A CITIZEN'S BLOG

And so it comes to this ... I've gotten a lot of great feedback about Parts 1 & 2, so I hope that everyone appreciates Part 3. It means a lot to me that so many people like what I have to say, or don't like what I have to say but still read me ... A Citizen's Blog takes up lots of time out of my life, but I like it because I love the game of baseball so much. So let's get down to it ... first, the offense, and then the overall conclusions about the Phillies march to mediocrity in Part IV:

I. The Offense: The 2004 Phillies offense rebounded quite nicely from 2003, scoring 49 more runs and increasing the team BA by .006 points. The Phillies were one of the top three or four teams in the NL offensively, a combination of improved performances from players that slumped in 2003 and the team's move to cozy Citizen's Bank Ballpark.

Let's start by remembering the 2003 campaign. The 2003 season left us all a little shocked: after adding Jim Thome to the lineup during the 2002-2003 offseason many Phillies fans had high hopes for the Thome-Burrell twosome. Phillies slugger Mike Schmidt speculated that the two could combine for 100 home runs. Instead they hit 68 home runs in 2003 and 66 in 2004. Far from being an offensive powerhouse in 2003, the Phillies struggled. Stellar performances from Jim Thome (.385 OBP) and Bobby Abreu (.409 OBP) rescued the team.

This season Burrell rebounded from '03, along with third baseman David Bell, and enabled the Phillies to slug their way to the top offensively. However, I think that it's time to have realistic expectations about what this team can and cannot do. The Phillies have a potent offense and they will be dangerous in 2005, but this team probably won't have the firepower to win games by themselves. The Phillies must improve their pitching and defense to survive in the NL East in 2005, even if that means sacrificing a little of their offensive firepower. The Phillies shouldn't turn into an East Coast clone of the Colorado Rockies, which is something that management seems resigned to becoming.

Let's start by looking at how the Philles stacked up against the rest of the NL:

Team v. Team: (GPA)
1. San Francisco: .270
2. St. Louis: .270
3. Colorado: .269
4. Philadelphia: .266
5. Atlanta: .263
6. Houston: .263
7. Chicago: .262
8. San Diego: .257
9. Los Angeles: .255
10. Cincinnati: .253
11. Florida: .250
12. Pittsburgh: .245
13. New York: .245
14. Milwaukee: .241
15. Montreal: .239
16. Arizona: .238

GPA (Gross Productive Average): (1.8 * .OBP + .SLG) / 4 = .GPA. I use Gross Productive Average as my mainstay stat because it best meters a team's offensive efficiency. GPA favors On-Base Percentage because it is perhaps the most crucial stat in the game (preserving one's outs), but it also includes a team's raw power. Better than runs scored or even Runs Created, I think that GPA is the best stat for measuring a team and a player's offensive abilities.

The Phillies were the fourth best offense in the NL in 2004. That's not bad: they did better than the Astros and Cubs and finished behind the Barry Bonds-led Giants, the Coors Field-influenced Rockies and the powerhouse Cards. No shame there. How else did the Phillies rank? 7th in Batting Average at .267; 2nd in On-Base Percentage at .345; 4th in Slugging Percentage at .443; 3rd in Runs scored with 840; 3rd in Runs Created with 877.2; 4th in Isolated Power (slugging percentage - batting average = isolated power) at .176; 3rd in RBIs with 802; 2nd in walks per plate appearance at .100 (after the Giants Barry Bonds inflated .109); 4th in walk to strikeout ratio at 0.57; 4th in OPS (On-Base Percentage plus Slugging Percentage) at .788; 4th in extra-base hits with 541; 7th in doubles with 303; 15th in triples with 23 (interesting;y, Rollins tied for the individual NL lead with 12); 2nd in home runs with 215; 3rd in home runs per at-bat at 26.2; 6th in stolen bases with 100; 2nd in stolen-base percentage at 79%; 4th in total bases with 2,499; 6th in strikeouts 1,133; 2nd in walks with 645.

