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| These two guys look like their old selves. Picture by Richard Wilkins Jr. |
There are 156 games to go this season. No matter how high or low I get on the Phillies, the one thing I always keep track of is the games to go. Early on in the season, it's a great way to not get worked up. Late in the season, it can temper any feelings you feel either way, as you know a lot of the end result is baked in. This year it keeps me sane with the early struggles. Last year it kept me realistic while they were winning in August and September.
So a week into the season, 2-4 is just that, 2-4. The Phillies are not "about .500," or any other term used to describe them this evening, nor are they in any kind of dire straights at this stage. You can't really be in dire straights a week in, unless of course your expectations are floor-level-low (think Marlins here), and you have zero or one win. The Phillies could have been better than 2-4 after this week, sure, but they also could have been a lot worse. The question is, where are they going?
Here's the good news for you all- probably up. Their line-up is still missing two players who are probably better offensively than what they have in their place (Chooch and Delmon), and almost literally got nothing this week out of Ryan Howard as well. In other words, they should give you a little more consistent performance than this as the season goes, and yet even now averaged over four runs a game in the opening week. Cole Hamels almost has to pitch better than he did this week too, even if you think his season is going to be a bust (I mean a 10 ERA isn't possible, right?). Only Cliff Lee and John Lannan gave the Phillies quality starts this week, and only really three relievers out of seven (Bastardo, Aumont, and Adams) were filthy all week. In other words, they should get better pitching. As bad as Doc was, even he gave you something to cling to with the strikeouts.
It's ok to feel good about their late-inning resiliency against Kansas City, or Chase's fast start, or the solid starts of J-Roll and Dom Brown, or the really good days today for Michael Young and Ben Revere today. That's fine. At the end of the day, they're 2-4, or two games back of the hated Nats. There's also 156 games to go that are likely to be better.
