Model of Mediocrity

Interesting and befuddling stat of the day:

2008 Longest Winning Streak - 2 games
2008 Longest Losing Streak - 2 games

The Phillies have simply been unable to get any sort of momentum going over the first 16 games of the season and interestingly enough it is not the pitching which is hamstringing this team. The Phillies are actually 3rd in the NL in Quality Starts (6 IP, 3 ER or less) from their starters and the Bullpen has been fairly solid as well. The Phillies hitting has been up and down all season though and they have simply not been clutch. 3B Rally Killer has led the way despite his late inning heroics on Tuesday with multiple momentum killing GIDPs, weak popups with men in scoring position and the ever popular ground out to 3B or SS when the Phillies are trying to advance a runner with less than 2 outs. However, more puzzling, 1B Ryan Howard has been just as inconsistent. While he has 3 HRs so far, he his batting a pitiful .189 with 20 Ks in just 53 ABs. In other words he's striking out in over 30% of his plate appearances. That is a ridiculous stat and if he keeps it up, he will easily shatter his own single season strikeout record.

In other news: SS Jimmy Rollins is not expected back in the lineup until Saturday at the earliest. I'm beginning to wonder why he wasn't put on the 15 day DL to rest his injured ankle. UT Eric Bruntlett has been brutal in his place both in the field and at the plate. He now has 4 hits in 7 games since taking over for JRoll at Short.

Good News: SP Kyle Kendrick had his first Quality Start of the season yesterday and SP Adam Eaton continues to perform well in the first couple weeks of the season. Eaton is 3 for 3 on Quality Starts this year and he is posting an ERA of 4.12 in the early going. His GB rate is up and he appears to be pitching to contact more this year instead of trying to strike batters out. That's a good sign of his confidence.

Even Better News: SP Brett Myers appears to have "turned it on" and is working on his second straight QS after looking timid in his first 2 starts. He's challenging hitters now and his K/9 rate has gone up in 4 straight starts. He's looking to improve to 2-1 on the season if the Phillies hold on to win this afternoon.