Weve seen this before. Back when the Braves ruled the National League East, folks always tried to pinpoint their demise. Yet year after year they always seemed to get it done.
Ten years into the Braves epic division championship run, it looked as if they were ready to be picked off. With players like Keith Lockhart, Quilvio Veras, Rico Brogna and Julio Franco holding down plenty of playing time, the Braves had no choice but to lean on their pitching. They could because the Phillies, Marlins and Mets werent quite yet ready to knock off John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and a veteran-laden bullpen.
In fact, the Braves were able to lean on the pitching to win the NL East for another four years until the rest of the division caught up.
Flash ahead a few years and it looks like the Phillies are in the same predicament. Just like the Braves, the Phillies have three All-Star caliber starters and a bullpen that has been around the block. Plus, instead of Lockhart, Veras, Brogna and Franco, the Phillies counter with Ty Wigginton, Freddy Galvis, Laynce Nix and Jim Thome.
The difference, of course, is that the Braves always had Chipper Jones, Javy Lopez, Gary Sheffield or Andruw Jones to provide just enough pop in the middle of the batting order. The Phillies have Ryan Howard on the mend from a ruptured Achilles and Chase Utley off in Arizona nursing his chondromalacia.
Four games into the season and the Phillies lone win came in a 1-0 game.
To make matters more taxing for the Phillies, they arent being chased by teams trying to find the way. The Marlins and Nationals arent babying growing pains anymore. Actually, its just the opposite. The Nationals, having thrown down the playoffs-or-bust gauntlet, are much improved. Meanwhile, the Marlins, with their new stadium, new manager and revamped roster, look as if they are taking aim at something much bigger than a mere division title.
Instead, the Marlins look as if they are built using the 2007 and 2008 Phillies playbook.
Thats exactly the type of ball the Marlins played on Monday afternoon in the 6-2 victory over the Phillies in the 2012 home opener (see story). With Anibal Sanchez throwing darts at the punchless Phils offense and the new-look Marlins offense putting together the perfect mix of speed and power, the early 3-0 tally could have been a 20-run margin.
When the Marlins manufactured a first-inning run with some classic small ball against Cole Hamels, the Phils were already stuck. Still, if the Phillies were looking for a blueprint of how they could go about putting some numbers on the scoreboard, they could just rewind the tape on the Marlins in the top of the first.
Thats where Jose Reyes, one of the Marlins' big-ticket off-season additions, led off the game with a single that was followed by another single by Emilio Bonifacio. Already elbowing Hamels to the ropes, Reyes and Bonifacio engineered a double steal, which set up a run on a ground out by All-Star Hanley Ramirez.
Speed and a ground out kills.
According to Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen, the double steal came from Reyes, who remembered from his days with the Mets that Hamels had a slow motion to the plate.
"I have faced Hamels plenty of times in my career and know he's a little slow to the plate, Reyes said. We have to put the pressure on because hes a very good pitcher.
Bonifacio, who went 3 for 4 and scored a run, helped manufacture a run in the sixth inning when he bunted one back to Hamels, who promptly threw it into right field when no one got over to cover first base in time. That allowed Bonifacio to go to third and score when Gaby Sanchez doubled.
It is really hard on the other team when you can put pressure on them, said Bonifacio, who seemed to be in the middle of everything out of the No. 2 spot in the lineup.
Reyes and Bonifacio went 5 for 8 with a pair of runs. Needless to say, a team is going to score a few runs when the top two hitters in the lineup get on base five times. Conversely, the Phillies top two hitters, Juan Pierre and Placido Polanco, went a combined 0 for 8. Rookie Freddy Galvis, the eight-hole hitter, slugged the only extra-base hit, while the Phillies went 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position.
Just to top it off, the Marlins added three solo homers two from Omar Infante and one from free-agent signee, Austin Kearns.
Theyre definitely a lot more powerful, Hamels said. Its going to be a lot more difficult all year.
Indeed, the Marlins have power and speed. They can pitch a little bit, too. It used to be that the Phillies had those things, too, until they had to lean almost completely on the pitching. Thats a good tactic to have when the rest of the teams dont have much, either.
E-mail John R. Finger at jfinger@comcastsportsnet.com.