Phillie Notes - The Secret to Their Success

Phillie Notes:

With their third successive division championship, the Phils have established themselves as one of the top franchises in the majors. The primary reason for this is not the brilliance of Charlie Manuel, or the loyal fan base, or the friendly confines of Citizens Park. It is the solid nucleus of everyday players - Rollins, Utley, Howard, Victorino, and Werth - which matches up with any in baseball. They are all in their prime, in their late 20's or early 30's, and most are under long-term contracts. The professionalism of Rollins and Utley in particular really sets the tone for this squad. There are many other factors of course, but this is the key.

Charlie Manuel/Rich Dubee are being universally praised for bringing in Brad Lidge to get the last out against his old team on the night of the division clinching. Lidge himself seemed to revel in it. It was certainly harmless but what was the big deal? Manuel had already proved his loyalty to Lidge over and over again, and it's hard to see how pitching to one batter with a seven run lead, with the division already won (the Braves having lost) is much of a confidence-builder. It's a little too much like a college basketball coach putting in his seniors in the last minute of a blow-out game.

It's difficult to overstate the importance of Pedro Feliz this season. Even though his batting average is only in the .260's, that's 20 points higher than last season, and he's been one of the team's more consistent hitters in 2009 with few prolonged dry spells. He has also added 20 or so RBI's from 2008 to go along with his impeccable fielding. And with the marked improvement in Ryan Howard's glove work, the team's infield defense is as good as there is.

Last year, Chase Utley's offense faded late in the season. The media, almost unanimously, attributed this to Utley's injured hip, even though Utley himself repeatedly denied it and there was no visible evidence that the second baseman was favoring it. This year, Utley's bat has once again been weak in September. It seems more likely that something else was and is going on - the best guess here is old-fashioned fatigue.