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I got a chance to catch some of the Phillies’ games this past week and the Philadelphian in me is very worried. When that offense isn’t clicking, the Phillies are going to struggle because their pitching just isn’t going to shut people down. So far, they’ve managed to keep the Phillies in games, but the offense has struggled to put up more than 4 runs this week and if that trend continues they aren’t going to win many games.

Obviously, the problems in the offense are driven a lot by the struggles of Chase Utley. This bodes well for the Phillies because he just isn’t going to struggle all year. He’s too good and works too hard to continue to struggle like this. So, while I’m worried, I’m not alarmed and I’m by no means saying the Phillies aren’t going to put up a lot of runs and win a lot of games. I think they will end having a very good season. But, whether they have a great season will hinge on if their offense can stay consistent enough to support the pitching staff (which, by the way has exceeded expectations, except for Brett Myers).

While some of the things that have happened this week have worried me a little bit, there are still some things about this team that give me a great deal of confidence in them. I wrote about their killer instinct in an earlier post and while their effort recently has worried me a little, that instinct is there. I think this is embodied perfectly by Jimmy Rollins. There is a reason that guy won the MVP last year and that instinct in the moment is a big part of what he brings to this team. He has only recently begun to look like he has his legs underneath him and that gives me great hope, because as great as Chase Utley is, this team will only go as far as Jimmy Rollins can take them. When he’s on, he can take them pretty far. He had a couple hits (one an RBI double), a walk and a couple stolen bases on Sunday and he really looked like the guy who won the MVP last year. Once Chase Utley starts clicking behind him, if Rollins can stay hot he is going to be the perfect catalyst (again) for this team.

This is not to forget that the Phillies remain in first place without a great performance from Ryan Howard, a month without Jimmy Rollins, struggles from Shane Victorino and now Chase Utley. I don’t think for a second that this team has played their best baseball (over a week at least; those two games with over 20 runs are hard to argue) and that gives me great hope for the rest of the year. I think this team is going to re-group on this travel day off and I really think they are going to explode this week in Oakland and then Texas. I hope so anyway.

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