That is a staggering amount of data and I repeated it like this instead of a list to impress upon you all about how complete the Phillies offense was: consistently the Phillies were in the top three or four in every category. Offensively this team was very, very good: they got on base, knocked the ball around the outfield for lots of extra-base hits ... intentionally or not, they were the perfect Moneyball sort of team. That's a statement that would horrify an old-school, "small ball" proponent like Larry Bowa, but it is true: the Phillies batters were very good at getting on base and waiting for the three-run homer. The Phillies park is ideally designed to getting on base and bashing the three-run homer. If this team cut out self-defeating tactics like stealing bases and bunting (27 baserunners caught stealing and 18 sacrifice bunts*) they'd have probably scored more runs than they did in 2004 ... Readers of Moneyball know that much of the book is dedicated to derriding old school thinking and "small ball" tactics. Despite the fact that the Phillies were suited for a walk-and-slug strategy in '04, the Phillies were 13th in the MLB in "Productive Outs", according to ESPN, in 2004.

*(ESPN's website is cryptic on sac bunts: they list sacrifice hits and sacrifice flys as separate caregories. I'm guessing sac flys are part of sac hits, so if you subtract the two, you get 18 non-fly sac hits, a.k.a.: bunts.)

Citizens Factor, Part 2: As I noted in Part 2, the fact that it is much, much easier for teams to hit home runs at Citizens than at the Vet is undeniable. Opposing teams hit 115 home runs at Citizens in 2004, compared to 65 at the Vet in '03. Ironically, the Phillies hit two fewer home runs than the opposition at Citizens in '04:

2004 (Citizens): 113
2003 (Vet): 83
2002 (Vet): 79

But as I also pointed out in Part 2, the idea that Citizens is a hitters park like Coors Field is bunk: it is easier to hit home runs there but it isn't any easier to get regular hits. Consider home batting average from 2003 & 2004:

Batting Average: (Phillies / Opposition)
2003: .264 / .238
2004: .266 / .260
Citizens Increase: +.002 / +.022

.002? Negligable difference. And chalk up the opposition's .022 to the decline in quality of the Phillies pitching (2003-2004). Now check out the difference in doubles between 2003 and 2004:

Doubles: (Phillies / Opposition)
2003: 166 / 153
2004: 144 /144
Citizens Increase: -22 / -9

So here is my point: most of that increase in batting average (especially with the Phillies) is attributable to a few more flyballs sailing over the fence for home runs instead of being caught for outs. The fact that doubles have declined somewhat between 2003 & 2004 is what strikes me as significant: those extra home runs being scored are mostly solo shots. It isn't easier for batters to get singles and doubles at Citizens. Thus, Citizens isn't that much easier to score runs in than the Vet: the Phillies scored 394 runs at the Vet in 2003 and 424 at Citizens in 2004. That's a thirty run difference. That's the same number of extra home runs the Phillies scored this season at Citizens. Does a solo home run change the outcome of a game that much? A solo shot in a 5-3 game doesn't change the outcome. A three-run bomb in a 5-3 game changes everything. Getting baserunners is still the key to success at Citizens Bank Ballpark.

Citizen's didn't mean that much to Phillies hitters in 2004:

Home: .269 GPA; .348 OBP; .450 SLG; 424 runs scored
Away: .263 GPA; .343 OBP; .436 SLG; 416 runs scored
Total: .266 GPA; .345 OBP; .443 SLG; 840 runs scored

Individual Stats: Here is what the Phillies top performers did in 2004:
Starters: (GPA; ISO)
Abreu: .329 / .242
Thome: .323 / .307
Burrell: .278 / .199
Bell: .278 / .167
Rollins: .270 / .166
Polanco: .266 / .143
Lieberthal: .263 / .176
Byrd: .209 / .092

