Philadelphia Phillies: 5 Ways Wrapping Up Division Early Could Doom Them

For the Philadelphia Phillies, the goal for the season has been accomplished: to win their fifth straight NL East division title. They did so last Saturday, led by a Raul Ibanez grand slam and nine total runs of support for Roy Oswalt to give the team a 9-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Although the champagne celebrations were fun to watch, the team hasn’t been since. They’ve lost five games in a row since then, consisting of the last two games of their four game series to the Cardinals and three to their division rivals, the Washington Nationals. In those five games, the Phillies have scored just 11 runs total, whereas the opposition has scored 23 runs. And in their last 10 games, the Phillies are 4-6.

While the Phillies are still most likely on their way to having the best record in the majors (or at least the NL) by the season’s end, their production right now and total attitude towards passing their team-record 101 wins has seemed to diminish. In order for the Phils to be successful in the postseason, they need to start winning again so it doesn’t seem foreign to them come the NLDS.

Despite being an optimist, sometimes I have to play devil’s advocate, and unfortunately, this is one of those times.

So, without further ado, I pessimistically present to you five ways why the Phillies winning the NL East could bring them their demise in the playoffs.

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Philadelphia Phillies Playoffs 2011: Time To Use the Panic Meter

Winter has officially come early in Philadelphia as the Phillies’ bats have gone ice cold.  Suddenly the powerhouse of the National League is looking similar to the team that lost to San Francisco last year in the playoffs. 

However, is it really time to panic? 

Sure, the Phillies have strung a few losses in a row, but they did clinch home field throughout the playoffs. 

The only way to get to the bottom of this is to whip out our “Panic Meter” and conclude if it very well is time to panic or if we should just sit back and await the playoffs.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Ranking the 10 Best Rotations in Team History

As the Phillies wrap up their incredible and record-setting season, it’s time to take a look back at one of the most hyped pitching rotations in recent memory. After nearly 162 games, it’s clear that they’ve lived up to all realistic expectations, especially free-agent acquisition Cliff Lee.

But where do they rank among the other all-time Phillie greats? 

Here are the top 10 rotations in franchise history.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Citizens Bank Park’s Top 5 Moments of the Last 5 Years

With the Philadelphia Phillies having now clinched a historic fifth consecutive National League East title it is an appropriate time to put that in perspective.

This current Phillies run is now the third longest run of consecutive division titles behind only the 1991-2005 Atlanta Braves and 1998-2006 New York Yankees.  Regardless of what happens going forward this is a great achievement that deserves recognition.

As part of such recognition, it is time to take a look at the Top 5 moments at Citizens Bank Park from this current Phillies run.

Enjoy.

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Philadelphia Phillies: 5 Unexpected Obstacles to Their World Series Hopes

The 2011 season for the Philadelphia Phillies has been a joyride for most of the year. Their much-hyped starting rotation actually lived up to the hype, some unknown names at the start of the season became bullpen stalwarts and with the acquisition of Hunter Pence at the trade deadline even their on-again off-again offense seemed to hit its stride. 

The Phillies won their record fifth straight NL East title faster than they ever have in team history and clinched home field throughout the playoffs. And what did they do for an encore? They haven’t won a game since.

Yes, it might be expected that the Phillies would have a bit of a letdown after their champagne-clinching celebration. Yes, it’s true that the team really doesn’t have a lot left to play for. Yes, it has been a long season and maybe they are conserving their energy for a long playoff run.

But whatever the cause, the Phillies have picked a bad time to start looking less like a juggernaut and more like the team that got unceremoniously bumped in the second round of the 2010 playoffs. A temporary setback? Maybe. But here are five obstacles the Phillies must overcome to keep their championship dreams alive.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Can Anyone Slow Them Down in the Postseason?

Can anyone slow the Philadelphia Phillies down in the postseason—a fair question, don’t you think?

The more I think about it, the more I find myself giving the same answer, which is why I am putting this all into a slide.

There are three teams that I will focus on, due to each team’s chances being very high to make the postseason: Atlanta, Milwaukee and Arizona.

Each team is very talented, and each team will offer up an excellent challenge, but again, can they slow down the Phillies?

For that answer, you’ll have to read further.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Tops in MLB, but Will They Capture Any Individual Honors?

Like that Old Man River, the Philadelphia Phillies just keep rolling along.

Even after Monday’s 4-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals and a rare series loss, the Phillies still clinched home-field advantage throughout the postseason.

Actually, it was the first four-game series all year that they haven’t at least split.

The Phils are where they want to be, and they have the luxury of resting certain players for the postseason—the “real” season for a team that is trying to meet its great expectations.

Indeed, if they win at least four games out of their remaining 10, they will set a franchise record.

Although it is all about the postseason for baseball’s elite, it’s not as if the 162-game, always-entertaining grind was of no importance. Several Phillies have had award-caliber seasons.

