Saturday, May 30, 2009
Jason Donald
It's been reported to me just now from my Iron Pigs inside source that Jason Donald is not in the lineup tonight. Could this be a trade? I imagine we'll find out within 24 hours. Who else is excited?!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Pitching
So I just got off the phone with my brother-in-law after a good conversation about the NBA and the Phillies and other random things. If you're not watching the NBA Playoffs, you should be. That's all I'll say about that though.
The Phillies pitching situation is one that I keep hearing about over and over again. I have now heard Ken Rosenthal talk to me twice about how the Phillies need another starter. Who even are you Ken? Here's my feelings on the Phillies getting a new starter:
A new starter is always nice because we most likely would be upgrading one of our current starters. I doubt we'd trade for anything less than a number 2 guy. But who the heck are we going to trade? I don't really wanna trade anyone that is currently on our roster, and we all know how much I love the farm system, so I always have a tough time approving of trades. This year, though, I have realized there are plenty of people in our system that we don't need at all because we are extremely set in several places.
And even if we do make a trade, who do we replace in the rotation? Options:
Hamels - never
Myers - never
Moyer - as much as he may have struggled so far, I am sure he is going to get things together. And if we replace him, where do we put him? He's a starting pitcher, bottom line. His last two starts have been good enough for us to win, we just haven't. I'm not saying "good enough to win" is the best case scenario, but I feel very confident in the Ageless Wonder.
Blanton - It's especially tough to replace him after last night's start. But when we got Blanton last year people complained. He didn't have the best numbers, and he never will. But he is a number 3 or most likely 4 pitcher on this team who can pitch innings. Last year the explanation for Blanton was "innings eater." So how can you move an innings eater to the bullpen? The purpose of him is to save the rest of the bullpen. I guess we could still save the bullpen with him in it just by pitching him more, but that seems kinda dumb to me. He can clearly start and be very effective, so it's tough to replace him.
Happ - I think this would be one of the dumbest moves we could make. At this point, it looks like Happ can be a consistent starter for us and get the job done. Not to mention, he will be starting for us in years to come. Yes, he was very good in the bullpen, but he is also very good as a starter. He started 4 games for us last year and 1 so far this year. In those 5 starts, he has a 2.43 ERA. And it's not like we were playing the Nationals. Those were games against the Mets, Cardinals, Braves, and Yankees. I just don't see the advantage to putting him back in the bullpen.
With all of that said, I think the most likely option is Blanton, and I guess that makes the most sense of the guys we have to choose from. But that still leaves the question of who do we trade? And who do we want to get? What do you all think the best options would be for us?
The Phillies pitching situation is one that I keep hearing about over and over again. I have now heard Ken Rosenthal talk to me twice about how the Phillies need another starter. Who even are you Ken? Here's my feelings on the Phillies getting a new starter:
A new starter is always nice because we most likely would be upgrading one of our current starters. I doubt we'd trade for anything less than a number 2 guy. But who the heck are we going to trade? I don't really wanna trade anyone that is currently on our roster, and we all know how much I love the farm system, so I always have a tough time approving of trades. This year, though, I have realized there are plenty of people in our system that we don't need at all because we are extremely set in several places.
And even if we do make a trade, who do we replace in the rotation? Options:
Hamels - never
Myers - never
Moyer - as much as he may have struggled so far, I am sure he is going to get things together. And if we replace him, where do we put him? He's a starting pitcher, bottom line. His last two starts have been good enough for us to win, we just haven't. I'm not saying "good enough to win" is the best case scenario, but I feel very confident in the Ageless Wonder.
Blanton - It's especially tough to replace him after last night's start. But when we got Blanton last year people complained. He didn't have the best numbers, and he never will. But he is a number 3 or most likely 4 pitcher on this team who can pitch innings. Last year the explanation for Blanton was "innings eater." So how can you move an innings eater to the bullpen? The purpose of him is to save the rest of the bullpen. I guess we could still save the bullpen with him in it just by pitching him more, but that seems kinda dumb to me. He can clearly start and be very effective, so it's tough to replace him.
Happ - I think this would be one of the dumbest moves we could make. At this point, it looks like Happ can be a consistent starter for us and get the job done. Not to mention, he will be starting for us in years to come. Yes, he was very good in the bullpen, but he is also very good as a starter. He started 4 games for us last year and 1 so far this year. In those 5 starts, he has a 2.43 ERA. And it's not like we were playing the Nationals. Those were games against the Mets, Cardinals, Braves, and Yankees. I just don't see the advantage to putting him back in the bullpen.
With all of that said, I think the most likely option is Blanton, and I guess that makes the most sense of the guys we have to choose from. But that still leaves the question of who do we trade? And who do we want to get? What do you all think the best options would be for us?
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Sarge Says: Special Edition
Sarge just said this, talking about Ryan Howard hitting a pitch with the right part of his bat:
"ThErE's JuSt No BaLl PaRk In ThE lEaGuE tHaT cAn HoLd HiS bAlLs In."
Yes, I feel this warrants it's own post
"ThErE's JuSt No BaLl PaRk In ThE lEaGuE tHaT cAn HoLd HiS bAlLs In."
Yes, I feel this warrants it's own post
Getting Old
The title is not referring to Jamie Moyer. He's already old. It is, however, getting old waiting for his 250th career win. This was his 5th straight failed attempt last night, 4th straight loss, and 2nd straight game where he pitched well enough to win. Obviously it will come eventually but I think we are all done with waiting. It's weird to come off of a 10 game road trip in which we win 8 and lose to the Marlins who were 9-24 going into this series since their 11-1 start.
The home-road issue doesn't make much sense. I was watching Daily News Live today and they briefly addressed that issue. The consensus is that there is absolutely no reason for our 8-13 home record compared to our 16-6 road record. One good point that good old Ricky Bo brought up is that our team is a very unemotional team. I never really realized this until he said it and explained it. They have never been the kind of team that really goes on long streaks of playing really well or really poorly with a few exceptions. It seems like their performance one day is not based on a performance the day before. Every game is its own game and they try to win that game. Playing that way can be frustrating when we lose to teams like the Marlins after beating the Yankees in 2 out of 3, but overall I think it's a good thing. It was obviously good last year because we won the World Series. It would be nice to maintain some more momentum after big wins, but I think the key is that we can shake off a bad loss and recover quickly. That's such a huge advantage in such a long season. Look at the Mets, who I think are way too emotional. By September, they're completely drained.
With all of that being said, here's hoping we can move on quickly from yesterday's loss and get tonight's game with Blanton on the mound
The home-road issue doesn't make much sense. I was watching Daily News Live today and they briefly addressed that issue. The consensus is that there is absolutely no reason for our 8-13 home record compared to our 16-6 road record. One good point that good old Ricky Bo brought up is that our team is a very unemotional team. I never really realized this until he said it and explained it. They have never been the kind of team that really goes on long streaks of playing really well or really poorly with a few exceptions. It seems like their performance one day is not based on a performance the day before. Every game is its own game and they try to win that game. Playing that way can be frustrating when we lose to teams like the Marlins after beating the Yankees in 2 out of 3, but overall I think it's a good thing. It was obviously good last year because we won the World Series. It would be nice to maintain some more momentum after big wins, but I think the key is that we can shake off a bad loss and recover quickly. That's such a huge advantage in such a long season. Look at the Mets, who I think are way too emotional. By September, they're completely drained.
With all of that being said, here's hoping we can move on quickly from yesterday's loss and get tonight's game with Blanton on the mound
Monday, May 25, 2009
8/10
We ended the 10 game road trip with a win against the Yankees that may have been a little too exciting. A 10 game road trip, no matter who you're playing, can be really tough. And we had to travel to Cincinnati to play a pretty solid Reds team and then New York for a Yankees team that was maybe the hottest in baseball. To come out of that with 8 wins and 2 losses is fantastic. Some thoughts:
- Another one of my minor leaguers came up and has experienced a good amount of success so far. John Mayberry, an outfielder we traded for in the offseason, hit a home run on Saturday for his first career major league hit. He's the first Phillie player to do that since Utley hit a grand slam for his first career hit. There was a possibility that he would have just been called up for the weekend in New York, but Charlie has now said he'll be sticking around for a little while. This is really exciting to me, but I just hope he can see a decent amount of playing time and not just ride the bench. It's tough because our outfielders are pretty solid guys who can or should play every day. But I am definitely happy to have someone on the bench to play in the outfield other than Matt Stairs. Because we're still trying to figure out if he can actually move
- FOX is stupid. John Mayberry's dad is a former major leaguer. So FOX kept showing him sitting in the stands because it was John Jr's first career game. Or so they thought. It was John Jr's first career game, but they were not showing his dad. They just showed some random dude a bunch of times until they eventually realized it wasn't actually John Mayberry Sr. They eventually found him and acknowledged how f'n stupid they are.
