Phillies Can’t Tame Cubs

GAME RECAP: Cubs Beat Phillies 6-4

Maybe June will be kinder to Jason Heyward. The Cubs' right fielder hit a two-run home run to right field in the fourth inning Monday night in a 6-4 victory over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Heyward entered the month with just one home run, but he has homered twice in the first week of June. With the win, the Cubs become the fastest team to reach 40 wins since the 2001 Mariners, who are tied for the most regular-season wins in MLB history (116) with the 1906 Cubs. "We just kept the proverbial grinding out of the at-bats," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "We scored enough runs, we caught the ball on defense. We've had great starting pitching. You score six runs and have to fasten your seat belts in the ninth." Freddy Galvis saved the Phillies from their third shutout of the season when he ripped a three-run homer to right field in the ninth inning off Justin Grimm. It snapped a 0-for-22 streak for Galvis. Tommy Joseph followed with a solo homer to center against Hector Rondon to make it a two-run game, before the Cubs closer retired three straight Phils to seal the win. "That was like two different innings, the first eight innings and the ninth," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "It was good to see the guys fight back." "That's why they call them the Phitin' Phils, right?" Maddon joked.

PHILS PHACTS:

• Mackanin indicated before the game that left-hander Adam Morgan needed to start pitching better to keep his job in the rotation. Morgan allowed three runs in six innings, which might have helped his cause. Two of the runs Morgan allowed came on Heyward's fourth-inning homer. "You can't really look into that," Morgan said about any sense of urgency before the start. "You look into that, you take away your game plan."
• Joseph started his sixth consecutive game at first base and he singled to left field in the seventh against Lester, before he hit a solo homer to center in the ninth off Rondon. Joseph is hitting .375 (9-for-24) with one double, two home runs and three RBIs since Mackanin said he planned to give Joseph the opportunity to earn the everyday job over Ryan Howard. "I've just stuck to my approach every day," Joseph said. "The swing feels comfortable."
• "When you're walking to school and every time you take the road to school there's a big tough guy that beats you up and takes your lunch money, after a while I think you're going to take a different route. Likewise, the hitters have to figure it out. 'I'm not going to keep doing what I'm doing. That guy is not going to beat me up and take my money anymore. I'm going to go around him.'" -- Mackanin, on Phillies' hitters making the same mistakes at the plate.
• Fowler led off the first with a double, and Bryant followed it up with a blast to right. The ball bounced back into the field of play, and Bryant turned for third. He made it, but was sent back to second base after a crew-chief review determined a fan in the right-field seats touched the ball. Despite losing a base, Bryant still earned an RBI, as Fowler was awarded home on the ground-rule double. The review was a lengthy one, lasting 4 minutes, 48 seconds.
• Fowler was involved -- more directly -- in a second replay review in the eighth inning. Andrew Bailey went up and in with an 0-1 fastball that tailed into the handle of Fowler's bat. Umpires ruled that Fowler was hit by the pitch, but the Phillies challenged to no avail. Mackanin is now 11-for-21 on challenges this season.
• A fan sitting near the Cubs' dugout got hit in the side by a bat that slipped out of Galvis' hands in the third inning. She left the field under her own power and is said to be OK.
• Phillies center fielder Odubel Herrera went 4-for-5 Sunday against Milwaukee, but was not in Monday's lineup. "He's got tight legs and he needs a day off, I think," Mackanin said. "A good time to do it."

NEXT GAME:

Howard is expected to start at first base Tuesday night against the Cubs at Citizens Bank Park at 7:05 p.m. ET. It will be his first start since May 31, as Mackanin benched Howard last week in favor of Joseph. Mackanin said he could make a decision about how he will use Howard and Joseph going forward in the next few days. Jerad Eickhoff will take the ball for the Phillies.

