The offense continues to be inconsistent. They've scored over seven runs on two different occasions, but those outbursts have been separated by stretches of games where they struggle to score.
Despite the team's offensive struggles, there has been one player whose production has actually been greater than most people expected.
Featured Phillie of the Week: Freddy Galvis
Coming into the season, it was thought that Freddy Galvis had the defensive ability to play shortstop at the major leagues. But there was doubt about whether or not he would be able to adequately hit major league pitching.
Despite his offensive limitations, the Phillies decided that he was their best option to replace Chase Utley as their regular second baseman.
The first week of the season, the reports on Galvis appeared to be accurate. Despite playing a new position - second base - Galvis excelled defensively. He not only made the routine plays, but also mixed in some highlight-reel worthy plays as well.
Unfortunately, the reports about Galvis' bat not being major league ready were also looking prescient. He began his major league career by going hitless in his first twelve at bats.
But this past week he showed signs that he might be able to contribute offensively as well.
In Wednesday's game, an intentional walk of Carlos Ruiz brought Galvis to the plate with the bases loaded and two-outs. With the Citizens Bank Park crowd fully behind him, Galvis came through with a double that helped propel the Phillies to victory.
Two days later, with the rest of the Phillies offense mostly quiet, Galvis hit his first career home run.
Ghost of Phillies Past: Joe Millette
I could probably do a whole series of posts about the men who played shortstop for the Phillies in 1992.
Kim Batiste was expected to be the Phillies shortstop of the future. He was handed the starting job in 1992, but failed to meet expectations. His offense was sub par, but his defense was an utter disaster. He bottomed out with a four error game, after which, the team felt that Mariano Duncan - not known for being especially good on defense - was a better option defensively.
Willing to sacrifice offense for defense, the Phillies called up a "good-field, no-hit" shortstop from the minor leagues. And so, for a brief period of time, Joe Millette became the Phillies starting shortstop.
Millette did seem to do an adequate job of fielding. But the man was an absolute disaster at the plate. In 87 plate appearances, Millette only managed a paltry .271 on-base percentage. Even worse, he somehow didn't have even one extra base hit.
Eventually the Phillies realized that no matter how good Millette was at defense, they simply couldn't tolerate such a poor hitter in their lineup. They replaced him with Juan Bell, who didn't turn out to be much better, and is probably best remembered for being booed on Opening Day.
Random Phillies Picture Found on the Web
This week's picture is a generic South Park character wearing a Phillies uniform.
Pennant Year Song of the Week
Most people predicted that the Phillies offense would suck without injured stars Ryan Howard and Chase Utley. So far, the offense has been more inconsistent than poor, but it is clear that they are definitely lacking something.
Therefore, this week's song is 2009's My Life Would Suck Without You by Kelly Clarkson.
We can hope that both Howard and Utley make speedy recoveries and help un-suck the Phillies offense.
Final Word
Galvis has already contributed more offensively than Millette ever did. Then again, Millette was clearly not a major-league capable player, and was only playing because the Phillies lacked any other options.
Galvis is young, and his minor league numbers improved last season, so there is hope that he will eventually develop into a capable major league hitter.
In the meantime, as long as he can keep playing sterling defense and avoid being a complete liability at the plate, I'm sure the Phillies will be happy with him.
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