- I have been saying this for about a year now probably. Sarge is a horrendous mixture of Bill Cosby, Christopher Walken, and Scooby Doo. Listen to him. Think about it.
- We have another MVP candidate emerging in Carlos Ruiz. Realistically he's not even close to winning MVP, but he has been hot lately. And he's been very clutch. He came up with some very big hits in this series with the Yankees
- JA Happ is nasty. With a 75-80 pitch limit for the game, I didn't expect very much out of him. Six innings, 2 BS runs and no walks later, he had quite the showing and earned a win that the Phillies couldn't get. With the starts he had last season and this start in the New Yankee Stadium, he looks like he will be an extremely legitimate number 3 pitcher for us and probably even a 2. And the game on Saturday he was even limited in the kinds of pitches he was throwing. If his curveball is as good as the rest of his stuff, we're in for many good years with him and Hamels at the top of our rotation.
- Jayson Werth needs to get his act together on defense. Maybe it's the change of scenery going to left field that threw him off, but he just looked like he was doggin' it the whole series. He gunned down Johnny Traitor - I mean Johnny No Credibility - I mean Johnny Let Me Completely Negate the Depth of the Yankees-Red Sox Rivalry - I mean Johnny Damon going home in Sunday's game, so he's not all bad. But I would appreciate him at least looking like he's putting out a little more effort on some of those balls. Happ's first run was his fault. Jayson Werth - how do you sleep at night? But seriously he should step it up a little more. Or is he still drunk from the parade?
- Howard is still in line for a Gold Glove
- All of the lefty concerns about our lineup are ridiculous. We do not need to break up our left handed hitters at all. Yes, Ryan Howard sucks against lefties. But Raul Ibanez is hitting .327 against lefties this season. That's lower than his .360 against righties, but it's nowhere close to bad. And Chase Utley is hitting .319 against lefties compared to .289 against righties. So we don't have to worry about changing a lineup for a left handed pitcher. We should just hope Howard can do something
- I still hate Jimmy. I'm only saying that now because if I let up on him at all, he might get complacent and go back to sucking. So step up your game loser (but seriously nice job recently. D-bag)
- I want to play the Yankees in the World Series. I feel like we came nowhere close to our potential in that park and we still took 2/3.
- Lidge can blow all the saves he wants if we still end up winning. Sure, 11 innings is stressful, but a win is a win. Blowing a save and losing can get real old real fast though. Keep doing what you do though Brad hopefully things will work themselves out
We have the Marlins coming up followed by the Nationals. It's time to start winning some home games. I think 4 out of 6 will be easy, and we should get 5 out of 6 against these two teams. Let's hope for win number 250 tomorrow for Jamie. Dollar Dog Night. If you're going, eat 3 for me.
- Another one of my minor leaguers came up and has experienced a good amount of success so far. John Mayberry, an outfielder we traded for in the offseason, hit a home run on Saturday for his first career major league hit. He's the first Phillie player to do that since Utley hit a grand slam for his first career hit. There was a possibility that he would have just been called up for the weekend in New York, but Charlie has now said he'll be sticking around for a little while. This is really exciting to me, but I just hope he can see a decent amount of playing time and not just ride the bench. It's tough because our outfielders are pretty solid guys who can or should play every day. But I am definitely happy to have someone on the bench to play in the outfield other than Matt Stairs. Because we're still trying to figure out if he can actually move
- FOX is stupid. John Mayberry's dad is a former major leaguer. So FOX kept showing him sitting in the stands because it was John Jr's first career game. Or so they thought. It was John Jr's first career game, but they were not showing his dad. They just showed some random dude a bunch of times until they eventually realized it wasn't actually John Mayberry Sr. They eventually found him and acknowledged how f'n stupid they are.
- I have been saying this for about a year now probably. Sarge is a horrendous mixture of Bill Cosby, Christopher Walken, and Scooby Doo. Listen to him. Think about it.
- We have another MVP candidate emerging in Carlos Ruiz. Realistically he's not even close to winning MVP, but he has been hot lately. And he's been very clutch. He came up with some very big hits in this series with the Yankees
- JA Happ is nasty. With a 75-80 pitch limit for the game, I didn't expect very much out of him. Six innings, 2 BS runs and no walks later, he had quite the showing and earned a win that the Phillies couldn't get. With the starts he had last season and this start in the New Yankee Stadium, he looks like he will be an extremely legitimate number 3 pitcher for us and probably even a 2. And the game on Saturday he was even limited in the kinds of pitches he was throwing. If his curveball is as good as the rest of his stuff, we're in for many good years with him and Hamels at the top of our rotation.
- Jayson Werth needs to get his act together on defense. Maybe it's the change of scenery going to left field that threw him off, but he just looked like he was doggin' it the whole series. He gunned down Johnny Traitor - I mean Johnny No Credibility - I mean Johnny Let Me Completely Negate the Depth of the Yankees-Red Sox Rivalry - I mean Johnny Damon going home in Sunday's game, so he's not all bad. But I would appreciate him at least looking like he's putting out a little more effort on some of those balls. Happ's first run was his fault. Jayson Werth - how do you sleep at night? But seriously he should step it up a little more. Or is he still drunk from the parade?
- Howard is still in line for a Gold Glove
- All of the lefty concerns about our lineup are ridiculous. We do not need to break up our left handed hitters at all. Yes, Ryan Howard sucks against lefties. But Raul Ibanez is hitting .327 against lefties this season. That's lower than his .360 against righties, but it's nowhere close to bad. And Chase Utley is hitting .319 against lefties compared to .289 against righties. So we don't have to worry about changing a lineup for a left handed pitcher. We should just hope Howard can do something
- I still hate Jimmy. I'm only saying that now because if I let up on him at all, he might get complacent and go back to sucking. So step up your game loser (but seriously nice job recently. D-bag)
- I want to play the Yankees in the World Series. I feel like we came nowhere close to our potential in that park and we still took 2/3.
- Lidge can blow all the saves he wants if we still end up winning. Sure, 11 innings is stressful, but a win is a win. Blowing a save and losing can get real old real fast though. Keep doing what you do though Brad hopefully things will work themselves out
We have the Marlins coming up followed by the Nationals. It's time to start winning some home games. I think 4 out of 6 will be easy, and we should get 5 out of 6 against these two teams. Let's hope for win number 250 tomorrow for Jamie. Dollar Dog Night. If you're going, eat 3 for me.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
1 Down
After game 1 of this series with the Yankees, I could not be more confident about my prediction of taking at least 2 out of 3. Brett Myers pitched an absolute gem. It's a shame it doesn't look as good as it was because he gave up 3 runs, but those 3 runs were 3 solo home runs in a game appeared to have in hand when he gave each of them up anyway.
I figured Utley, Ibanez, Howard, and Stairs would have a field day in this park with how easily I had heard the ball flies out of right field. Well on the first pitch of the game I realized it flies out much easier than I ever could have imagined. I don't know about everyone else, but I thought Jimmy flew out to right and suddenly the ball was 10 rows deep. It's also nice that on a night where we hit 4 home runs, Ibanez was the only one of our more powerful lefties to hit one. I would have to think that Howard and Utley will each get at least 1 during this series as long as they can get a ball in the air.
Instead of those guys doing the hitting, Carlos Ruiz continued his more recent success. On May 12, his batting average dropped to .161 and he had yet to get an RBI this season. In 8 games since then, he is hitting .393 with 7 RBIs and now a home run after last night. He's also 2 for 3 in his career against Pettitte (tonight's pitcher) with a home run.
