one of the hottest power hitters in baseball he isn’t afraid to bunt. Not only that he did so in a attempt to get men on to help the team. He went 2-4, with a walk and a stolen base. Harper is currently batting .341 and one of the key players for this team. J.T. Realmuto also continued his hittin ways by knocking in another RBI. Didi Gregorius also had a nice night going 1-2 with a sacrifice RBI and a walk. Another good thing to see was Andrew McCutchen starting to put it together. In the past 4 games he’s 4-12 with 4 RBI’s, 2 walks and had 3 strike outs while batting .333. The biggest suprise of the season has to be the performance of back catcher Andrew Knapp. In 5 games he’s 5-8 with 3 RBI’s, 1 walk and has struck out once while batting .625. If this is the Andrew Knapp we can look forward too then call me Mr. happy !
Mental errors strike again. Roman Quinn’s baseball IQ is so low it’s scary. It is staggering. It’s a 5-4 game and he has no plate appearance. Down 1-0 and he swings, then down 3-1 and he swings on 4 striaght pitches. #$%^! You literally need one ball to get on base to have runners on first and second for McCutchen who was 2-3 with a walk at that point. Gosselin also did the same thing. He had two seperate at bats ahead of the count by 2-0 and 3-0 counts and he swung each time. These guys have to play smarter, it’s just as simple as that. Rhys Hoskins is another example of that. You have to do something different. Even if it’s something as simple as bunting to advance the runners. He hit into 3 double plays, the first Phillie to do so since Placido Polanco did it in 2010. The one thing thats saving Hoskins right now is that he’s batting .333 over the past 4 games and is getting walked. With Bohm being brought up Hoskins will need to step up or step aside.
Much like with Wheeler, i felt Eflin was better than his numbers show. Through 6 innings he allowed 7 hits, 4 runs, 1 walk and struck out 10 batters. Their was a 2 run single allowed earlier in the game that McCutchen should have been able to grab. Or at the worse play it better so only one run scored. This is a big year for Zach, as he is auditioning for next year. I hope he can continue to excell.
The bullpen continues to make me wanna cry. Adam Morgan is just awful. In 0.2 innings of work he allowed 3 hits,1 run, and struck out one. Meanwhile the combined efforts of Blake Parker, and Ramon Rosso pitched 2.1 innings and allowed 1 hit, 1 walk and struck out 4 batters. Parker was the more impressive of the two allowing only 1 hit through 1.1 innings and striking out 3 batters. He also looked like he was gonna turn into a puddle. A massive improvement over the combined effort of Trevor Kelley and Nick Pivetta. It’s nice to see a pitcher not completely self destruct. Here’s hoping this can continue as The Sprint To The Finish wages on !
The Philly Blitz 