Dave Uram
As of Thursday morning, the 15-29 Phillies aren’t only owners of the worst record in baseball, but according to Matt Gelb of The Philadelphia Inquirer, this is their worst record through 44 games since 1961. In addition to that, they’ve dropped 20 of 24 at one point in three consecutive seasons and played in front of paid crowds of 20,000 or less Tuesday and Wednesday night, respectively. On Monday, just over 21,000 dished out money to watch this product.
Even for the 2017 Phillies, this is unacceptable. And from an outsiders perspective, it’s likely that this is probably not what managing partner John Middleton envisioned either.
Even though he appropriately delegated the baseball operations to team president Andy MacPhail and general manager Matt Klentak, Middleton must step in and do something to give this franchise a jolt of life.
This organization has no identity and no lure, and it’s not even Memorial Day yet.
RELATED: Pete Mackanin Deserves Better from Phillies Management
Firing manager Pete Mackanin after giving him a contract extension two weeks ago would make the Phillies look beyond incompetent, and they shouldn’t do it anyway. Mackanin deserves better than the deck of cards he’s dealing.
Relieving Klentak or MacPhail early in their tenures would be pulling the plug too early, even though their work is satisfactory, and that’s kind. Truth be told, it’s still too early to rule their plan a failure, regardless of how unbearable the last month of baseball has been.
And while making a change at pitching coach is clearly warranted by the team’s ERA, second to last in Major League Baseball, that will do nothing to give fans a reason to watch, listen or pay their hard earned money to attend a three hour or more baseball game.
Middleton should demand the immediate promotion of some prospects at Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
The International League leading IronPigs are winners of 17 out of 18 after Wednesday’s rally versus Indianapolis.
First baseman Rhys Hoskins, 24, is hitting .331 with 13 homers and 37 RBI in 45 games. Catcher Jorge Alfaro, soon to be 24, is batting .281 with 20 RBI in 34 games. Outfielder Roman Quinn, 24, has an average of .275 with 44 hits and 22 runs in 42 games.
All three are expected to replace Tommy Joseph, Cameron Rupp and either Howie Kendrick/Michael Saunders at some point. Why not start now?
The Phillies bullpen has been a disaster. Meantime, ambidextrous Pat Venditte, 31, has given up one earned run in 24 innings for Lehigh Valley, Holby Milner, 26, no earned runs in 16.1 innings pitched and starting pitcher Ben Lively, 25, sports an ERA of 2.79 in eight starts.
The numbers speak for themselves down on the farm and the eye test does the job at the bigs. Eye drops are necessary from the sores left from a 4-17 May record record going into Thursday’s series finale against the Colorado Rockies. Empty blue seats are hard to miss at a ballpark filled with boos and yawns.
A frequent argument to calling up the kids is sending them into a losing environment where they’ll probably struggle and lose confidence. My response is if they can’t handle the guaranteed failures of major league baseball, they shouldn’t be playing. Mackanin, Matt Stairs, Larry Bowa, Mickey Morandini and Juan Samuel (notice Bob McClure was excluded) should teach them how to handle adversity at this level. This could be invaluable experience to get them ready for next season when it’s expected they’ll make the big club right out of spring training.
Most importantly, it will give the fan base a reason for hope. It will give them a reason to be excited about the future and a reason to renew their ticket plans. Let’s be honest, there’s none at the current time.
Before I forget…
-Fletcher Cox is a highly paid defensive tackle, who was given a massive seven year contract a year ago. Yet, the 26-year-old missed the first round of Eagles organized team activities because he was reportedly spending time with family. I understand these sessions are voluntary, but as a leader of the team, a franchise cornerstone and someone who had since January 2 to spend as much time with family as he wants, being absent sends a bad message and is a bad start to this phase of the off-season program. By technicality of the rules, Cox doesn’t have the be there. He should have enough common sense that the Eagles are paying him to attend. It’s why head coach Doug Pederson referred to the reason of his absence as “satisfactory.”
-Congratulations to Nashville Predators head coach Peter Laviolette, who is taking his third different team to the Stanley Cup Final. It’s debatable about whether or not Laviolette was given the ax too soon with the Flyers. Even if it wasn’t three games into the season, would he have lasted to this point? Probably not. Should he have lasted to this point? I say yes because the man can flat out coach. Does he lose some of his players with his hard nosed attitude? Probably. But, those players should be tough enough to handle it. Whether or not you agree that Laviolette should still be here, please don’t tell me you think he’d actually be worse than Dave Hakstol, who couldn’t find “jam” in a jelly jar with a giant spoon if he tried.
-Minus a couple of series, and a handful of games, the NBA Playoffs have been the definition of non-competitive. Baring the Celtics don’t pull off a miracle comeback against the Cavaliers, this postseason has been a two man show, Cleveland and Golden State. We’ve been waiting for an NBA Finals rematch that will hopefully make watching these lopsided affairs worth the time. But, what irks me about the product of this postseason is Kevin Durant telling bored fans, “If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.” The Warriors All-Star later tried to apologize when speaking to ESPN, but still kept his original stance. It’s not Durant’s fault no one can beat the Warriors or Cavs, and there’s nothing the NBA can really do about the lack of parody. However, Durant should know better than to insult customers, and realize the lucrative television deals allow players to receive their massive contracts. It’s sad when a bickering match between Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal is more entertaining than the games.
-Sixers President Bryan Colangelo told Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, “We have a lot more knowns than unknowns.” Unfortunately, quality beats quantity in this case. There is one giant unknown and it’s the only thing that matters with this franchise, the health of Joel Embiid.
Dave Uram is a weekly contributor to Philly Influencer. You can follow him on Twitter (@MrUram) and email him at [email protected].
phils owners are so cheap