Blame Game

Ok, so let's get this out of the way first. Jose Reyes was out. To call him safe was a terrible call; not one for the history books bad, but bad none the less. Let's put it this way. Chris Coste was firm in his stance that he blocked the plate and prevented Reyes from scoring. The Mets players....eh, not so much. A lot of wishy-washy quotes about how it was a good call, all said with the cocky smirk of a man sheepishly denying that he nailed a woman well out of his league because she asked him not to tell anyone. Even the talking heads at ESPN, the same ones who could only root for the Mets harder if the Red Sox were banished from MLB or if Willie Randolph, Howard Johnson & Rick Peterson were replaced by Peyton Manning, Brett Farve and Tiger Woods, said he was out. All that being said, Ted Barrett's error in judgement may have been the camel back-breaking straw, but it wasn't the reason the Phillies lost last night. Who is to say that had Reyes been ruled out that the Phightins would've scored another run this night? Keep in mind, if the game went one more inning, Charlie Manuel's next move would've been to roll out Clay Condrey, he of the early season 9.64 ERA. So, who gets the blame for this one? I'll give you 3, in order, and by some miracle, neither Charlie nor Adam Eaton nor Tom Gordon make the list.

3. Geoff Jenkins.
Geoff almost makes the list for the stupid spelling of his first name alone but I've been able to see past that and look into his soul. As I stared into the man's eyes, one thing was obvious...he doesn't have a clue. Let's paint a quick picture. Top of the 6th. Down 2-0. Offense has been sputtering, again, all game. Adam Eaton somehow has found a sliver of mediocre pitching ability and you know it's not going to last. The bases are loaded with 2 outs. The pitcher is tiring. He has walked the last two guys to load the bases, the latter of the two on 4 pitches, none of which was within 3 zip codes of the strike zone. You dig in and everything is in your favor. You bat left-handed. The pitcher is righty. He is drained. You're fresh from not doing much of anything this season other then stroke your goatee out in right field. The first pitch is a good 6 inches off the plate. 1-0. You might as well pull up a lawn chair and enjoy the next couple of pitches. There's no way that bat is leaving your shoulder until this soft-tosser decides to throw at least one, if not 2, over the plate. Here's the stretch...and the pitch...and...and...you swing?! You freaking swing?! Not only do you swing, but you make contact? The odds of Jenkins doing that in any plate appearance are 50-50 at best. But you choose now to show us that not only can you hit the ball, but you can ground out weakly to end the inning. Nice work, Jeff. And yes, I know how to spell your name.

2. Shane Victorino
Where to start? 1. Don't get doubled off first base in the first inning. Just steal the base, get sacrificed over to third and then score when Utley puts the ball in play. But I'll let this play slide. 2. When you're down by 2 runs with one out and you have your two left handed mashers due up to take their hacks at a laboring right-hander, stay put. If you absolutely must steal, you better make it. Not sure where your head is at. You took away the hole from Utley. You killed a potential rally. And you got thrown out, easily, by a sub-par catcher. 3. Top of the 7th. Team's already put one run on the board and the next two players have reached base. Top of the line-up due up. Shane decides this is a good time to try and lay down a sacrifice. Couple of small problems. First, he sucks and fouls off the first two bunts attempts. Second, he strikes out on a curve ball in the dirt that he didn't even begin swinging at until it had already bounced once (not cricket, Shane!). Third, he must have forgotten that Rollins wasn't playing and that batting behind him was not Utely and Howard, but.....

1. Eric Bruntlett
After his abysmal Phillies debut, I was willing to give ole' E.B. a pass. He earned a short leash, but at least a temporary pass. Let's sum up his encore performance though. 0-6. 2 strikeouts. Hit into a double play. Left 7 men on base. He's is the slowest footed man to ever play shortstop in the major leagues. Any ball hit to his right is a certain base hit. Doesn't matter if it's Jose Reyes or Jose Feliciano running. He can't move and he can't throw. And to wrap it all up in a pretty little package, apparently he can't bunt either. Cole Hamels can come in cold and laid down the perfect bunt, all without a pre-game rub-down from his chiropractor. Yet the best Bruntlett can manage is to foul off three 84 mph curve balls to strike out. If he gets the bunt down, the infield has to come in. Not only does Utley not hit into a double play, but that ball is scorched past the drawn in second baseman. 2 runs will score.

If there is any justice in the world, the following will happen. Jayson Werth should get some at-bats and not just against lefties or in late inning situations. The guy is a better hitter right now then Jenkins and a better OF defensively. Shane Victorino managed to get pulled from the game last night after his ineffectiveness. Give him a day or two on the bench. It is painfully obvious that he is one of these guys who has way to much cockiness for someone who has yet to do much in the bigs. He needs a quick reality dose just to show him that his spot in the line-up is not a certainty. And Bruntlett should be cut. I am sure some will say this is the typical Philadelphian over reaction. In some ways, maybe it is. But tell me what redeeming baseball qualities this man possesses. Can't run. Can't hit. Can't field. Can't shave properly. And he has managed to do the unthinkable.

Here we are, 10 games in, and Bruntty has managed to stir a yearning in my loins for one Abraham Nunez.