5 Tweaks Philadelphia Phillies Can Make Until Chase Utley, Ryan Howard Return

It’s been said over and over again this season in many different ways for the Philadelphia Phillies: Once Chase Utley and Ryan Howard return, the offense will start hitting again and the Phillies will move up in the standings.

The good news is that we now know that Utley is returning to the Phils tomorrow and is expected to be in the lineup for tomorrow night’s game. With Freddy Galvis down with both a pars fracture in his back and out for 50 games for a PED suspension, Utley will surely be welcomed back and is automatically an all-around better option over Michael Martinez and Mike Fontenot. That goes without saying, though.

The bad news? We still don’t know for sure when Howard’s coming back.

Howard infamously ruptured his Achilles tendon in the final at-bat of last year’s NLCS against the Cardinals, which the Phils lost to the Cards in five games. The Cardinals went on to win the World Series, and Howard (nor Utley) hasn’t been back since.

Simply put, this offense needs help. And while I’ll say that Utley and Howard may not be the pieces to get the job done, anything new is a plus at this point, especially veterans of your own team who know how to get the team back into contention. They can do a few things, and I’ll make my own adjustments to Charlie Manuel’s lineup if need be. After all, it’s been an elephant in the room all season long: Charlie’s lineup is flat-out terrible and he needs to solidify the lineup positions so more guys get on base, are comfortable with their position, and ultimately, more runs are scored to win more ballgames.

Here’s a five tweaks—whether in the lineup or in approach—that the Phillies can make until both Utley and Howard return.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Is Pursuing Ben Sheets a Smart Move, or Just Desperate?

Ah, rumors.  As Timex Social Club once deftly put it, “Look at all these rumors/Surrounding me every day./I just need some time/Some time to get away from/From all these rumors.” 

Have you heard the one about Ben Sheets?  According to Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors, he recently threw for several major league teams looking for starting pitching help, and the Phillies were there. 

Is pursuing Ben Sheets a smart move, or is it just desperate?  Maybe history can provide the answer.

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MLB 2012: 6 Storylines That Will Last Through All Star Break

As we move closer to the midsummer classic, we also move closer to the “dog days of summer.” This is the time of the season when baseball fans begin to learn a lot about their teams.

With the new postseason format, one more team will make the playoffs in each league. This could very well change the shape of MLB this summer, which could lead to some unexpected teams becoming buyers at the trading deadline. 

With each day that passes, we’re that much closer to the excitement of baseball during the stretch run. Here are some of the biggest story-lines that are sure to last through the All-Star break and into the “dog days of summer.”

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Chase Utley’s Return May Be Too Little for the Phillies, Too Late for His Career

Chase Utley is scheduled to return to the Philadelphia Phillies as early as Wednesday, and it won’t be a moment too soon. Or, if you look at it another way, it’s 75 moments too late.

If Utley does make his season debut at second base for the Phillies this week, how long he stays there is anybody’s guess.

When they take the field on Wednesday, the Phillies will have played exactly 400 regular-season games since they last made the World Series, in 2009. Utley, the everyday second baseman in Philadelphia, has played in just 218 of them. (To be fair, he did play in all of Philadelphia’s 14 playoff games since 2009.) 

Last season, Utley didn’t start the 2011 campaign until May 23, missing the first 47 games because of a knee injury everyone at the beginning of spring training thought would be all set to start the season. Last year, the Phillies were in first place by two games when Utley returned, appearing in all but 12 of the team’s final 115 games of the season. The 2011 Phillies went on to win a franchise-record 102 games, increasing their stellar winning percentage from .617 without Utley to .635 with him.

Things sure have been different this season in Philadelphia.

Without Ryan Howard, who ruptured his Achilles tendon to end last season’s disappointing playoff run, and with a host of injuries up and down the rest of the roster—most notably the loss of Roy Halladay for six-to-eight weeks—the 2012 Phillies are a last-place team, nine games out of a division they’ve dominated for half a decade.

