A day after Brad Miller’s bamboo plant possibly helped spark a 13-run outburst by a previously struggling Phillies lineup, I walked into the clubhouse today half expecting to see a plant in front of every player’s locker. That wasn’t the case, but there is now a larger bamboo plant serving as a centerpiece in the middle of the locker room.

#Bamboo pic.twitter.com/ajfsh2Dfv2

— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) June 25, 2019

Behold its majestic powers.

Miller told the gang of reporters huddled around his locker earlier afternoon that he walked from his hotel over to Chinatown to get the plant.

Was he surprised this story has taken off the way it has?

“Obviously, I know this is a huge sports town, something a little bit different for me, you know, playing in some smaller markets before, but I thought it was cool,” he said. “Anything to kind of show that we got some fight, we’ve got some resiliency in us, and it’s just a temporary thing. We’re going to get out of here and show our true colors, which I think we did last night.”

He also joked the plant has brought him more attention than he’s gotten after multi-homer games.

Gabe Kapler, who was wearing the same shirt he rocked yesterday, was also asked about the plant before the game.

“So was it the bamboo?”

“Maybe,” Gabe Kapler said with a smile and laugh. #Phillies pic.twitter.com/ZTdcepORns

— Dave Uram (@MrUram) June 25, 2019

This isn’t the first time Miller has gone to the plant for good luck, citing how it helped him turn around his struggles earlier in his career before reaching the majors. “I trust the plant,” he said.

#TTP Trust the…plant.

If the Phillies make it two in a row tonight over the Mets, maybe a new snack will make its way into the clubhouse:

Last night's game got us 🤔🎍 A little extra good luck for the @Phillies! pic.twitter.com/NELG1UEYb2

— Herr Foods Inc. (@herrfoods) June 25, 2019

Larry Andersen was on the WIP morning show today, talking about your red-hot Philadelphia Phillies.

Red hot in a bad way, since they’ve lost seven games in a row. But perhaps that changes tonight when they host the New York Mets, a team that had to apologize after manager Mickey Callaway called a reporter a “motherfucker” in the clubhouse.

Andersen said this about your team, your town:

“It just, it looks… I hate to say it, but it looked lifeless, and it looked listless, like there wasn’t energy, and not even getting something going, getting the crowd into it. You just don’t see it. And I’m not in the dugout so I can only say what I see. I’m not down there, I don’t know if everybody’s pulling for each other, if they’re making an effort. I don’t want to say that they’re not, and I’ve said this before, even as a player, when you’re not scoring and not playing well it looks like you have no energy and it looks like you don’t care. You can’t just say they don’t care, but I’d certainly like to see more energy. I’d like to see more of everything, you know?”

The Phillies were swept over the weekend by the Fish, which seems impossible, regardless of how poorly you’re playing.

Inevitably the conversation turned to accountability and the benching of players, with Andersen offering this take, after the jump:

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