Mayberry R.F.P. (Request for Playing Time)

The Phillies offense has struggled mightily so far this year, despite the veritable explosion of runs (20 in the last three games of the season long 10 game road trip). When the Phillies do hit, singles are the norm, with very few extra base hits.  Of the current starters, Hunter Pence I really the only true power threat (Rollins and Victorino have occasional pop, and Laynce Nix can hit right-handers).  John Mayberry has certainly struggled with the rest of them, looking absolutely lost at the plate, while his replacement in left, Juan Pierre has consistently gotten on base, leaving Mayberry glued to the bench.  While Pierre has been on base (.339 BA, .361 On-base %), no one has driven him in with any consistency. (he’s only crossed the plate 6 times), and his arm in left is so week I think I could take second on him.  Mayberry has huge power potential, last year he slugged 15 home runs in only 267 at bats, less than half a full season’s worth, he is a plus defender at all three outfield positions (and first base as well), and can run. He was not the only player on the Phillies who struggled at the plate,  Placido Polanco had a similar terrible start, but was allowed to play through it and has started to come around. Mayberry deserves a similar chance, and more importantly, the Phillies themselves need to give him a similar chance. They need at least one more player in the lineup with 30+ homer potential, someone to drive in all the singles hitters that pepper their lineup, and someone who can provide defensive support to their stellar pitching staff.  Mayberry need a real chance to pull it together, the Phillies season may just ride on his ability to do so.

Time to Panic? Not Yet

After 8 games, the Phillies offense has been struggling to score runs, to say the least! Are the injuries to Ryan Howard and Chase Utley too much to overcome? Will the offense continue to scuffle? The replacement in the lineup haven't done much, though slick fielding second baseman Freddy Galvis has started to hit a little after beginning his big league career with an 0-12 collar. Still, his production is nothing like Utley in his prime, nor even th Utley of last year, nor can we expect it to ever approach the Hall of Fame type numbers Chase produced before injuries derailed his election to those hallowed halls. Expecting Chase to return and be Chase is likely a pipe dream as well. Howard, on the other hand, should come back and be a reasonable facsimile of the run producing machine he always has been, if not this year, then certainly by next year. The combination of his temporary replacements, Ty Wigginton, Laynce Nix, Jim Thome, and John Mayberry Junior should be able to approach the 31 homeruns and 109 RBI's Howard produced last year. If Mayberry can begin to harness the talent his physical gifts imply (He began to show signs of this last year), he might be able to give them production similar to what Jayson Werth produced while here in Philly, production that netted him a $126 million free agent contract from the Washington Nationals.

The Phillies pitching continues to be excellent, the offense should improve to a level that will allow the Phillies to generate enough runs to support that pitching, and the team still has the pedigree the win the NL East. The low run totals are likely just a function of slow starts and offensive funks that afflict every baseball team throughout the season. That's why they play 162, giving plenty of team for the cream to rise to the top.

Has the Window Closed?

Opening day is fast approaching and the aging Phillies are springing so many leaks a submarine with a screen door may stay afloat longer.  Has the window of opportunity for this talented team slammed shut? Injuries to Ryan Howard and Chase Utley have ripped the heart out of the Phillies offense. Jimmy Rollins and Placido Polanco have been injury prone in recent seasons and haven't been able to play a full slate of games, chances are being another year older is going to do nothing to reverse this trend. Carlos Ruiz is well past thirty as well, an age when catchers begin to break down due to the physical demands of their position. The outfield is the only component of the Phils offense that remains relatively young and productive. This will have to be the engine that drives the Phils offense.

The pitching staff remains the strength of the team, and hopefully will remain so dominant that the potentially anemic Phils offense will be sufficient to carry the team until, and if, Howard and Utley return, or GM Ruben Amaro is forced to trade for some more offense.  Only time will tell, but that's why we watch. Let the games begin!

Happy P & C Day!

It’s finally here, the day I’ve been waiting for since October, My favorite day of the year, P & C day! P & C day, or the day that Pitchers and Catchers report to spring training is  a holiday in my household.  Even though nothing much actually happens, the players merely report to camp and perhaps have a couple of languid games of catch in the Florida and Arizona sunshine, it’s a sign that spring is in the air and my favorite sport will soon once again enter the daily fabric of my life. I love baseball for many reasons, the balance of strategic gamesmanship and planning, juxtaposed with bursts of athletic grace and energy. It is the athletic equivalent of chess, with moves set up innings, games, even months in advance.  Greg Maddux once declared that he purposely allowed a batter to get a hit in a game he believed he had well in hand, merely to set up a potential thought in a hitter’s mind as to what he would do later in the season when they matched up again, likely in a more important situation. It is this mix of the cerebral and athletic that I so love. There is always something to pick up, I catch something new in every game I play, watch, or coach. Baseball is a game where the more you know, the more you realize you don’t know, and today marks the kickoff of a fascinating 8 month journey culminating in the World Series.   

