"HEAD SCRATCHING"
A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings. - Earl Wilson

So, this was to be a season where the starting pitching was suppose to be adequate, the relief 
core was suppose to be the teams Achilles heal, and the always dependable, thundering starting 
eight will be leading the league in most offensive categories.  Funny how on paper doesn’t 
always translate to on field.  That starting rotation has been adequate but iffy, the bull pen 
has been next to stellar, and at least in the last three weeks, the starting eight, that 
thundering offensive punch, seems lost. 

No one really expected Adam Eaton to do much this season and, though he is nothing more than a 
fifth starting on just about anyone’s team, Eaton has just about worked himself out of a job. 
Brett Meyers, as we all know, is trying to get closing stardom out of his head and return to a 
starting rotation way of thinking.  We all assume the starting eight will come around, but 
scoring two or three runs per game and getting shut out 6 times so far this season, is a whole 
different story.

Pat Gillick would love to see a front line starter join the team.  Truth be told though, and 
Gillick is quite up front about it, the Phillies, at best, will land a second tier pitcher. 
Interestingly, when Meyers went down, the Phillies recalled left hander, J.A. Happ.  In the two 
games Happ pitched, he wasn't top tier, but was been poised, his pitches were hitting his 
locations, and quite frankly, Happ did as well as any second tier pitcher the Phillies might 
acquire.  The morning after giving the Phillies a big lift, Happ was told he wasn't needed at 
least until after the all-star break and optioned to AAA Lehigh Valley.  He should return to 
the big club, possibly as the new number five starter.  The best part about the Happ situation 
is that it doesn’t require losing anyone to gain his services or shelling out mega-bucks.  Happ 
could be the Kyle Kendrick of 2008.  How well this translates into the playoffs, should the 
Phillies get there, may be a different story, but if Happ does in fact pan out and Meyers can 
return and be the old Brett Meyers, the only thing the Phillies have to consider is what to do 
with Eaton.  Happ's roster spot was taken by Mike Cervenak, a first baseman, third baseman and 
right fielder who was called from Triple-A for his first big-league stint at age 31.  A right-
handed hitter, Cervenak was hitting .310 with seven homers and 52 RBIs in 90 games for Lehigh 
Valley.

The Phillies' starting staff has been solid this season.  They rank third in the National 
League in quality starts.  Yet their collective ERA of 4.45 is 10th, and right now there isn't 
a clear No. 2 to compliment Hamels.  The unknown is Myers, who is trying to find himself in the 
minors.

If there is any real issue the Phillies have to deal with, and one that can be dealt with in 
house, is pumping some life into this lack-luster offense.  No name opposing pitchers are 
shutting the door on this offense.  Again, the Phillies are not going to win without it.  When 
everyone’s hitting, it is contagious.  On the other hand, there really isn’t anyone who is 
having a blockbuster season.  Chase Utley is still in contention for the Nl MVP, but in all 
reality, Utley’s not playing up to his own capabilities.  Ryan Howard took over the league lead 
in home runs and has driven in over 80 runners.  On the other hand, Howard’s .230 average needs 
to improve.  Howard's career batting average on balls in play (BABIP) is .335.  Two weeks ago 
when Howard was hitting .213 his batting average when he put the ball in play was just .259. 
That's a little bit of bad luck.  All along there was a hot streak coming.  Forget career 
seasons.  If everyone at least plays close to their capabilities, a slim divisional lead might 
could become a wide-open affair. 

Another developing story for the Phillies will be Tom Gordon.  Gordon was injured for much of 
last season, had some time spent nursing an injury earlier this season, and is now dealing with 
a sore elbow.  We said at the beginning of the season that Gordon probably couldn’t be counted 
on for much more than every other day.  Pitching his injury riddled forty year old arm more 
than that really wasn’t in his best interest, or the teams.  With Gordon down yet again, the 
Phillies have to think of the bull pen, which, like it or not, will be counted on for what 
might amount to three mores months.  In the mean-time, thinking about trading Meyers pretty 
much falls off the table.  The bottom line with Meyers is that considering his performance this 
year and his contract, trading him is out of the question. 

So welcome to the middle of the season.  This is where the injury bug starts to show itself, 
where slumps and subpar performances have to be addressed, where the interleague trading 
deadline approaches and the buyers and the sellers set up their bargain tents, and where some 
general manager sits scratching their heads while other ones pull off post season breaking 
deals.  Patrick may or may not pull off a trade.  It may or may not help the team.  The bottom 
line here is that the Phillies have to take care of business with what they have.  And quite 
frankly, what they have is enough to bring them into the playoffs, should everyone finally 
decide to play up to their capabilities.  We never know whether a player is playing hurt which 
obviously will affect his level of play and we don’t know about personal problems and anything 
else that may be affecting players.  What we do know is that collectively, this team can play 
better than it's playing.  It's not about the manager, the coaches, or anyone else. It's about 
the starting eight, the bench, and everyone else playing up to their capabilities and picking 
each other up.  It may be happening, but certainly not to the level this teams capable of 
playing at. And, lets face it, if everyone plays up to their capabilities or at least close to 
that, does Patrick really have to be scratching his head at this point in the season?

The Phillies Fan Union
Faust Ruggiero, Director