Short little into: I got an interesting Tweet from one of the followers of @Phinally the other day asking how to become part of the team. You’re about to see the results of that.
Today’s guest post comes from Tommy Weida. You can find him on Twitter at @TommymacWFC . He’s full of great things to say about Philly sports. For his first guest post, he took on the J. C. Romero situation.
And now, in his Phinally Philly debut, here’s Tommy:
Something this season just doesn’t seem right while watching Phillies games. What is with all these come-from-behind victories or lack there of? Every time the Phillies get a lead, they give it right back. Where is the lockdown mentality?
Jack Taschner, Scott Erye, and Clay Condrey just can’t get it done. Last year the Phillies led the league with “wins after leading in the eighth inning.” That was all made possible by the combination of the starter only needing to go 6 innings, then Romero in the 7th, Madson in the 8th, and then Lights Out Lidge in the 9th.
Last season the starters were more relaxed and knew that if they got into trouble the bullpen could come in and take care of business. Now there is added stress because the bullpen can’t stop the bleeding.
In last night’s game against Washington, Blanton and the bullpen seemed to just be tossing batting practice for the Nationals. Every home run looked like something from a home run derby. Okay, I’ll give the fact that for some reason when it’s 85 degrees at Citizen Bank Park, the field plays like a little league ballpark, but that’s no excuse for giving up home run after home run after home run.
Part of the blame for this can be placed of the Phillies front office. For some reason they decided to put together a pitching staff that is pop fly friendly. There aren’t many guys who induce ground balls. If you’re guaranteed 81 games in hitter friendly CBP, why would you get all the fly out pitchers?
But I believe a bulk of the blame can be placed on the J. C. Romero situation. Right now Romero is suing the company that made his over the counter supplement that caused him to be suspended for the first 50 games of the season. Romero is a lockdown pitcher that dissolves sticky situations that the starters get into. That’s what made him key from starter to closer. Without him, Condrey and Taschner are being placed into situations they can’t handle.
So in order for the Phillies to win, the bats have to be magical in the late innings. By watching the Marlins series, fans can be sure that the Phillies offense is up to the task. Three grand slams since Friday is proof.
Until the return of Romero, the fans of the Phillies will have to strap in and go for the wild ride that every Phillies game seems to have turned into lately. Hopefully it doesn’t take Romero long to get into midseason form.
-Tommy Weida
(A little reminder, this was most likely written a little before Raul “Ribbie” Ibanez won the game for the Fightins.’)
And with that, we have our second guest post here at Phinally Philly. We’ll soon be featuring another either later today or tomorrow.
If you’re interested in writing a guest post, use our contact page here to get in touch and we’ll work something out.
Thanks Tommy.
-KK
