Good points. To me it was significant that in the middle of Marsh’s hitting woes, you could see Arraez talking to him in the dugout. After which, Marsh hit a homer on his next at bat. In his interview Marsh declined to reveal exactly what Luis told him, only that it helped him. Good example of a teammate helping his mates. The Phillies could learn a lot from him in terms of selectively and not swinging for the fences when a simple ground or fly ball could get the run in. Mike can tell you how frustrated I am about the repeated inability of the Phillies to score a runner from third with less than 2 outs. They are either “trying too hard” or choking in the clutch because inevitably in their next at bat they hit a ball which would have scored the run. They seem to look dispirited and definitely lack the “clutch gene”. What is your opinion as to the reason for this?Had the manager lost his team? Lastly, how do we convince this hapless team to run everything out. I counted half a dozen times this year when Harper didn’t run out ground balls in which he would have been safe on the error. I don’t care if he is (was) a superstar. I’d bench his ass like the Brewers manager did to Yellich (?).

Thanks for that great analysis, Jeremy. I’m getting a real education from our interactions and appreciate your patience.

@Neil Piwovar Maybe it’s because the culture of the new team is more conducive to success. I know that you and I disagree on this, but sometimes some players need a good kick in the ass to get going. I do agree that they’re professionals and shouldn’t have to be externally motivated, but nevertheless, there are some players that need a tough manager or coach who’s more of a manager than a buddy. Case in point: compare the hapless Giants of last year with the John Harbough Giants this year.