Week 11: Jim Thome and Mike Easler

Have the Phillies hit rock bottom?

This weekend's series against the Blue Jays might have been the worst series for the Phillies in quite some time. 

In Friday's game, the opposing starter had to leave with an injury in the first inning.  Naturally, the Phillies took full advantage, by accumulating only five hits in the shutout loss.

On Saturday, the team once again provided Cliff Lee with a three run lead.  And once again, the opponent came back to tie the game.  It certainly wasn't all Lee's fault.  Jimmy Rollins committed an error, and Chad Qualls did what he does best: Allow inherited runners to score.

After blowing the lead, the team found itself in a familiar position: An extra inning game on the road.  The result was also familiar: Their opponent celebrated a walkoff victory.

In Sunday's game, starter Kyle Kendrick never really gave the team a chance to win.  But when Kyle Kendrick is the team's hope for avoiding a sweep, something has gone dreadfully wrong.

We can only hope that the Phillies have hit bottom.  Because while I've given up hope of this team contending in 2012, it would be nice if they could avoid embarrassing themselves.

Featured Phillie of the Week: Jim Thome

Thome was last week's featured Phillie, but considering how he's continued to hit well, (along with the lack of better options) he seemed like the best choice.

Thome continued to assault the Phillies' American League opponents.  He hit three homers this week, including his 100th in a Phillies uniform.

That made him the fourth player in major league history to hit 100 with three different teams.  That's a testament to his greatness and longevity.

It also shows just how well-liked Thome is.  After homering against the Twins, their fans gave him a hearty round of applause.

Ghost of Phillies Past: Mike Easler

In 1987, the team brought in another accomplished, but past-his-prime slugger. 

While Mike Easler was far from a future Hall of Famer, the "Hit Man" had been a feared hitter throughout his career.  He had twice hit over 20 home runs in a season, and was named to the 1981 All-Star team.

The Phillies thought that he might be able to help them in a part-time role.  At the very least, they figured his power bat would be a good addition to their bench.

Unfortunately, by 1987, Easler didn't have much left.  He struggled with the limited playing time, and only hit one home run.  The team quickly traded him to the Yankees so that he might play more often as a designated hitter.

Awesomely Obscure Song of the Week

This week, I'm bringing you another great, yet largely unheralded song: Spanked by Van Halen:

The song was on the band's For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge album, and has largely gone unnoticed in favor of more popular hits like Poundcake and Right Now.

Perhaps if Crystal Pepsi had used Spanked as the center of their marketing campaign, both the song and the beverage would be remembered more fondly today.  But probably not.

Regardless, this is one of my favorite songs from my favorite Van Halen album.

Final Analysis

Thome's two week outburst has been a pleasant surprise, but now that the games in the American League parks are done, will he still be able to help the team? 

So far, he has not done well as a pinch hitter, and he doesn't appear to be able to play first base without his body breaking down.

He has said he has some ideas about how to stay sharp during games in case he is called upon as a pinch hitter, but it is far from a certainty that he will be any more successful in that role going forward.

Sadly, much like Easler, there is a good chance that Thome will soon be traded to an American League team where he could serve as a designated hitter.

Week Ten: Jim Thome and Eric Valent

When I started this blog, my goal was to illustrate how good the current era of Phillies baseball is in comparison to the franchise's mostly horrific past.

But what do you do when the present turns out to be much worse than you had expected?

While it was clear from the beginning that the 2012 season wasn't going to go as smoothly as 2011's "Season of No Angst" I certainly didn't forsee the team falling apart.  Coming off of a 102 win season, there was no reason to expect the team to look so bad.

While the Phillies are far from eliminated, I think I've lost hope for them.  The team, as currently constructed, just does not look like a playoff team.

Is there anything about the current Phillies roster that should make me believe otherwise?

While they still have two ace pitchers in the rotation, neither has been performing at a top level over the past few weeks.  Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee have both been victimized by poor defense and poor run support, but they also haven't gone out and delivered the type of dominating gems that we saw so often in 2011.

Maybe those guys are feeling too much pressure, especially without Roy Halladay.  But if the team has a strength, it is the top of the rotation.  Those two have to perform accordingly, and start lifting the team rather than getting dragged down by it.