I don't know about everyone else, but I'm excited to see Happ start tonight. It's like looking into the future. Or something
I figured Utley, Ibanez, Howard, and Stairs would have a field day in this park with how easily I had heard the ball flies out of right field. Well on the first pitch of the game I realized it flies out much easier than I ever could have imagined. I don't know about everyone else, but I thought Jimmy flew out to right and suddenly the ball was 10 rows deep. It's also nice that on a night where we hit 4 home runs, Ibanez was the only one of our more powerful lefties to hit one. I would have to think that Howard and Utley will each get at least 1 during this series as long as they can get a ball in the air.
Instead of those guys doing the hitting, Carlos Ruiz continued his more recent success. On May 12, his batting average dropped to .161 and he had yet to get an RBI this season. In 8 games since then, he is hitting .393 with 7 RBIs and now a home run after last night. He's also 2 for 3 in his career against Pettitte (tonight's pitcher) with a home run.
I don't know about everyone else, but I'm excited to see Happ start tonight. It's like looking into the future. Or something
Friday, May 22, 2009
The Yankees
This weekend we face the evil empire known as the New York Yankees. Fortunately, we come in having won 6 of our last 7 games. Unfortunately, they come in having won 9 in a row. Fortunately, their stadium sucks and any ball hit in the air to right field is a home run. Unfortunately, our pitchers give up plenty of those as it is.
Overall I like our chances. These games will more than likely turn into slugfests despite the good pitching matchups. Our lineup full of lefties should dominate tonight against the right-handed AJ Burnett. Utley, Ibanez, Howard, and Stairs should go crazy in this ballpark. Although Myers will more than likely struggle, I think we can outhit them in tonight's game.
Tomorrow will be a bit tougher facing the left-handed Andy Pettitte who I think is more of a finesse pitcher. And JA Happ will be making his first start of the season. It's a tough situation for Happ to come into, but it's not as if this is his first action of the season or even first career start. I think he should be fine, but that game will definitely be tougher.
Sunday's game is Hamels against Sabathia which should be a great matchup. I am not afraid of Sabathia (NLDS) and Hamels is pitching really well right now. Sabathia throws hard, but that just means if we can get a good bat on the ball it'll fly forever.
I like that we have lefties going against lefties. I feel like no team really has a big pitching advantage in this series, so it will be all about who can hit better. Hopefully yesterday was just a warm up and we can keep it going through the weekend. I think this will be a very fun series to watch.
Overall I like our chances. These games will more than likely turn into slugfests despite the good pitching matchups. Our lineup full of lefties should dominate tonight against the right-handed AJ Burnett. Utley, Ibanez, Howard, and Stairs should go crazy in this ballpark. Although Myers will more than likely struggle, I think we can outhit them in tonight's game.
Tomorrow will be a bit tougher facing the left-handed Andy Pettitte who I think is more of a finesse pitcher. And JA Happ will be making his first start of the season. It's a tough situation for Happ to come into, but it's not as if this is his first action of the season or even first career start. I think he should be fine, but that game will definitely be tougher.
Sunday's game is Hamels against Sabathia which should be a great matchup. I am not afraid of Sabathia (NLDS) and Hamels is pitching really well right now. Sabathia throws hard, but that just means if we can get a good bat on the ball it'll fly forever.
I like that we have lefties going against lefties. I feel like no team really has a big pitching advantage in this series, so it will be all about who can hit better. Hopefully yesterday was just a warm up and we can keep it going through the weekend. I think this will be a very fun series to watch.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Tough One for Jamie
Jamie Moyer has struggled for much of the season up to this point, but tonight was not a case of Moyer struggling. The Phillies offense simply was not there today, and who knows how much it would have mattered with the way things seemed to be going. It was as if the Reds were supposed to win this game. Everything seemed to be going their way. I have never seen so many crappy hits by one team in a game. I don't think I've seen that many crappy hits in a series. It was as if every time they hit the ball it was a mistake and it just happened to fall in the middle of nowhere. Jamie definitely pitched well enough to pick up win #250, but it escaped him once more. It's almost better that he didn't get it tonight (almost) because his next start is at home and against the Marlins. That is a team he has had unbelievable success against, and it will be awesome for him to possibly get his 250th win at home in Philadelphia. In the meantime, hopefully our bats can keep doing what they had been doing, especially going into a series against the Yankees in 2 days.
Lights Out
Brad Lidge just converted his 3rd consecutive save in interesting fashion. Having runners on first and second with 1 out down by 1 run is something that apparently people are worried about. I am here to tell you two things
1) Brad Lidge will not be perfect this season
2) That does not mean Brad Lidge is not as good as last season
It may look like Lidge is worse right now, but he has not had as many actual save opportunities and he was never as good in non save situations. His ERA is high but that is irrelevant from here on out. It's not as if last season Lidge didn't give up a run or a baserunner. He did those things plenty of times. Not enough times in the right situations to blow a save, but he still did it. It's easy to get all freaked out about him not being as good this season because he has a high ERA after a few bad outings. The season is still relatively young and, hopefully, we are now starting to get into more games where he is actually meaningful. Letting people get on base is something he did all of last season. Look at the save that won us the NL East. That may have been the most nail biting of them all and not because of the importance of the game. The difference is this season balls seem to be getting hit to where our fielders aren't standing. That's something that will even out over time. He is still the Brad Lidge he was last year, so there should be nothing to worry about. He'll let people on base and he'll give up runs, but as long as these things have not already lost us a game, he can still get out of whatever situation he's gotten into, just as he did so many times last season.
1) Brad Lidge will not be perfect this season
2) That does not mean Brad Lidge is not as good as last season
It may look like Lidge is worse right now, but he has not had as many actual save opportunities and he was never as good in non save situations. His ERA is high but that is irrelevant from here on out. It's not as if last season Lidge didn't give up a run or a baserunner. He did those things plenty of times. Not enough times in the right situations to blow a save, but he still did it. It's easy to get all freaked out about him not being as good this season because he has a high ERA after a few bad outings. The season is still relatively young and, hopefully, we are now starting to get into more games where he is actually meaningful. Letting people get on base is something he did all of last season. Look at the save that won us the NL East. That may have been the most nail biting of them all and not because of the importance of the game. The difference is this season balls seem to be getting hit to where our fielders aren't standing. That's something that will even out over time. He is still the Brad Lidge he was last year, so there should be nothing to worry about. He'll let people on base and he'll give up runs, but as long as these things have not already lost us a game, he can still get out of whatever situation he's gotten into, just as he did so many times last season.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Busy
I just got back to school on Sunday and I've had classes and other errands to run yesterday and today. I will try to post after the game tonight. And some of you noticed before that I had ads on my blog. Some of you may notice now that they are no longer there. Apparently having ads on my blog was "dangerous" for google's advertisers or something like that. So no more ads and no $35 for me. F'in google
Monday, May 18, 2009
Breakin Out the Brooms
The only thing sweeter than a sweep is a 4 game sweep. And we did it in very interesting fashion. It's not often that a team can give up 5 or 6 runs every game and win all of them, but our guys came out to hit this weekend. In the 2nd game Saturday night, we scored 7 runs with only our 1-4 hitters getting hits in the game. And that game ended with Howard up, bases loaded, no one out. I was looking forward to his 3rd grand slam of the season, but I guess it will have to wait for another day.
We lucked out having that game end early. We clearly needed all the pitchers we could get today (thanks Park). I didn't get to watch the game because I was on my way back to school/at Chocolate World loving every second of my life. I was listening on the radio though when my boy Sergio Escalona came into the game. In my next minor league update he would have for sure been mentioned. He had been hot since my last update, giving up zero runs in his past 9.1 innings with Reading while picking up 4 saves. It's awesome that he pitched 1 inning and got his first major league win. I thoroughly enjoy having an extra pitcher as opposed to Miguel "Useless" Cairo on the team (I'll work on the nickname). With the way some of our starters (and relievers for that matter) have been pitching, we need the extra arms.
We get a day off tomorrow which is a very good thing. Seven games in 6 days is a little excessive, especially with the work our pitchers have been getting. Hopefully I can come up with something random and enjoyable for tomorrow's blog. If you have any ideas let me know. And let me know things you'd like to see in general.