There is a lot of blame to go around Philadelphia. Fans point the finger at manager Charlie Manuel for mismanaging situations with his lineup and pitching staff. It’s hard to totally blame Manuel, really, when his most recent managing gaffe was pinch-running Juan Pierre for Jim Thome instead of pinch-hitting for Michael Martinez. Not exactly Utley, Howard and Halladay we’re talking about here.

Still, Manuel should take some of the blame for the way the season has gone. So, too, should general manager Ruben Amaro, who has thrown piles of money at aging players who haven’t lived up to lofty expectations or can’t seem to get on the field.

Then there is Utley, who has to warrant some of the blame, right? You can’t blame a guy for being hurt, but you can blame a guy for not being forthright about his injuries in the past, playing when he should have rested and telling the team now two years in a row that his body would be ready to start the season when it wasn’t even close.

The Phillies are more than 45 percent of the way through the season, and Utley hasn’t taken a swing or fielded a grounder yet. Someone wasn’t being honest—be it Utley or his doctors or Amaro or someone—when spring training began.

Certainly, Utley will get a standing ovation when he steps onto the Citizens Bank Park grass. But should he? It will be good for fans to have Utley back, but is anyone even sure he can be productive at all?

It would be callous to suggest Philly fans boo Utley—though he was booed during a rehab stint last week after going 0-for-5 with a key strikeout late in the game—but a standing ovation is akin to applauding the way his injuries have been handled. Nobody should be OK with how the Phillies and Utley handled this the last two years.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…seriously, dude, shame on you!

Utley was supposed to be ready for the regular season this year, just like last year. As the spring progressed, more and more Grapefruit League games were played without Utley. The closer the season came, the more serious the issue with Utley’s knees seemed to become.

Suddenly, he wasn’t going to start the season and had no clue when he would return. Fans were told the issue did not require surgery, nor was the issue technically “chronic,” and Utley would spend time in Arizona working with specialists on stretching exercises to help alleviate the pain.

While the Phillies languished at the bottom of the standings for weeks with a floundering offense, Utley was in Arizona…stretching.

When he returned to Philadelphia to be with the team, the rumors swirled he could be back in late May or early June. Utley eventually left the team again for extended spring training before playing nine games with the Clearwater Threshers, just four of which he played in the field.

In nine games, Utley hit .156 with a .513 OPS, one home run and five runs batted in with Clearwater before reporting to Lehigh Valley to complete his rehab stint.

Even if people just assume his bat will come back, how does anyone know if Utley’s knees will hold up to the rest of the season? How does anyone know if Utley coming back means he can play more than every other day for the rest of the year, or the rest of his career? How does anyone know if Utley can even get through a week of major-league games, let alone three months?

If injuries can derail his career to the point where he missed more than 75 games for a team that desperately needed him in the lineup this year, who can say he won’t come back for one game and miss the next three weeks with pain? Who can say Utley won’t be back for a week and be unable to withstand the pain enough to ever play again?

I am trying to be fair. I know the guy is hurt. It’s not as if Utley just decided to take off 75 games because he was tired. Having said that, neither the Phillies nor Utley have done a good enough job explaining what the future holds for the All-Star second baseman.

That, of course, is because neither of them have any idea.

With that, Phillies fans will be left watching a broken-down former MVP candidate who, even when supposedly healthy last season, was a shell of his former self. In 103 games last year, Utley hit just .259 with an OPS of .769, both the worst marks of his career as a full-time major leaguer—by a mile. He had just 38 extra-base hits on the season, including only 11 home runs, and had just 44 runs batted in for a team that scored 713 runs.

As bad as 2011 was for Utley, it followed a season in 2010 that statistically wasn’t much better. For the last two seasons, it’s been evident his power is all but gone and, while his career average is still .290, he batted a combined .267, lowering his career average five points over that span. Ironically, the only reason his average is not any lower is because he was hurt so much, he didn’t have enough at-bats to drive it down.

In a two-year span, talk in Philadelphia went from suggesting Utley was a surefire Hall of Famer to wondering if there is even a market if the team elects to try to trade him this season.

