Phillies Offense Continues To Sputter
Tuesday night, the Philadelphia Phillies lost for the eighth time in ten games. While the National League favorites struggles are surprising enough, the fact that it is mostly due to their offense is shocking. Over the past two years, the Phillies offense has been a juggernaut. The club led the NL in runs in 2009 and were third in that category in 2008. This year, the Phillies rank eleventh in runs scored in the National League as they have seen the Braves move ahead of them in the standings in the NL East. Over the past ten games, the Phillies have scored just 13 runs and have been shut out five times.
While I expect the Phillies offense to get on track because that lineup is just too talented, there has to be a little concern in Philadelphia. Jimmy Rollins has been unable to stay healthy this year and they have not gotten much production from his replacement Juan Castro. If the Phillies are going to make a third straight trip to the World Series this fall, they must get a healthy and productive Jimmy Rollins back into the lineup. He is the catalyst for that offense and sets the table for Ryan Howard and Chase Utley.