Fun fact for today:
If the Nationals were the only team we played, Raul Ibanez would have 108 home runs and 288 RBIs. (Yes, I consider this a "fact")
We lucked out having that game end early. We clearly needed all the pitchers we could get today (thanks Park). I didn't get to watch the game because I was on my way back to school/at Chocolate World loving every second of my life. I was listening on the radio though when my boy Sergio Escalona came into the game. In my next minor league update he would have for sure been mentioned. He had been hot since my last update, giving up zero runs in his past 9.1 innings with Reading while picking up 4 saves. It's awesome that he pitched 1 inning and got his first major league win. I thoroughly enjoy having an extra pitcher as opposed to Miguel "Useless" Cairo on the team (I'll work on the nickname). With the way some of our starters (and relievers for that matter) have been pitching, we need the extra arms.
We get a day off tomorrow which is a very good thing. Seven games in 6 days is a little excessive, especially with the work our pitchers have been getting. Hopefully I can come up with something random and enjoyable for tomorrow's blog. If you have any ideas let me know. And let me know things you'd like to see in general.
Fun fact for today:
If the Nationals were the only team we played, Raul Ibanez would have 108 home runs and 288 RBIs. (Yes, I consider this a "fact")
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Tonight's Game
Due to JA Happ throwing 42 pitches last night, Andrew Carpenter has been called up to start the game tonight. Share your thoughts on this - before, during, and/or after the game. Whether you know something about him or our other options or not it'd be cool to hear what people are thinking.
Friday, May 15, 2009
What to Expect
The season is roughly 1/5 of the way over now, so here are some things we can expect if the Phillies continue at their current pace (remember, these are only rough estimates):
- 2 players on the Phillies will hit 50 home runs this season. And neither one will be Ryan Howard
- 5 different Phillies will end the season with at least 100 RBIs
- Chan Ho Park will hit 5 home runs
- Jamie Moyer will walk 25 times in just 70 plate appearances and finish with an on-base percentage of .438
- The Phillies pitchers will give up 280 home runs, shattering the major league record of 241 by the 1996 Detroit Tigers
- Jamie Moyer will give up 55 home runs this season and Brett Myers 50. The current NL record for a season is 48, and the major league record is 50
- The Phillies will fail to win a single home series
- Brad Lidge will finish with just 25 saves in 30 opportunities
- Jack Taschner will walk 20 more batters than he strikes out
- Ryan Howard will not commit a single error after leading all first basemen in errors last season with 19
- We will face the Marlins' bullpen for a total of 62 innings and score 114 runs in those innings. Without hitting a single home run
- The Phillies will commit just 50 errors this season as a team. The current record for fewest errors in a season by a team is 65
- Chase Utley will get hit by 30 pitches this season
- We will have 15 games postponed
- Jayson Werth will steal 35 bases with 5 of them being home
- Pedro Feliz will have as many hits as Chase Utley
- Ryan Howard will hit 10 grand slams
- Jimmy Rollins will be successful stealing bases 50% of the time. Last season he was successful 94% of the time
- Jimmy Rollins will finish with 45 extra base hits, just over half of what he had in his MVP season
- Shane Victorino will put together 5 different 16-game hit streaks, yet finish with a batting average of just .252
- Greg Dobbs will finish with just 20 total hits this season. Last season, he had 22 pinch hits
- Raul Ibanez will have career highs in runs (130), hits (205), doubles (45), home runs (50), RBIs (130), and stolen bases (15). He will also achieve his highest batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage
- Clay Condrey and Jamie Moyer will tie for the team lead in wins. One of them is a reliever, and the other is 46 years old and has an 8.15 ERA
- Cole Hamels will suffer 10 freak injuries causing him to leave a game early
- Adam Eaton will wave his arms like a fool 5 different times in Citizens Bank Park, each time getting the crap booed out of him
And finally...
- The Mets will finish 10 games ahead of us and make the playoffs, proving that these projections carry absolutely no weight
- 2 players on the Phillies will hit 50 home runs this season. And neither one will be Ryan Howard
- 5 different Phillies will end the season with at least 100 RBIs
- Chan Ho Park will hit 5 home runs
- Jamie Moyer will walk 25 times in just 70 plate appearances and finish with an on-base percentage of .438
- The Phillies pitchers will give up 280 home runs, shattering the major league record of 241 by the 1996 Detroit Tigers
- Jamie Moyer will give up 55 home runs this season and Brett Myers 50. The current NL record for a season is 48, and the major league record is 50
- The Phillies will fail to win a single home series
- Brad Lidge will finish with just 25 saves in 30 opportunities
- Jack Taschner will walk 20 more batters than he strikes out
- Ryan Howard will not commit a single error after leading all first basemen in errors last season with 19
- We will face the Marlins' bullpen for a total of 62 innings and score 114 runs in those innings. Without hitting a single home run
- The Phillies will commit just 50 errors this season as a team. The current record for fewest errors in a season by a team is 65
- Chase Utley will get hit by 30 pitches this season
- We will have 15 games postponed
- Jayson Werth will steal 35 bases with 5 of them being home
- Pedro Feliz will have as many hits as Chase Utley
- Ryan Howard will hit 10 grand slams
- Jimmy Rollins will be successful stealing bases 50% of the time. Last season he was successful 94% of the time
- Jimmy Rollins will finish with 45 extra base hits, just over half of what he had in his MVP season
- Shane Victorino will put together 5 different 16-game hit streaks, yet finish with a batting average of just .252
- Greg Dobbs will finish with just 20 total hits this season. Last season, he had 22 pinch hits
- Raul Ibanez will have career highs in runs (130), hits (205), doubles (45), home runs (50), RBIs (130), and stolen bases (15). He will also achieve his highest batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage
- Clay Condrey and Jamie Moyer will tie for the team lead in wins. One of them is a reliever, and the other is 46 years old and has an 8.15 ERA
- Cole Hamels will suffer 10 freak injuries causing him to leave a game early
- Adam Eaton will wave his arms like a fool 5 different times in Citizens Bank Park, each time getting the crap booed out of him
And finally...
- The Mets will finish 10 games ahead of us and make the playoffs, proving that these projections carry absolutely no weight
Thursday, May 14, 2009
The Cole Hamels of Old
Before you read this (or after), I updated late last night/early this morning with some stuff about JA Happ and the pitching situation. So if you get a chance read that one too if you havent already and let everybody know what you think. Thanks everybody. Now, for today's game...
It was good to see Cole remain in last season's form for his 2nd or 3rd straight start. Today was even more so than any of the other games, though. Something I noticed a lot last year was the complete lack of run support any time Hamels pitched. Today was no exception. His final stat line:
7IP, 7H, 2R, 1ER, 1BB, 9K
If you told me we'd be getting 7 innings and 1 earned run from our starter and losing I'd punch you in the face. But that is, in fact, what happened. Hamels should be used to this, though. Last season, he finished with a 14-10 record. He missed out on winning the Cy Young not because other pitchers were better but because our offense was that bad when he was on the mound. It is sometimes hard to believe how well we did last season considering this: If Cole Hamels got a win each time he pitched 7 innings or more and gave up 2 earned runs or less, he would have gone 23-7. 23-7. And so you don't have to reread, he was actually 14-10. That means we actually lost the game 3 times that he did that. And 6 other times we couldn't put enough runs on the board in those 7+ innings to get him a win. That's unbelievable to me
Speaking of great pitchers, apparently Jonathan Broxton is the second coming of Jesus Christ. Get ready people, the rapture is upon us. I pity those who actually watched the game with the volume on this afternoon while he was on the mound (myself included). Wheels and T Mac did everything short of ask this guy to marry their daughters. Or wives for that matter. This was comparable to ESPN's love affair with David Price leading up to the World Series. Although they did not compare Broxton to Tiger Woods (as Buster Olney did with Price), here are some things they were saying:
Wheels: "There's no mistake who that is warming up out there"
I understand that he's a big dude, but people don't actually know who he is. So there are probably plenty of mistakes.
T-Mac: "You talk about offensive linemen...this guy is 6'4"!"