Nobody knows if Utley can hold up in the field, even if he changes positions to the outfield or first base as a bridge until Howard returns. If Utley proves he can still hit, maybe an American League team will take a chance on him as a designated hitter who could play the occasional game in the field.

That’s where Utley is at this point. Three years ago, Utley would have been one of the most valuable commodities on the open market. Now, he has become a liability for his own team to the point that they may not be able to trade him if they want to.

With the Phillies on the hook for $15 million this year and next, Phil Sheridan of the Philly Inquirer is already floating the idea of Utley’s potential retirement at the end of this season being something the Phillies may hope for; this would at least allow them to recoup the salary they will be forced to pay him next year if he tries to play and the same thing happens again next spring.

The guy missed nearly 50 games to start last season and all but swore it wouldn’t happen this year. Until it did, causing him to miss the first 75 games this season. How can anyone in the organization trust that Utley won’t be out the first 100 games next year, even if he is able to play everyday the rest of 2012? Can Philadelphia afford to pay a player $15 million for less than half a season two years in a row?

Fool them once, shame on you. Fool them twice and they will have to be crazy to believe it a third time.

For now, though, it’s not about next year for Philadelphia just yet. Still nine games out of the division, the Phillies are just 5.5 back in the wild-card race and in serious striking distance with nearly 90 games left to play. If the Phillies get Halladay and Howard back, with a somewhat-healthy Utley, they aren’t that far off from the team that won all those games last season. In fact, people thought this Phillies team could have been better than last year’s club.

Utley will also get a standing ovation because his return brings hope that this is just the beginning of the good fortune that will soon befall the City of Brotherly Love. Utley’s return is a sign that things may get back to what we thought this season could be.

Mostly, Utley will get a standing ovation upon his return because the city loves him more than any other player in the last 20 years (in any sport.) His “World F**king Champions” speech at the 2008 World Series parade cemented his legacy as a darling of Philadelphia sports fans for generations to come, even though he is notoriously one of the least forthcoming and most tight-lipped players the town has ever seen (case in point with this knee business.)

More than anything, Utley will get a standing ovation because of what he has done in a Philadelphia uniform. At his best, he was one of the top players in the history of the franchise. Even now, his return is surely better than what the Phillies have put out at second base lately, especially since Freddy Galvis went down injured and was lost for 50 games for a drug suspension.

See, Phillies fans, it could be worse. Utley could have missed this much time for being an idiot who got caught using drugs, not just a guy who is always hurt. There’s a silver lining somewhere.

In all seriousness, how long Utley can stay healthy this time—if he can ever be healthy again—will go a long way in determining how hopeful Phillies fans should be, for this year and the rest of his career.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Selecting the Philadelphia Phillies All-Time 25-Man Roster

It hasn’t always been sunshine and rainbows for the Philadelphia Phillies, but you can go through their lengthy history and build an all-time, 25-man roster that would rival any team’s all-time greats.

Of course, any time that you can lay claim to two of the greatest players of all-time at their positions, Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton, building a roster around them becomes a whole lot easier.

But it doesn’t stop there for the Phillies. The Phillies’ all-time roster will consist of Cy Young Award winners and Most Valuable Players. It will consist of All-Stars, Silver Sluggers and Gold Glove winners. You’ll find postseason heroes, including a certain World Series MVP.

For the sake of consistency, this all-time, 25-man roster was built just like an MLB roster of today. Alongside the obvious, everyday players, you’ll also find a full starting rotation, bullpen and bench. However, in order to claim one of these spots, each player must have qualified for the position in their playing career.

That means that in order to be slotted into a certain position, a player must have played enough of a certain position to qualify as one of the all-time greats.

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Philadelphia Phillies’ Weekend Series vs. Rays Is Most Crucial of the Season

The Philadelphia Phillies aren’t exactly where they’d like to be right now. The team sits in dead last in the NL East with a 33-38 record and is nine games out of first place. It’s just a game over .500 on the road at 19-18 and has an abysmal 14-20 record at home.

