Consistency

Sorry it has been so long since my last update. I assure you, this will not be a trend. Last year, I most often updated this either late at night or when I woke up in the morning. In doing student teaching, both of those times have kind of been taken away from me. Give me one week and things will improve.

The Nationals series ended in disappointment again, but it is still a series win, and winning a series is always a good thing. The Nationals never had a problem scoring last season, they just could not stop other teams from scoring at all. Now that they have a pitcher or two that can give up less than 4 runs in an inning, and since our bullpen is so shaky right now, we may see a few losses to the Nationals.

Another example of the shakiness that is our bullpen came in last night's game against the Marlins. Halladay's first start in Philadelphia went very well, pitching 8 innings and giving up just 2 runs on 8 hits. Having an 8-2 lead going into the 9th inning should be nothing to worry about, but our bullpen has proven that it is not that safe after all. The bullpen did very well in our first few games of the season, and they've shown at times that they can be great (Kendrick's last start - 7 1/3 innings, 1 earned run). The problem is clearly inconsistency. That is something that is not too scary when you've built up a 5 or 6 run lead, but in no way can we count on that for the entire season. Chase Utley is on pace to hit 97 home runs. That won't keep up. Polanco is on pace to have 194 RBI. That won't keep up. Ryan Howard is on pace for 275 hits. That won't keep up. Carlos Ruiz has a .471 on-base percentage. That won't keep up. Even Juan Castro is batting .400 and has 6 RBI in 4 games. He is a career .231 hitter (which means, That won't keep up). Although all of these things are fantastic for the time being, at some point the pitching (aside from Doc) will need to step it up.

Games this early in the season are often seen as very low-pressure. These games against weak opponents are still wins. It is not like beating the Braves in September, but these games will ensure that those games actually matter. A loss here or there to the Nationals or Marlins or Astros would not be the end of the world, but it's very dangerous to become "OK" with it.

As for the rest of the series, hopefully the starters can look like they have in the past. Jamie Moyer has absolutely ripped apart the Marlins in the past, and we all know Cole Hamels can be one of the best pitchers in the league. Let's pray that the rain stays away and the bats stick around. I'll be at the game tomorrow, so I'm excited to report back from the Cit