MLB Playoffs: Talk of a Dynasty Ends with Phillies’ Big Postseason Phizzle

Ryan Howard limped out of the batter’s box towards first base in a desperate attempt to try and extend Philadelphia’s 102-win season. But it was hopeless. As the star first basemen lay on the ground in a heap, the little white towels had finally stopped waving and the Phillies’ hope of another World Series title vanished as quickly as the squirrel that infiltrated their ballpark three hours earlier.

For the second consecutive year, the Phillies’ season hung in the balance with Howard at the plate—the last time out it was against the bearded-one, Brian Wilson, in the 2010 NLCS. On this night it was against the Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter, who was seeking redemption for his less-than-stellar performance in Game 2.

The notoriously raucous Philadelphia fans shouted louder than they had when their Eagles were on the cusp of a Super Bowl. Thirty-three times they had seen their slugger deposit one into the stands, some 400 feet from home plate. One more was all they needed to play Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” on the speakers, and to send the game into extra innings.

Oh the stories that would have followed. I mean think of it: The most brutal fans in history against the craziest human being to ever set foot on the baseball diamond—none other than Tony Plush.

Instead, we get a rematch of the 1982 ‘Suds series, minus Paul Molitor, Charlie Moore and the rest of Harvey’s Wallbangers that fell to Whitey Herzog’s band of thieves.

Fans deserved better.

But it wasn’t the fans that deserve the blame. No, instead you can put that on the Phillies front office, who decided after losing last year’s NLCS that it was their starting pitching that needed upgrading.

They passed on re-signing one of their best hitters, Jayson Werth (though in retrospect is a decision that isn’t looking too terrible), and instead opted to spend $115 million to acquire the services of prize free agent Cliff Lee. The Phillies had hoped that rookie Domonic Brown could fill in for some of the production lost by Werth’s departure, only to discover that Brown’s greatest potential was to be a slightly better baseball player than Raul Ibanez.

I got news for you, that’s not Raul’s name they’re chanting whenever he’s up at the plate.

It was a familiar ending for Charlie’s Manuel’s yappy little bunch, who have gotten better every year in terms of their overall record but have made quicker exits in the postseason.

They won 92 games in 2008 and defeated the Rays to win the World Series. In 2009 they won 93 games and lost the Fall Classic to a superior Yankees team. Last season they won 97 games and lost in the NLCS to the eventual World Champions, the San Francisco Giants. This year they won 102 games and were ousted in the first round by the Cardinals, a team they helped get to the playoffs by sweeping the Braves in the final series of the season.

The main problem was again on offense. Though Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee were hardly clutch, the Phillies only hit .226 for the series with a.269 on-base percentage. Hitting stalwarts like Howard, Utley, Victorino, Rollins and Ibanez (all of whom are now in their 30s) looked completely baffled against Cardinals pitching and only managed to get one runner past second base in Game 5 against Carpenter.

You’ll often hear the phrase that pitching wins ball games. It’s an overused yet semi-accurate proverb that fails to put things in total perspective.

Everyone assumed the reason why the Giants won the World Series last year was because of their pitching. But their free-swinging band of miscreants were clearly better than the Braves and the Phillies, two teams that had plenty of arms at their disposal but couldn’t do anything against The Freak and his fellow compatriots (Bumgarner, Cain and Sanchez).

In the World Series, the Giants easily dispatched the Rangers who had a good offense but featured a starting rotation that relied too much on Lee and a bullpen that caused Texas fans to sweat and vomit in the middle innings of every game.

Complete teams persevere in the playoffs. A team that can’t score runs doesn’t have a better chance of winning than a team that can’t stop opposing hitters from hitting baseballs and lighting up the scoreboard.

Sure the the Patriots’ offense plays a lot sexier now than it did in 2004; but most fans in New England would likely prefer the teams that came in the era before Spygate. Those teams won on the strength of their defense and a quarterback who made all the right plays.

The Phillies are looking more and more like the Bobby Cox-led Atlanta Braves teams of the 1990s that captured 15 consecutive NL East Division titles and five NL Pennants, but only won only one World Series title. The tragic flaw of those teams that had Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Chipper Jones and David Justice, was that they dominated the game for six innings and then turned it over to their bullpen. That’s usually when the fun started. Occasionally Cox would try sneaking Mark Wohlers into the game early, a mistake which often produced hilarious results.