Last night, the team had the opportunity to go for their first series sweep of the season against the Colorado Rockies. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be—the Rockies won 4-1 despite a stellar outing by Vance Worley.

Yet because the offense couldn’t get it done—it was 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position last night—and because the bullpen couldn’t hold down the fort, the Phils took another loss in the City of Brotherly Love.

However, the Rockies aren’t a contending team and the Phillies did manage to win the series. But this weekend, the Tampa Bay Rays come into town for a three-game series, and it’s going to be the most important series this season—not only to date, but in the season as a whole.

Why, you ask?

Well, the Phillies are going to be facing one of the most complete teams in all of baseball. With the Rays having starting pitching depth that is the envy of the rest of baseball as well as an adequate offense, despite the fact that they sit in third in the AL East, they are pretty darn good.

Yes, the Rays’ biggest impact hitter, Evan Longoria, is hurt, and that should give the Phillies a bit of relief. But the Rays are also sending their two aces to the mound this weekend in James Shields (Friday) and David Price (Sunday) and a serviceable pitcher in Alex Cobb on Saturday, which could and likely will stifle the Phillies’ offense.

And while the Phillies are sending their own aces to face off against Tampa Bay’s on Friday with Cliff Lee and Sunday with Cole Hamels, if it comes down to a pitching duel, the Phillies are the more likely team not to score any runs.

After all, Lee has no wins almost halfway through the season, primarily for that reason. That’s just the way it’s been this year.

The Phillies also have the advantage (at least, on paper) of playing at home. Granted, their play at Citizens Bank Park has been atrocious, as is evidenced by their 14-20 record this year. But being able to play in their own ballpark against a strong team like the Rays is also advantageous for obvious reasons. Their pitchers are comfortable on the mound, and the fans are there for support.

This series will be telling for the Phillies for a number of reasons. The Rays are stacked with pitchers and have an above-average lineup, even without Longoria.

In addition, the Rays are an AL team. That means that the Phillies will need to step up their game against the Rays because AL teams are built with more offense. And even though this interleague series will take place without the use of a designated hitter, a possible World Series matchup for the Phils against any AL team will require the use of one.

Perhaps the biggest reason why the series is the most crucial is just that Tampa is a contending team all season long. Many expected them to slide with the absence of Longoria after he partially tore his hamstring in May. Although they sit in third place, they’re only three and a half games out of first place, and all it would take for them to get back to first is a very good stretch and for Longoria to return.

The Phillies’ other crucial series (in my opinion) was against the Los Angeles Dodgers. That was a four-game set and it was at home. And what happened? The Phillies lost all four games.

The Phillies are going to have a big challenge on their hands this weekend. If they can win the series, there’s still some hope that the team can bounce back. But this series will be telling for the reasons listed above.

If the Phils lose the home set or get swept, then there really isn’t much hope left if they can’t beat one of the better teams in baseball.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Ranking All 25 Phillies Players by How Frustrated Fans Are with Them

It should go without saying that the 2012 season has been a frustrating one for the Philadelphia Phillies and their fans.

The frustration started in spring training, when fans learned that Chase Utley and Ryan Howard would miss a majority of the first half of the season and just continued to mount from there. Injuries to several key players, including Roy Halladay, kept the fire burning.

The Phillies’ play on the field suffered as a result, and the level of frustration came to a boiling point. After winning five consecutive National League East crowns, the Phillies have found themselves in the cellar looking up for most of the season.

In a season like this, it’s hard to place the blame on a single player. However, it is a lot easier to decipher which players are frustrating fans the most, and that’s exactly what this list will do.

This slideshow will rank the least frustrating player (No. 25) and move down the list to determine which player has been the most frustrating (No. 1) this season.

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Can Phillies Get Enough Help from a Shane Victorino Trade to Make It Worth It?

The way the Philadelphia Phillies have played this season has at times made it seem like the only hope is to blow up the entire roster and start over.