Which ones should be rewarded for them?

Will Roy Halladay repeat as the National League Cy Young Award winner?  What about his rotation-mates, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels?

Who deserves MVP consideration?

Will that bespectacled fan favorite known as “Vanimal” walk away with Rookie of the Year honors?

And how about Uncle Charlie Manuel, who has presided over the best team in baseball?

Take a look at several Phillies players (and a manager) who deserve to figure into the balloting—per my own, still-mythical ballot.

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Philadelphia Phillies and Ruben Amaro Jr. in the Final Analysis

When rating a team’s analysis score, we need to keep two key things in mind. First, the object of baseball is to win games. As “Peter Brand” said in Moneyball, “Instead of buying players, you should be looking to buy wins.” Of course, the second thing to keep in mind is how economically one can buy wins. With the Philadelphia Phillies, that is a bit of pickle.

Ruben Amaro Jr. knew going into the season he would likely make the playoffs as either the division winner or the wild card. When he went into the July deadline, he knew it as well. Yet, since 2008, they made the playoffs and came up short. They did the same in the seasons before 2008. This is a team that wants the whole thing, and there is no telling how much is too much in that situation.

Key Statistics

Team Payroll: 173.0 million (2nd)

Lineup: 10.0

Rotation: 4.4

Bullpen: 14.8

Composite Ranking: 9.8

Analysis Score: -7.8

 

Lineup

For that grand sum of money, this team still has a few holes to fill. Hunter Pence filled one of them at the deadline. They still have another one in left field where Raul Ibanez has lost both bat-speed and a step in the field. He could afford to lose neither. Yet, with this pitching staff, they don’t have to be the Big Red Machine. They just have to be good and good they are.

There are some storm clouds on the horizon. Jimmy Rollins contract is coming up. Chase Utley will have to be paid someday, and the same is true of Shane Victorino and Hunter Pence. Raul Ibanez will clear off the books, but that won’t be nearly enough to cover all of the new money that will have to go out.

Rotation

No, they didn’t have four starters that won 20 games like the 1970 Baltimore Orioles. However, I would argue they have a better foursome than that group and almost any other in history. Both Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay could easily be the Cy Young winner this year, and both of them deserve to be the game one playoff starter.

Cole Hamels has come back from a couple of marginal seasons to be the third starter everyone thought he could be. Having Roy Oswalt for a fourth starter almost seems embarrassing. He has battled back trouble this year, but has been his old self when healthy. Throw in the emergence of Vance Worley, and it is almost enough to make you blush. Listening to Phillies fans argue over who the four-man playoff rotation should be is enough to make most fans dry heave.

Bullpen

Brad Lidge is another contract that is thankfully expiring this season. Ryan Madson has been brilliant as the closer, but this bullpen has major depth issues. Thankfully, the strength of the rotation has kept the Phillies from having to explore that depth. The blueprint to beating the Phillies in the postseason will involve getting those starters out before the end of the seventh inning.

Analysis Score: -7.8 (28th)

Final Analysis

Keep in mind that Ruben Amaro Jr. is trying to buy a championship, so he felt he had to have Cliff Lee and Hunter Pence. Take away a couple of dead contracts like Raul Ibanez and Brad Lidge, and suddenly he looks a little better. In terms of reality, who knows how long they can sustain this kind of payroll. If ownership is comfortable doing that, they could easily let those two players go and spend the savings making sure the core remains intact.

This is where we move away from pure analysis and more into economic analysis. How much is another World Series championship worth? How much are two World Series championships worth? The Phillies have sold out every game for several years. Television and radio rights are bound to be as good as they can be. Only ownership knows what it can spend and how much more they think they can take in.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Philadelphia Phillies: ‘Vanimal’ and the 20 Coolest Nicknames in Team History

There’s nothing like a perfect nickname.  Some of the best ones can  replace a player’s actual name.  I mean how many people call “Cookie” Rojas, Octavio Victor?

 

But is “Cookie” a cool nickname?  And what criteria should be used to determine if a nickname passes the “cool” test?  That’s the question for this list.  After much thought, I decided that perhaps I was not the best judge of ‘cool’ so I turned off my Barry Manilow 8-track and went in search of my teenage son, the coolest person I know.  I read out some nicknames and the ones he judged “awesome,” “nasty” or my favorite, “sick” made the list.

 

So here they are:  the 20 sickest, I mean coolest, nicknames in Phillies history.  And if you don’t agree?  Don’t blame me.  Do what I did.  Ask the nearest teenager.

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Philadelphia Phillies: 5 Things Phils Must Improve Before 2011 Postseason

The Philadelphia Phillies have already clinched the National League East. However, they have a lot of time before the playoffs actually begin. Because of this, they definitely need to stay sharp. They do not want to get complacent while they wait.

However, they also have a few things that they need to improve. Let’s check out five of these issues right now.

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