Well, we are officially two games in to the 2014 regular season. On Monday, Opening Day, we saw an offsensive battle which ultimately ended in the Phillies' favor in a 14-10 victory.
Last night was the polar opposite, however, as a pitching duel between A.J. Burnett and Martin Perez was the focal point of the game. Unfortunately, the Rangers walked-off for a 3-2 victory in the bottom of the ninth, as Adrian Beltre singled off B.J. Rosenberg to right field to bring home the winning run.
This week on Phillies Five, we will take a look at some of the positive things we have seen thus far in this young season.
5. The Bench Has (Some) Life:
In a late-surprising addition, the Phillies added utility infielder Jayson Nix to their 25-man roster over bringing north non-roster invitees such as Reid Brignac or Ronny Cedeno (who later signed to a minor-league contract with the Phils). Last night, Nix singled in his first at-bat of the season, going 1-4 overall for the night with two strikeouts.
Yes, he is the brother of former Phillies firstbaseman/outfielder, Laynce Nix. Unless Nix contributes in the next week or so, he will likely be released, making room for the addition of Freddy Galvis who is recovering from MRSA.
Cesar Hernandez had an excellend night last night in his first appearance of 2014. He was the starting second baseman, batting ninth (Chase Utley was the designated-hitter). Hernandez went 2-3 with a run scored. After Utley's disappointing Spring, some argued that Hernandez should be considered to start every day at the right middle-infield position. However, with Utley signed for three more seasons, it is hard to bench a franchise-player with his caliber.
On Opening Day, Sandberg made the decision in the fifth inning to pinch-hit starting left fielder Tony Gwynn Jr. for John Mayberry Jr. The move paid off, as Mayberry brought home two runs on a double to give the Phillies a 9-7 lead. Both Jr's are outfielders that could provide spark to the team in their own respective ways. Mayberry Jr has some ounce of "pop" in his bat that we have seen glimpses of in the past, meanwhile Gwynn Jr is known for his good fielding skills, something the Phillies desperately need in the outfield.
4. Antonio Bastardo: Quietly Succeeding
Bastardo was a huge question mark this Spring after coming off of a MLB PED suspension last season. He absolutely flew under the radar in Grapefruit League action last month, posting a 1.74 ERA in ten games (10.1 innings pitched), with just a 0.871 WHIP.
He has already appeared twice this season for a total of 2.1 innings pitched, allowing no hits and just one walk, striking out two batters.
This positive perfomance coming out of Bastardo is GREAT news, even if the rest of the bullpen is faltering (as we sort of expected it to do).
3. A.J. Burnett: What We Expected
A.J. Burnett is a grind-it-out pitcher just like Roy Halladay was during the prime of his career. If there ever comes a time when he gets in trouble during an inning, he will always find a way to minimize the damage. We saw this last night when the Rangers had runners on first and second with nobody out. Burnett managed to escape the inning unharmed, leaving his team a great opportunity to come to bat and take a stronghold on the game.
Burnett expected the game after six innings last night with a 2-1 lead. He allowed seven hits, one walk, and one earned run on three strikeouts. He well-deserved a win, however unfortunately in the bottom of the seventh inning left-hander Jake Diekman earned a blown-save, as Adrian Beltre doubled-home Shin-Soo Choo.
For Burnett to throw that well against one of the best offensive lineups in all of baseball, that definitely is a good sign moving forward.
2. Marlon Byrd: An Overall Upgrade
Marlon Byrd made a key diving out in right field last night to get A.J. Burnett out of the inning with the lead in tact. Clearly, he is a huge upgrade over past right fielders, for example Delmon Young and/or Roger Bernadinha. Ryan Lawrence of the Philadelphia Daily News agrees with this presumtion:
Marlon Byrd is clearly the Phillies best right fielder since Jayson Werth. And their best fielding outfielder, period, since Shane Victorino
— Ryan Lawrence (@ryanlawrence21) April 2, 2014
Offensively, Byrd's bat is not to be overlooked this season, either. On Opening Day, he hit a home run to left field to cap-off his 2-hit afternoon, and last night he hit an additional two runs to rise his batting average to (.444).
Surely, there were better options out that for general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. to acquire rather than bringing back Marlon Byrd for a second go-around. However thus far, this unpopular move has not backfired in any way, shape, or form.
1. Ryne Sandberg: Not Afraid
As we saw all Spring, Sandberg isn't afraid to stray away from the norm. Last night for the first time since 2008, Ryan Howard did not bat in the cleanup spot in a game in which he started.
The primary reason for the shakeup was that opposing starter Martin Perez was left-handed. Sandberg stated that the fifth-spot in the lineup is still capable of driving in many runs, and Howard felt no insult being moved down a spot by his manager.
One could argue that the shakeup proved to work out last night. Batting cleanup, Marlon Byrd went 2-3 with one walk, and Howard went 1-4 with a RBI-double to right field in the top of the sixth inning. The Big Piece did strikeout two times however, making that a total of five already in just two games played this season.
Continuity will lack if Sandberg continues to shuffle the lineup, however there are many additional pros and cons that come into play when doing so. Perhaps keeping the opposition on their toes and not automatically assuming the Phillies will roll-out Utley, Howard and Byrd in that order would be beneficial. Of course, in 2008, the Phillies' lineup consisted of Utley, Howard and Werth almost every game and we all know the end-result of that season.
It is too early to ultimately judge now what is the net result of this lineup shuffle, however. Time will tell.
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Matt Rappa is a contributor to Philliedelphia.
