Philadelphia Sports Summer Recap & Analysis: Part One, the Phillies

Note: This is part one of three in discussing the biggest sports news of the summer in Philly. Next up is the Sixers, followed by the Eagles.

It's been a very entertaining summer so far in the city of Philadelphia, in terms of sports news. There have been many stories concerning the Phillies; some are over six-weeks old and some are still ongoing. Let's recap all the drama and analyze the results.

A little before summer began, June 13 to be exact, the Phillies stood 13 games over .500, which was their high-water mark of the season. And at that time, they held a four-game lead over the Marlins and a 7.5-game lead on the Mets.

Since that time, the Phillies have been very inconsistent. They dropped to as low as only five games over .500 three different times since then, along with losing streaks of six games and four games (twice).

As a result, they find themselves now in second place, two-and-a-half games back of the Mets. Their summer swoon has mostly been driven by a struggling offense, although there have been a variety of issues that this team has dealt with in the last two months.

BRETT MYERS

Recap

On July 1, a struggling Brett Myers accepted a minor-league assignment to basically clear his head and find himself again. Prior to his demotion, Myers was 3-9 with a 5.84 ERA.

After his first start on the farm, which was unimpressive, Myers made a comment about how it felt to be a closer and said it was like “being a rockstar.” Myers apparently still wanted to be a closer, but the Phillies all but shut that door when they re-signed Lidge to a three-year contract extension a few days later. 

Myers settled down during his next few minor-league starts, striking out a good amount of batters in the process. He returned to the majors on July 21 and since then has gone 3-1 with 1.94 ERA and is looking more and more like the No. 2 starter the Phillies had pegged him for this season.

In his last start, he pitched a complete-game shutout, fanning nine in the process and lowering his season ERA to a more respectable 4.71.

Myers' turnaround did not come without incident however. On Aug. 9, Myers was taken out of a game in which he had pitched seven-and-two-thirds good innings, and he and Charlie Manuel exchanged words as Brett came off the mound. Manuel then confronted Myers in the dugout, apparently chastising him for showing up the manager.

Analysis

If you’re going to play in this town, you have to be a man. You have to be accountable for your actions, work hard, and play to win. Like him or not, Brett Myers does all of those things. He didn’t have to accept his demotion to the minors (he’s been in the league over five years, so he could have just asked for his release), but he did.

He didn’t have to willingly move into the closers role last year or move willingly back into the rotation this year, but he did. He did those things because he’s a team player and true competitor. He regained his swagger in the minors and showed everyone he’s here to stay.

Did he show up Charlie Manuel that night he didn’t want to come out of the game? Perhaps. Could he have handled it a bit better? Yes. Should we vilify him for it, like much of this town did afterwards? Absolutely not.

Brett has the fire and desire to be a great pitcher, and if he’s going to be annoyed that he’s being taken out of the game, I’m fine with that. I want my pitcher to have that competitive spirit. I like Brett Myers, and I’m glad to see he’s finally starting to pitch up to his potential. He’s definitely one reason why the Phillies still have hope the rest of the way.

Jimmy Rollins 

Recap

Charlie Manual has two rules for his players: hustle and be on time. Jimmy Rollins has managed to break both this season. He broke the hustle rule on June 6 when he failed to run out an apparent inning-ending pop-up in the third inning of a game against the Reds.

In the next inning, Manual removed Rollins from the game. Jimmy took the benching well and basically said he deserved it.

On July 24, Rollins arrived late for a day game at Shea vs. the Mets. He was benched by Charlie, although he did use Jimmy as a pinch-hitter in the ninth. Rollins took a different stance in this incident, saying he disagreed with the punishment.

Jimmy had decided to drive his own car to the game that day instead of taking the team bus. He left about 10 minutes after the last team bus left the hotel but apparently ran into traffic.

Then, last week, while the Phillies were in L.A., Rollins appeared on the Best Damn Sports Show and when asked what he thought of the fans in Philadelphia, he used the words “front-runner” to describe them. 

This caused a huge backlash in Philly. The next day, Rollins tried to clarify his statements, but all he really said was that he didn’t like how the fans booed players like Carlos Ruiz, Tom Gordon, and Eric Bruntlett.

On Tuesday, Rollins was greeted with a mix of cheers and boos as he made his first appearance back in Philly since his comments.

Analysis

Rollins is a huge disappointment to me for many reasons this year. Not only has he had a very average offensive season, compared to his MVP season of last year, but he just looks emotionless out there.

