Things look much better for the Philadelphia Phillies this morning then they did after losing three series in a row. But are things that much better or is it because they are facing an opponent that has only won 11 games all season? I am not downplaying the difficulty of beating any division opponent three games in a row, I am just wondering if the hitting woes are truly behind us.
It was great to see Jimmy Rollins have two multi hit games in a row and to see Chase Utley swing the bat well again. Ryan Howard hit moon shots that circled the earth before landing. My question is, if they faced more of a quality starter today, would the hits dry up again? We watched this happen with the lineup all of last year. Feast then famine. Somehow they need to learn to squeak some runs across against the tough pitchers as well. Raul Ibanez has brought a more steady bat to the lineup. But he is only one player. The rest of the team needs to learn to take the extra base going from first to third or move the runner along. It seems as though we have spent the better part of the decade hearing this.
As I said in an earlier post, the key for the Phillies is getting their table setters going. J-Roll seems to have turned a page. If he really did and can hit consistently, I think the Phillies will go on a tear. If not, they are in for the hot and cold spells that have plagued them in recent years.
The big picture is that they have won two division titles and a world championship with the offense performing like this. The division is better now though and they need to find some more consistency if they hope to three peat.
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