The Phillies have 4 pitchers 6'4" or taller, including two 6'6" guys. And Broxton is listed at 6'3"
Wheels (when they show Broxton yelling after giving up a hit cause he isn't that good): "They say he's a really competitive guy"
If there is a more obvious/pointless character trait to point out in a professional athlete, someone please tell me.
T-Mac: "I don't think there's another relief pitcher in baseball who throws as hard as him"
OK, he throws 99 mph. There are plenty of others who can do that. Just because he's fat doesn't mean 99 mph is faster than 99 mph.
T-Mac (after Broxton gave up the game-tying double to Ruiz): "Broxton is just blowing people away"
Seriously?
These are just some of the quotes I actually got the chance to type while watching the game. I think anyone paying attention during that 9th inning can vouch for the incredible praises they were showering down upon a guy who a casual baseball fan probably hasn't heard of. I think Broxton will probably be good or whatever (I don't really care), but this was ridiculous. At some point I think they actually had to get new microphones because the ones they were using were covered in drool. To top all of this off, he tried his best to lose the game for the Dodgers. Thanks to our bad pitching, he got the win, but he didn't earn it. Congrats Broxton, I will never respect you.
It was good to see Cole remain in last season's form for his 2nd or 3rd straight start. Today was even more so than any of the other games, though. Something I noticed a lot last year was the complete lack of run support any time Hamels pitched. Today was no exception. His final stat line:
7IP, 7H, 2R, 1ER, 1BB, 9K
If you told me we'd be getting 7 innings and 1 earned run from our starter and losing I'd punch you in the face. But that is, in fact, what happened. Hamels should be used to this, though. Last season, he finished with a 14-10 record. He missed out on winning the Cy Young not because other pitchers were better but because our offense was that bad when he was on the mound. It is sometimes hard to believe how well we did last season considering this: If Cole Hamels got a win each time he pitched 7 innings or more and gave up 2 earned runs or less, he would have gone 23-7. 23-7. And so you don't have to reread, he was actually 14-10. That means we actually lost the game 3 times that he did that. And 6 other times we couldn't put enough runs on the board in those 7+ innings to get him a win. That's unbelievable to me
Speaking of great pitchers, apparently Jonathan Broxton is the second coming of Jesus Christ. Get ready people, the rapture is upon us. I pity those who actually watched the game with the volume on this afternoon while he was on the mound (myself included). Wheels and T Mac did everything short of ask this guy to marry their daughters. Or wives for that matter. This was comparable to ESPN's love affair with David Price leading up to the World Series. Although they did not compare Broxton to Tiger Woods (as Buster Olney did with Price), here are some things they were saying:
Wheels: "There's no mistake who that is warming up out there"
I understand that he's a big dude, but people don't actually know who he is. So there are probably plenty of mistakes.
T-Mac: "You talk about offensive linemen...this guy is 6'4"!"
The Phillies have 4 pitchers 6'4" or taller, including two 6'6" guys. And Broxton is listed at 6'3"
Wheels (when they show Broxton yelling after giving up a hit cause he isn't that good): "They say he's a really competitive guy"
If there is a more obvious/pointless character trait to point out in a professional athlete, someone please tell me.
T-Mac: "I don't think there's another relief pitcher in baseball who throws as hard as him"
OK, he throws 99 mph. There are plenty of others who can do that. Just because he's fat doesn't mean 99 mph is faster than 99 mph.
T-Mac (after Broxton gave up the game-tying double to Ruiz): "Broxton is just blowing people away"
Seriously?
These are just some of the quotes I actually got the chance to type while watching the game. I think anyone paying attention during that 9th inning can vouch for the incredible praises they were showering down upon a guy who a casual baseball fan probably hasn't heard of. I think Broxton will probably be good or whatever (I don't really care), but this was ridiculous. At some point I think they actually had to get new microphones because the ones they were using were covered in drool. To top all of this off, he tried his best to lose the game for the Dodgers. Thanks to our bad pitching, he got the win, but he didn't earn it. Congrats Broxton, I will never respect you.
Number 250 Another Time
Jamie Moyer is still stuck on 249 career wins after another horrible outing tonight. It's really a shame because everyone wants him to do well. After pitching the way he pitches for so long now and being successful why would it suddenly not be working this season? I don't really have an answer for that. I hope Jamie does though
JA Happ will be starting Saturday night in the 2nd game of the day night double header. That's great, but what does that mean in the long term? Blanton struggled a little bit in his last start but pitched very well the start before that. Park has pitched well in each of his past 2. I would think it's obvious that Hamels and Myers are safe in the rotation. I couldn't see Moyer being replaced, but at the same time he simply has not been effective for us. I am really looking forward to Happ starting, but I am curious to see what will happen if he looks good on Saturday.
We could keep pitching Hamels and Myers every 5 days and then have 4 other starters who rotate, but that seems like a waste to me. If Moyer isn't a starter, I don't think he's a pitcher. As much as I don't like Park, it's hard to put him in the bullpen after his past 2 outings. And Blanton is known as an innings-eater, so it seems foolish to not have him as a starter.
I'm interested in what others think about our starting pitching situation. Do you think Happ should be starting? Who should he replace? What the heck are we doing?
JA Happ will be starting Saturday night in the 2nd game of the day night double header. That's great, but what does that mean in the long term? Blanton struggled a little bit in his last start but pitched very well the start before that. Park has pitched well in each of his past 2. I would think it's obvious that Hamels and Myers are safe in the rotation. I couldn't see Moyer being replaced, but at the same time he simply has not been effective for us. I am really looking forward to Happ starting, but I am curious to see what will happen if he looks good on Saturday.
We could keep pitching Hamels and Myers every 5 days and then have 4 other starters who rotate, but that seems like a waste to me. If Moyer isn't a starter, I don't think he's a pitcher. As much as I don't like Park, it's hard to put him in the bullpen after his past 2 outings. And Blanton is known as an innings-eater, so it seems foolish to not have him as a starter.
I'm interested in what others think about our starting pitching situation. Do you think Happ should be starting? Who should he replace? What the heck are we doing?
Monday, May 11, 2009
Series vs. Dodgers
I think this is a big series coming up, and this is usually the type of series we do well with. We rarely sweep a division rival or a crappy team in another division, but I feel like this is the kind of series we would sweep. We've lost 4 out of our last 5, all to NL East opponents. The Dodgers are first in the West. Whether they have Manny or not (which they don't), I think this is our kind of series to dominate. We did this last year against the Brewers in September when we needed to keep winning. We did it last year to the Dodgers when we needed to win in late August. We just swept the Cardinals last week when we needed to get back on track. I know I predict great success for the Phillies a lot, but this is one I'm more confident in. The Dodgers have very tough pitching, but I think we can sweep them.
The first 2 games we are facing lefty starters. I don't know if I've said this before, but I think the whole lefty-lefty thing is a little overblown. With that being said, I also know that Charlie Manuel swears by this. So with 2 lefty starters and a team with a few lefties in their bullpen, here's my suggested lineup at least for the first 2 games:
CF Victorino
2B Utley
RF Werth
1B Howard
3B Feliz
LF Ibanez
SS Rollins
C Ruiz
P Park/Moyer
You may look at that and think I'm crazy for batting Feliz before Ibanez. Well here's my rationale for that:
-Feliz has just as many hits this season as Chase Utley does in just 2 more at bats.
-It further breaks up our lefties, causing the Dodgers to go through their entire bullpen in about one inning most likely.
-Feliz has been clutch for us this season. He has 19 RBIs to Bani's 23, and that's batting 7th and behind him. The Naked Mole Rat has been driving in runs like crazy and he's hit 9 home runs. This is limiting any runs that Feliz can drive in, yet he still has 19.
-Putting him behind Howard does not provide as much protection for Howard in the lineup as there would be with Ibanez. This might be seen as a bad thing, but I don't know that it is. Like I said, Feliz has been clutch. I think putting Howard on base will get Feliz going and prove to be a mistake. Then, even if Feliz does end up struggling, we still have Ibanez after him.
