Phillies: Nudity And Possible Bad News

Before we get to the bad news, a little bit of frivolity. The Fightins, one of the big Phillies blogs, has a screen capture of an image from a locker room interview with Jamie Moyer on NBC10 yesterday. Check out the lower left-hand corner of the image: it's a rear view of a naked Cole Hamels. At least I assume that those who saw it live or via TiVo or DVR have made an accurate identification, because it's not obvious just from that image.

I wonder if Heidi Hamels likes her husband's ass as much as Jennifer Utley likes Chase's?

Speaking of Chase Utley, he took himself out of tonight's game, a 7-3 loss at Cincinnati, before he batted in the 9th inning. He's going to have an MRI on his left thumb tomorrow. He apparently hurt it sliding into second base in the 4th inning. Just when he's started hitting well again, and the team has gotten on a bit of a roll, winning 5 of 6 since their little hiccup against Minnesota...whether he is out for a while or is just hampered and begins slumping again, either way it's not a good situation for the Phils.

Are The Phils Finally Back On Track?

Interleague play has never been very kind to the Phillies (if you don't count the 2008 World Series, of course), but their recent swoon may finally be over as they've now won 3 out of 4 against two AL East powers. After a pair of drubbings by the Boston Red Sox to begin the road trip that ended tonight, the Phils got another strong start by Cole Hamels to win the finale at Fenway. Things looked bleak after the New York Yankees roughed up Roy Halladay on Tuesday. The Phils, losers of 15 of their last 21, have fallen into third place in the NL East and had Jamie Moyer and Kyle Kendrick starting the next two nights. Both struggled in their last starts, with the word "struggle" being an understatement in Moyer's case: 9 runs in one-plus inning.

But Moyer got early offensive support and pitched eight very fine innings as the Phils won 6-3 last night. Moyer allowed just three hits, two of them solo homers. Kendrick went seven tonight, allowing just one run in the 7-1 win, and in a way his performance might have been even more impressive than Moyer's. While the Phils scored all 6 of their runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings last night, tonight the game was scoreless until the 4th. The Yankees had two on with one out in the 2nd. Kendrick has shown a propensity to lose his composure at times like this, but he got out of the inning without any damage.

Phils: Great Start, But...Phanatic: Great. Period.

It occurs to me that I haven't discussed my baseball team since the season started. There are lots of good things happening with the Phillies...and some things that are bad not so good.

Good: The Phillies are off to a 7-1 start, their best start since 1993. After the last few years of poor starts, this is a refreshing change.
Not So Good: All of their games have been against woeful Washington and hideous Houston (who still hasn't won a game).

Good: The Phillies are scoring runs in bunches. In their 8 games they've scored 11, 8, 5, 8, 9, 2, 7 and 14.
Not So Good: Again, all of this is against Washington and Houston.

Good: In the only game they didn't score 5 or more, the Phils still won 2-1 thanks to Roy Halladay, who pitched a complete game. He's won both of his starts, allowing just one earned run in 16 innings, walking 2 and striking out 17. Halladay has completely lived up to his reputation so far. J.A. Happ won his first start as well without allowing a run...
Not So Good: ...but Happ was in and out of trouble. He only lasted 5-plus innings, throwing 104 pitches. And the rest of the rotation has fallen far short of Halladay's excellence.

Phillies Post-mortem

If you're wondering how I'm feeling in the wake of the Phillies' World Series loss at the hands of the Evil Empire, to be honest the cold I'm currently battling feels worse -- and it isn't that severe a cold.

The 2009 Phillies were a team whose bullpen was beset by injuries and inconsistency; whose young pitching ace apparently spent the offseason making stupid commercials for Comcast instead of working out; whose other starting pitchers at the beginning of the season were serving up runs at a ridiculous pace; whose leadoff hitter -- the so-called catalyst -- spent three months in a hitting "slump" (a week or two is a slump; half a season is a disaster); whose pinch-hitters were feeble pretty much all year; whose high-priced new outfielder got hurt and essentially stopped producing on offense after the All-Star break.

A team with such problems has no business contending, let alone winning the NL East for the third consecutive season and appearing in the World Series in back-to-back years for the first time in franchise history, with one championship to boot. So who can feel that bad that they lost the World Series to a team that isn't capable of winning without spending hundreds of millions of dollars to buy up every possible player on the market?

