They are no longer in last place, having passed over the fading Miami Marlins. More importantly, some of their key players seem to be rounding into form. Roy Halladay and Ryan Howard have looked closer to their pre-injury selves, and Domonic Brown has shown some indication that he may indeed live up to the hype he once carried as a minor leaguer.
It has also helped that they've gotten a large offensive contribution from a very unlikely source.
Featured Phillie of the Week: Eric Kratz
Heading into this season, most Phillies fans had no idea who Eric Kratz was. Actually, throughout most of the season, most Phillies fans had no idea who Eric Kratz was. He just seemed like a journeyman minor league catcher who the Phillies kept calling up and sending back down to the minors.
When starting catcher Carlos Ruiz went down with an injury a couple of weeks ago, there was reason to believe that the Phillies offense would suffer. After all, Ruiz has been the Phillies' best hitter this season.
But surprisingly, Kratz has gone a long way towards replacing Ruiz's offense. He is batting .308 in the month of August, and more importantly, has contributed some big home runs.
In Sunday's win over the Cardinals, his three run homer in the eighth inning tied the game and allowed the Phillies to win in extra innings. Earlier in the week, a Kratz home run had provided the Phillies the margin of victory in another win.
While Ruiz will certainly reclaim the starting job when he returns, it looks like Kratz has earned himself a chance to be his backup next season.
Ghost of Phillies Past: Mark Parent
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| Parent in his post-playing coaching days |
Teams generally don't expect much out of their backup catchers. They usually hope for a solid defender who can avoid being too much of an offensive liability when he makes his one or two starts each week.
Mark Parent was the Phillies' backup catcher in 1997 and 1998, and while he was serviceable enough on defense, he was futile with the bat.
Parent actually hit 15 home runs in the 1995 season. That was 15 more than he managed in 1997. He didn't compensate by hitting for a high average, as he only batted .150.
While he improved those numbers ever so slightly in 1998, the Phillies had seen enough, and replaced him for the 1999 season with the just as forgettable Gary Bennett.
Pennant Year Song of the Week
The Phillies are no longer in last place. And while they're still a far way from first, sometimes you have to just take it one step at a time. And thus, this week's song is One Step at a Time by Jordin Sparks:
Phillies Related Tweet of the Week
Fightin' for Philly @philly_sports_
2012 has been productive in the sense that all the bandwagoners are gone. Only the faithful are left now
Is this true? Has everyone hopped off the bandwagon? I'm sure that if the winning resumes next season, the bandwagon will still be plenty full.
Final Analysis
Mark Parent was a borderline major league player who hung around for awhile as a backup. Kratz has never even had that much of an opportunity, but it looks like he's going to get his chance to stay on a major league roster next season. We'll see if he takes advantage.
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