The Phillies won 102 games this year, so it’s not as if they haven’t had an impressive season. But given their decaying hitters and the gulf in their bullpen, there wasn’t much for the Cardinals to worry about outside of the guy on the pitcher’s mound. Once that first run crossed the plate in the top of the first, the series was over.

Usually a five-game series usually favors the team with the better starting pitching, so that gives you a clue about how much the Phillies lacked in depth and why they should consider trading Lee or Halladay in for a Pujols or a Fielder.

But if they want to stick with spending money on pitchers maybe they could trade for Barry Zito.

Call me when that happens, because I’m all for it.

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Ryan Howard Injury: 4 Reasons It Could Help Philadelphia Phillies in 2012

No one thought that the St. Louis Cardinals, a team that crept into the playoffs after the Atlanta Braves suffered a catastrophic meltdown, would dismantle the pitching powerhouse that is the Philadelphia Phillies.

The team with 102 wins overall, 70 wins by the starting rotation and a litany of perennial MLB All-Stars ended its season with disappointment on Friday with a 1-0 loss to the Cardinals at home.

As St. Louis rushed to the mound to celebrate its playoff series win, Phillies’ slugger Ryan Howard lay in a crumpled heap on the first base line, clutching his leg. Howard swung for the fences and hurt himself in the process, rupturing his Achilles tendon. “The Big Piece” will have to undergo surgery and preliminary reports indicate that he may miss six to nine months.

It’s entirely possible that Ryan Howard will start his five-year, $125 million contract extension on the disabled list next year.

With Howard’s injury looming and the contracts of players like Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Madson, Raul Ibanez, Brad Lidge and Roy Oswalt on the table, things are starting look a bit nightmarish for the Philadelphia “Dream Team.”

Does Ryan Howard’s injury help the Phillies in any way? 

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Ryan Howard: Philadelphia Phillies Will Survive Early Absence of Overrated 1B

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard is expected to miss at least the early portion of next season after an MRI revealed a torn Achilles tendon, according to Howard Eskin. Thankfully for the Phillies, he’s an overrated aspect of their team, and they’ll survive without him in the short term.

To prove my point, which of the following groups would you say Howard belongs?

Group A	Group B
Miguel Cabrera	Michael Cuddyer
Prince Fielder	Carlos Santana
Joey Votto	Carlos Pena
Adrian Gonzalez	Freddie Freeman

If you chose the Cabrera group, you couldn’t be more wrong. Those four first basemen are the only ones with a wOBA above .400 and a wRC+ above 150. That is truly an elite group of players, and Howard belongs nowhere near them.

Howard’s wOBA was .354 and his wRC+ was 123. Those numbers place him firmly in the second group of players. His runs batted in total (116), which is the main argument Howard supporters use to defend him, is a matter of opportunity and not ability.

Not to mention, Howard is an atrocious fielder. His minus-nine defensive-runs-saved stat represents the second-worst 1B among qualifiers in 2011. Howard’s poor fielding also negatively affects his wins above replacement (WAR) number, which came in at 1.6 this season.

Translation: Over the course of this entire season, Howard wasn’t even worth two wins more than an average replacement. For comparison, Cabrera was worth more than seven wins, and the other three members of “Group A” were worth at least 5.5 wins.

Eric Hosmer, who played in 24 less games than Howard, had the same WAR as the Phillies cleanup hitter. Hosmer was a rookie.

When you put all these things together, what you get is an above average first baseman who doesn’t belong in any elite conversations.

That’s why the Phillies, who will once again rely heavily on their pitching staff next season (perhaps too heavily), will do just fine without Howard.

Philadelphia should find a serviceable replacement for a couple months, preferably one who plays strong defense behind that dominant rotation, and the team will stay afloat.

The Phillies’ biggest worry this offseason should be finding a new left fielder to replace Raul Ibanez, who was downright terrible this season, and not what they’ll do without Howard.

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Ryan Howard Injury Magnifies Phillies’ Offseason Woes

Ryan Howard‘s ground out did more than just end the Phillies‘ 2011 season.

The former NL MVP ruptured his left Achilles tendon, and his start for the 2012 season is now in jeopardy.

A USA Today report likened the injury to David Beckham’s a year ago. The international soccer star was out all of six months before returning.

That means Howard’s opening day status for 2012 would largely be in jeopardy.

