As the baseball season starts
to get rolling, some would
argue that the Philadelphia
Phillies have the best starting
rotation of pitchers in the history
of the game. With Roy
Halladay, Cliff Lee and Roy
Oswalt going one, two, and
three respectively, the Phillies
knew going into the season
that putting runs on the board
was the only cause for concern.
Even with the hot and cold
Cole Hamels and mediocre Joe
Blanton rounding out the rotation,
the top three were
believed to be able to bail the
Phillies out of losing any
series. As it stands right now,
the Phillies sit comfortably at
the top of the N.L. East with a
record of 11 wins and 6 losses.
But for some die-hard Philly
fans, the record isn’t near up to
the expectations going into the
start of the season.
Just like Lebron James and
Chris Bosh joining forces with
Dwyane Wade in Miami, the
hype over the Phillies’ starting
rotation has some fans expecting
perfection. Faithful fan
Dan Nuskey expects the
Phillies never to lose a series.
“Speaking for the masses of
Phillies fans out there, I think
we all believe that anything
short of winning another World
Series is complete and utter
failure,” Dan explains. “In a
three game series, we have
three of the top ten pitchers in
the league, so I don’t understand
how we already lost a
series to the Brewers.” Dan
recalls the recent series in
which the Phillies dropped two
games out of three to the
Milwaukee Brewers. “Even if
we have Joe Blanton pitching
in the first game, the rotation
flips over and we have
Halladay and Lee pitching the
next two games”, Dan says
with concern. “In my eyes,
losing a series this early in the
season is inexcusable.”
With the Phillies’ growing
concern over their injuries and
players on the disabled list,
some would disagree with
Dan, saying that the Phillies
are doing quite well
despite missing many
star players. Chase
Utley, the Phillies’
all-star second baseman,
has missed the
entire beginning of
the season. Though
he has been making
progress running
bases, Phillies manager
Charlie Manuel
says that his star second
baseman won’t
make a return for
quite some time.
Also, the Phillies’ hot
and cold closer Brad
Lidge is keeping
Utley company on the DL. He
has elbow problems, a nagging
injury that has plagued the
closing pitcher’s inconsistent
career. With the departure of
the Philadelphia favorite
Jayson Werth, the Phillies have
missed his strong bat and
defensive skills. Upstart
Dominic Brown had been
known to be Werth’s successor,
but injuries have also kept this
promising young outfielder
from displaying his skills.
With some of the hitters in the
middle of the lineup slumping
a bit, unsung heroes like catcher
Carlos Ruiz have come
through in the clutch.
With the Phillies’ season just
starting to get going, there is
no cause for concern this early
in the season. The Phillies will
end up having a great season,
and most likely easily take the
N.L. East. With the Mets and
the Marlins both getting off to
sub-par starts of their respective
seasons, the Atlanta
Braves are the only team that
the Phillies have to worry
about before the postseason.
Philly fans need to breathe a
collective sigh of relief in
knowing that losing one or two
series isn’t the end of the
world. As long as the Phillies
can keep their stars off the disabled
list, and hope for the
ones on the DL to make speedy
recoveries, the Phillies are
poised to bring home another
World Series for the city of
Philadelphia.