Bench:
Michaels: .268 / .140
Glanville: .176 / .056
Ledee: .305 / .228
Utley: .256 / .202
Pratt: .250 / .109
Perez: .218 / .199
Howard: .291 / .282

Con't ... (BB/PA; RC27)
Thome: .168 / 8.05
Abreu: .178 / 9.26
Bell: .095 / 5.88
Burrell: .146 / 5.96
Rollins: .079 / 5.99
Polanco: .049 / 5.27
Lieberthal: .070 / 4.89
Byrd: .053 / 2.81

Bench:
Michaels: .121 / 5.67
Glanville: .046 / 1.95
Ledee: .152 / 6.98
Utley: .052 / 4.95
Pratt: .121 / 4.34
Perez: .047 / 3.52
Howard: .048 / 5.83

Phillies Leaders:
BA: Abreu at .301 (17th in NL)
OBP: Abreu at .428 (5th in NL)
BB/PA: Abreu at .178 (5th in NL)
BB/K: Abreu at 1.09 (127 walks to just 116 K's, the sole Phillie to have more walks than strikeouts) (12th in NL)
ISO: Thome at .307 (4th in NL)
RC27: Abreu at 9.26 (6th in NL)
XBH: Abreu at 78 (tied for 7th in NL)
Doubles: Abreu at 47 (tied for 4th in NL)
Triples: Rollins at 12 (tied for 1st in the NL)
Home Runs: Thome at 42 (tied for 5th in NL)
Runs: Rollins at 119 (3rd in NL)
RBIs: Abreu and Thome at 105 (tied for 12th in NL)
BB: Abreu at 127 (tied for 2nd in NL, a long way away from Barry Bonds 232)
Stolen Bases: Abreu at 40 (tied for 3rd in NL)
Total Bases: Abreu at 312 (tied for 8th in NL)

What the stats mean:
GPA (Gross Productive Average): (1.8 * .OBP + .SLG) / 4 = .GPA
ISO (Isolated Power): .SLG - .BA = .ISO
BB / PA (Walks per plate appearance): (BB / PA = .BB/PA Avg)
RC27 (Runs Created per 27 Outs): ESPN’s formula for RC27 is simply too complex for me to replicate easily here. This is their stat based on what a hypothetical team of nine of the same player would score.

The Phillies 1-6 hitters were basically strong, although you'd like to see more production from leadoff hitters in 2005:

Team GPA (by batting order)
Batting #1: .261*
Batting #2: .266
Batting #3: .322
Batting #4: .310
Batting #5: .278
Batting #6: .263
Batting #7: .251
Batting #8: .241
Batting #9: .192
Team: .266

*Marlon Byrd is a big reason why this number is so low: he had a .209 GPA leading off in 2004. Jimmy Rollins had a .285 GPA leading off.

The MVP ... To me, the bottom line after a cursory look at the numbers for 2004 is that Bobby Abreu was the Phillies MVP. He got on base, was the Phils biggest threat to run, and had power to spare. Whatever his faults as a defensive player in right, he was the Phils most consistent player at the plate. Look at the team Win Shares for 2004:

Win Shares:
Abreu: 37
Rollins: 25
Thome: 22
Bell: 20
Polanco: 17
Burrell: 15
Lieberthal: 9
Byrd: 6

Bench:
Michaels: 11
Ledee: 6
Glanville: 1
Utley: 8
Pratt: 4
Perez: 4

Abreu's 37 Win Shares were good for 5th in the NL overall. What's striking about his 2004 performance was how remarkably consistent it was: his home slugging percentage (.552) wasn't any higher than his road (.535), and he got just as many hits on the road (86) as he got away (87). I don't think, looking at the Phillies lineup, there was another player more dependable or more threatening in the Phillies lineup. Abreu has been a remarkably consistent player through his career. In seven seasons with the Phillies his lowest OBP was .393 ... Check out his season-by-season GPA numbers with the Phillies:

1998: .308
1999: .338
2000: .326
2001: .313
2002: .316
2003: .301
2004: .329
Career: .315

Abreu will be just 31 on Opening Day, 2005. No reason to assume he'll drop off any time soon. When his career ends I think he'll be remembered as one of the greats in Phillies history.

