These last two months were supposed to be a soft landing for the Phillies to ease prospects into the show. Not anymore.
Beerleaguer: It’s like this: “Nice to meet you, Tyler. Ryne says you had a great season. That’s terrific. Tell you what: We’d like to see what you’re made of. We’d like to turn you loose on big league hitters for the next few weeks, get your feet wet, see if there’s a spot for you on our team next season. How’s that sound? Good. One last thing. You can’t lose. Good luck, son!”
What a difference three days make. Picture this scenario. The Phillies still trail the Cardinals by six games and the odds of making the postseason are essentially nil. Cloyd throws a stinkbomb at the Astros tonight and the hunky-dory headline reads like this: “Cloyd considers loss a learning experience.” But that won’t be the case anymore, in any of Cloyd’s remaining starts. Each outing is critical. Any loss would be devastating, no matter how much wiggle room one believes the Phillies have secured. "Cloyd can't deliever in critical loss." That's how the headline would read today.
But in many ways, what better way to learn on the job and test a player's pluck. That’s really the nicest, unintended side effect of the Phillies’ surge. They’re winning with youth while raising the stakes.
Win them all in Houston: There’s been a lot of back and forth over what it will take – in terms of wins and losses – for the Phillies to control their own destiny. I’m of the mind they need to sweep Houston. They’re the weakest team left on the schedule by a longshot. Why leave anything to chance with a harder schedule ahead?
pretty sweet alternative viewpoint on the philadephia phillies, wasn't even thinking of that.
Posted by: lorecore | Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 02:14 PM
Marty Bystrom, anybody?
Posted by: Zudok | Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 02:16 PM
Need sweep, but can live with 3 out of 4. Worried about the Mets series, actually, especially if Dickie is pitching. Phils seems to play down to them for some reason.
Posted by: SLO Phan | Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 02:17 PM
Might as well see what the guy's made of. At any rate, I feel better about Cloyd's chances for success than I did about continuing to trot out an injured & ineffective Worley. If Cloyd can keep the Phils in games, & the offense (& defense) pick him up some, who knows?
Posted by: GTown_Dave | Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 02:18 PM
It's why I'm so amped on Aumont right now. He's come up and basically saved the late inning crisis the team has had. I like Cloyd vs. the Astros. That team is a disgrace to the league. The Phils just need to not sleep walk through this series like they have in the past.
Posted by: Scotch Man | Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 02:21 PM
Lorecore: Huh?
Posted by: J. Weitzel | Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 02:22 PM
No prisoners.
Posted by: kuvasz | Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 02:39 PM
Good article on Philly.com explaining how the Phil's can set up their rotation for the rest of the season where Cloud only gets 2 starts after tonight.
http://mobile.philly.com/sports/phillies/?wss=/philly/sports/phillies&id=169608376
Posted by: Mike G | Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 02:50 PM
Cloyd will be pitching against a AAA team. He's pretty good at that.
Posted by: Rjacob81 | Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 03:16 PM
absolutely, they must sweep Houston. They must go 15-4 the rest of the way - 14-5 at worst, but that might not do it. The margin for error is slim!
Posted by: Jim | Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 03:27 PM
Dickey is pitching Monday vs us. Mets offered a buy one, get two tickets free promotion around his scheduled home starts.
I know people like to point to the Chipper game as one that got away, but why aren't we remembering the game where the ump ruled the trap a catch and a DP?
Posted by: EastFallowfield | Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 03:44 PM
Yo, new thread
Posted by: EastFallowfield | Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 03:45 PM