Phillies Nation

i feel for vic. he a nice guy, he’s up front, and like you said, he’s there after the good or the bad games.he doesn’t shy away or hide from adversity and i give him the utmost respect as a fan for him. i won’t ever boo vic because of that, and the fact that he shows no lack of hustle! if he has i’ve never seen any of it.

with that said. i’ll convey what i see is his problem. one… he’s always like many of the phils trying to bash the ball! it seems like it’s homer or bust! i really wish some of these guys ( vic, j-bag ) mostly. would watch chooch’s approach this year to hitting! his approach has been to hit the ball where it’s pitched. especially in a pitchers count! but in a hitters count he’s been doing the big damage! and he’s hitting above what .350? whew! the problem with both those guys i stated should be addressed by cholly, it seems that guys bunting is his way of showing how they’ve changed! that’s something they should have in their tool bag so to speak. i can’t believe how a manager can’t take them to the side and just tell them to play within yourself! i know cholly has said to the media he’s done that, but he’s also said that it hard to change a vets habits. i don’t buy that! with all the technology i can’t believe that vic or j-bag don’t review the game films of their ab’s ( i don’t know for sure if they do or not) to reflect on what they were thinking at that particular pitch or count when they failed to do the job. if they did they could correct the thought process on their approach. now by from what i’ve seen and heard from these two and others leads me to believe that they don’t do that!

by that i mean if you listen to these guys after the game wheather it’s a loss or win it’s always ( we have to put this game behind us and move on) ok that’s sounds cool and the right thing to say, but it ‘s the mentality of that phrase that bugs me.

Ok. I just don’t understand that (not meaning its not right) but when you bat .240-.260 and you’re a SS, just get the eff on base. I’ll forego the doubles. But thats me.

The Dipsy

It seems that the veteran players are unwilling to change their approach at the plate given the success that this team has had with the long ball since CBP was built! It is a hitters park and inviting to HR’s, but when two of your most prominent power threats are on the DL for an extended time, you have to change the approach! Lately, I’ve noticed that they are only winning when they hit a few HR’s and are becoming reliant on them again! They don’t want to do the little things like “move ‘em over and get ‘em in” just like in the 8th last night! Pence was swinging for the fences and not trying to just move Wiggy over to let Chooch drive him in! This change in approach has to be relentlessly stressed by management! I love Cholly as much as the next Phils fan, but his management style, more in the mold of Earl Weaver’s give me great pitching and a three run homer everyday, is not the right fit for this Phils team!

The last time I checked baseball was a team sport. Everyone has to do their part and play better. The players are trying to do too much! I really hope they get out of this funk they’re in ASAP! It doesn’t help that they’re without some really good players!

I like the fact that Victorino made these comments. He didn’t blast anyone, and was obviously frustrated. You so-called Phans that are saying he doesn’t care? These comments sound like something someone who cares ALOT would say. There was a passion and frustration to it that proves not only does he care, but he wants to fix it, just doesn’t know how. He’ll get there, Maybe we need to swap out Greg Gross….they haven’t really hit well since bringing him in. Maybe they can find someone who can find flaws in batting and make adjustments better for the players? I’m pulling at straws, but the real issue is the absence of Chase and Ryan. You can’t take that kind of power out of any lineup and expect to produce and be respected by opposing pitching.
With that being said, Chooch has stood and taken the team on his back so far. He’s doing a whale of a job and deserves to be NL Catcher this year. Someone has to be feared at the plate with runners on base, and while he’s not your prototypical power hitter, the fact that all he does is rake is enough to give whomever is in the 3-hole more fastballs, since they don’t want anyone on base when he comes up.
In conclusion, you phare-weather fans need to realize that without Chase and Ryan we are still only a handful of games back (9ish?). We get either of them back and they go on a run (like they always do in August) and we are right back in the thick of things. You’all need to chill out and remember the late 90′s and how bad we were. Be a real Phan and support your team even when they scuffle!