Philadelphia Phillies 2012: 11 Ways to Regain Their Mental Edge over Opponents

Only a few years ago when the Phillies were fresh off of a World Series Championship, the team possessed one of the more important but sometimes overlooked factors of greatness: intimidation. Loaded with offensive stars who were more than prone to hit the long ball, the Phillies had the ability to go up to the plate already with an edge because of their skill at knowing how to get under the opponent's skin. Beginning with Jimmy Rollins and his bold 2007 post season declaration, the Phillies combined talent with mastery of the mental game and rode that to a World Series Championship.

As of 2012, the World Series winning season will already be four years in the past and since that time the Phillies have slowly lost the mental edge they possessed. Teams aren't as intimidated by the Phillies anymore because they have discovered and highlighted their weaknesses. By being successful, the Phillies went from the mostly unnoticed prey to the now chased and hunted predator, with teams constantly game planning to exploit baseball's former best team.

Although by many it is believed that the pieces are there for the Phillies to repeat, the mental edge they had in 2008 is gone. As the NL East continues to get stronger, regaining this mental edge will be key to the Phillies once again winning the World Series.

Jimmy Rollins Needs to Be the Emotional Leader of the Team Again

After the 2007 season and following a recently renewed rivalry with the New York Mets, Jimmy Rollins made a bold comment as he declared the Phillies, "the team to beat." While this comment most likely referred to winning just the NL East, it brought with it much more as ultimately behind Rollins leadership both on and off the field, the Phillies made his declaration a reality as by winning the World Series they were in fact, "the team to beat."

A big part of the Phillies mental edge came from Rollins swagger and his bold and brash attitude. He wasn't afraid to make comments to the media and he wasn't afraid to ignite the fire to make his team better. If the Phillies hope to win the World Series again and regain their mental edge, Rollins is going to have to continue to have attitude on and off the field. Bringing him back was a huge move for the Phillies because even if his offense may be declining, his attitude certainly isn't. If he can get his game back and feel confident about his baseball, then his confidence and leadership in the locker room will return as well. And if Rollins is confident, the team's confidence will follow.

Take Advantage of a Closer from the American League

Part of having a mental edge is having a player that teams just can't seem to game plan for. In 2008, the Phillies had multiple players like this but none were more important than the back of the bullpen. Closer Brad Lidge and set up man, Ryan Madson otherwise known as "the bridge to Lidge," were perfect in 2008. When the Phillies had the lead going into the 8th inning they didn't lose a single game. Madson and Lidge with his absolutely nasty slider were essentially unhittable.

None of this was by accident. Lidge had been an Astro prior to the 08 season so for the most part the NL East hitters were unfamiliar with him. Even if they knew it was coming, players would still swing at his slider in the dirt because of how deceptive it was. Post 2008, Lidge lost his edge. Players knew how he would pitch them and he couldn't adjust. A perfect 2008 was erased as he struggled mightily in 2009.

As Lidge brought the Phillies an advantage in 2008, new closer Jonathan Papelbon looks to do the same in 2012. Papelbon was a member of the Red Sox in the American League for his entire career. That being said him coming to the NL will definitely give him an edge as the hitters will be unfamiliar with him. Also, the Phillies will go into the season with a definite answer at the closer position, which will help both Papelbon and the rest of the bullpen in knowing their roles. Papelbon already brings with him a level of intensity and it should go a long way to improving the mental game of the entire team especially the bullpen.

Win the Opening Series with Authority

After losing in the first round of the playoffs this year, the Phillies are not going to be as feared by other teams as they were after winning it all in 2008. In fact it seems that they are going to have to regain that sense of intimidation and re-earn that respect by coming into the 2012 season with a strong start.

The best way to do this will be to win their opening series on the road against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Now as the Pirates proved during the first half of last season, they are a pretty solid team. They may not be championship or playoff caliber yet but they have some solid players that have in the past given the Phils a little trouble. That being said, the Pirates once again finished under .500 last season, so this should be a series the Phillies have no trouble with.

Although the Pirates aren't a great team, winning this series will not only put confidence back into the Phillies players, but it will also remind the league why the Phillies should be feared. Sweeping the series and blowing the Pirates out of the water will further increase the mental edge to be gained from winning this series.

Take Care of Business at Home

The best thing the Phillies can do is make sure that opponents know that it will not be easy for them to win when they play in Citizen's Bank Park. Something the Phillies have done well in previous years is win games at home and doing it again in 2012 will be key to gaining a mental edge.

If the Phillies take care of business at home especially at the start of the season when they open up at CBP against the new look Miami Marlins, they will let the road teams know that coming into the Bank will be trouble. The Phillies already intimidate opposing teams through their excellent fan base. Couple that with great play and lots of wins at home and the rest of the league will know that playing against the Phillies at Citizen's Bank Park will be no easy task. 

Beat Division Rivals Early and Often

Establishing dominance in the NL East can be done easily if the Phillies can beat the Braves, Marlins, Nationals and Mets with consistency. By getting early wins in the division, the Phillies can take a lead in the standings and through consistently beating the teams in the division can maintain that lead all season long.

Beating the other NL East teams will help the Phillies regain their mental edge because it will show the other teams in the league that the Phillies are still good enough to compete. This season the NL East will likely be the best division in the National League and second only to the AL East for best division in baseball. Even then, with the Marlins, Braves, Phillies and possibly even the Nationals looking to be in the playoff conversation, this division could turn out to be the strongest and toughest division in baseball.