Aside from the aces, the rotation has one mediocre starter (Joe Blanton), one fringe starter (Kyle Kendrick), and one wild card who is working his way back from an injury. (Vance Worley)  While they all would be nice complements to a rotation headlined by three aces, none of them are the type of pitcher who will help carry a team to the playoffs.

Of course, the struggles of the rotation are nothing compared to what we've seen from the bullpen.  The relief corps currently consists of Jonathan Papelbon, Antonio Bastardo, and a whole lot of hopes and prayers.  Aside from the closer and setup man, they don't have any pitchers who can be brought into a tough situation and expect success.

The lineup is full of supporting players who look like they're either pressing too hard...or aren't that good to begin with.  Hunter Pence and Shane Victorino are great guys to have in a lineup, if they're your third and fourth best hitters.  They certainly don't seem to be capable of carrying the offense.

Even Carlos Ruiz, who had been the team's best hitter so far in 2012 seems to be coming back down to Earth lately.

And the bench would look pretty good...if most of the guys they had projected for reserve roles weren't being used in every day roles.

With the returns of Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and Roy Halladay still weeks away, the team might be too buried in the standings by the time they rejoin the team.  And that's assuming that they can come back and play anywhere near their old levels.

So yeah, there's not much reason to hope.

While the past week was mostly horrific, there was one positive that emerged: One player who many (including myself) thought was finished experienced a bit of a resurgence.

Featured Phillie of the Week: Jim Thome

In the past, Jim Thome has struggled when used as a pinch hitter.  The general rule was that if he wasn't getting regular at bats or playing time, he would struggle.

The Phillies hoped that he might be able to change that this year.  They also hoped that he might be able to play a game or two at first base each week.

Neither of those happened.  Thome's back didn't hold up well enough to play first, and he's looked awful in his pinch hitting appearances.

But in this weekend's series against the Orioles, he got to serve as the designated hitter, and he looked rejuvenated.

On Friday, his three hits helped fuel a nine-run outburst by the Phillies offense.  He followed that up with his first homer of the season on Saturday, as well as a late game-tying RBI.  On Sunday, he added another RBI double.

With more interleague play coming up, Thome should have plenty more opportunities to continue his hot hitting.

Ghost of Phillies Past: Eric Valent

After the Phillies drafted and were unable to sign J.D. Drew in the 1997 amateur draft, they were awarded a compensation pick in the 1998 draft.  They used the pick to select UCLA outfielder Eric Valent.

Valent steadily rose through the Phillies minor league system.  In 2001, with the team in need of a designated hitter in American League parks, the team called up Valent to serve in the role.

Valent failed to make much of an impression.  In 41 at bats throughout the 2001 season, he batted a measly .098 with no home runs.

In 2002, he made another cameo appearance on the Phillies roster, and once again, he was unimpressive.  By the middle of the 2003 season, the team gave up on him and traded him to the Reds.

He eventually rejoined the major leagues as a member of the Mets, and actually hit for the cycle in one game.  Despite that brief flash of ability, Valent's career never amounted to much, and he soon retired and began a career in coaching.

Pennant Year Song of the Week

The Phillies keep slipping further behind the pace in the National League East.  And to reflect that position, this week's song comes from 1993.  It is Deeper and Deeper by Madonna.

In theory, Madonna has produced a lot of hit songs since the 80's.  But I could probably only name one of two of them.  I'll give her credit for somehow managing to stay relevant as a musician.

Random Phillies Tweet of the Week

From Matt Gelb (@magelb):

Right now, Phillies are worst situational hitting team in at least 64 years. This will blow your mind: http://bit.ly/JX82PB

Final Analysis

This was a bad week for the Phillies.  They're falling further and further behind in the standings, and the rallying cry of "Wait for Howard and Utley" is starting to ring hollow.

Even the resurgence of Thome doesn't provide much hope.  Even with him hitting well, the team still lost two out of three in Baltimore.  And he won't have too many more opportunities to serve as the designated hitter going forward.

Unless something changes dramatically, 2012 is looking more and more like a lost season.