Shows What I Know

I was actually defending Hector Neris over the weekend. He's been really good for about the last 4 weeks. In fact, in the 13 games before last night, he allowed no runs and 3 hits in 13 innings with 5 saves over that span.

Also over the weekend, I was ripping bench guy Sean Rodriguez, who was 1 for 19 with 10 strikeouts during August.

So of course, Hector Neris did Hector Neris things last night and allowed the game-tying home run in the top of the 9th inning. It wasn't just a game-tying homer. Josh Bell absolutely destroyed Neris' splitter, depositing it onto Ashburn Alley, 431 feet from home plate. Oof.

The Phils had a chance to win it in the 9th but Rhys Hoskins popped up with the bases loaded and Bryce Harper struck out. Reliever Mike Morin, a Minnesota Twins castoff, pitched 2 scoreless innings. Rodriguez led off the bottom of the 11th and hit a screaming line drive that cleared the fence in left. Ballgame. Phillies win. And I have no I idea what I'm talking about.

Speaking of Hoskins, the guy is absolutely lost at the plate right now. He was hitless in 5 at-bats with 3 strikeouts and is hitting .115 in August. His home run on Sunday was his first in 3 weeks. He has 23 strikeouts and 22 walks this month.

His struggles remind me a lot of Pat Burrell in 2003, who struggled all year and finished hitting .209 for the year with a .713 OPS. But the fans, strangely, never turned on Burrell. He barely got booed. In Philadelphia. How weird is that?

But after Hoskins popped out in the 9th last night, the boos were there. Hoskins had this to say about the reaction–"We won the game. I couldn't care less about that [the booing]. We won the game.

Maybe Hoskins needs a few days off to clear his head. I'm sure Gabe Kapler wants to keep sending him out there in hopes that he gets out of the slump. But the continued failure has to be draining. But can the Phillies afford to keep Hoskins and his .115 August average in the lineup while they try to gain a wild-card playoff berth?