So here's to the 2009 Phillies. It was quite a ride. Actually, the last three years combined have been quite a ride -- no Phillies team has ever accomplished this much over a three-year period -- and this particular one doesn't have to end just yet. With so many key players locked into contracts for at least the next year or two, if the Phils make the proper moves to shore up some weaknesses there's no reason they won't be back in the World Series again in 2010. The deal to get Cliff Lee prior to the trade deadline, without giving up their most promising minor league talent, indicates that such retooling is in capable hands. What needs to be done? Glad you asked...

The bullpen: The struggles of Brad Lidge, whether due to knee problems or not, and the multiple absences of J.C. Romero (suspension and injury) had a domino effect on the rest of the relief corps. They need Romero for the full season as the lefthanded set-up option, especially if fellow lefty Scott Eyre retires. More importantly, they need Lidge to return to something close to 2008 form -- or they need Ryan Madson to step up and become consistent enough to take Lidge's place.

The starters: Not much change here. Cliff Lee stabilized the rotation. J.A. Happ may end up as NL Rookie of the Year. Despite his 2009 problems, Cole Hamels isn't going anywhere. I think Joe Blanton is good enough for one of the remaining two spots; for a while he was the only decent starter. The Phils will have to decide on the final spot. Do they bring back Pedro Martinez for another year? See if Jamie Moyer can bounce back from his demotion and season-ending injury? Or will highly touted minor leaguer Kyle Drabek make the leap to the parent club, either at the start of the year or later on in the season?

The bench: Another year of Matt Stairs probably wouldn't hurt, as a lefthanded bat to provide the occasional home run, but if there's a better option -- someone who can also hit for average as well as having some power -- the Phils should explore it. For righthanded hitting, though, they absolutely need better options than Miguel Cairo and Eric Bruntlett. Sure, he scored the winning run in the 2008 Series and turned an unassisted triple play to end a game this year, but Bruntlett's got to go.

The lineup: The only possible change is at third base. Pedro Feliz is an excellent fielder but his hitting leaves much to be desired. The Phils have a 2010 option to keep him at $5.5 million, and it's not out of the question that they could decide against picking up that option. A better bat can be found in free agency, but it would have to be someone who has decent fielding skills as well. And he'll have to be a righthanded hitter, because there are enough (too many?) lefthanded bats already.

Strange Days Part 1: Phils

The two Philly teams in action over the weekend had an unusual few days, so this is a two-part tale. We start with the Phillies, who had four games against the New York Mets, a team expected to contend with the Phils but instead find themselves trying to play the spoiler.

Friday's game found Mets' starter Nelson Figueroa giving up 9 hits and 5 walks in 5 1/3 innings, but only allowing 2 runs. The Phils wasted multiple opportunities, going 4-for-19 with runners in scoring position, and managed only a 4-1 lead going into the 9th. Phils' closer-for-the-moment Ryan Madson gave up a couple of hits, but the only run he gave up came on a double play, and the Phils held on for the 4-2 win.

On Saturday the first five Mets' at-bats against Jamie Moyer, starting again in place of J.A. Happ, went like this: double, single, 2-RBI single (David Wright), 2-run homer, single. Moyer settled down, lasting through the 7th and allowing just a 7th-inning run. The Phils' offense came to life, building up a 9-5 lead through 7. Brett Myers came on in the 8th, got an out, gave up a hit and then served up a 2-run homer (Wright again). The Mets got another run off Myers and Chan Ho Park to make it 9-8. Madson came on in the 9th, got two outs, gave up a hit, and got bashed for a 2-run homer (Wright yet again). The Mets went on to finish off the 10-9 win.

Sunday there was a day-night doubleheader. In the first game the Phils got an unexpected bonus: 7 1/3 fine innings from Kyle Kendrick, and took a 5-2 lead into the 9th. Deposed closer Brad Lidge was called upon, and gave up 3 hits and 2 runs, but managed to save the game.