The MIP ... The Phils Most Improved Player in 2004 was Jimmy Rollins. I'll start by noting that I'm stunned to make that statement. Even before the 2004 season we all knew how good Bobby Abreu was, but Rollins was on the fence: formerly the Phillies lead-off hitter, he struck out too much to continue in the role and had been replaced by Marlon Byrd late in 2003. Vowing to cut down on his strikeouts, Rollins worked with Tony Gwynn in the off-season and laid claim to his role as the Phillies lead-off man after Byrd faltered. I think Rollins laid any doubts in my mind about his rightful position as the Phillies lead-off man with a terrific season in '04:

Let's start by looking at his GPA numbers:
2001: .250
2002: .233
2003: .240
2004: .270

2004 was a tremenous improvement. Rollins posted career highs in OBP (.340) and slugging percentage (.455). Rollins didn't improve his stats by increasing the frequency in which he walked (his .079 walks per plate appearance was the same as in 2003), but by cutting down on the strikeouts (.78 BB/SO in '04 compared with 0.48 in '03) and improving his power (career high .166 ISO).

Rollins played better at Citizen's than on the road:
Home: .294 GPA
Road: .248 GPA

However the differences aren't that stark. Like many Phillies he hit better at home than on the road, but what struck me as being interesting was that Rollins had just as many doubles at home (22) as on the road (21). He also had twice as many triples (8 to 4) at home and just two more home runs. As I said, Citizens is a slugger's park rather than a hitters park, so Rollins ability to set the table for the Phillies is a valuable talent. Only Burrell, Michaels and Abreu had better home OBP's.

How valuable was Rollins to the Phillies lineup? His 25 Win Shares were second on the team and tied him with the Dodgers Caesar Izturis for the lead amongst NL Shortstops. We'd like to see him improve his number of walks, but it appears his tutoring with Gwynn has paid off. At 25 Rollins is still in his prime, he's got power and speed to burn and gets on base enough to make him a terrific lead-off man for the Phillies. Rollins might just be the premier shortstop in the NL for years to come.

Pat the Bat ... Here’s a fun stat: guess who Burrell tied with in slugging percentage in ’04? Ichiro! That’s right, the single-spraying Seattle batting champ and the Phillies slugging leftfielder both had slugging percentages of .455 for the season. That is remarkable because Ichiro had just 37 of his 262 hits go for extra bases. 225 singles. Ichiro had four fewer extra-base hits than Burrell, despite playing forty more games and having over twice as many hits! (Jimmy Rollins also tied Burrell.)

Pat Burrell was a major puzzle to Phillies fans in 2003 and continued to be an enigma in 2004. At the age of 25 he had a terrific season for the Phillies, hitting 37 home runs and 116 RBIs. He seemed to be Scott Rolen's heir as the Phillies superstar slugger, but his hellish 2003 season (a .073 decline in BA, .140 decline in slugging percentage) caused fans to worry that Burrell would never regain his footing. Phillies fans waited nervously to see what 2004 would bring. In the season opener, in chilly PNC Park, Burrell was the Phils only bright spot, going three for four and scoring the Phils sole run in a 2-1 loss.

However, while Phillies fans were giddy they should have taken note of the fact that eight of Burrell’s first nine hits of the season were singles. The return of Burrell's ability to make contact with the ball was a relief, but his power noticeably diminished as the season progressed: after a spectacular May (.667 SLG) in which he hit eight home runs, Burrell’s production tailed off when summer arrived … June: .390 SLG; July: .385 SLG … while Burrell improved after his injury-plagued August with a decent September (.467), he still finished the season far from where he was in 2002.

