{"id":2155,"date":"2011-09-28T13:28:41","date_gmt":"2011-09-28T17:28:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=2155"},"modified":"2011-09-28T13:29:30","modified_gmt":"2011-09-28T17:29:30","slug":"i-aint-worried-about-either-side-of-broad-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=2155","title":{"rendered":"I Ain’t Worried About Either Side of Broad Street"},"content":{"rendered":"

This seems to be quite a bit of consternation along our favorite sports corridor these days, as both the Phils and Eagles have been, shall we say, less than confidence-inspiring as of late (though the recent impressive 3-game winning streak for our boys in red has tempered some of the worry on the North side.\u00a0 But, as for Yours Truly, whose optimism in Philadelphia has frequently been unfairly characterized as an attempt at contrarianism, I am not worried about either of Philadelphia’s loaded rosters.<\/p>\n

The Phils<\/strong>
\nLet’s start on the north side of Pattison Avenue, where the 5-time NL East champion Phils won their franchise record-tying 101st game last night, putting them four full games<\/em> ahead of the next best team in all of baseball and six games better than their closest National League contender.<\/p>\n

Their “Slump”<\/em>
\nYes, I know that they got their 98th win, clinching homefield advantage throughout and then promptly lost 8 straight, including\u00a06 in a row to the NL’s juggernauts in Washington and New York.\u00a0 But, let us be honest, anyone who has ever really competed in anything will tell you that professional athletes or not, elite competitors or not, these are human beings and are vulnerable to the same human foibles as anyone else.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Think about this:\u00a0 Let’s say that every day for the next 150 days, you and I\u00a0are going to go a bar and shoot darts against each other for a relatively small, but not<\/em> insignificant, amount of money.\u00a0 Then, all of a sudden, on the 151st day, I say that the next 12 days are not <\/em>going to be for money, BUT…13 days from now, we are going to restart the money games, only at 100 times the stakes.\u00a0 How good do you think you’d be in the first 7 or 8 days of “exhibitions?”\u00a0 I know I wouldn’t.\u00a0 And, then with 3 or 4 days left before the BIG money, I’d probably start trying to zone in again.\u00a0 And, to expect anything else from this team is nonsense.\u00a0 For those that say, “they can’t just flip a switch and turn it back on,” there are countless examples – in all sports, including baseball – of teams that have gone in the tank before the playoffs and turned around and won it all.\u00a0 Just in the last decade, there were a couple examples of teams not exactly playing their best ball “down the stretch.”\u00a0 In 2006, the\u00a0Cardinals went 9-16 in September and almost blew a 7-game lead to the Astros.\u00a0 In 2000, the Yankees lost 15 of their last 18 games, barely holding off the Red Sox for the AL East title.\u00a0 And, because both of these teams were in pennant races, they had absolutely no excuses for losing these games – they just weren’t playing well.\u00a0 And\u00a0yet, World Series banners fly in both St. Louis for the 2006 season and New York for the 2000 season.<\/p>\n

The Lineup<\/em>
\nThere may even be something good that has come out of this (though, it’s unclear whether this was caused by the slump or would have happened anyway).\u00a0 When Charlie wrote the “regulars” back into the lineup on Monday, there was an interesting twist to the batting order.\u00a0 Chase Utley, who has been the team’s #3-hitter pretty much his whole career, was moved to the 2-hole with Hunter Pence sliding into #3, in between Utley and Ryan Howard.\u00a0 Interesting, and…<\/p>\n

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He doesn't seem like the same Chase, but are you betting against him?<\/p><\/div>\n

I love it!\u00a0 I have been actually saying, for a while now, that come playoff time, the Phils need to split up the lefties any way they can.\u00a0 I have been trying to find ways to do that for about four years now, even creating ways to do it (hit Werth #3, now Polanco #3, I even said in a blog at the beginning of this season that I wanted Jimmy Rollins to be the #3 hitter in October…hell, I’ve even suggested hitting Ryan Howard 5th!).\u00a0 Now, with Pence’s emergence and Utley’s power decline, we don’t even need to invent creative ways to do this, it just makes perfect sense.\u00a0 And, it’s even better than just having the lefties split up.\u00a0 Utley is no longer a true power hitter.\u00a0 His slugging percentage is his worst since becoming a regular (though, would anyone be shocked if he hit 7 home runs next month?), but he still gets on base, still runs the bases with intelligent abandon, and still needs to get a ton of at-bats for this team to win.\u00a0 And, then there’s Pence.\u00a0 A guy who brings energy and passion to the lineup.\u00a0 A guy who, let’s\u00a0be honest, is the best hitter on the team right now.\u00a0 And, if there is one knock on Pence it’s that he doesn’t take enough pitches – that he is too free-swinging.\u00a0 So, having him behind <\/em>Howard, while nice because it did get the big guy more pitches to hit, kind of plays to Pence’s weakness because there was no one protecting him.\u00a0 Now that he is protected by<\/em> Howard, Pence is going to get strikes.\u00a0 I love it.\u00a0 And, Victorino has had a terrific year, and I have no worries about him in the 5-hole.\u00a0 In fact, I think it actually plays more to his <\/em>strengths too because if he gets on base there, he can run at will without the danger of running into outs in front of the big guys.\u00a0 Plus, with Polanco #6 (a fantastic 2-hitter), it’s almost like the turn the lineup over again at #5.\u00a0 I think this is the most balanced, all-around lineup that the Phils have brought to a postseason in this recent run.<\/p>\n

