Hitting doubles, triples and home runs can only take a team so far. If the bats cool down and begin to slump, there has to be another way for a team to score.
The Phillies, arguably, have the best offense in the National League. The combination of Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and Placido Polanco gives the Philadelphia offense plenty of pop, but what happens if that “pop” goes south?
Now that Philadelphia has four pitchers who could, on any single day, toss a shutout, the Phillies must be able to create runs by using a forgotten, yet powerful tactic: small ball.
Not many teams can execute a suicide-bunt anymore these days, especially the American League, which rarely bunts since they have a designated hitter taking the spot of a pitcher in the batting order.
Unfortunately for the Phillies, they are near the bottom when it comes to successful bunts. They ranked 25th in baseball last season with just eight bunts that went for a hit.
That number, you would think, should be higher considering that the Phillies have plenty of speed between Shane Victorino and the aforementioned Rollins. But neither of them are elite bunters.
With Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels in the rotation, the Philadelphia offense may need one or two runs per game to win.
However, what happens if Howard can’t hit one into Ashburn Alley? Or if Chase Utley can’t knock one off the centerfield fence with a runner on second?
That’s where small play comes into play.
I doubt Philadelphia will incorporate bunt-and-run’s or sacrifice bunts (unless a pitcher is up) into their arsenal, but considering what the Phillies have with their new, historic rotation, a suicide bunt here-and-there could be the difference-maker in a game.
So advancing runners can win you ball games….wowww! One of the best most insightful baseball reviews EVER!!
They’ve got to win it all this season.
Good point Kyle. There is nothing more frustrating than wasting a great pitching effort with a lack of run support. “Doing the little things right”, like bunting, hit & run or sacrificing runners over can be the difference alot of nights with this staff. We cannot depend on the ” Earl Weaver 3 run homerun” managment style every night. We need the manager to recognize when his team is hitting well or when they are overmatched, and when they are overmatched he needs to get even his “star” players to do what is in the best interest of the team that night. Small ball offense with this pitching staff will lead to a record season of wins.
I disagree that the Phils have the National League’s best offense..
(I think the Reds have a better, a more balanced batting Line-up than the Phils)
The Phils strike out too often and do not play small ball very well and really haven’t under Manager
Manuel who as a hitters coach, prefers his players to swing away and hit and doesn’t like to the bat out of hitters hands
Rollins and Victorin would add a good .10 -.20 points to their batting averages and they would get on base much more often if they spent time mastering the bunt (which is a dying art by batters anymore) as they should have when they were younger..
This teams batting line-up has questions all over it, in my opinion
Can Utley,Rollins,Ibanez,Victorino bounce back from off-years… (If 2 of these 4 players do, then their offense will be fine, If all 3 or 4 continue their trends of underperforming,and injuries then their offense is in trouble)
How much can the Phils count on D Brown and or B Francisco count on Offensively
I think if they can combine and hit in the .270 range with 25 HR’s and 75-80 Rbis between them
both, that should be fine.. but if they both struggle , where’s the production going to come from to replace Werth’s #’s…