PHILS PHACTS:

Rookie Stays Hot – Tommy Joseph not only has become the Phillies' first baseman recently, he has also become the Scorpion. He is surprised as anybody to learn he has a new nickname, but he is not going to argue with veteran teammate Ryan Howard about it. During pregame stretch recently, Howard asked his teammates where they were from. Joseph said he hailed from Arizona and Howard immediately blurted out the name of the eight-legged, double-pincered arachnid that seems to find its way into every home and hotel room in the desert state. "Before games we do a high-five and a little scorpion thing," Joseph said after Monday night's 6-4 loss to the Cubs at Citizens Bank Park, raising his hand over his head like a scorpion about to strike its prey. "Trust me, it caught me by surprise. Whatever they want to call me works. If he wants to roll with the Scorpion, let's roll with it." Joseph went 2-for-4 with a single off Cubs left-hander Jon Lester in the seventh inning and a solo homer against closer Hector Rondon in the ninth. He is hitting .375 (9-for-24) with one double, two home runs and three RBIs in his six consecutive starts since Phillies manager Pete Mackanin benched Howard. Joseph and Howard have been good together, despite the incessant talk about Howard's role and future with the team. Last week, Howard gave Joseph a pep talk immediately following the news that Mackanin planned to play Joseph. Howard spoke highly again of Joseph before Monday's game. "Tommy's been great, man," Howard said. "He's had great at-bats. Really just taking it all in stride. He's been doing a great job." Mackanin said Howard will start Tuesday night against Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks, but he acknowledged it is tough to sit Joseph on a team starved for offense. "It's very tough," he said. "Even if I do stay with Joseph more often, I still have to keep [Howard] sharp and give him an opportunity to hit to do something for us." But the Scorpion should be back in the lineup Wednesday. "The Scorpion," said Howard, sounding unconvinced that he likes the nickname himself. "We'll work on it. We'll work on it. He likes it right now. But, yeah, he's been great, man."

Adjusting To His New Role – Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard remains a hot topic of conversation, partly because of his iconic status in franchise history, partly because his role on the team remains uncertain, partly because reporters keep asking about him, and partly because a fan threw a beer bottle at him Saturday at Citizens Bank Park. Howard said Monday he is trying his best not to become a disturbance in the Phillies' clubhouse. "I don't want to be a distraction for the other 24 guys in here," he said. "Because to me, it's always been about playing baseball, and that's it. So I have to take care of what I have to take care of, and I don't want to bring any extra burdens on these guys. Because they work hard, I know how hard they work. They don't deserve it." Phillies manager Pete Mackanin benched Howard last week in favor of Tommy Joseph, who has done well since being given the chance to play every day. Mackanin said Howard will start Tuesday night's game against the Cubs but will make a decision about how he will handle Joseph and Howard going forward "in the near future." "The whole thing is delicate," Mackanin said. "A lot of it concerns me. I'm sure [Howard is] not happy with the position he's in. I'm not happy about it. We've got to do something at some point, see what happens. It's not a lot of fun." "It's newsworthy, noteworthy, all of that kind of stuff," Howard said. "As long as you try to make it [that way]. For me, I don't focus on all of that stuff. I understand it's going to be news and people are going to talk about it or whatever, but I'm not trying to put my focus there; I'm trying to put my focus on what I need to do to get back to where I need to be to be able to play and play at a high level." Howard is still upset that a fan threw an empty bottle at him. The Philadelphia Police Department is investigating the situation, looking at video and photographs of the alleged bottle thrower. "To do what I've done in this city playing, I don't care how bad somebody thinks I'm playing," he said. "It's uncalled for. You shouldn't do it. You shouldn't do it, period."