Season-by-season GPA:
2000: .277 (.463 SLG)
2001: .273 (.469 SLG)
2002: .305 (.544 SLG)
2003: .240 (.404 SLG)
2004: .278 (.455 SLG)
Career: .275 (.470 SLG)

While Burrell posted an impressive OBP for 2004 (.365, a .056 increase over 2003), his power hadn't really returned. In his first three campaigns, Burrell's isolated power was always above .200 ... he declined in '03, but what is striking about his '04 campaign was how his power really didn't return:

ISO: [SLG-BA=ISO]
2000: .203
2001: .212
2002: .263
2003: .195
2004: .199
Career: .217

Burrell actually had fewer extra-base hits in 2004 (41) than in 2003 (56), despite getting six more hits.

I don't think any other player benefitted more from the cozy confines of Citizen's Bank Ballpark than Burrell:

Home / Road
BA: .286 / .231
OBP: .399 / .336
SLG: .519 / .399
GPA: .309 / .251
K/BB ratio: 1.33 / 2.02

Burrell needs to regain his stroke on the road. When he does that, he'll be an All-Star.

So why the power outage in 2004? Was Burrell's 2002 a fluke? I doubt it, because his 2000 & 2001 numbers indicated so strongly that he was a power-hitter. I think that the 2003 season still impacts Burrell's confidence and that it will be a while until he shakes the bogeyman off his back. The bottom-line with Burrell is that he is the Phillies most important player. He's young (28), entering his prime and will lead this team in the future. He still is Rolen's heir. This should be his team. If he could return to his 2002 form the Phillies would have a trio (Thome-Abreu-Burrell) just as deadly as the Cardinals Pujols-Edmonds-Rolen combo.

I think that he'll have an impressive 2005 season.

The pivot ... Second base is a big question mark for the Phillies. As of this writing, Placido Polanco is intent on testing the free agent waters and the Phillies haven't indicated that they want to re-sign him. If they fail to re-sign Polanco, the Phillies 2005 infield alignment will look a little like this:

1B Thome: .323 GPA; Age 34
2B Utley: .256 GPA; Age 26
SS Rollins: .270 GPA: Age 26
3B Bell: .278 GPA: Age 32

Utley and Polanco are different players. As I discussed in Part 1, Polanco's contribution to the Phillies defensive alignment is tremenous and not acknowledged to the degree it ought to be. If the Phillies go with Utley they will have to suffer the defensive downgrade that comes with that decision. Is Utley's bat enough of a plus? That's hard to say, because comparing the two is like comparing apples and oranges. At the plate the two couldn't be more different:

(OBP / SLG / ISO / BB-to-K ratio)
Polanco: .345 / .441 / .143 / 0.69
Utley: .308 / .468 / .202 / 0.38

Utley is a slugging second baseman, an ideal six-hole hitter with power, adequately manning the middle infield. Polanco is a prototypical two-hole hitter, a contact man with speed but whose top priority is making contact with the ball and turning the 6-4-3 double play. I like them both and I'd like to see them both in the Phillies lineup for 2005. The problem I have with both Utley and Polanco are that they have next to no ability to draw walks. Consistently, Phillies batters have OBPs about 70-90 points over their BA's (e.g., Abreu's OBP was .127 over his BA). Last year neither Utley nor Polanco were able to get on base 50 points over their BA due to their inability to draw walks: both were worse than Marlon Byrd are drawing walks in 2004:

Walks per plate appearance (BB/PA):
Byrd: .058
Utley: .052
Polanco: .049

Admittedly, Polanco has been better at walking in his career (2003: .076; 2002: .061), but he isn't what you would call a walk machine. Utley has had a shorter career so far (267 at-bats in '04 and 134 at-bats in '03), so it is impossible to ascertain whether he'll be a savvy hitter in the future. My gut tells me no.

