Will Philadelphia Phillies maintain their pride of last five seasons intact? – MLB Feature
Moments of pride and glory Philadelphia Phillies cherished in the last half decade seek to maintain some pride from their current lot. World Championship winners in 2008, Phillies have entered the 2012 regular season at the back of serious question marks
being tacked on the kind of players they will be working with.
With offence bordering on being one of the weakest in the Division and one of their most reliable starters Cole Hamels not being what he is, Phillies are up against sides vastly improved from their last year.
While every side in the National League East Division appears poised for anything substantial in the prospect, Phillies have declined. The luxury of Chase Utley hitting homers in 2008 and handing the team wins as the prodigy Ryan Howard which was likely
to translate into something even bigger this year are no more on the menu.
In a stark contrast to this, the same is well on the cards for the teams like the Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals.
The fact that the Marlins beat the Phillies in their three game series opener shows evidence of improvements they have added to their prospects. The defeat was enough to invoke nostalgia for the Phillies about the way they would be knocking down the same
opposition cheaply just a couple of years back.
For deeper analysis of where the Phillies stand at the moment, one can take a dig at the number of runs scored and allowed by the teams in the NL East Division.
After four games, Phillies stand lowest on the table in terms of number of scores made. A handful of eight scores sit miserably among the Marlins’ 21 and Nationals’ 25 so far in the regular season.
What can be a humiliating inference from the table for them is the fact that a team with the lowest ranking on the table in terms of losses has scored eight runs more than they have in the games put together.
The fact that the Phillies are currently the best side with regards to the runs allowed can withhold some pride with them. This distinction points to an effectiveness of their pitchers.
Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels possess tremendous career records and only factor inhibiting them from bringing victories to their side is a poor run support they have received.
This sends Phillies into an interesting match-up in the season. Their offence is going to fall off every time their starters work their way to put them into a winning position.
Miseries with the Phillies’ offence that have come to light only recently can find their genesis in their play-off elimination contest against St. Louis Cardinals. Since then, the problem has only grown as opposed to meeting an immediate demise.
In between, the injuries of Utley and Howard acted up only as a last nail in their coffin.
What is turning out to be the most disappointing for them is a presence of veteran Shane Victorino. The team expects from their veteran to unleash his best after being given a run for many years.
Especially with injuries to some players, their role becomes even more important. However this is not the case with Victorino, who is approaching an end of his contract leaving the club at a grave disadvantage if not much comes off from him this year.
Unless the Phillies surge on something miraculous, their current standing on the table is not going to be any different at the end of regular season and thus their run of winning Division Championships is seriously at stake this year.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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