This is just another problem the Phillies have to worry about going into this offseason.

According to USA Today‘s report, there are several other Phillies who will likely require surgery.

Starting pitcher Cole Hamels is slated to have “loose bodies” removed from his left elbow and will also need surgery to repair a hernia.

Both second baseman Placido Polanco and right fielder Hunter Pence possibly face surgery to deal with hernias, and first baseman Ross Gloud will have arthroscopic surgery on his right hip.

Add Howard to this mix, and the Phillies have quite the laundry list of players going under the knife.

To make matters worse, Philadelphia has to find a way to get better after winning a club-record 102 games this season.

Howard, who was awarded a massive contract in 2010, has seen his numbers decrease every year since his MVP performance.

He’s still been very productive, but not on the level some Phillies fans want to see.

Much like the Yankees, this team has some tough decisions to make this offseason about where and how to get better.

They have no problem spending money—but that isn’t the issue.

Now, in addition to all that, they have to worry about Howard and his status for the first month of the season.

Postseason appearances don’t mean anything to this team. Not with the amount of talent they have. Winning world championships is the only business the Phillies are in. 

Ryan Howard’s injury is just another problem they have to worry about in their pursuit of a title.

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Ryan Howard: What to Expect from Slugger Upon Return

Ryan Howard added injury to insult when he tore his Achilles on the final groundout of Philadelphia’s failed NLDS battle with St. Louis. The latest projections (from Sports Radio 94 WIP via Twitter) have Howard out of action until at least May or June of next season.

There’s little doubt that the Phillies’ offense is going to be hurting until the big man returns. Even after he’s back in the lineup, though, Philadelphia may not get the kind of year they’d like out of their high-priced first baseman.

Howard’s production was already dipping even before the injury. Between 2009 and this year, his OPS dropped from a daunting .931 to a more ordinary .835 (which didn’t even beat out Shane Victorino’s figure for this season).

And, while Howard certainly isn’t going to be worried about stealing bases on his tender ankle, he needs a solid base to create the power in his home-run swing. His timing will almost certainly be off when he first gets back on the diamond, even if he waits until the ankle is 100 percent.

Worse, if he comes back too early and starts favoring the ankle, his production could take a nosedive.

The rehab effort also won’t be helped by Howard’s bulk. His 6-foot-4 240-pound build isn’t excessive for a power hitter, but it will mean more weight to put on the ankle and more potential to aggravate it during the recovery process.

Assuming Howard is back by June 1, he’ll have missed roughly a third of the season. Chop a third off his home run totals from the last couple of years, and you’re looking at something like 20 homers contributed to the Phils’ cause.

Adjust that figure for having to get up to speed midseason and for the difficulty of swinging for the fences on a rebuilt ankle, and Philadelphia will be lucky to get 15 dingers out of its best power hitter in 2012.

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Ryan Howard Injury: Slugger Proving He Is One of MLB’s Most Overpaid Players

Despite being at the top of the RBI and home run list every year, Ryan Howard doesn’t present much in the form of getting on base at a consistent race. He seemingly steps up and swings for the fence on every single at bat.

He is very inconsistent, and lacks a high on-base percentage. To make matters worse, he’s not exactly the best fielder in the game. At this point, all he brings to the table is power, and it’s not $135 million worth of power.

He is getting older by the year, and his game is bound to deteriorate over the next few years. Now, word has come down that  he has torn his Achilles’ tendon according to the USA Today.

The Phillies released a statement via the USA Today in relation to the process for handling the injury.

He cannot have surgery until the swelling resolves, and it has not been determined who will perform the surgery. Recovery time won’t be known until after the surgery is complete, and there is no guarantee he will be ready for spring training.

At this point, it is pretty unlikely that he is ready for spring training, and he will likely miss some regular season action as well.

There have been some concerns that he could miss nearly all of the regular season next year, depending on how long it takes for the swelling to go down, and how bad the injury is once they perform the procedure.

This injury is only going to speed up Howard’s deterioration, and he may just be widely regarded as the MLB‘s most overpaid player in the coming years.

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Ryan Howard Injury: Torn Achilles Sends Phillies into Uncertain Offseason

St. Louis Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter insulted the Philadelphia Phillies with a complete-game shutout in Game 5 of the NLDS. Ryan Howard closed it out with the injury, one that adds a dose of uncertainty to an offseason that came sooner than anyone expected.