Considering All The Options – Phillies amateur scouting director Johnny Almaraz has studied every Draft since the A's selected Rick Monday with the first overall pick in in the first Draft in 1965. Almaraz is looking for trends. He is looking for any edge that can help the Phillies take the best possible player with the first overall pick in this year's Draft, which begins at 7 p.m. Thursday. Sources said last week the Phillies are leaning toward a hitter. If that happens, the hitter is expected to sign for less than the $9,015,000 allotted for the top pick, which would allow the Phillies to spend more money and sign more talented players in the later rounds. "We're narrowing things down now, hopefully a few hours before the (Draft) we'll be pretty much on target with who we want," Almaraz said. Mercer University outfielder Kyle Lewis, who is a potential No. 1 pick, worked out Monday at Citizens Bank Park. More players are scheduled to work out Tuesday and Wednesday. Other hitters in the mix for the top pick include La Costa Canyon High School (Calif.) outfielder Mickey Moniak, Louisville outfielder Corey Ray, Chaminade College Prep (Calif.) outfielder Blake Rutherford and Tennessee third baseman Nick Senzel. Many still believe the Phillies will take Florida left-hander A.J. Puk. Almaraz declined to tip his hand, but he offered a few ideas about what the Phillies want in their No. 1 pick. He said they are not looking for a player that can be fast tracked to the big leagues. In other words, the Phillies are looking for the player with the best talent and the highest ceiling, regardless of how long it takes him to make the big leagues. Of course, knowing there is no consensus No. 1 pick and no player has truly separated himself from the pack, the Phillies also are looking for the best combination of talent and price tag. A player like Moniak, who could fall to the sixth or seventh overall pick, might be willing to take less money as the No. 1 pick knowing it will still be more money than if he is selected five or six picks later. Recent history has shown those talents have just as much of a chance of being successful as arguably the best overall talent. "If you look back to 2005 and look at the first overall pick and the performers in their class, a lot of the No. 1 picks are eight, nine, 10 as far as performance is based," Almaraz said. "A lot of guys that were taken between the fifth and 20th pick have outperformed the No. 1. We're doing our job to take the best player with the best ability. But knowing that, it's helped me widen the range of prospects as far as we're concerned at No. 1." Almaraz said an ideal scenario is the Phillies get a hitter and a pitcher with their first two picks. The Phillies also have the 42nd overall pick. They are hoping to get a first-round level talent with that second-round pick, having used some of the money saved at No. 1 to sign somebody of more talent.

Today In Phils History – While Jack McFetridge turned in an impressive 5-hitter for the Phillies in his 1890 major league debut he did not pitch again in the majors until 1903 and earned only one more win in his career. On the other end of the spectrum, in 1950 Richie Ashburn started the first game of a streak that would last 730 games. Later in the decade, in 1957, while Don Money was celebrating his 10^th birthday, Jack Sanford tied a team record striking out 13 in a 1-0 victory over Chicago. Nearly a decade later, in 1966, on the same day that Heathcliff Slocumb was born, Jim Bunning recorded 14 strikeouts in his 8th straight start without a loss. Speaking of strikeouts, it was on this day in 1983 when Steve Carlton passed Nolan Ryan to take the all-time strikeout lead, a record which would exchange hands numerous times during the next 2 seasons until Ryan pulled ahead for good in September 1984. 5 years later, with the team having fallen from the NL elite, GM Woody Woodward was fired by team president Bill Giles after only 7 months on the job. While he never did make it to the majors, Pete Zamora can claim that he pitched a perfect game in professional baseball as he achieved the truncated, 7-inning, feat with AA-Reading in 2000. 3 years later, the Phillies recognized the frequently overlooked career of Sherry Magee by inducting him into the Phillies Wall of Fame.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 28-30 this season putting them on pace to beat most preseason predictions. The Phillies finished the spring exceeding most expectations compiling a record of 15-11-3 (18-11-3 if you include the exhibition games against Reading and the University of Tampa). All time, the Phillies are 48-48-0 on this day. I expect the Phillies to finish in the bottom half of the division but not last in the NL East by finishing the season with a 77-85 record. Let the rebuild begin!