In the nightcap, Charlie Manuel decided to let Pedro Martinez go as long as possible. Pedro ended up throwing an astonishing 130 pitches, the most he's thrown in a game since 2001, but gave the Phils 8 scoreless innings. He had 119 pitches in his last start. The two-game workload is somewhat insane considering his age, his inactivity for much of the year and his injury issues in recent years. Madson, trying again, got the save as the Phils made a first-inning run hold up. Depsite it all, the Phils took three out of four from the Mets.

With Florida losing two over the weekend to Washington and losing tonight at St. Louis, the Phillies' lead stands at 7 games with 20 games left, starting tomorrow against Washington. This is close to the Mets' 7-game-lead-with-17-left standing in 2007 prior to their epic collapse. The Phils of 2007, however, were playing much better than the Marlins of 2009, so a similar flop by the 2009 Phils remains very unlikely.

However, the continuing struggles of the bullpen -- much too similar to those of the Mets' pen in recent years -- do not bode well for the chances of another late October parade down Broad Street.

Phillies: Time To Panic?

There seems to be a new trend for the Phillies: injuries to pitchers' obliques. Clay Condrey has been out since the end of July and is seemingly less likely to return at all this season. Today it was reported that Ryan Madson was unavailable for the four games the Phils just lost in Houston, and may not be able to pitch tonight in Washington. Most alarmingly, rookie J.A. Happ was supposed to start yesterday but suffered his oblique strain on Saturday -- during batting practice, of all things.

In addition, there's some concern about whether J.C. Romero will be ready soon, and today there are Twitter posts from local beat writers that Scott Eyre, who's inherited Romero's lefty specialist role, felt a pain in his left elbow. He said he's not worried about it, as it was "sharp and quick." The rest of us will be plenty worried for him, though.

Jamie Moyer stepped in as an emergency starter yesterday and, as he did with his three previous bullpen outings since being removed from the rotation, did a fine job. However, the team has stopped hitting. They've scored 4 runs or fewer in their last 13 games. They were 5-4 in the first 9 thanks to strong pitching. Then came the mess in Houston. Cole Hamels regressed (again), Brad Lidge blew a save (again), Cliff Lee got smoked for the second consecutive start, and yesterday Chan Ho Park coughed up the game in the 7th inning.

Despite all of that, the Phils maintain a 6-game lead in the NL East (7 in the loss column). The question is, assuming a Mets-like collapse isn't in the offing (and it likely isn't, because their opponents the rest of the way aren't that strong and the Braves and Marlins have weak spots as well), will this team be ready for the playoffs? The Phils were knocked out of the first round in 2007 by a red-hot Colorado Rockies team. That was not deeply depressing at the time. A similar result this year, after their championship run last year, will not be taken with good humor.

Phils enter September with a cushion

Outside of the two-loss glitch in Pittsburgh the Phillies continue to maintain their winning ways. They're doing just enough to win, but they'll have a 7 1/2-game lead in the NL East when they begin a series with the Giants on Tuesday (the Braves and Marlins are both 8 out right now, and they play each other tomorrow). They still have issues, though.

For one, the Phils still don't really know what they have in Pedro Martinez. He's started four games. In two he got wins but looked shaky at times, in part because the offense had long innings that kept him on the bench for longer than usual. In the other two rain delays caused his removal early. They'll have to figure out whether he's going to be reliable enough to stay in the rotation or if they'd be better off with Jamie Moyer (who relieved Martinez after both rain delays and pitched very well).

Other pitching dilemmas may or may not be getting sorted out. Brad Lidge got a pair of saves this weekend against Atlanta, both with 1-2-3 ninth innings. He needs to string together a bunch of these to show he's truly ended his struggles. Cole Hamels pitched 8 scoreless innings in his last start. Again, he needs to become consistent.

Some of the htters (both in the lineup and on the bench) are also struggling. Raul Ibanez has slumped badly since returning from the disabled list just before the All-Star break. Offensively he looks more like Pat Burrell right now. Pinch-hitting has become a weakness -- Matt Stairs is now 0 for his last 27 at-bats. The Phils are at times having their usual difficulties with runners in scoring position. They need to be able to manufacture some runs now and then when the home runs aren't flying out.

There is still time for the Phils to resolve these issues, but not a whole lot. Fortunately, their lead gives them some leeway. On the other hand, they only need to look at the Mets to see what can happen to September leads.