-I think this causes more of a discussion in response to this post
There is also the possibility of putting Feliz 3rd and Werth 5th to keep Howard Werth and Ibanez together in the lineup. I'd be interested in what other people think about this
The first 2 games we are facing lefty starters. I don't know if I've said this before, but I think the whole lefty-lefty thing is a little overblown. With that being said, I also know that Charlie Manuel swears by this. So with 2 lefty starters and a team with a few lefties in their bullpen, here's my suggested lineup at least for the first 2 games:
CF Victorino
2B Utley
RF Werth
1B Howard
3B Feliz
LF Ibanez
SS Rollins
C Ruiz
P Park/Moyer
You may look at that and think I'm crazy for batting Feliz before Ibanez. Well here's my rationale for that:
-Feliz has just as many hits this season as Chase Utley does in just 2 more at bats.
-It further breaks up our lefties, causing the Dodgers to go through their entire bullpen in about one inning most likely.
-Feliz has been clutch for us this season. He has 19 RBIs to Bani's 23, and that's batting 7th and behind him. The Naked Mole Rat has been driving in runs like crazy and he's hit 9 home runs. This is limiting any runs that Feliz can drive in, yet he still has 19.
-Putting him behind Howard does not provide as much protection for Howard in the lineup as there would be with Ibanez. This might be seen as a bad thing, but I don't know that it is. Like I said, Feliz has been clutch. I think putting Howard on base will get Feliz going and prove to be a mistake. Then, even if Feliz does end up struggling, we still have Ibanez after him.
-I think this causes more of a discussion in response to this post
There is also the possibility of putting Feliz 3rd and Werth 5th to keep Howard Werth and Ibanez together in the lineup. I'd be interested in what other people think about this
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Good Old Uncle Charlie
I commented on my mother's day post about the change to the lineup today. Matt Stairs played in place of Jayson Werth. Apparently this was due to Werth running into the wall on Saturday, so it wasn't a stupid move by Charlie to take him out of the lineup. Even if it were a stupid move, it all turned out okay when Stairs went 2 for 2 with 2 walks and an RBI. As usual, things seemed to work out for Chuck
I was quick to second guess him taking out Brett Myers after the 6th inning though. I was listening to the game on the radio, so maybe people were seeing something I wasn't hearing. But from where I sat, Brett had thrown 6 innings, given up 5 hits (only 1 in the last 3 innings he pitched) and just 1 run. We did have a good situation to score with a runner on 3rd in the bottom of the 6th, and sometimes it's good to get starters out of the game before you leave them in too long, but aren't we at all looking to rest up our bullpen? We finally had a pitcher go 8 innings on Saturday and suddenly we're in good shape? We've only had our starter get through the 7th inning 3 times this season in 29 games. Myers was at 92 pitches. You get another inning out of him and then bring in Madson and Lidge for the win. Instead, we use up our bullpen some more on a day where we really didn't need to.
I realize it's a tough call, and Charlie often ends up being right somehow with every decision he makes. But in that situation I'm willing to take the chance of Myers getting rocked in the 7th inning based on the chance that he doesn't get rocked and we're in good shape for a win and some rest for a weary bullpen.
I'd love to hear what everyone else thinks about this and the game today in general.
I was quick to second guess him taking out Brett Myers after the 6th inning though. I was listening to the game on the radio, so maybe people were seeing something I wasn't hearing. But from where I sat, Brett had thrown 6 innings, given up 5 hits (only 1 in the last 3 innings he pitched) and just 1 run. We did have a good situation to score with a runner on 3rd in the bottom of the 6th, and sometimes it's good to get starters out of the game before you leave them in too long, but aren't we at all looking to rest up our bullpen? We finally had a pitcher go 8 innings on Saturday and suddenly we're in good shape? We've only had our starter get through the 7th inning 3 times this season in 29 games. Myers was at 92 pitches. You get another inning out of him and then bring in Madson and Lidge for the win. Instead, we use up our bullpen some more on a day where we really didn't need to.
I realize it's a tough call, and Charlie often ends up being right somehow with every decision he makes. But in that situation I'm willing to take the chance of Myers getting rocked in the 7th inning based on the chance that he doesn't get rocked and we're in good shape for a win and some rest for a weary bullpen.
I'd love to hear what everyone else thinks about this and the game today in general.
Happy Mother's Day!
I will update later after the game most likely, but for now here's a short video for Mother's Day.
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4155957
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4155957
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Series vs. Braves
My finals week has finally come to an end, but I still did not get a chance to watch the game tonight. I was half listening to it so I can't be of any real value in commenting on the game. Looking at the box score and such, a few things pop out:
-Victorino's hit streak over. 16 games, very nice. With the way our offense is working, I'm sure someone else will have one of at least that length very soon
-Hamels had a very solid outing. It's nice to see he could actually make it through a start without getting hurt. Hopefully this is last year's Cole Hamels back for good
-Jayson Werth has been HOT. I feel like I looked at his batting average about 15 minutes ago and it was .250 and all of a sudden he is hitting .289. Keep it up
-I'm not going to ease up on Rollins cause he still sucks, but it does look like he's improving at the plate this season. He had a 2 run double, and he's now hit safely in 6 straight
-I love when Brad Lidge blows a save in a non save situation. He obviously didn't actually blow a save, but he got a bad performance out of the way. I remember this happening several times last season. Most notably, the game where Victorino threw the guy out at home against the Braves in the game that told me the Phillies would win the World Series and the game where he came in when we were losing to the Braves already and gave up a grand slam in the 9th so we could lose to them by more. It's a beautiful thing when his horrible pitching has no affect on the outcome of the game in terms of a win or loss. Tonight was one of those nights, so expect a string of good outings from him before we hopefully use him in another meaningless situation
Looking ahead -
I think the Braves suck. So let's just beat them
First of all, the Braves bullpen has an 11.57 ERA against us this season and we're hitting .317 against them. And that's without us even hitting a home run
The starters for this weekend don't really scare me either -
Ibanez has hit 3 home runs in just 16 at bats against Vazquez (tomorrow's starter). This is our 2nd time facing him this season, the first being our first win of the year when the Braves' bullpen walked in our roster for us to win. I think Blanton keeps moving in a positive direction and has a solid outing.
The Braves have completely made up a person by the name of Kenshin Kawakami to start the game on Sunday. He's 1-4 with a 6.41 ERA. If you are going to create a person out of the blue, Braves, at least make him decent. Oh, and he wears number 11. Seriously? Through minutes of pain staking research I figured out he is one of two pitchers in baseball to wear the number 11. The other one is Mike Hampton. I don't know what to make out of that. But boy is this guy weird. 11? Have some self respect. Needless to say
(I am not worried about Sunday's game. In case it was, in fact, needed to be said)
-Victorino's hit streak over. 16 games, very nice. With the way our offense is working, I'm sure someone else will have one of at least that length very soon
-Hamels had a very solid outing. It's nice to see he could actually make it through a start without getting hurt. Hopefully this is last year's Cole Hamels back for good
-Jayson Werth has been HOT. I feel like I looked at his batting average about 15 minutes ago and it was .250 and all of a sudden he is hitting .289. Keep it up
-I'm not going to ease up on Rollins cause he still sucks, but it does look like he's improving at the plate this season. He had a 2 run double, and he's now hit safely in 6 straight
-I love when Brad Lidge blows a save in a non save situation. He obviously didn't actually blow a save, but he got a bad performance out of the way. I remember this happening several times last season. Most notably, the game where Victorino threw the guy out at home against the Braves in the game that told me the Phillies would win the World Series and the game where he came in when we were losing to the Braves already and gave up a grand slam in the 9th so we could lose to them by more. It's a beautiful thing when his horrible pitching has no affect on the outcome of the game in terms of a win or loss. Tonight was one of those nights, so expect a string of good outings from him before we hopefully use him in another meaningless situation
Looking ahead -
I think the Braves suck. So let's just beat them
First of all, the Braves bullpen has an 11.57 ERA against us this season and we're hitting .317 against them. And that's without us even hitting a home run
The starters for this weekend don't really scare me either -
Ibanez has hit 3 home runs in just 16 at bats against Vazquez (tomorrow's starter). This is our 2nd time facing him this season, the first being our first win of the year when the Braves' bullpen walked in our roster for us to win. I think Blanton keeps moving in a positive direction and has a solid outing.
