
It's deja vu all over again. After the Phillies lost their opening day game in extra innings to the Braves, my dad summed things up very well - "This is the same as last season."
The evidence is there for all to see, yesterday the Phillies struck-out 11 times, left 15 men on base and the bullpen lost the game after the starter put in a good day's work.
Furthermore the top three Phils batters struck out 7 times in 14 at-bats and Pat Burrell struck out twice. Chase Utley left 6 runners on base, 3 of them in scoring position with 2 outs; is he the clutch hitter we all think he is?
Do you want to question Charlie Manuel's decisions? How about not pinch-running for Brett Myers in the seventh inning? And after all of the talk in the off-season about who will hit fifth behind Ryan Howard, Manuel just flipped Howard and Utley in the line-up.
Hopefully this is not a hint of the season to come or it could be another very long season for Phillies fans.
I think it may be a sign of things to come for the Phils. I think there bullpen is the obvious weakness, but with the injuries raising questions around the rotation, they might not be as good as many suspect.
I really think the Braves have a better chance in that division than the Phils.
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