Problems in Philadelphia

Thus far in October there were 3 Game 5's in the Divisional Round and it's not hyperbole to think that this baseball Postseason has been the best in the last 5-10 years.

Just some throw away thoughts on the Playoffs and baseball in general over the last week:

• The pitching matchup between Roy Halladay and Chris Carpenter was one of the top 3 postseason matchups I've ever watched. Chris Carpenter's playoff performance rivals only Pedro Martinez vs. Cleveland in 1999 ALDS (6 no-hit relief innings), Jack Morris in Game 7 of the World Series throwing 10 innings in 1991, Larsen's perfect game and Halladay's no-hitter a year ago.
  
• Jim Leyland had a horseshoe up his ass in the Yankees' series. That being said, he made Girardi look like a fool in the managing department (not hard) and his shuffling of the lineup and pinch-hitting for the duration of the series was genius. Not to mention knowing that Fister could handle the Yankees in Game 5.
  
• Justin Verlander was an absolute horse, world-beater in the regular season. But his postseason numbers are not good. A career 2-3 record in the postseason with a 5.71 ERA. In 34.2 innings he's allowed 37 hits. His regular season was phenomenal but when is this guy going to be "The Guy" in the playoffs?
  
• The Yankees are who we thought they were. A team that can out-slug most teams, but when facing a team with better pitching will struggle because their pitching was mediocre at best. This is an area they will need to address if they want to get deeper in the playoffs than the first round.
  
• There is something special going on in Milwaukee. I dare you to find me a better 3-4 combo in the game than Fielder and Braun. (Hint: There isn't one)
  
• Yovani Gallardo's "stuff" is absolutely filthy.
  
• I undersold Ian Kennedy and his ability to pitch. He has a good mental makeup and isn't afraid to go after a hitter.
  
• Is there a better mustache in baseball than John Axford? Somewhere Rollie Fingers lights a cigar, and slowly nods his head in approval.
  
• I think Detroit may be done. Losing BOTH Ordonez and Young take a lot of thump out of that lineup and against the Rangers pitching staff it may be too difficult to overcome. I like Texas in 6.
  
• The Brewers and Cardinals series is going to be epic. The Brewers will win but I see this series going 7 games and with at least one benches-clearing brawl.
  
• As much as his antics are childish baseball needs more players like Nyjer Morgan. Players that impose their emotion on every game. There are too many "businessmen-like" mentality players. Play with emotion, Play Hard and Play smart; if Morgan could figure out the third part of that mantra he'd be a heck of a ball player.
  

Those are the minor things that come to my mind throughout the course of the weekend. But here is the real point for this post. Philadelphia has a legitimate problem. They have the BEST starting pitching in the game, this is not debatable. But their offense is bad.

1. Ryan Howard's (32) batting average, OBP and slugging percentage have all gone down the last 3 years and he is just about to start a 5 year 125 million dollar contract extension. Players of his body type don't usually age well in their mid-30's, and we may be seeing the precipitous decline. Also note that he may not be ready by the start of spring training 2012 because of his latest Achilles injury.
   
2. Chase Utley's (32) batting average, OBP, and slugging percentage have all gone down the last 3 years, as has his games played category. He is one of the "grinders" in baseball but his style of play isn't always sustainable throughout the duration of his career.
   
3. Jimmy Rollins' (32) has been very inconsistent the last 3 years offensively, and he has been somewhat of an injury risk during that time period and now he is up for free agency.
   
4. Raul Ibanez (39) got on base this year at a .289 clip (to put that in perspective think Carl Crawford this year) and now is up for free agency.
   
5. Placido Polanco (36) is remarkably consistent throughout his entire career but was injured for a good part of the year, and has another year on his contract.
   

Hunter Pence was a much needed jolt for the Philadelphia offense. 11 home runs in 100 games for the Astros and 11 home runs in 54 games for the Phillies. Shane Victorino had his most complete offensive season in the Major Leagues, but the rest of the team was stagnant and at times unproductive.

In case you didn't get my subtle insert of the player's ages, it is because the Phillies offense is too old. The Philadelphia front office is not as progressive (sabermetric-inclined) as most clubs. Meaning they are more interested in HR, RBI and batting average than most would suggest but they need an impact bat this offseason that will take some of the burden off their aging sluggers.

It may be time to cut ties with Jimmy Rollins. He has won an MVP for the ball club, but you don't want to pay for past performance you want to pay for future performance. He is a switch hitter which is a luxury but ultimately they need a solid defensive SS that hits from the right side of the plate. Someone like Alex Gonzales would fit that mold perfectly and would be more cost effective than Rollins. If you go cost effective for a year you will have a better crop of SS next year (Aybar, Peralta, Drew).

Left Field is where they need some thump. They were trying to get Beltran at the trade deadline but odds are the Mets didn't want to deal within the division. I suspect the interest hasn't changed much. This wouldn't exactly alleviate the problem for a younger team especially after you signed an older SS than you had. So I also think they will be in on Michael Cuddyer maybe even more so than Beltran. Also, they should shop Dominic Brown and one of their pitching prospects for a younger bat if the FA's on the market are asking for too much. They need thump from the right side of the plate because Howard and Utley were useless against lefties this year, (.224 and .187 respectively).

To have the best pitching staff in the game isn't always enough, you have to have an offense at least able to score 2 runs because most nights their staff is only giving up 1. Inept shouldn't be acceptable.

Stay Tuned

Norton