Should the Philadelphia Phillies Focus on Looking for Bullpen Help?

The Philadelphia Phillies need reinforcements, and it seems as if they are going to start looking for bullpen help.

According to Jim Salisbury at Comcast Sports Network, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel “hinted” at looking for bullpen help.

However, the Phillies are struggling right now, and you have to wonder if the bullpen is really the biggest problem.

The Philadelphia bullpen does need help even though Jonathan Papelbon has been extraordinarily strong while Antonio Bastardo, Raul Valdes and Joe Savery are putting up solid campaigns.

The rest of the bullpen has been questionable, but in their defense, they have not always been handed the ball in the best situations.

In terms of runs scored, the Phillies are slightly above average with the 12th most in all of baseball. However, if you look at the results on game-by-game basis, there have been 14 games where the Phillies have scored one run or fewer.

That is not ideal production. They do well when they score at least a few runs, but if you can’t rely on that run production, winning becomes that much harder.

So what should Phillies do in this situation?

Ryan Howard and Chase Utley will be returning eventually, but until then, the Phillies need to worry about the hole in their lineup rather than the perceived hole in their bullpen. Having a strong bullpen is great, but the offense needs to be able to generate a lead that the bullpen can then hold on to.

The Phillies will almost definitely be active throughout the trading season since they are currently sitting six games out of first place, so keep your eyes on their movements. Maybe something huge will develop as it often does when Ruben Amaro Jr. is in control.

 

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