Beating the Braves and Marlins won't be easy as this offseason both teams have significantly improved and bolstered their team. The Nationals have also improved significantly and have always given the Phillies trouble in the past. Showing dominance in this division will go a long way to the Phillies showing the rest of the league that they are a force to be reckoned with.

Beat the Teams They Are Supposed to Beat

This might be the easiest and most obvious thing the Phillies can do but it is important nonetheless. On top of taking care of business at home and against the division, the next best thing the Phillies can do is just beat the teams that on paper they are supposed to beat.

It is not so much that winning these games would give the Phillies a huge edge but rather that losing them would deplete any mental edge the Phils might have. If the Phillies get into a habit of losing a vast amount of games to the Astros, Pirates, Mets and the NL's other perennial bottom feeders. Based on last year's results the Phillies will be favored to win most games next season but it will be extremely important to beat the under .500 teams with regularity if they hope to maintain a mental edge.

Give the Pitchers a Lead to Work with

Finishing three pitchers in the top five of the Cy Young voting certainly shows that for the most part the four aces worked out extremely well for the Phillies. Unfortunately in the playoffs, pitching wasn't enough and that was evident in the tough game five loss in which Roy Halladay gave up only one run but still took the loss.

What was seen in the game five loss to the Cardinals was just a small example of some of the problems the Phillies pitchers were faced with throughout the season. The pitching constantly outplayed the offense and it resulted in many 1-0 and 2-1 losses for the Phillies pitchers. Despite this the three aces still managed to win at least 14 games a piece and the Phillies still managed to win a franchise best 102 games.

One way to regain the mental edge against opponents is to give the stellar pitching of Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay a chance to shine and to do what they do best. If these pitchers are staked to a lead of just three runs there is a good chance the Phillies will win most games. Also if the pitchers are given larger leads, all they have to do is let their pitching do the talking. If this is the pattern for multiple games especially against the same teams, the Phillies will have a mental edge over the opponents as the teams struggle to figure out how to hit against the Phillies arms.

Intimidate Through Batting Practice

This idea is one that may not seem like it matters but when it comes to Charlie Manuel's offense, he believes in the importance of a strong batting practice.

Intimidation is something that can be developed in multiple ways and batting practice is one of them. Sure, you are facing off against a soft ball thrower or pitching machine and not normally a major league caliber pitcher, but still slamming home runs even in BP has a way of making the other team fret a bit.

Seeing that power on display before games might make other teams sweat it out especially if the team taking BP is known to hit home runs such as the Phillies have been in the past.

Take More Pitches and Get off to Early Leads

The best way to take a team out of the game is to score runs early and often. With Jimmy Rollins as leadoff and Chase Utley and Hunter Pence behind him, the Phillies could gain a mental edge by developing a get him over, get him in strategy. Making unselfish outs and taking more pitches will help the Phillies to spend more time on offense, tire out the opposing pitcher and score more runs. First inning runs especially are key. If the Phillies can score before their pitcher even takes the mound, it will definitely deflate the other team and contribute to giving the Phillies a mental edge.

Having that mental edge early in games will benefit the Phils because it will help them to play the rest of the game with an advantage. The more runs they score and the less they hold their opponents to, the advantage will grow and if this continues for a a long stretch of games, teams will go in with a mentality that if they don't hold the Phillies to less than five or so runs, they won't be able to win because of having to compete against the Phillies pitching.

Never Count Themselves out of Games

Confidence is the fastest way to gaining a mental advantage. In the case of the Phillies one of the ways to show this confidence is to never give up or count themselves out of games. Sometimes going into the ninth inning down a few runs can be daunting. Sometimes players and teams even give up when a deficit seems to hard to overcome.

In order to get a mental edge however, the Phillies can not give up. They have the talent to come back from large deficits and they can't let themselves fall into the trap of despair if innings continually go by without scoring. There are 162 games in the season and slumps are bound to happen even to the best of teams. Even in these times, part of keeping up a mental edge is showing your opponents no fear. Even in losing streaks, coming into each game with the confidence that they are going to win goes a long way to keeping up a mental advantage.

Besides there is nothing more deflating to a team than having a blown save, walkoff comeback win from the other team. If that doesn't mentally affect you as a player and as a team, it is likely not much else will.

Play Like the Better Team Every Game

No matter what their record or the team they are facing one of the most important things the Phillies can do is play like they are the better team each game. On paper, the Phils will not always be the favorite team but if they think like the best team chances are they will play like the best team.

Playing with this kind of mentality will help the Phils regain the mental edge they had in 2008. Back then they were not considered by anybody to win the World Series. They were the underdog but didn't play like it. Having nothing to lose the Phillies played their heart out each game and it was obvious they had the desire and drive to win it all.

The Phillies need to go back to that style of play in 2012. They have the talent and they have the skill but what was seemingly lacking season was the heart. After the early playoff exit it even seemed as if some of the players didn't care about the disappointing postseason. In the playoffs they did not play or even look like the better team and it showed in the results.

In order for the Phillies to win it all in 2012 they have to get back the confidence and do or die attitude that led them to victory in 2008. They need to approach each game with a winning mentality and play each game with the thinking that they will win.