Of course, once the pain from a recent loss wears off, it’s easier to think of more realistic options.

The longer it takes for the Phillies to improve on their standing in the National League East, the longer the debate will rage as to whether they should be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline.

Recent seasons have seen the Phils become buyers at the deadline, as they acquired players in hopes of advancing deep into the postseason.

This season, however, players may be brought in to simply help the team reach the postseason.

Or the reverse could happen.

Should the Phillies decide to trade some of their own players at the trade deadline, two of their impending free agents will come up in talks.  As Ken Rosenthal wrote last month, at least one team has already inquired about trading for certain players.  A trade featuring one impending free agent, Cole Hamels, could result in the Phils receiving great improvements to their farm system.  But what about a trade featuring another impending free agent?

Can the Phillies get enough help from a Shane Victorino trade to make it worth it?

 

Well, if that help is in the form of current major league talent that is ready to step in and make a difference, the answer is likely no.

However, if that helps is in the form of prospects who may contribute in a few years, the answer could change.

Victorino is batting .252 with eight home runs and 33 RBI through 70 games.  He has also stolen 15 bases, which puts him sixth in the National League.  Victorino’s home run and RBI totals also rank near the top of the National League among center fielders.

So, would any team be willing to offer the Phillies a substantial trade package in order to acquire the 31-year-old outfielder, especially if he stays only for the remainder of this season?

Although the chances of the Phils receiving a current major league contributor in exchange for Victorino are slim, an offer involving a prospect that is ranked in the top 10 of a team’s minor league system could be enough to make a deal worth it.

For that matter, any deal involving a prospect ranked in the top 10 of a system and a prospect ranked in the top 25 of a system or a relief pitcher at the major league level could be intriguing to the Phillies.

With a minor league system that has its share of pitching prospects, a deal for Victorino involving a high-ranking position prospect could be the type of help that interests the Phils.

 

A team such as the San Francisco Giants could be interested in Victorino if they are unwilling to commit to Melky Cabrera or Angel Pagan long-term.

Both Cabrera and Pagan are set to become free agents after this season, and both currently have batting averages well above their career averages.  Adding Victorino to the mix would give the Giants yet another impending free agent, but also the opportunity to put either Cabrera or Pagan in right field in order to bolster their outfield.  The Giants are currently within striking distance of first place in the National League West.

Of the three, Victorino’s consistency, with the exception of this season thus far, could make him the more attractive option for the Giants to meet the salary demands of a long-term contract.  Victorino has batted over .270 in all but one of his major league seasons in which he played in over 100 games. 

Another team currently in contention that could be interested in Victorino is the Cincinnati Reds, who could be willing to acquire the outfielder even if just for the remainder of the regular season and a possible postseason run.

The Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers may also be two American League teams who could be willing to acquire Victorino, even without the guarantee that he’ll re-sign.

With Hamels, Hunter Pence and Carlos Ruiz nearing raises and potential replacements needed at third base and left field, the Phillies may not be able to sign Victorino to the long-term deal he’ll be looking for during the offseason.

 

And with John Mayberry, Jr., who was batting .368 over the past week, and Domonic Brown, who batted .297 in the 10 games prior to suffering a knee injury, the Phillies may have options in center field should they decide to spend money on other areas of the roster.

Brown had been receiving playing time in center field at Triple-A prior to his injury.

An outfield for the remainder of the season consisting of Pence, Juan Pierre and his .323 batting average and a possible platoon of Mayberry and Brown could be solid enough to allow the Phillies to trade Victorino.

With Victorino, the Phillies run the risk, as they do with all impending free agents, that he will sign elsewhere during free agency and the team will receive nothing in return. 

However, a mid-season trade built around a team’s top-10 prospect and top-25 prospect and/or major league reliever could bring about a return that greatly favors the Phillies.

Can a Victorino trade provide the Phillies with immediate help that betters their playoff chances?  No.

Can a Victorino trade result in the acquisition of a prospect or two that can help the Phillies in a few years?  Yes.