Phils: The old man may still have something

Interesting turn of events: a severe thunderstorm caused a one-hour rain delay in tonight's Phillies-Diamondbacks game. This caused Pedro Martinez to be removed from the game, rather than come back after the delay. Martinez had only thrown 38 pitches and allowed just one run, on a solo home run leading off the game.

In to pitch came Jamie Moyer. Moyer was replaced by Martinez in the rotation and, you may recall, wasn't happy about it. He ended up pitching the final 6 innings, allowing no runs or walks and just two hits, as the Phils went on to a 5-1 win. It's the Phils' 6th win in 7 games since being swept by Florida the weekend before last. Moyer took some flak after his comments last week, but heard no boos when he entered the game, and the cheers got louder as he continued to pitch -- and hit (Moyer singled in his first two at-bats).

According to ESPN.com's Jayson Stark, the 46-year-old Moyer became the oldest non-knuckleballer to pitch in relief since someone Hod Lisenbee in 1945.

The Phils maintain their 4 1/2-game lead over Florida and extend the gap to 6 1/2 over Atlanta. They have two more home games against Arizona and then play four at BrokeBank Field against the Mets. With the Mets now 12 1/2 games back, that series has lost a little of its zest.

Moyer and Lidge

Jamie Moyer told reporters today that he feels "misled" after the Phillies decided to put him in the bullpen. Then he has the nerve to say, "I most certainly do not want to be a distraction." Which is exactly what he's become.

The Phillies signed Pedro Martinez to join the rotation. He would've replaced Rodrigo Lopez, but then they traded for Cliff Lee without having to give up J.A. Happ. That means someone else had to go. Based on performance, it had to be Moyer.

If he's so unhappy that he's been demoted from the rotation BASED ON PERFORMANCE then he should find a way to give back the money the Phillies are obligated to pay him for the next year and two months and leave. Otherwise he should shut the hell up.

Speaking of leaving, Brad Lidge blew yet another save tonight. With each lousy performance it seems less likely that he'll regain his 2008 form. It is beginning to look like Brett Myers will be back with the Phils in September and if so, he should be the closer, not Lidge.

Fortunately, the Phils won 4-3 in 12 on a homer by Ben Francisco. They had just 3 hits all night and still won. Their first 3 runs came on a 2-run homer (after a walk) and a bases-loaded walk (after two walks and a HBP). Highly unusual, to say the least.

Phillies vote for Pedro

Well, the Phillies have made one sensible decision: Jamie Moyer will go to the bullpen as Pedro Martinez will make his first start on Wednesday night at Wrigley Field. The question is why Pedro is going Wednesday and not Tuesday. J.A. Happ threw 127 pitches in his last start, and perhaps would benefit from an extra day's rest, but he's going on Tuesday, and Cliff Lee is being held back until Thursday, giving him 6 days off between starts. My guess is that ESPN bribed the Phils to hold Pedro until Wednesday, since they are televising the game nationally.

After being swept by Florida over the weekend the Phils' NL East lead is down to 3 1/2 games (since the Marlins won tonight). They continue to struggle at the plate, which is putting more pressure on the pitching staff. Cole Hamels still is floundering and Moyer, well, the fact that he's out of the rotation tells the story. The Phils are fortunate that Lee, Happ and Joe Blanton have pitched so well lately. The bullpen will get help as Chad Durbin is back from the disabled list, but J.C. Romero is going to rest for about a week before throwing again, so he won't be back soon.

Phillies: Save Happ's Job!

J.A. Happ may be taken out of the Phillies' starting rotation, but he made his case tonight -- as he has all season, really -- to reverse that decision, with a complete-game shutout. Happ gave up just 4 hits and walked 2, striking out 10 in the Phils' 7-0 win over Colorado.

Everyone seems to think that when Pedro Martinez is activated he'll be a starter, and no one seems to think Jamie Moyer can pitch out of the bullpen. Martinez has to prove that he can consistently go 6 or more innings without wearing down -- tonight in a rehab start in the minors he allowed 1 run through 5 innings, then gave up 3 in the 6th, though he walked none and struck out 11 -- or else he shouldn't be given a starting job. He's had a stellar career but he's not the pitcher he once was. Just because he started most of his career doesn't mean he's one of the top 5 starters now on this team.