The Phillies’ slugging first baseman limped out of the batter’s box and crumpled to the ground with a ruptured Achilles tendon after bouncing out in the final plate appearance of a 1-0 defeat to seal his team’s fate. Howard managed only two hits in 19 at-bats in the series, with a home run, six RBI and six strikeouts to boot.

As unfortunate as Howard’s injury is in the immediate term, it only further compounds the team’s concerns about its aging lineup heading into 2012. 

This was supposed to be the Phillies’ season. They came into 2011 as the oldest team in the Majors, with the deepest starting rotation in recent memory, behind Cy Young winners Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, World Series MVP Cole Hamels and former Houston Astros ace Roy Oswalt.

Their everyday lineup was getting old, but still sported two former NL MVPs in Howard and shortstop Jimmy Rollins, along with Hall-of-Fame second baseman Chase Utley and All-Star center fielder Shane Victorino, also known as “The Flyin’ Hawaiian.”

The deadline addition of herky-jerky outfielder Hunter Pence appeared to calcify their chances of bringing another ring to the City of Brotherly Love.

Instead, the Phillies find themselves without anything to show for their club-record 102 regular season wins or their $172 million payroll, the second-highest in all of baseball.

The starting staff will be back but general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. will have some tough decisions to make, as Rollins and relievers Brad Lidge and Ryan Madson are all set to test the free agent market this winter.

And then there’s Howard. He figures to be out at least six months with his torn Achilles, a figure that would put him out of commission until after spring training. Howard led Philadelphia in homers (33) and RBI (116) this season but hit only .253 with 172 whiffs.

The numbers of Howard’s that really concern the Phillies at this point, though, are those related to his age and his contract. Howard will turn 32 in November, an age that’s typically pretty good for power but not necessarily for recovering from serious injuries.

And definitely not a good number for Philadelphia, given that the team has him signed through 2017 at an average of just over $23 million per season. That commitment, along with the long-term money guaranteed to the 34-year-old Halladay, the 33-year-old Lee and the 32-year-old Utley, among others, leaves the Phillies strapped for cash to invest in new, younger hitters to fill out Charlie Manuel’s batting order.

An order that, despite being replete with big names, ranked only seventh in the NL in runs scored and OPS and managed only 10 runs over the final four games of the series against the Cards.

What’s more, in acquiring the likes of Halladay, Lee, Oswalt and Pence over the years, the Phillies have exhausted their stock of minor league talent in anticipation of contending for World Series titles in the immediate term.

Which brings us back to Howard, a farm-raised talent who’s long padded his stats against mediocre bullpen arms to mask his struggles staring down top-tier pitching. As poorly as Howard has played at times, the Phillies need him to be the thumper in the middle of their aging lineup, to carry a less-than-officious offense in support of an ace-laden rotation.

If Howard is hobbled by his Achilles for too long, the Phillies may find themselves well behind in the race for the NL East, behind ladder-climbing clubs like the Braves, the Marlins and perhaps even the Nationals.

Much less the the pursuit of another World Series championship.

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The Phillies Demise: On an Almost Perfect Autumn Night for Baseball

 

I waited all season for last night’s game. It was a game that was almost perfect. I know Phillies fans are disappointed, but baseball is a game of slightness.  The baseball gods decreed that this was not the time for this gargantuan pitching staff and mammoth batting power to lift the level of the game to Olympian status.

But it was almost perfect, and if any Phillies game had a more unsatisfied ending, for the players and fans, it happened on an almost perfect Autumn night.

Baseball has as many visages as Vishnu. It is a complex game of pressured nuances in a simple format of pastoral delight. Last night, it was my game. It had the pitching that was impressive. It had the pressure of time being counted down. It had the hopeful swings of all might that would that would shake faiths.

It had the tragic ending of Goliath falling while Israelites jumped in unreal victory. It was nothing short of what I expect in baseball: dramatic tragedy played on the stage.

The pitching was stellar. Roy Halladay and Chris Carpenter displayed their skills of control and attack in making batters and runners disappear. Roy Halladay’s bravado torn open in the first and his unwillingness to concede in the eighth. Carpenter’s smile in the ninth. It had shortstop Rafael Furcal’s diving play erasing certain hope.

