A terrible Phillies loss combined with a disgrace of a hockey game....pass the Jameson, HM!
One play sticks in my mind from last night's game that has really been bother me. With one out in the 11th inning and Carlos Ruiz on 3rd, Uncle Charlie opted to send out Thome to pinch hit. Everyone knew Thome was going to strike out. Everyone except for Uncle Charlie, who stuck with his good 'ol boy Thome. The right move was to pinch hit Polanco in that spot. Polanco is no longer a great hitter, but he puts the ball in play. That's pretty much all the Phillies needed in the spot.
Manuel has been known as a player's coach, but I think with this team, it is something that is backfiring on him. There is a reason the Twins and White Sox let Thome go...he is no longer good. Sending a guy up to pinch hit who has struck out six times in 12 ABs is poor managing. In comparison, Polanco has struck out 6 times in 29 ABs this season.
Manuel was blessed with a very talented team for most of his career here and with the Indians. Point to a time where he made a shrewd or smart move. I have watched 95% of the games during his tenure here and I cannot recall one. He is good when the players are good and he just lets them play. For this team right now, he needs to manage, and quite honestly he is horrible. He has had no practice at managing. For years he just wrote in the same lineup game after game and now when he needs to be strategic and bargain for runs, he has failed.
Lee was magnificent. It is disgusting to me that he did not get a win. 10 scoreless innings! This has not been done by a Phillie since Terry Mulholland on May 8, 1993, against St. Louis. Lee did not throw his 100th pitch until there were two outs in the 10th. That in itself is amazing. Cain was just as good however, but with this Phillies lineup, a mediocre pitcher can look like a Cy Young candidate. So the Phils move on to play the Padres, the only team that may be more anemic than the Phils right now.
C'mon, blaming Charlie for that? You're telling me that if he sent Polanco to the plate - a guy coming off an 0-4 night - batting .179 on the season, you would've been content? I get it, Polanco is a contact hitter, tough to strike out, etc etc, but I don't believe for a second you'd look down your bench and opt for Polanco over Thome with one out and a runner on third.
ReplyDeleteBlame the players, they didn't produce... Don't take the easy way out and make it seem like all Charlie had to do was play a little chess and the tying run would've crossed the plate. La Russa was always considered a great game manager, but if you look at it, his players executed when they needed to. You make the same moves and they don't work? You're a terrible manager. Can't just be results based.
Let's hope for a rebound against the Pads..
First of all thank you for reading and thank you for taking the time to comment. So you would have made the same move and put Thome in? I agree Polanco is hitting brutally, but his average is almost three times as good as Thome's and as we both know...Thome K's WAY more than Polanco. We did not even need a hit! We needed the ball in play.It could have been the WINNING run. We score there and Papelbon comes in..not Bastardo. I see your point with "taking the easy way out", but I disagree. Maybe the Padres will be just what the doctor ordered, like you said!
ReplyDeleteAlways happy to engage in a little armchair...managing? I just don't think Charlie was thinking/confident that Polanco could do what he had to do, which is one of two things and two things only: 1) put it in play or 2) put it deep enough to allow Chooch to score. Thome, if he connects, has a much better shot to at least put it deep enough to allow Chooch to tag. Polanco, probably a better chance to poke one through a gap, but now we're just getting into semantics. Anyway, I agree with your point on it being the winning run - I hadn't thought of it like that. At this point, I wish someone would've just leaned into one and kept the inning going (i.e. Mayberry).
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work!