Phillies’ Plans After Seattle
With everyone put on notice by the shortstop, every player is aware of his concentration during every inning, every out and every pitch in each game involving the Philadelphia Phillies.
Partly Sunny:
When you reach a crossroads in your career, everyone within your proximity at work is aware of your ability, your shortcomings and your effort because they know you.
Impacting the Phils’ record for July, three factors will determine the enthusiasm of fans hungry for competitive baseball by their team: their performance-related self-respect, the schedule and the remaining pros depending on trades. Basically, the moves will involve five veterans: a starter, two relievers, a regular and a reserve outfielder – any or all may depart to contenders.
In the front office, general manager Matt Klentak reminded his senior staff that Vince Velasquez and Cesar Hernandez will be returning around the All-Star break and can replace Jeremy Hellickson and Howie Kendrick if we swap them. And we’ll also need Edubray Ramos to join Hector Neris and Luis Garcia if Pat Neshek and Joaquin Benoit aren’t here for July’s end. Ramos – the player development director chimed in – had a clean frame with two punch outs in his first outing on June 28 with the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Yes, Ramos had a string of five debacles during six appearances in April – the director added – but the five consecutive disasters in June were different because we’ll need him to get outs with a depleted pen in late July.
Reviewing the schedule, the skipper and the coaches of the Phillies have realized July will be the easiest month so far. Consider this: When the squad arrived in Seattle, the Mariners were 39-39. Finally, the hometown nine will face five of six clubs who are below .500, and the Milwaukee Brewers could be overachieving at 42-39. On the other side of the ledger, the red pinstripes will have three home contests with the Houston Astros, but the other 22 games will be with those other six teams: Milwaukee, the New York Mets, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the San Diego Padres, the Miami Marlins and the Atlanta Braves. In other words, five sellers.
In front of their teammates, nobody wants to prove he can’t play hard. And even though Odubel Herrera has a guaranteed contract, he knows he’s not immune from harsh criticism. In fact, those other players must produce to stay and earn more than the MLB minimum. Get your popcorn and Kool-Aid.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: “If you take my sayings and explode them in the air, they remain only sayings. But if you fit them together in their correct places, you will have the whole story.” – Pablo Picasso
While solid run production creates excitement among the faithful, a return of those offensive numbers would remind many of April’s promising output. However, the unfulfilled need for this campaign has been a left-handed right fielder with power because the free agent didn’t pan out. And Dylan Cozens will fit the bill if he can break out of his current 11-game slump over the next two weeks: .167 with two solo homers.
On the mound, we’ll see how the five youngsters do without a veteran atop the rotation after the two starters on the disabled list return. Hopefully, they can stay healthy through September. Meanwhile, the relief corps will probably feature the return of Ramos and the promotion of journeyman Pedro Beato, the right-handed closer with Lehigh Valley. And taking his place with the IronPigs will be righty reliever Jesen Dygestile-Therrien, who’ll simultaneously be auditioning for a bullpen job in August with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Six weeks after the other regulars did not respond to his initial comments, Freddy Galvis was more specific: Some in the clubhouse aren’t giving 100 percent for 27 outs. But this time they heard him. The result: Philadelphia 13 and Seattle 6.
THE CALL FOR JULY:
14-11 or three games over .500
Next: Trade Bait or Phillies' Placeholders
In the spirit of starting over after Galvis’ challenge, the next three months will commence on July 1 with the if factor. If the red pinstripes give a total effort on every pitch, they will have solid victories and winnable outcomes in almost every contest. If they return from the mid-season break with something to prove, the positive vibes will continue into August. Yes, if.