Surrender?

Thank heavens for the off-day. I mean, this isn’t funny any more. Currently, they have less life and purpose than the Wizards. Here, these two Phillies' fans are advocating surrender!

It is such a mess, so awful- that you are tempted to big picture solutions- Fire Charlie!- because solutions to the manifest smaller problems are devoid of reasonable suggestions. I mean, now infield defense is a problem too? Rollins? Howard? I’m talking to you.

I know it is early- but lose this last two to the Mets and the Phillies find themselves seven games under even. On April 12th. You know, that is a lot. Assuming the Phils are even capable of it, playing 60% ball is hard, hard, hard. Even winning six out of ten means it is almost June before the Phillies would square their mark. Lose another pair, and they could play pretty darn well and spend the next two months getting back to .500.

Worse, it doesn’t feel like a season wear hanging around a few games over mediocrity will get it done. Certainly the Braves (my pick to in the division- although this is a real blow) and the Mets look to be legit 90+ candidates. And that is just the East.

I really don’t know what to do. They’re not this bad- but they aren’t very good either. This is what an 81-84 win team looks like when things are going bad- and Philadelphia is just that: mediocre-plus. The bench is a wreck. It wasn’t too good last year either- but gosh, remember last year when they had guys like Victorino, Dave Dellucci, Leiberthal populating the roster as extra players for long stretches? There are no other “get to the ninth inning” relief options besides Geary and Madson (who I kill here)- so I guess you gotta run’em out there until they find themselves. Sigh, isn’t that a nice mixture of hope and hopelessness?

But they simply can’t drop the next two. This is going to be hard enough without playing games until Memorial Day simply in a hope to square the record. Charlie has got to go to the well here- manage these two games like Game Six and Seven. An all hands on deck sort of thing. The bullpen is rested- so pitch the guys you have the most confidence for as long as they can go. No off days for regulars. Shorten the rotation. Survive ‘til Washington!