Which means that a deal involving Victorino could be out there that is worth it for the Phils.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Philadelphia Phillies: How Chase Utley’s Return Impacts Team’s Playoff Chances

The result of Thursday night’s Philadelphia Phillies game, a 4-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies, pretty much sums up how the entire season has been going.

Citizen’s Bank Park, a place that boasts loud and passionate fans, used to be a place that other teams dreaded to play in. The home-field advantage was never more obvious than when the Phils took the field at their stadium in the heart of their beloved city. In 2012, however, it has just been a place where the Phillies play their home games. Nothing much is special about it, no added advantage is obvious. The team isn’t winning any more games at home. They aren’t winning games period.

Nothing has been easy for the Phils this season. Whether it has been the injuries to key members of the team, uncharacteristic errors in the field, a lack of success against other teams’ bullpens or just an inability to score with runners on base with less than two outs, the championship formula this team has had in the past few years is not there.

Morale is down and frustration is obvious. It is on the faces of the players, the dumbfounded looks of the manager and the disappointment from the fans.

This team needs something, well a lot of things. It needs to get help in the bullpen. It needs to get its ace and sluggers off of the DL. It needs its other ace to find a way to win a game. It needs to score more runs. It needs to make less errors, both mental and on the score sheet. It needs to take action, to play inspired baseball. Most importantly, this team needs to get its swagger, its confidence, its personality back.

Most of what the Phils need, most of what I described, is embodied in the heart and soul of one player. He is someone who doesn’t shy away from a challenge, someone who plays with grit and passion, someone who is a leader. He may have arthritic knees but that doesn’t change the fact that when healthy, he can really smack the cover off of a baseball.

If you haven’t figured it out, the person I am referring to is All-Star second baseman Chase Utley.

Having yet to face major league pitching and the wear and tear of major league fielding, Utley is close to making his 2012 debut. In fact, according to a recent report via AOL Sporting News, Utley could be back before the calendar turns to July.

While Utley’s return has been long anticipated, at this point in the season, one has to wonder if it will be enough or if the Phils have already dug themselves a hole too deep to climb out of.

Even then, a bigger question arises. When Utley comes back, how will he be? Will he go back to how he was pre-2011? Will he be able to play back-to-back games? Will his knees hold up for the rest of the season?

With all of these questions and so far, not enough information to create the answers, it is hard to predict how Utley’s return will impact the team’s chances at a sixth consecutive playoff berth. If Utley is healthy, however, and returns to the form he has had in the best years of his career, it would not be surprising to see the Phillies once again atop the NL East.

On the field, Utley brings solid defensive skills. He has never been perfect in the field but it is something he has invested time and energy in improving. With the bat, Utley has offensive prowess. His quick swing enables him to get the barrel on the ball and helps him get around on pitches. He grinds out each at-bat and is rarely ever an easy out.

Something else that the Phillies desperately need is situational hitting and when at his best, Utley does this as well as anyone else in the game. With a runner on second, nobody out, such as in Thursday’s game when Ty Wigginton led off the inning with a double, Utley knows what he has to do and more often than not executes.

In addition to what Utley offers with his bat and his glove, depending on his knees, he can also be a threat on the bases. Although not the fastest, Utley has also had good career numbers in base stealing percentage. Just like every other aspect of his game, he works so hard at it and as a result, when he does run, he picks his moments, and more often than not, he chooses them wisely.

In the dugout, in the clubhouse, in the locker room and on the field, Chase Utley is a leader. For someone who keeps his life relatively under wraps in terms of the media, Utley has proven himself to be a vital part of who the team is. Much of the confidence, swagger and personality this team alludes comes from the way Utley plays the game. The younger players on the team imitate him and the older players respect him. 

If Jimmy Rollins is the fire and Ryan Howard is the heart of the line up, Chase Utley is obviously the soul. Without its heart and soul, Rollins’ fire is just an extinguishing flame. It goes without saying that with Utley back, this team will start to get some of its morale back. Rollins’ flame, which has been starting to light up, will catch fire. Led by Rollins and Utley, the rest of this offense will catch fire too, just in time for a late playoff push in the heat of the summer months.

