Game 43: Phillies defense and bats fail Halladay (26-17)

Roy Halladay again did not have his A-game today, but that ultimately does not matter when your offense fails to score more than 3 runs and the defense alone costs you 3. The game got out of hand after a physical error by Dobbs resulted in 2 runs (I know you can't assume a double play, but I am), and a mental error by Juan Castro cost the team another.

I want to focus on one thing in particular from today's game. Charlie Manuel's lineup was a major cause for concern. With Jimmy Rollins out of the lineup due to injury, Manuel chose to sit both Carlos Ruiz and Placido Polanco today. Now, I'm guessing that Manuel entered the weekend knowing he would rest Polanco and Ruiz one game. My question: On a day where Shane Victorino chose to bat right handed against a RHP (knuckleballer), why would you choose to play Dobbs (LHB) over Polanco (RHB)? As was mentioned several times on the broadcast (cannot be certain how true these statements are), often times the switch hitters choose to bat right handed for some reason or another against a right-handed knuckleballer. To further compound the problem, Daisuke Matsuzaka's career OPS against splits vs LHB (.764) are significantly worse than vs RHB (.687) while Tim Wakefield is better against LHB (.724) than RHB (.758).

Now, I'm not saying that Greg Dobbs would have magically taken over the game at the plate against Matsuzaka, or that Polanco would have righted the ship vs Wakefield, but this is simply an example of Charlie Manuel not understanding basic match-up strategies.

The Phillies will have a day off before starting a 3-game set against the Mets in NY on Tuesday. LHP Jamie Moyer will go up against RHP R.A. Dicke.