My One Actual Concern<\/em>
\nWhile the 8-game losing streak hasn’t phased me, there is one thing that has really troubled me in the second half of this month.\u00a0 What in the world happened to Antonio Bastardo?\u00a0 Granted, I never <\/em>expected anything close to the Bastardo we enjoyed for the first 5 months, but I think every Phillies fan in the world would trade those 5 months for someone with any semblance of reliability right now.\u00a0 After seeming to\u00a0be on his way to obliterating the all-time record for BA against, he, all of a sudden, can’t get anyone out<\/em>.\u00a0 And, this problem is exacerbated even more by the fact that he’s our only lefty<\/em>.\u00a0 If he doesn’t straighten things out, the Phils will enter the playoffs without a single reliable left-hander in the bullpen.\u00a0 And, I don’t have to remind Phillies fans of how essential guys like Javier Lopez and Damaso Marte have been in October over the past couple of years.<\/p>\n

This is a Pretty Nice Spot to Be In<\/em>
\nAll in all, is there any roster in the majors who you would swap for the Phils’ heading into October?\u00a0 And, if it took you more than 2 seconds to say “no,” then you’re\u00a0either an ignorant Yankees fan who\u00a0still thinks it’s 1999, die-hard (and delusional) Brewers\u00a0fan, or a Red Sox fan who just woke up for a 4-week nap.\u00a0 Because of the ridiculous unpredictability of the baseball playoffs,\u00a0a Phils title is not even a probability, let alone a certainty, but there is no doubt in my mind that the Phils have by far<\/em> the best chance at winning this year’s World Series – and, honestly, what else could we ask for?<\/p>\n

No, I ain’t worried…<\/p>\n

The Birds<\/strong>
\nTrust me, no one feels more pain after a loss to the New York Giants than this guy.\u00a0 I hate the Giants more than any other sports team on the planet.\u00a0 And, losing to them puts me in a bad mood for at least a month…sometimes longer.\u00a0 And, I am also keenly aware of how health concerns (particularly at the quarterback position) can quickly derail the season of even the most talented NFL rosters.\u00a0 But,\u00a0this team is loaded, but still learning to play with one another.\u00a0 Their schedule actually screamed 1-2 to me after 2 weeks (granted, I thought they’d be 1-0 in the division, but still), and there is a TON of season left.\u00a0 The rest of the schedule actually plays out well for the Birds, and, probably most important of all, the NFC East isn’t exactly setting the league on fire right now.<\/p>\n

Health<\/em>
\nAll the “not worried” comments do (and always will) come with a critical caveat – injuries are the almight equalizer.\u00a0 And, if Vick continues to go down, the season looks a bit different.\u00a0 If Vince Young stays banged-up, then the season looks a LOT different.\u00a0 I like Mike Kafka, and he looked great against Atlanta, but he looked totally lost against the Giants.\u00a0 Without stability at the most important position in sports, all bets are off.<\/p>\n

Shady<\/em>
\nI have been saying since the beginning of the year that LeSean McCoy has the potential to be a top 5 back in this league – right now.\u00a0 And, it seems as if the world is starting to agree.\u00a0 He’s a flat-out stud, my friends.\u00a0 And, he is so dangerous in all phases of this offense.\u00a0 When you talk about the Eagles offense, I think you are contracturally obligated to use the term “weapons.”\u00a0 But, the real jewel of this offense is McCoy, and with a guy like that, this offense will always be good.<\/p>\n

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He may not be THE best back in the league, but he is putting himself in the discussion rather quickly<\/p><\/div>\n

The O-Line is MUCH Better than You Might be Led to Believe<\/em>
\nJason Peters is an ELITE left tackle.\u00a0 Todd Herremans was a fantastic left guard, whose natural position is right tackle, so he may also be elite.\u00a0 Jason Kelce is a 6th-round draft pick at center who has been pretty solid, considering he’s three games into his NFL career.\u00a0 And, the guards are still new.\u00a0 O-lines take time to gel.\u00a0 Give them some time under the best O-line coach on the planet, and this unit may actually, dare I say it, be one of the strengths of the team.<\/p>\n

The Defense<\/em>
\nQuestion marks abound.\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 But, let us not judge this defense quite yet.\u00a0 The Birds have played three games this year and faced maybe the three most committed, downhill running offenses in the entire league.\u00a0 And, it doesn’t take a offensive coordinator to realize that downhill running games are bad matchups for a built around small, quick defensive ends and dynamic, playmaking cornerbacks.\u00a0 When a defense’s weak spots are linebacker and safety, it’s no surprise that teams with Steven Jackson, Michael Turner, Ahmad Bradshaw, and Brandon Jacobs on their rosters could present problems.\u00a0 But, most teams in this league are not of that ilk.\u00a0 Which brings us to the next, and probably most important point…<\/p>\n

Let’s Look at the Schedule<\/em>
\nLike I said, I expected the Eagles to be sitting here at 1-2, with everyone singing that the sky is falling and making “Dream Team” jokes.\u00a0 But, let us take a look at what is to come:<\/p>\n