The Braves have completely made up a person by the name of Kenshin Kawakami to start the game on Sunday. He's 1-4 with a 6.41 ERA. If you are going to create a person out of the blue, Braves, at least make him decent. Oh, and he wears number 11. Seriously? Through minutes of pain staking research I figured out he is one of two pitchers in baseball to wear the number 11. The other one is Mike Hampton. I don't know what to make out of that. But boy is this guy weird. 11? Have some self respect. Needless to say
(I am not worried about Sunday's game. In case it was, in fact, needed to be said)
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Game Tonight
I hope everyone enjoys the game tonight. Moyer vs. Pelfrey, two guys with good records and bad ERAs.
It's been a busy week for me and it continues to be. I am trying to finish up a paper right now and I have a final at 8 AM tomorrow. But I have a little over a week coming up with no responsibilities. And Tuesday night hopefully I'll be going down to the Cit to catch Dollar Dog Night. So look for something a little more sufficient over the next week or so. Cause what else am I going to be doing right then?
Let's go Phils!
It's been a busy week for me and it continues to be. I am trying to finish up a paper right now and I have a final at 8 AM tomorrow. But I have a little over a week coming up with no responsibilities. And Tuesday night hopefully I'll be going down to the Cit to catch Dollar Dog Night. So look for something a little more sufficient over the next week or so. Cause what else am I going to be doing right then?
Let's go Phils!
Manny Being Suspended
Breaking news this morning: Manny Ramirez has been suspended for 50 games for testing positive for performance enhancing drugs
I don't know how everyone else feels about Manny, but personally I cannot stand him. Throughout his career he's requested trades every 4 innings, played lazy defense and baseball in general, and essentially done anything he has wanted to do. Somehow, through all of this, people can just say that it's "Manny being Manny" and all of the issues go away. Well I've always though that was a load of crap, and that was topped off with Joe Buck getting more excited about him cutting off a ball in the outfield in the NLCS than any other event in that series and then his unbelievable contract crap in the offseason, turning down $25 million deals.
I don't understand what is so special about Manny. No one has ever said that it's just "T.O. being T.O." or anything like that. I'm glad to see he finally got his.
I don't know how everyone else feels about Manny, but personally I cannot stand him. Throughout his career he's requested trades every 4 innings, played lazy defense and baseball in general, and essentially done anything he has wanted to do. Somehow, through all of this, people can just say that it's "Manny being Manny" and all of the issues go away. Well I've always though that was a load of crap, and that was topped off with Joe Buck getting more excited about him cutting off a ball in the outfield in the NLCS than any other event in that series and then his unbelievable contract crap in the offseason, turning down $25 million deals.
I don't understand what is so special about Manny. No one has ever said that it's just "T.O. being T.O." or anything like that. I'm glad to see he finally got his.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
First Place
With the win tonight against the Cardinals and another Marlins loss, we've pulled into first place. In wishing me a happy May a few days ago, Bean also predicted this would be the month we took first place and didn't look back. I hope that is the case. These next 2 games against the Mets would be great ones to take if we want to hang on to first and keep this going. The matchup tomorrow of Santana vs. Park does not exactly favor the Phillies to say the least, but like Kevin Garnett, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE! (For fans of the NBA or "I'm On a Boat")
One thing that never gets old about playing the Cardinals is the possible Lidge-Pujols showdown. I almost completely forgot about this, but luckily the two squared off in the bottom of the 9th, and I got to be reminded of the longest home run ever even imagined in a video game:
http://mlb.mlb.com/media/player/mp_tpl_3_1.jsp?w_id=455632&w=2005/open/topplays/archive10/05nlcs_gm5_slnhou_pujols_3runhr_350.wmv&pid=mlb_tp&gid=2005/10/17/slnmlb-houmlb-1&curl=custom_context/ps/y2005/lcs_b.jsp&cid=mlb&fid=mlb_tp350&v=2
Hopefully that video works. I love Brad Lidge. But this video makes me soil myself with laughter every time. That is an absolutely unreal home run. Tonight during the game they were talking about it (because they always do) and Wheels said that after the game the Astros were flying to St. Louis and catcher Brad Ausmus got on PA system type thing in the plane and said something to the tune of: "If you look out your window to the left, you will see Albert Pujols' home run ball" Wheels and T Mac talked about this like Ausmus was telling a joke, but I'm fairly confident he wasn't. I mean seriously, look at that video again.
One thing that never gets old about playing the Cardinals is the possible Lidge-Pujols showdown. I almost completely forgot about this, but luckily the two squared off in the bottom of the 9th, and I got to be reminded of the longest home run ever even imagined in a video game:
http://mlb.mlb.com/media/player/mp_tpl_3_1.jsp?w_id=455632&w=2005/open/topplays/archive10/05nlcs_gm5_slnhou_pujols_3runhr_350.wmv&pid=mlb_tp&gid=2005/10/17/slnmlb-houmlb-1&curl=custom_context/ps/y2005/lcs_b.jsp&cid=mlb&fid=mlb_tp350&v=2
Hopefully that video works. I love Brad Lidge. But this video makes me soil myself with laughter every time. That is an absolutely unreal home run. Tonight during the game they were talking about it (because they always do) and Wheels said that after the game the Astros were flying to St. Louis and catcher Brad Ausmus got on PA system type thing in the plane and said something to the tune of: "If you look out your window to the left, you will see Albert Pujols' home run ball" Wheels and T Mac talked about this like Ausmus was telling a joke, but I'm fairly confident he wasn't. I mean seriously, look at that video again.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
More Good Advice
Kevin Weikel not only gives me good reasons to procrastinate, but he also has a lot of good ideas for this blog. The latest is this:
Rather than doing live blogs or anything like that, what we can do is have a running conversation during a game. I will just post something within an hour before the start of the game and then throughout the game you can comment your thoughts on what is happening and such. Or if you're unable to watch the game but you're at a computer you can follow along in that way. I don't know how many people are actually reading this, so let me know if you think it's a good idea. If it's only going to be like 1 or 2 people it may be pointless. I know that Bean and I text each other a good amount during the game, and plenty of people have called me or texted me during games, but if people are in favor of doing this we could just move all of that to the blog. It would be a fun way to talk to people you may not normally talk to during a game. Let me know what you think about it, and I can decide whether we're going to do it or not. If there's a good response we could do it tonight. If not, we could still try to do it some other time. It seems like a really good idea to me, so thanks Kev. I'm not suggesting this is something we could do every night or something, or maybe we could work up to that if people really like it. To start we could just do like a game every week or something. Let me know
Rather than doing live blogs or anything like that, what we can do is have a running conversation during a game. I will just post something within an hour before the start of the game and then throughout the game you can comment your thoughts on what is happening and such. Or if you're unable to watch the game but you're at a computer you can follow along in that way. I don't know how many people are actually reading this, so let me know if you think it's a good idea. If it's only going to be like 1 or 2 people it may be pointless. I know that Bean and I text each other a good amount during the game, and plenty of people have called me or texted me during games, but if people are in favor of doing this we could just move all of that to the blog. It would be a fun way to talk to people you may not normally talk to during a game. Let me know what you think about it, and I can decide whether we're going to do it or not. If there's a good response we could do it tonight. If not, we could still try to do it some other time. It seems like a really good idea to me, so thanks Kev. I'm not suggesting this is something we could do every night or something, or maybe we could work up to that if people really like it. To start we could just do like a game every week or something. Let me know
Monday, May 4, 2009
Nevermind
As the great Kevin Weikel once told me: "Procrastination is the best motivation"
Due to that outlook on work, I wrote an 8 1/2 page paper in like 2 or 3 hours today, and I can now comment on the game tonight.
Albert Pujols is one scary mother. But I would argue that Ryan Howard may be just as scary when playing in his hometown of St. Louis. In the last 3 seasons, he is hitting .368 with 6 home runs and 24 RBIs in 57 bats there. He even has a stolen base! So I say watch out for Ryan Howard. It's only 2 games, but I am gonna say one of them will be a multi-home run game for him.