As I said, people seem to think Moyer won't adjust well to the bullpen. He's 46 years old and did pitch in relief in the past. There's no reason he can't do it again. He can't do any worse from the bullpen than he has as a starter this year. Moyer's contract of $8 million per year for this year and next shouldn't be a factor.

Going strictly by performance, the decision is easy. Happ has outpitched Moyer this year by far. It would be a disgrace to send Happ to the bullpen.

Phillies Lee-ve Jays, Halladay behind

It's a shame, in a way, that the Phillies couldn't work out a deal to get Roy Halladay. I was going to write an awesome parody of Madonna's "Holiday" with Halladay/Phillies lyrics. Oh, well. Toronto wanted too much in their initial trade proposal and apparently weren't willing to compromise, so the Phillies essentially told the Blue Jays the same thing that Dick Cheney once told Senator Pat Leahy. They turned around and got starting pitcher Cliff Lee from Cleveland along with outfielder Ben Francisco, for 4 minor leaguers: pitchers Carlos Carrasco and Jason Knapp, catcher Lou Marson and infielder Jason Donald.

Pluses:

• none of these four were among the players the Blue Jays wanted for Halladay
• he's going to make about $6.75 million less than Halladay
• they got a right-handed bat off the bench in Francisco
• Lee is the 2008 Cy Young award winner and pitching well (though not quite as spectacular as last year), and now he'll be pitching with a team that has great offense and great defense
  

Minuses:

• Lee is lefthanded, which could leave the Phils with four lefty starters -- Lee, Cole Hamels, Jamie Moyer, J.A. Happ -- that could be a problem against teams with more big right-handed hitters (then again, if Pedro Martinez isn't sent to the bullpen once he's activated, either Moyer or Happ would be out of the rotation)
• Lee hasn't had the same kind of career-long brilliance as Halladay
• Lee is more of a fly ball pitcher; though he hasn't been giving up a lot of homers, he hasn't been pitching home games at cozy Citizens Bank Park

If we're not having a Halladay celebration, this is a fine backup plan. It keeps phenoms Kyle Drabek, Dominic Brown and Michael Taylor (not to mention Happ) here and strengthens the rotation greatly. Between this deal and their 7-game NL East lead, the only worry the Phils have right now is the bullpen, due to the various injuries and Brad Lidge's continuing ineffectiveness.

Phils keep winning while waiting on Roy

In the first 3 innings of tonight's game at Arizona, Jamie Moyer gave up 4 hits and 3 walks. Somehow he managed to keep the game scoreless, though. Ryan Howard then hit a 2-run homer in the 4th and the Phillies were on their way to an eventual 6-2 win, padding their NL East lead to 7 games. The Phils are now 30-15 on the road, best in the majors. After going 5-2 at Citizens Bank Park last week they've now got a winning record at home as well.

Yet just about every fan remains focused on Roy Halladay. With Friday's non-waiver trade deadline coming up fast, the latest report is that talks between the Phils and Blue Jays aren't going well. Both teams are pretty much posturing at this point. The rumors will continue to fly until the deadline. Some say the Phils are now considering making a bid for Cliff Lee of Cleveland or Jarrod Washburn of Seattle instead. If the Phils can't get Halladay at a reasonable price, I'd prefer they try and talk Arizona out of Dan Haren.

In a delightful twist, the Phillies are in San Francisco this weekend. The Blue Jays are in Oakland. The Phillies and Blue Jays are staying at the same hotel. A Halladay trade would be extremely convenient if it happens right at the deadline!

Phils done All-Star break, still on fire

The Phillies' lead in the NL East is up to 5 games now after winning their first game after the All-Star break, 4-0 at Florida. The runs all came on homers, two by Rauuuuuuuuuuuuul Ibanez and the career 200th from Ryan Howard. Howard is the fastest player (in terms of games played) in MLB history to reach the 200 mark. Jamie Moyer, the oldest man in the game (but still younger than me) gave up just one hit in 7 innings. Very satisfactory way to start the second half. I have my doubts about how much newly-signed Pedro Martinez will help when he's activated after some rehab starts, but it won't matter if Moyer can keep this up.