There's also Polanco's first-half injury to factor into the mix. Polanco had a .287 GPA in the second half of the season. He seemed to get better while Utley wore down a little. To me, the bottom-line is that the Phillies have the best middle infield in the NL with Polanco and Rollins right now and they'd be fools to let Polanco skip out of town. The added problem is that the Phillies don't have a two-hole hitter to replace Polanco. Utley hit well in the two slot in '04 but draw few walks there. If Polanco leaves the Phillies will have a problem filling that hole.

The alignment I'd like to see the Phillies use in 2005 is this:

1B Thome: .323; 34
2B Polanco: .266; 29
SS Rollins: .270; 26
3B Utley: .256; 26

The corners ... so I should say a few words about Jim Thome and David Bell, 2/3 of the Phillies 2003 free agent class. The Phillies are Jim Thome's team for now. He turned in a great year in 2004: 42 home runs, 28 2B's, 105 RBI's, 104 BB's, nearly .400 OBP, nearly .600 SLG. But there was something off in 2004: after a terrific June (15 home runs, .816 SLG), Thome cooled off. He only hit 15 home runs after June, compared to 26 last year.

Is Thome in decline? Answer: probably yes. He's 34 and has played in 1,600+ games in his career. That's a lot of wear and tear and you have to wonder if it's catching up to him. He's an offensive powerhouse, whose impressive play at the plate more than makes up for the fact that he's a pretty poor fielder.

I like David Bell. Nice guy, solid performer in the six hole for the Phillies this season. Good third baseman. 2004 was a pretty great year for him: career high in OBP (.363) and in slugging (.458). After having a season equally as awful as Burrell's in 2003, Bell's resurrection was probably a relief to Ed Wade, who inked Bell to a 4-year deal before the '03 season.

That said, the Phillies should probably trade him at the first opportunity. Bell's '04 was a career high and not likely to be repeated any time soon. He's 32 and has always been a marginal hitter: moderate power, ok discipline. His horrific .296 OBP in 2003 is just a little worse than his career .316 OBP. This is not a player with an aptitude for drawing walks. So if Bell's 2004 was a last harrah, than the Phillies have a big problem at third base. Bell's defense and patience at the plate don't compensate for a reduction in power.

Which brings me back to the 2005 alignment for the Phillies: Utley is six years younger than Bell, much cheaper, as good a hitter (if not a more explosive one) and almost certainly a better defender. Dealing Bell and installing Utley at third makes a lot of sense. I think a Thome-Polanco-Rollins-Utley infield would be very strong.

Centerfield ... I feel bad for Marlon Byrd. He's a talented player and I really thought that he'd be a terrific lead-off guy for the Phillies after the sterling .276 GPA after the 2003 All-Star break, he had a .366 OBP in '03 and appeared to have the job in hand. His 2004 implosion was spectacular. He hit badly before the All-Star break and after it. Even a banishing to Scranton to get his batting eye back didn't work. He finished the 2004 season with an absurdly low .287 OBP. In 106 games he drew just 22 walks. And, as I noted in a recent post, a below-average fielder in center.

The Phillies tried recently to deal Byrd and I think that it was the right thing to do. He's a bust. A very unfortunate bust. That said, the job would have to go to Jason Michaels, unless the Phillies successfuly pursued Steve Finley, which I suspect is a long shot at best. Michaels is a good reserve outfielder, but that's it. He has a talent for getting walks (an impressive .121 walk-per-plate appearance ratio), but he isn't that much of an upgrade from Byrd in center defensively. This is probably the Phillies biggest need area.

Catchers ... being a catcher has to be the worst job on the baseball field: squatting in the dirt as guys hurl 95 mph fastballs at you, getting run over by baserunners heading home, aching knees, mind games with pitchers ... Catchers are probably the most interesting players on the field. In sports movies they are always the grizzled veterans (Tom Berenger in Major League, Kevin Costner in Bull Durham). The Phillies have a terrific catcher: Mike Lieberthal has played as the Phillies everyday catcher since 1997 (although he missed big parts of the 1998 and 2001 seasons). Lieberthal is a tough out (just 69 K's in 476 at-bat's in '04) and a good run-producer batting 6th or 7th: .447 SLG, .335 OBP, 49 XBH's (inc. 17 home runs).