Phillies Still Have Some Work To Do

EXHIBITION GAME RECAP: Red Sox Route Phillies 5-1

Home runs by Jackie Bradley Jr. and Xander Bogaerts helped the Red Sox to a 5-1 win over the Phillies on Sunday afternoon at JetBlue Park. Knuckleballer Steven Wright, who is competing for a spot in the Red Sox's rotation, went 5 2/3 innings, giving up one run on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts. "He certainly helped his cause today with a solid outing," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "I thought he did a nice job with his fastball and his curveball in the early innings to get back into some counts. And then he got a better feel for his knuckleball as the game went along. But to get him up over a 100 pitches here today, today was a good step for Steven." Phillies right-hander Jerad Eickhoff exited after five-plus frames, allowing five runs on 11 hits with no walks and three strikeouts. Eickhoff was making just his second start because of a fractured right thumb earlier in spring. "He's rusty," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "He made a lot of real good pitches with his curveball, but he didn't locate his fastball real well. He's behind everybody, so I'm not concerned about it. He did OK." Mookie Betts, Dustin Pedroia and Bogaerts -- Boston's 1-2-3 batters -- combined for seven hits, three runs and two RBIs. The Phillies opened the scoring in the first inning when Odubel Herrera, who went 3-for-3, reached on a one-out single and scored on Maikel Franco's double off the replica Green Monster in left-center field. Franco, who leads all Major Leaguers with eight home runs this spring, just missed another. The umpires, who convened to discuss the drive, let the on-field call stand. Boston went ahead in the bottom of the frame when Betts and Pedroia led off with doubles. David Ortiz's RBI groundout scored Pedroia to make it 2-1. The Sox added two more in the fourth on Bradley's two-out home run, scoring Ryan Hanigan, who had reached on a single. It was Bradley's third dinger of the spring. Bogaerts led off the fifth with his second long ball of the spring.

NEXT GAME:

Right-hander Vince Velasquez has an important start on Monday afternoon against the Blue Jays at 1:07 p.m. ET in Dunedin, Fla. It can heard live exclusively on phillies.com. He is competing with left-hander Adam Morgan for the No. 5 spot in the Phillies' rotation, so Velasquez needs another strong showing to perhaps clinch it.

PHILS PHACTS:

Getting His Swing Back – If the Phillies stand pat, it looks like Odubel Herrera, Peter Bourjos and Rule 5 Draft pick Tyler Goeddel will be in the starting lineup Opening Day on April 4 in Cincinnati against the Reds. Some combination of Cedric Hunter, David Lough and Emmanuel Burriss could round out the outfield. Herrera went 3-for-3 in Sunday's 5-1 loss to the Red Sox at JetBlue Park. He is 5-for-10 with one double since missing nine games because of a bruised left middle finger. "I feel fine," Herrera said through the Phillies' translator. "I don't think it's an issue anymore. The more I play, the better I feel." But what about the rest of the outfield? Bourjos hit .200 with a .623 OPS in 225 plate appearances in 2015. He is batting .311 with a .948 OPS in 45 at-bats this spring. Goeddel has never played higher than Double-A. He has posted a .250 average with a .674 OPS in 52 at-bats. The Phillies have said they are not aggressively pursuing outfield help, despite injuries to Aaron Altherr and Cody Asche, and production concerns surrounding the others. But that could be because they figured players would become available before the end of the month. That is exactly what is happening. Yankees outfielder Chris Denorfia opted out of his contract. Some in the organization like him. David Murphy could opt out of his contract with the Red Sox on Sunday. The Indians released Will Venable. Other teams will be making moves in the next week, so the Phillies should have more options to choose from. But at least Herrera is hitting the ball well. "He's a freak," manager Pete Mackanin said. "He's just a real different kind of hitter. He's got such great hand-eye coordination. It doesn't take him long to get on track."