So even though the Chase Utley Phillies fans will see is still in question, what isn’t in question is what he means to this team. So much of Utley’s value is not measured in a box score. It is in the intangibles he exudes just when he takes the field. For the Phils, getting Utley back will impact their playoff chances and could very well make them a playoff team again. 

No matter what, though, the Phillies will be an interesting story to watch as the final, pivotal months of the season are underway.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Philadelphia Phillies in 2012 Are No Day at the Beach

Baseball seasons, like days at the beach, are not created equal.  The 2012 Phillies season to date brings to mind a beach day you looked forward to, only to be alternately aggravated and disappointed by what you actually got.

You might say “who can complain about a day at the beach?”  The sun, the sand, and the waves. You imagine a breeze carrying a hint of salt air.  The gently tumbling surf serves as a white noise soundtrack, turning the workaday part of your brain off.  There might even be a cocktail after.  What is to complain about?

Days like today, that’s what.  For starters, it is hot.  Not “unseasonably warm,” not even “a trifle uncomfortable.”  No – it is brutally hot, the sort of heat you ordinarily only hear news stories about from places like Texas or Missouri.  Low triple-digit temperature, high double-digit humidity.  The absolute worst.

Compounding matters is that this is one of those days at the beach where the breeze comes stiffly off the land.  The breeze not only provides no relief, it makes you feel like a kernel of corn spinning in a hot-air popper.  

That same land breeze carries biting flies by the thousands onto the beach, and these flies are hungry.  Usually, if you can walk far enough into the water, the flies circle back to look for easier prey.  Not today.  You are up to your waist in the water and still flailing away, looking like you are fighting an apparition and getting more annoyed by the minute.

And it is not helping matters that your kids are whining about the heat, begging for ice cream, and asking when you can go back to the house.  Maybe staying on the boardwalk until 9:30 last night was not the greatest idea after all.

So, at 1:30 in the afternoon, it is decision time.  Are you going to stick it out?  Are you going to wait for the wind to turn?  It won’t be 100 degrees the whole day, right?  Maybe the flies will leave you alone if you slather on some more Off!  You paid good money to rent this place for this week.  Can you just call that money wasted for today?

This is the predicament of the Phillie fan nearly halfway through the 2012 season.

Tickets are bought and paid for.  Because of that, even if the vaunted sellout streak ends, 35,000+ fans will be in the seats for every game on the schedule until the team is mathematically eliminated from the wild card race or until the Eagles play their first regular season game, whichever comes first.

The question the Phillie fan needs to answer is whether it will be worth holding on to hope through what is shaping up to be a long, possibly lost summer.

Like the beach-goer waiting for the wind to shift in the face of mounting adverse evidence, the Phillie fan waits for Chase Utley and Ryan Howard to begin playing baseball.  The Phillie fan waits for Roy Halladay to come off the disabled list.  And for Cliff Lee to win a game, and for any middle relief pitcher to get a meaningful out, and so on into the endless regular season.

The Phillie fan needs more than that, though.  The Washington Nationals need to make a decision, and fast.  Either run away and hide in winning the division while laying waste to the Phillies’ competitors for a wild card berth, or come back to the pack and give the Phillies a chance to catch them.

The fans are not the only ones going crazy from the heat.  Charlie Manuel has had closed-door meetings.  He has told the press that other teams don’t fear the Phillies any more.  He has observed that his team does not defend like it used to.  Whatever you do, do not ask him about the way his team has hit.

Ruben Amaro Jr. is no sunnier.  Asked recently about when some of his injured stars might be back, RAJ somewhat bemusedly sighed that he wanted to stay away from timetables because they have proven inaccurate in the recent past.

So it is hot on the beach, and getting hotter.  Is it time to go home?  Or will you stay, knowing that while it may not get much better, it is unlikely to get too much worse?

Decision time is here.

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