GaryMrMets
08-06-2004, 02:09 AM
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/sports/9323555.htm
Posted on Thu, Aug. 05, 2004
Crisis in the clutch
By MARCUS HAYES
hayesm@phillynews.com
SAN DIEGO - It's almost impossible to play for more than a month at the top of a batting order and go without an RBI. It's almost impossible to hit 32 homers, the most in the majors, and have only 73 RBI. It's almost impossible to bat .278 with runners in scoring position for 8 years of your career then twice in 3 years hit .200 or less with RISP and less than .100 with the bases loaded.
But Placido Polanco, Jim Thome and Mike Lieberthal have accepted those missions impossible, batting .145, .194 and .125 this season with runners in scoring position, respectively, entering last night's game in San Diego. Their unforeseeable combined futility is as much a reason as any why the Phillies are mired near mediocrity despite a record $93 million payroll.
Of their 52 losses through Tuesday, 36 had been by three runs or fewer. They were 36-36 in games decided by three runs or fewer. That points to not producing in the clutch - deadly for a veteran team.
Yes, they've had pitching injuries, but the staff is only half of the payroll. If two of the three hitters in question drive in a few more runs in key situations, well, a lot of those close losses become wins.
"I agree," Thome said. "That's what wins games."
"One or two guys, maybe you expect to have a year like that," manager Larry Bowa said. "But all three? No way."
Polanco hits second in the lineup, Thome fourth, Lieberthal sixth or seventh. Those are huge spots to have hit a combined .156 with RISP. They have 40 hits among them. Bobby Abreu has 35 by himself; Pat Burrell, 30.
Why?
Maybe pressure.
"Maybe Thome gets in there and thinks, 'I've got to do this,' " Bowa postulated, "especially when Pat's not going good."
That makes sense. After all, Thome, a .286 hitter with runners in scoring position before this season, is in the second year of a team-record, 6-year, $85 million contract. In pursuit of back-to-back homer titles, he is the hero among a promising, if not as accomplished, lineup. This also is the first stretch of his 12-year career in which he is playing on a team expected to win but lacking a proven star hitting behind him.
He's also fought hand injuries all season - injuries that have required cortisone shots and intermittent rest periods.
"I don't think he's 100 percent," Bowa said.
"Nope. I'm healthy," Thome said. He agrees that he should have about 20 more than his 73 RBI but, as for the pressure, "That's a false statement. I can't make excuses. You've just got to do it."
OK. So...?
"For me, it's swinging at pitches I shouldn't be swinging at," said Thome. With the bases empty, he is a .349 hitter, with half of his homers.
Similarly, Polanco, a .282 hitter with runners in scoring position before 2004, found himself trying to ignore distractions all season. The specter of second baseman Chase Utley, the organization's top hitting prospect, has loomed as Polanco plays out a 1-year contract with his first season of free agency coming. Polanco fought a thigh injury the first 2 months of the season, when he drove in just one run.
However, Utley's flair for dramatic hits and the increased pressure that produces appears to have offset Polanco's return to health.
Not so, said Polanco.
"I've hit a lot of balls well in those situations," he insisted. "It's just one of those things. I don't even think about it when I get in the batter's box."
Lieberthal does.
"I think about it all the time now," he admitted. "When you're not swinging well you think, 'OK, I've got to drive these [teammates] in here,' and you hit the pitcher's pitch, not yours."
Lieberthal provided the seminal offensive moment of the Phillies' 2-1 series loss last weekend in Chicago in the eighth inning, the Phils down by three runs. After fate, luck and talent loaded the bases with no outs, Lieberthal struck out looking, starting a 1-2-3 fade that precluded any comeback attempt.
Bowa pantomimes a player tightly gripping a bat, clenching it until his arms tremble and says, "I think you can see Lieby saying, 'I want to do this!' "
"Yeah," Lieberthal said, "it's hard to relax when you're not hitting well."
Lieberthal endured an almost identical RISP swoon in 2002. He batted .200 with runners in scoring position, .095 with the bases loaded. The Phillies dismissed his struggles as a hangover from a 2001 knee injury that cost him almost all season; sure enough, Lieberthal rebounded to hit .319 with runners in scoring position and an eye-popping .563 with the bases loaded last season. He's at .091 with the bags full this season.
Of course, the three are quick to point out that more than a third of the season remains.
"That's why I talk about this season as being a marathon," Thome said. "You're going along bad and, boom, it kicks right in."