Who’s On First? – Ruben Amaro Jr. tried to steer the conversation on Sunday from his Phillies past to his Red Sox present. Amaro is the Red Sox's first-base coach. His nearly seven seasons as Phillies general manager ended in September. "I'm proud of the things we did there," Amaro said Sunday morning at JetBlue Park, where the Phillies played the Red Sox in a Grapefruit League game. "The Phillies are the Phillies, and they have their own organization. I was fortunate to be a part of it. I'm on a new chapter now, and I'm loving what I'm doing. And I've kind of moved on. I mean, listen, I'm going to watch and see how those guys progress, obviously, but for me it's about moving my own baseball life forward." But one wonders how Phillies history might have changed with a hit here or a pitch there. The Phillies had the best record in the Majors in 2011. They won a franchise record 102 games with one of the best rotations in baseball history. But Chris Carpenter outdueled Roy Halladay in Game 5 of the National League Division Series, 1-0, ending the Phillies' season of high expectations with massive disappointment. If Cliff Lee held a four-run lead in Game 2, if Raul Ibanez or Chase Utley squared up a couple of warning-track fly outs a little more in Game 5, maybe the Phillies win the series and maybe they win the World Series. And maybe Amaro remains GM. "In '08, we ended up being the best team in baseball because we won the World Series, but I don't know if we were the best team in baseball," Amaro said. "When you get to the playoffs, it's about whether you can execute at that moment, whether you can make the pitch, whether you can get the big base hit. We did it in '08. We didn't do it in '09, '10 or '11. I'm every bit as proud of those teams. They were good friggin' teams. They were good teams." Everybody knows what happened next. The Phillies started their fall to the bottom of the NL standings the following season, and they finished with the worst record in baseball in 2015. The Phillies fired Amaro in September, replacing him with Matt Klentak in October. "It was clear that changes were going to be made," Amaro said. "That didn't stop me from trying to do my job. We continued do things the way we operate, and hopefully the Phillies will benefit from that." The Phillies' farm system jumped from one of the worst to one of the best in little over a year, specifically from the moment former Phillies president Pat Gillick gave Amaro permission to begin the rebuilding process following the 2014 season. Big reasons for the drastic improvement are the trades Amaro made before he lost his job. The biggest is the one that sent Cole Hamels and Jake Diekman to Texas in July for Jake Thompson, Nick Williams, Jorge Alfaro, Jerad Eickhoff and Alec Asher. Thompson, Williams and Alfaro are three of the top 100 prospects, according to MLBPipeline. Eickhoff, who started Sunday's game in Fort Myers, will open this season in the Phillies' rotation. The Phillies have been praised for that trade, although it remains to be seen how many of those players fulfill their potential. But it is a little ironic that the same guy that got criticized for being allergic to analytics might have made the trade that helps the Phillies return to the postseason in a couple of years. "We did that because we had good scouts," Amaro said. "Mike Ondo is a very, very good pro scouting director. We had people who know baseball and know players. I think we did that [trade] because of that." Members of the new Phillies' regime have said the analytics system was way more advanced than they had anticipated, based on nothing more than the world's outside perception of it. If that is true, then why did the Phillies try to seem so unanalytical at times? "We didn't think it was all that important for us to have to advertise what we were doing," Amaro said. "Why do we have to advertise what we do? Am I doing it to save my job or what? We were a little behind I think with some of the analytics. The reality of it is we won without the analytics. We had the best team in baseball without the analytics … a full analytics core. Could we have been better? Maybe. There's always ways to improve, but that's probably why I'm in a uniform now." Amaro said he is enjoying his new job. He lost 15-20 pounds since the fall, looking fitter than he has in years. His former employees noticed. "Damn, what happened, man?" Phillies bench coach Larry Bowa said, lifting up Amaro's blue batting practice pullover to reveal Amaro's thinner frame. "You look good." "I'm trying to be like you," Amaro said. Amaro chatted with a few of his former players on Sunday prior to Boston's 5-1 win. He is following Maikel Franco, Cesar Hernandez and others. He certainly will follow the progress of the prospects he acquired. "Like I said, I'm proud of the things we did there," Amaro said. "We had a lot of great years, a lot of fun, fun years. Obviously when there's change made there's a reason there's change. That's not stuff I can control. I'm enjoying what I'm doing now, and we'll see what happens after I get this opportunity and see how it goes."

Today In Phils History - I can't believe that it has already been 5 years since the famous Sports Illustrated cover featuring Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels, and Joe Blanton hit the shelves. In the same vein, it doesn't seem possible that it has already been 16 years since Mickey Morandini returned for his second stint with the team. However, it is easy to believe that it has been 100 years since the Phillies completed a 7 game exhibition sweep of the Cubs.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies have an impressive record this spring… 14-9-3 (15-9-3 if you include the exhibition game against the University of Tampa). With the Phillies having finished the 2015 season with a spectacularly awful record of 63-99 it will be interesting to see what kind of team new President Andy MacPhail and GM Matt Klentak put on the field. At the same time I am definitely looking forward to the games against Boston with former GM Ruben Amaro on the field. Given the departures, lingering contracts, a history of injuries, bipolar performances, and unproven talent, it should, at the very least, be an interesting season for the Phillies. Who knows, maybe they can avoid 100 losses... hopefully by more than one game!