I haven’t seen too many smiles on his face, and his play reflects that. His biggest problem has been his lack of patience at the plate. Yes, he’s not driving the ball like last year, but I’m ok with that. What kills me, and the team, is his inability to work the count. He’s swinging at too many first pitches, and more often than not, he’s popping out.

It wasn’t bad enough that he’s struggled with the bat, but then to be labeled as someone who isn’t on time or who isn’t hustling just doesn’t sit well with anyone in this town, especially me.

Rollins is supposed to be the veteran leader of this team, and he’s the reigning NL MVP. Unfortunately for everyone, Jimmy has done a 180. Plainly said, he’s running on MVP fumes from last year, and it’s simply unacceptable.

So what does J-Roll do for an encore? He rips the fans. Maybe in his mind he wasn’t insulting them, but he clearly did. It was a poor choice of words for Rollins, and considering the season he’s having, he should just shut up. Being MVP doesn’t make you immune for life.

Ironically, the fans have been nothing but tolerant of him up to this point. The chanted "MVP-MVP" down the stretch last season for him, and they haven’t really booed him this year prior to his “front-runner” comment.

So what prompted him to even say such a thing? Only Jimmy can answer that, but as long as he hits, I don’t care what he says. But he’s not hitting, he’s broken simple team rules, and he’s mouthing off, not a good combo in my book, and I’m certainly not going to tolerate it.

Incidentally, Jimmy is 3-33 since making his comments. Way to go J-Hole!

Trade Deadline

Recap

Heading into July, the Phillies were dealing with a struggling rotation, as Adam Eaton was pitching like Adam Eaton, and Brett Myers was pitching like Adam Eaton. During this time, the Cleveland Indians had fallen so far off the pace in the AL Central that they decided to officially put the reigning AL Cy Young CC Sabathia on the trading block.

Sabathia, who will be a free agent at the end of the season, was rumored to be going to a variety of teams, including the Phillies. 

It was rumored that the Indians wanted Shane Victorino, J.A. Happ, Carlos Carrasco, (the Phillies' best pitching prospect), and their best catching prospect, Lou Marson. We’ll never know if the Phillies really had an offer on the table, or if the Indians presented these guys as the ones they wanted.

Rumors swirled for days, but all the smoke ended pretty quickly as the Brewers acquired Sabathia on July 7 for five prospects, including the seventh-overall pick in the 2007 draft, prized prospect Matt LaPorta.

A few days later, the Cubs nearly matched their division rivals in acquiring A’s pitcher Rich Harden. Feeling the heat of not getting their own stud pitching via trade, the Phillies started negotiating with the Blue Jays to acquire A.J. Burnett and with the Mariners to get Eric Bedard.

However, instead of landing one of those second-tier starters, the Phillies made a lesser move on July 18 and acquired Joe Blanton from the A’s. The move was received with little enthusiasm, and, as it turns out, it was the only deadline move the Phillies wound up making. 

Analysis

The Phillies take a lot of heat at the trade deadline every year, sometimes rightfully so. However, this year, I really don’t think they could have done much more. Just because Sabathia and Harden were there to be had doesn’t mean the Phillies had enough minor-league talent to acquire them.

I think that was, without a doubt, the case with Sabathia, as his price tag was very high, and there was really no way they could have outbid the Brewers. 

As for Harden, he has a long history of injuries, and the Phillies were somewhat reluctant to give up minor-league talent for him. With that said, I don’t think a deal was even being discussed and that alone is a bit alarming.

However the Cubs had the players the A’s wanted, and once again, I don’t think the Phillies had enough to land Harden.

The Joe Blanton deal was a no-brainer for the Phillies. They didn’t give up their top prospects, and they got back a pitcher who is locked up through next season and has had some success over the last few years.

Yes, he’s struggled this year, but he’s certainly an upgrade over Adam Eaton. With the A’s, he was 5-12 with a 4.96 ERA. In six starts with the Phillies, he’s 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA. Not overly impressive, but serviceable.

The bottom line is that other than Sabathia and Harden, the remaining SPs out there were not worth trading for. Bedard wound up getting hurt, and Burnett was taken off the block.

They could have used another lefty out of the 'pen, but the price tags were ridiculous for guys that may pitch to one batter every other game. As it turns out, the Phillies got former Cubs lefty Scott Eyre off waivers, and he’ll be filling that role.

Another bat off the bench was also mentioned, especially so they can release So Taguchi, but so far nothing has materialized. I fully expect the Phils to get someone in the next nine days.

Overall, I really don’t think the Phillies could have done much more at the deadline.