With the playoffs fading daily, the Phillies, heading toward the marathon's finish line, could use a big kick.
http://www.philly.com/images/philly/dailynews/9326/86983330546.jpg
Jim Thome is hitting .194 with runners in scoring position. Before this year, he was.286
Posted on Thu, Aug. 05, 2004
Crisis in the clutch
By MARCUS HAYES
hayesm@phillynews.com
SAN DIEGO - It's almost impossible to play for more than a month at the top of a batting order and go without an RBI. It's almost impossible to hit 32 homers, the most in the majors, and have only 73 RBI. It's almost impossible to bat .278 with runners in scoring position for 8 years of your career then twice in 3 years hit .200 or less with RISP and less than .100 with the bases loaded.
But Placido Polanco, Jim Thome and Mike Lieberthal have accepted those missions impossible, batting .145, .194 and .125 this season with runners in scoring position, respectively, entering last night's game in San Diego. Their unforeseeable combined futility is as much a reason as any why the Phillies are mired near mediocrity despite a record $93 million payroll.
Of their 52 losses through Tuesday, 36 had been by three runs or fewer. They were 36-36 in games decided by three runs or fewer. That points to not producing in the clutch - deadly for a veteran team.
Yes, they've had pitching injuries, but the staff is only half of the payroll. If two of the three hitters in question drive in a few more runs in key situations, well, a lot of those close losses become wins.
"I agree," Thome said. "That's what wins games."
"One or two guys, maybe you expect to have a year like that," manager Larry Bowa said. "But all three? No way."
Polanco hits second in the lineup, Thome fourth, Lieberthal sixth or seventh. Those are huge spots to have hit a combined .156 with RISP. They have 40 hits among them. Bobby Abreu has 35 by himself; Pat Burrell, 30.
Why?
Maybe pressure.
"Maybe Thome gets in there and thinks, 'I've got to do this,' " Bowa postulated, "especially when Pat's not going good."
That makes sense. After all, Thome, a .286 hitter with runners in scoring position before this season, is in the second year of a team-record, 6-year, $85 million contract. In pursuit of back-to-back homer titles, he is the hero among a promising, if not as accomplished, lineup. This also is the first stretch of his 12-year career in which he is playing on a team expected to win but lacking a proven star hitting behind him.
He's also fought hand injuries all season - injuries that have required cortisone shots and intermittent rest periods.
"I don't think he's 100 percent," Bowa said.
"Nope. I'm healthy," Thome said. He agrees that he should have about 20 more than his 73 RBI but, as for the pressure, "That's a false statement. I can't make excuses. You've just got to do it."
OK. So...?
"For me, it's swinging at pitches I shouldn't be swinging at," said Thome. With the bases empty, he is a .349 hitter, with half of his homers.
Similarly, Polanco, a .282 hitter with runners in scoring position before 2004, found himself trying to ignore distractions all season. The specter of second baseman Chase Utley, the organization's top hitting prospect, has loomed as Polanco plays out a 1-year contract with his first season of free agency coming. Polanco fought a thigh injury the first 2 months of the season, when he drove in just one run.
However, Utley's flair for dramatic hits and the increased pressure that produces appears to have offset Polanco's return to health.
Not so, said Polanco.
"I've hit a lot of balls well in those situations," he insisted. "It's just one of those things. I don't even think about it when I get in the batter's box."
Lieberthal does.
"I think about it all the time now," he admitted. "When you're not swinging well you think, 'OK, I've got to drive these [teammates] in here,' and you hit the pitcher's pitch, not yours."
Lieberthal provided the seminal offensive moment of the Phillies' 2-1 series loss last weekend in Chicago in the eighth inning, the Phils down by three runs. After fate, luck and talent loaded the bases with no outs, Lieberthal struck out looking, starting a 1-2-3 fade that precluded any comeback attempt.
Bowa pantomimes a player tightly gripping a bat, clenching it until his arms tremble and says, "I think you can see Lieby saying, 'I want to do this!' "
"Yeah," Lieberthal said, "it's hard to relax when you're not hitting well."
Lieberthal endured an almost identical RISP swoon in 2002. He batted .200 with runners in scoring position, .095 with the bases loaded. The Phillies dismissed his struggles as a hangover from a 2001 knee injury that cost him almost all season; sure enough, Lieberthal rebounded to hit .319 with runners in scoring position and an eye-popping .563 with the bases loaded last season. He's at .091 with the bags full this season.
Of course, the three are quick to point out that more than a third of the season remains.
"That's why I talk about this season as being a marathon," Thome said. "You're going along bad and, boom, it kicks right in."
With the playoffs fading daily, the Phillies, heading toward the marathon's finish line, could use a big kick.
http://www.philly.com/images/philly/dailynews/9326/86983330546.jpg
Jim Thome is hitting .194 with runners in scoring position. Before this year, he was.286