I think this will be a very offensive short series. We all know how our pitching is so I don't need to say much there. We face Kyle Lohse tonight, the a-hole who wouldn't stay in Philly because he wanted to see if he could make more money somewhere else (which he couldn't). He's been very good since we lost him though. Last year he went 15-6 with a 3.78 ERA and this year he is 3-0 with a 1.97 ERA. I feel like we often fare well against pitchers who are doing well early in the season, so I am optimistic about this matchup. I would rather not face him, but I do have some optimism. The real thing that has me feeling good about playing the Cardinals is their complete lack of lefthanded pitching. The lefthanders they do have are as follows:
Jaime Garcia - 10 appearances this season (1 start). In 16 innings he's allowed 10 earned runs, given up 4 home runs, and has as many walks as strike outs (8)
Trever Miller - 8 appearances, 5.40 ERA
Dennys Reyes - 12 appearances, 7 innings, 3 hits, 2 earned runs. Really the only one we should worry about
That's it, they only have 3 lefties. And 2 of them don't seem to be very good. They do have a 4th listed on their roster on ESPN.com, but he doesn't have a jersey number or any stats for this season, so I'm not gonna worry about him. So this is once again a situation where getting past the starter will be good news for us. Patience early is going to be key. Look for Ryan Howard to come up big today and tomorrow.
Due to that outlook on work, I wrote an 8 1/2 page paper in like 2 or 3 hours today, and I can now comment on the game tonight.
Albert Pujols is one scary mother. But I would argue that Ryan Howard may be just as scary when playing in his hometown of St. Louis. In the last 3 seasons, he is hitting .368 with 6 home runs and 24 RBIs in 57 bats there. He even has a stolen base! So I say watch out for Ryan Howard. It's only 2 games, but I am gonna say one of them will be a multi-home run game for him.
I think this will be a very offensive short series. We all know how our pitching is so I don't need to say much there. We face Kyle Lohse tonight, the a-hole who wouldn't stay in Philly because he wanted to see if he could make more money somewhere else (which he couldn't). He's been very good since we lost him though. Last year he went 15-6 with a 3.78 ERA and this year he is 3-0 with a 1.97 ERA. I feel like we often fare well against pitchers who are doing well early in the season, so I am optimistic about this matchup. I would rather not face him, but I do have some optimism. The real thing that has me feeling good about playing the Cardinals is their complete lack of lefthanded pitching. The lefthanders they do have are as follows:
Jaime Garcia - 10 appearances this season (1 start). In 16 innings he's allowed 10 earned runs, given up 4 home runs, and has as many walks as strike outs (8)
Trever Miller - 8 appearances, 5.40 ERA
Dennys Reyes - 12 appearances, 7 innings, 3 hits, 2 earned runs. Really the only one we should worry about
That's it, they only have 3 lefties. And 2 of them don't seem to be very good. They do have a 4th listed on their roster on ESPN.com, but he doesn't have a jersey number or any stats for this season, so I'm not gonna worry about him. So this is once again a situation where getting past the starter will be good news for us. Patience early is going to be key. Look for Ryan Howard to come up big today and tomorrow.
Finals Week
I'm working on a paper that's due today sometime. It will be done before the game tonight, so I will be able to watch and I'll post after the game. But until then, this is all I can give you. Five pages to go! (It's under control mom and dad)
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Thanks for Listening
J Roll was finally taken out of the leadoff spot, and Shane Victorino responded like none other. A triple a double and the game-winning RBI. Yesterday was a different day with Utley sitting, and our lineup was completely out of whack. And it's really tough with Utley in the lineup to make a lineup that isn't too lefty heavy at certain spots. I kinda liked what we did yesterday, I really like changing it up like that. I just don't see how that can really translate into today. Last season against teams with a lot of lefty pitchers/a lefty starter we would lead off Victorino as well and then basically alternate lefties throughout the lineup. The problem with that this year is we had Jimmy hit 3rd, and he clearly cannot do that. It will be interesting to see the lineup with Utley back in today. I honestly think that we could have Utley Howard Ibanez hit 3 4 5 because we're facing a righthanded starter and the only lefty in the Mets' bullpen is Filiciano who has pitched 2.2 innings in the past 2 days and given up 2 earned runs. He may not even be available today with baseball's unofficial stupid rules to protect pitchers' arms.
I'm not thrilled about having to watch Joe Blanton pitch today, especially in a game I think we need to win. But I always like playing Sunday games, and we're 3-1 on Sundays this season with our only loss being on opening day. I think we'll be swinging well today, and hopefully Blanton can at least get 6 innings in in order to give the bullpen a little bit of rest. I fear that our starters sucking early in games could come back to haunt us sooner rather than later.
You may have noticed I changed the name of the blog. The other title was a little wordy, and it's so last season. I like the idea of being able to honor Harry in any way possible, so I think this fits. And has anyone else seen the light blue blazer hanging in the dugout? I assume this is a tribute to Harry which I think is awesome.
I just read that Jack Taschner wasn't available on Friday because his wife was giving birth to a baby girl. It's nice he got the win yesterday
The Phils have now had 11 bases loaded walks this season, including 2 yesterday. The record for any team in a season is 28. We're about 40% of the way there with over 85% of the season to play. What a record that would be to hold!
I'm not thrilled about having to watch Joe Blanton pitch today, especially in a game I think we need to win. But I always like playing Sunday games, and we're 3-1 on Sundays this season with our only loss being on opening day. I think we'll be swinging well today, and hopefully Blanton can at least get 6 innings in in order to give the bullpen a little bit of rest. I fear that our starters sucking early in games could come back to haunt us sooner rather than later.
You may have noticed I changed the name of the blog. The other title was a little wordy, and it's so last season. I like the idea of being able to honor Harry in any way possible, so I think this fits. And has anyone else seen the light blue blazer hanging in the dugout? I assume this is a tribute to Harry which I think is awesome.
I just read that Jack Taschner wasn't available on Friday because his wife was giving birth to a baby girl. It's nice he got the win yesterday
The Phils have now had 11 bases loaded walks this season, including 2 yesterday. The record for any team in a season is 28. We're about 40% of the way there with over 85% of the season to play. What a record that would be to hold!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
F'in Mets
So I hate the Mets. But should I hate Chan Ho Park more? He gave up basically everything that they got. The Mets got 1 hit off our bullpen and no runs in 4 1/3 innings.
I think that against the Mets we really do need to jump on them early. Although I'm not scared of the Mets bullpen (because, after all, they are the Mets), it is obvious that their bullpen is better than their starters. We all love coming back, but it would be much better to put them away in the first 4 or 5 innings. I guess that more means our starters need to step up, but at the same time it's up to the bats to get going.
I don't know how I feel about today's game. I love Jamie Moyer and he was fantastic in his last start, but that was against the Marlins who he has had amazing success against. The Mets are kind of hit or miss for Moyer, no pun intended. I say if Carlos Delgado plays (he's day-to-day), we could be in trouble. If he doesn't, we should be in good shape. More than anyone, Delgado dominates Jamie Moyer. In 81 lifetime at-bats against him he's hitting .383 with 8 home runs.
Oliver Perez is pitching for the Mets, and he had annoying success against us last season to the tune of 1 earned run and 27 strike outs in 26 innings. He has horrible control, so he's a guy that we need to be patient against to get to him. For whatever reason we have had a lot of trouble being patient against starters. If we can turn that around today, I'm not at all worried about this game.
I think that against the Mets we really do need to jump on them early. Although I'm not scared of the Mets bullpen (because, after all, they are the Mets), it is obvious that their bullpen is better than their starters. We all love coming back, but it would be much better to put them away in the first 4 or 5 innings. I guess that more means our starters need to step up, but at the same time it's up to the bats to get going.
I don't know how I feel about today's game. I love Jamie Moyer and he was fantastic in his last start, but that was against the Marlins who he has had amazing success against. The Mets are kind of hit or miss for Moyer, no pun intended. I say if Carlos Delgado plays (he's day-to-day), we could be in trouble. If he doesn't, we should be in good shape. More than anyone, Delgado dominates Jamie Moyer. In 81 lifetime at-bats against him he's hitting .383 with 8 home runs.
Oliver Perez is pitching for the Mets, and he had annoying success against us last season to the tune of 1 earned run and 27 strike outs in 26 innings. He has horrible control, so he's a guy that we need to be patient against to get to him. For whatever reason we have had a lot of trouble being patient against starters. If we can turn that around today, I'm not at all worried about this game.
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