Don't Worry About the Phillies' Early Spring Struggles, They're Just Tired

Photo credit: David Manning-USA TODAY Sports

Of course it’s spring training and of course it doesn’t mean anything. But, the Phillies are 1-6 and batting .194, which is the worst average in baseball right now. No reason to panic, but we can still shake our damn heads.

Larry Bowa, however, offered up this excuse explanation. He offered up this explanation on the WIP Morning Show today:

“A lot of guys right now, and this isn’t an excuse, they work hard in the morning, by the time game starts they’re dead,” bench coach Larry Bowa told Angelo Cataldi and the 94WIP Morning Show on Wednesday. “In fact, Dave Hollins, who is one of the scouts here said, ‘This is the hardest camp that I’ve seen as far as guys working.’ It’s going to take a little while for these guys to get the soreness and stiffness out.”

“When you can’t swing a bat and one of your legs is bothering you, especially a power hitter is your lower half, and he had no push off of his legs to generate bat speed or power [last year],” Bowa said of Howard. “So far this Spring he’s doing a lot of drills. I expect him to have a good year. He’s hit a lot of balls good in batting practice. Is he gonna hit 50 [home runs]? No he’s not going to hit 50, but there’s no reason why he can’t hit 30 home runs, if he’s healthy.”

So there you have it… the Phillies, who haven’t been able to hit effectively in three years, are struggling this spring because they’re working too hard.