Matty's Demotion

Matt Stairs (or "Matty" as Charlie Manuel refers to him) has been in a slump.

20 straight at-bats without a hit for a guy who is primarily a pinch hitter is actually a bit more than a slump. It's a potential pink slip.

Charlie Manuel has proven himself to be a master at using his bench. So many games have been won via the key pinch hit that seemed odd at the time.

Consequently, when Charlie, who clearly loves Matty as a player, chooses not to use him as a pinch hitter when the bases are loaded with only one out and a right handed pitcher on the mound, as he did tonight in the 6th inning.

Well, it might be a bit too much to say that Matty is in the dog house, but things are not going so well for the man who had one of the greatest moments in Phillies history last year with his home run against the Dodgers in the NLCS, which was followed by one of the greatest press conferences of all time.

Seriously, look at it.

So, what's happening here?

Have the Phillies (Charlie) seriously lost faith in the active career leader in pinch hit home runs or is Charlie just playing more of his Jedi master mind games to get Matty back on track? This is worth paying attention to as we approach the stretch run.