PHILLIESNOTEBOOK
Howard’s HR one small step for anemic offense
PHILADELPHIA — Not only did the Phillies perform miserably on their just-completed road trip, they finished it amid two of their premier pitchers venting some miseries.
First Cliff Lee indicated that if the Phillies didn’t start playing better, the trade deadline would loom ever larger for the club. Not lost in there was the not-so subtle hint that perhaps Lee would halfexpect to be part of any trade movement that might crop up in that case.
That done, Cole Hamels really put voice to his frustrations, which seemed way overdue considering he’d just suffered loss No. 10 in a season that so far shouldn’t have produced half that many losses for him.
Lee and Hamels have seen respective measures the past two seasons of non-support from a Phillies offense, with support issues extending back far beyond spring training. Charlie Manuel hasn’t been shy in talking about his hitters needing to pump up the production, but it took a 3-7 road trip for the boss to sound off.
“Obviously, we haven’t performed the way we hoped,” general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said Monday as the Phillies were prepping for the Washington Nationals. “Particularly the core guys.”
Before you get the idea that this would be the usual management lip service about win as a team, lose as a team, however, know that Amaro would try the direct approach to motivation.
He pointed at “the middle of the lineup” as a prime suspect in the lack of offensive consistency. And since Chase Utley’s oblique injury and Carlos Ruiz’s hurting hamstring excludes them, there was little doubt that Amaro was primarily pointing toward Ryan Howard, the cleanup hitter who heading into Monday night had seven home runs in 65 games.
“Howie hasn’t really performed the way we’d typically expect,” Amaro said. “And Jimmy (Rollins) has been OK, but Jimmy has also had better years. It’s going to take a little bit of everybody contributing.”
Back to Howard, Amaro mentioned an ankle that has been bothering his first baseman, saying, “He’s been having problems. Charlie says he’s been hitting the ball harder and hopefully that can translate into production.”
Almost predictably, Howard would promptly homer in his first at-bat against the Nats. But it was like Manuel knew it was coming on.
Before the game, he had pointed to Howard’s prior few games and listed examples of how he’s making better contact with the ball, though at that point Howard hadn’t hit a homer since May 29.
“Howard has been hitting the ball hard,” Manuel said. “(But) he hasn’t been hitting any in the air. He’ll find it if he keeps hitting like that consistently every night. I’m not worried about him hitting balls up in the air ... He’s staying on the ball better and getting the fat part of the bat on the ball. He’s just not getting the ball in the air.”
It didn’t take long to cure that problem. As for the rest of the Phillies’ offensive issues...
Getting Utley and Ruiz back — both could be in the Phillies’ lineup by the end of the week — will certainly help. But as for getting people like Howard, Rol- lins and certainly Delmon Young to step up offensively and stay there, that’s a far greater uncertainty.
And just as Lee pointed out, that end of July trading deadline isn’t all that far away anymore.
“It’s not early anymore by any means,” Amaro said. “We still have to get these (injured) guys on the field to play. With all the guys back maybe we’d get a better idea of whether or not they’d be able to produce close to where it would be a little more acceptable. Right now, it’s not.” Not that it’s late or anything. “We definitely can catch up from where we’re at,” Manuel said. “But we have to play better baseball.”
NOTES
Amaro indicated Ruiz, who has had two rehab starts, may not need another. He’s making progress and his return seems imminent. Utley likely will make a rehab start either today or Wednesday. If all goes well it might only take a couple of those before he returns, too. ... Reliever Jeremy Horst went on the disabled list with a flexor strain. Monday’s starter John Lannan took his spot on the roster. ... Amaro on Lee making comments about the trade deadline: “Cliff doesn’t have a trade-me clause, he has a no-trade clause.”