Peyton's Place: Indy or Elsewhere?

The Super Bowl week spat between Peyton Manning and Colts owner Robert Irsay has fostered much debate about what the Colts, owners of the first pick in the draft, should do. Should they release Peyton and save themselves $28 million, and draft Andrew Luck, considered the best QB prospect coming out of college since…Peyton Manning?  Should they keep Manning to mentor Luck and tie up much of their salary cap in one position?  I have heard scouts say that while Luck has great talent, he’s no Peyton Manning nor ever will be. They recommend trading the pick and keeping Manning (assuming he passes their physical). The real question is not whether Luck will be better than Manning ever was , now, or in 5 years. It is whether he will be better than Manning at that point in time. The answer is almost certainly yes, even if Luck turns out to be no better than Jim Sorgi (former Manning backup QB who virtually never saw the field in Manning’s heyday). Manning will almost certainly be gone in five years. The real question is whether Luck will be better than the players they would have drafted if they traded the pick.  Secondarily, will the Colts transform back into contenders next year if Manning is back near the top of his game?  Will the other players they may draft help them get there more than a bench riding Luck next year (almost to a certainty). It’s a tough call as to when to cut ties with an icon, and unless Manning  retires gracefully (something he’s given no indication of doing), there is no easy answer for the Colts.

Juan More Year

So the decision has been made to retain Juan Castillo as defensive coordinator for the Eagles, a decision met with chagrin by most of eagle fandom. Most people wanted the former offensive line coach replaced with an experienced defensive coordinator, with the majority favoring former Eagles assistant and recently fired Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo. Spagnuolo chose New Orleans and the eagles are keeping Castillo, with most of the public believing he is a lame duck that was only retained because the eagles were slow to pull the trigger. The Eagles will counter that Castillo grew on the job, and grew rapidly at that, showing vast improvement in defensive statistics compiled during their season ending four game winning streak.  Critics counter with “Who did they play?” Four teams that, like the Eagles, are outside  looking in at the playoffs.  Separating improvements in Castillo’s performance benefits derived from a decline in the quality of opponents is virtually impossible. 

The fact remains, the defense did improve. Schemes were revised and adjusted to take better advantage of personnel.  Just as with anyone who get a promotion or switches jobs, there is a learning curve. You don’t come in knowing everything.  You make mistakes. If you’re smart and work hard, you’ll improve your performance, your mistakes will decrease, and you will come up to speed. Castillo should be given the same opportunity, and all indications are he is improving. You can quibble he should never have been given the job in the first place, but once the deed was done, he deserves a chance. Additionally, you can bet the eagles will try hard to give him better tools to work with. Expect them to invest many of their draft picks or free agent dollars in players on the defensive side of the ball, perhaps even that elusive stud linebacker the eagles have long eschewed, and a position that is so necessary to stopping the run with the wide 9 defensive alignment they employ. The wide nine generated a lot of quarterback pressure, but the left the team vulnerable to the run and to tight ends running short patterns in front of the secondary.

            Castillo will have a whole off-season, including mini-camps, training camp, etc. to refine his schemes, incorporate the new personnel, build on his hard won experience, and develop a cohesive unit. He deserves a chance to show he is up to the challenge.

R.I.P. Joe Paterno 1926-2012

I’ve spent all week trying to come up with adequate words to describe what Joe Paterno meant to me, and the void I feel at his passing. What I’ve come up with isn’t nearly adequate, but, in the belief that something is better than nothing, here goes.  I arrived at Penn State shortly after the infamous Sugar Bowl where number 1 Penn State lost to number 2 Alabama and their legendary coach, Bear Bryant, after trying to score 7 times from with the 1 yard line and failing to do so. The joke then was, “I’m going to get some Joe Paterno golf balls.  Why? Because they’re guaranteed to go straight up the middle every time! “  Well, Joe did go on to win two National Championships after that, following his famous philosophy. Yet, despite his advanced years, adapt he did, the undefeated 1994 team, and one to this day I’m convinced would have easily defeated national champion Nebraska had the two had the opportunity to square off, had one of the most prolific and diverse offenses in college football history, an offense that had three first round picks in the first eight selections, including the top overall pick. The one thing on which he never compromised was in doing it the correct way, sending players to class, benching them for infractions, but believing they were innocent until proven guilty. Young people, he used to say, need guidance. That’s our duty as educators, to guide.  I was so proud to send my daughter off to her freshman year at Penn State this year, so proud that thirty years later, this same man was still there. Nowhere else in the country could this be true. Obviously, this year didn’t turn out as well as we expected, Joe was proven to be human, his career terminated by a horrendous decision on his part,  a decision which I believe lead to his death less than three months later, as much from a broken heart as from the cancer.  I believe that he grieved for the victims, and this grief, not the loss of his job, did him in at the end.  Time will put his career in perspective.. For me, ultimately, I can still say I’m proud to have met him, and proud to send my daughter off to a university that was synonymous with his name. Rest in peace, Joe.