3 Keys for Success
- Put together an altogether better offensive approach
It’s embarrassing for a team when their general manager states prior to the season’s opening game, “We’re not going to score a lot of runs.”Yet Amaro readily admitted just that Thursday. In fairness, part of his somewhat jumbled quote conceded that he was really referencing the team’s lack of power, and that the team would have to scratch and claw to score.
But that’s ultimately on him as well. He’s allowed the offense to disintegrate on his watch. And it’s partially due to his relative disdain for sabermetrics. The Phillies, as already noted, were one of the worst teams in the league a season ago in on-base percentage.
And they let go of one of their best on-base guys this offseason in trading away long-time Phillies shortstop and leadoff hitter Jimmy Rollins. Marlon Byrd is also a decent on-base guy. He, too, is gone.
The result is that the Phillies will be forced to play a small ball kind of game with a roster not built well to do so. Maybe Amaro is playing possum right now and knows something we don’t. Otherwise, it will be a long season for the Phillies’ offense.
- Find some pitching not named Cliff Lee or Cole Hamels
Cliff Lee might miss the entire 2015 season. Cole Hamels could be traded. In other words, any hope the Phillies might have of being a decent major league club seem to be missing from the Phils’ roster. Without those two it’s incomprehensible to think the Phillies can be competitive in 2015.
Maybe that’s the plan (more on that momentarily, and why it actually should be). But let’s assume the Fightin’ Phils are trying to be competitive in 2015. If that’s the case, someone has to step up. Neither 36-year-old Aaron Harang nor 33-year-old Jerome Williams are the answer.
They can be decent for parts of the season as third, fourth or fifth starters. But neither is going to carry a team. If a team were to make the playoffs, they’d ideally avoid starting either in a postseason game. In other words, this Phillies team is in bad shape in the starting rotation.
Perhaps 23-year-old Philadelphia native Jesse Biddle, 23-year-old lefty Joely Rodriguez or 25-year-old Nefi Ogando end up pitching major innings for Philadelphia and handles them extraordinarily well. Maybe all three do. But none of them represent great hope for the Phillies’ overall staff in 2015.
- Blow it all up and start over
Perhaps no team in baseball would be better off than the Philadelphia Phillies to simply blow it all up and start over. The Phillies have gotten old and rather untalented. As a result, they are simply not a good team. It’s in part because their roster is just not solid.
The reality is that only outfielders Ben Revere and Domonic Brown are players not yet past their prime who currently are solid major league players. Both are 26-years-old. Brown was an All-Star in 2013. Revere should have been in 2014.
We’ve already discussed how the Phillies should try to trade Cole Hamels as one of the primary ways to quickly add young talent to the organization—even if that simply means at this time strengthening the farm system immediately.
The Phillies are not in position to win this season anyway. They may as well start preparing for 2016 and beyond. The best way to do that is to sell now to get the best possible talent in return.
Next: Can the Phillies compete in 2015?