It had Chase Utley running freely only to be magically slung out with a rock. It had a shot off the pitcher that unluckily danced to Nick Punto. It had long drive off the bat of Raul Ibanez with two men on that floated high in the air with every hope of reclamation falling just short of the fence. It had a pitch that Chase Utley crushed to a foot away from ninth-inning ecstasy.

Finally, it had Ryan Howard swinging for the fences at 3-0 because walks do not create legends and his crippling collapse at the end. The drama of 27 outs played out in nine scenes that ended the immortal run of a divine season, revealing only the pain and tears of human actors.

The game was a palpable drama of unreality created by bad luck, a quick strike, and ennui of frustrated batmen who could find no more holes for dreams. The team that would do anything to win, did. The team that could win everything, lost.

There is nothing but unrest until the smells of Spring return and our bats are exhumed from a premature slumber. The ballpark stands silent; there are no more actors on the stage. We want one more inning of Summer. We are left with an adage: no matter how hard you swing, gravity will bring all human endeavors back to earth.

Howard’s Achilles’ tendon will heal, but he will always be Achilles, as men are who swing so hard. It is not easy to accept Winter’s coming especially when Fall was cut so short and the harvest is enough to survive and hope for next year, but not abundant joy like we had hoped. But we are human and understand loss.

On an almost perfect Autumn night, we learned that endings are always tragic and Winter is when our Gods come crashing down to earth revealing they were nothing more than humans after all.

Now we wait for Spring.          

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Ryan Howard Injury: Phillies Star out Until at Least May

The Ryan Howard injury looked bad from the start. The overall reactions were bad from the start. Heck, even the early prognoses were bad.

Well, unfortunately for Philadelphia Phillies fans, all of those gut reactions have now been confirmed. 

Howard is out until at least May according to Howard Eskin’s Twitter account:

“Word I get from inside Phillies… Ryan Howard had MRI 2day and did reveal a torn Achilles tendon left leg. Likely out till next may or june”

Honestly, this is pretty much what everyone was expecting, but it hurts to actually hear it confirmed. Even though Howard struggled big time in the postseason and had arguably his worst season as a full-time starter, he’s a big part of that team.

The Phillies lineup is starting to look awfully thin, and the loss of Howard’s big bat is a big blow.

No matter how you feel about him.

And as long as we’re being realistic, eight months seems like an awfully kind estimate. The general consensus that I have heard regarding Achilles surgery is 6-to-12 months.

Ryan Howard is what you call a big boy and if he recovers in eight months, I will be very surprised. The Phils should probably prepare for life without Howard’s bat for the majority of the 2012 season.

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Ryan Howard: What Phillies Offense Will Look Like in 2012 Without Howard

As Philadelphia fans are already sick of hearing, Ryan Howard tore his Achilles tendon running out the ground ball that ended the Phillies’ NLDS defeat. According to Sports Radio 94 WIP via Twitter, the latest word is that Howard will be out until at least May or June of next season.

Facing the prospect of two months or more without its best hitter, the Philadelphia offense can’t be feeling too optimistic. After all, this is a group that followed up its 11-run outburst in Game 1 of the LDS with a total of 11 in the next four games.

Making life even more difficult for the Phillies is the $125 million tied up in Howard’s contract. With minimal financial wiggle room, they won’t have much chance to sign an impact replacement.

Sorry, Phillies fans, but Albert Pujols isn’t coming to the rescue.

With Howard excised from the middle of the batting order, the likeliest scenario is that this year’s No. 5 hitter, Shane Victorino, will take over the cleanup duties. Considering that Victorino’s .847 OPS actually topped Howard’s .835 this year, that move won’t necessarily be much of a sacrifice for the Phils.

Finding a replacement for Howard at first base will be more problematic. John Mayberry Jr., who hit well in a platoon role, may have to play against lefties while another backup outfielder (say, youngster Domonic Brown?) starts against right-handers.

Ben Francisco could also be in the mix, but like Brown, he has minimal power—especially for a corner infielder.

The upshot will be that the Phils sacrifice a substantial number of home runs from an aging lineup that was starting to show cracks even with Howard. Add in the safely-assumed decline of soon-to-be 40-year-old Raul Ibañez and a team that scored an unremarkable 713 runs (worst among N.L. playoff teams) will have a rough time scoring even enough for its formidable pitching staff in 2012.

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