That said, Lieberthal is going to be 33 on Opening Day and has played nearly 1,000 games squatting in the dirt. 2005 or 2006 will likely be his last campaign as a Phillie.

The bench ... the Phillies dealt their best bench player, Ricky Ledee, for reasons that left me baffled. Ledee played well in center, drew walks and had power at the plate. He had a .333 OBP as a pinch hitter in 2004 ... The rest of the Phillies bench is o.k. The less said about Doug Glanville the better: he got half a million bucks last year to play terrible baseball: .244 OBP, .265 SLG, .046 BB/PA. He played better center than Michaels and Byrd, but that doesn't make up for the fact that he was a fairly automatic 0-for-4 when inserted into the lineup. Let him walk. I like Todd Pratt. The perfect backup catcher and a good bat off the bench (.351 OBP). I hope the Phillies will keep him around. Utley played a little from the bench in '04 (.355 BA as a pinch hitter in 35 at-bat's), but he'll be a regular in 2005, as either the Phillies second baseman or their third baseman. Ryan Howard is an intruiging player / issue for the Phillies. With the farm system denuded, he's one of the few prospects that the Phillies have left. In his limited call-up in 2004 he played well: .333 OBP, .564 SLG, .290 GPA. He's a real talent and the Phillies would be fools to deal him. Thome is 34 so Howard could log some innings at first in '05, but for a player of Howard's abilities the Phillies should be able to find a spot on the field. At a minimum they should put him on the bench and utilize him as a DH and pinch hitter for 2005. The Phils bench could be good in 2005.

Odds 'n Ends … has it struck anyone as being odd that Jimmy Rollins (.540) out-slugged Bobby Abreu (.515), Jim Thome (.484), David Bell (.436), Pat Burrell (.407), and Mike Lieberthal (.431) in the second-half of the season? ... The Phillies pitchers batted .165 BA, .198 OBP in 2004. Their .241 SLG wasn't half bad: they actually had 15 XBH, including 4 home runs ... I've complained that the NL should drop their opposition to the DH and Phillies fans should join me: Phillies DH's hit .324 (.390 OBP) and 7 home runs (.919 SLG) in nine games last year ... Ricky Ledee led the Phillies in pinch-hitting appearances in 2004, with 51. Jason Michaels was second with 39, followed by Chase Utley with 34 ... Tomas Perez played every position in the Phillies infield in 2004.

Conclusions. I've run through a lot of stats, but I think that the Phillies 2004 offense can be summed up as thus:

1. The Phillies were one of the 3-4 best teams in tne NL on offense.
2. Citizen's Bank Ballpark didn't help the Phillies offensively that much.
3. The Phillies have a hole at centerfield, but otherwise they look solid, provided they re-sign Polanco and deal Bell.
4. The Phillies settled a lot of issues in 2004, like whether Marlon Byrd is the Phillies everyday centerfielder (no), who should bat lead-off (Jimmy Rollins), and whether Pat Burrell was a lost cause (he's not).
5. The Phillies have a few unsettled issues, like whether or not Burrell will regain his 2002 form (probably) and if Thome will decline (probably).

Expect the Phillies to be a scary team next year, especially if they sign Steve Finley. I know Finley is 40, but he'd give the Phillies a murderer's row of batters to face: Thome, Burrell, Abreu, Bell (or Utley), Finley, Lieberthal, Rollins, and Utley (or Polanco). I think the Phillies could probably finished in the top four or so in most offensive stats, or improve. This could be a great offensive team next year.

Part IV tomorrow ...