Worrying About The Phils?

It's been a while since I've said a whole lot in depth about the Phillies, so let's do so now, in a point-counterpoint deal as my mind just goes back and forth with their issues...

Point: The Phils are 55-33, the best record in the majors.
Counterpoint: They had the best record last season, and look where it got them.

Point: The offense continues to struggle way too often. Of their 88 games going into this weekend's series with Atlanta, the last three games before the All-Star break, they've scored fewer than four runs in 46 of them. That's over half, if you're math-challenged.
Counterpoint: In those 46 games they're 18-28. That's a .391 win percentage, which is much better than most, if not all, teams. That's a testament to the performances of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels. In their other 42 games, the ones where they've hit the magic four-run target, they're 37-5 (with two of those losses coming this week, oddly enough).

Point: That rotation is so formidable.
Counterpoint: If the offense continues to put pressure on them to be excellent instead of merely good so often, might they not weaken just enough so that, come October, they're not quite as excellent as they need to be? And with Roy Oswalt out with his back problem and Joe Blanton (remember him?) not yet ready to return, the Phils have to keep Kyle Kendrick in the rotation along with youngster Vance Worley. (By the way, with all the praise of Worley, how do we know that Worley 2011 isn't Kendrick 2007 -- promising now but ultimately not all that great?)

Point: The hitters who have been slumping so much will come around. And they'll get a big right-handed bat at the trade deadline to help protect Ryan Howard.

My Miserable Night At The Phillies

Tonight the Phillies rolled to a 7-0 lead over the New York Mets after 3 innings, only to see that lead disappear in the next two Mets at-bats against Joe Blanton. Then the Phils regained the lead and went on to a 10-7 win. If only there had been that kind of excitement last night, when I was at the game. Or any excitement at all, really. More on that in a moment. First, this public service announcement:

Dear Snapple: please don't give away free samples of your product outside a subway station near a stadium which doesn't allow glass bottles inside. As for you, people of America, you don't have to take every free sample someone offers you. I didn't take a Snapple before the game because I knew I couldn't take the bottle inside. I didn't take a free Powerade (outside the ballpark) after the game because I was frozen. I didn't take a Sun Drop (again, at the subway) after the game because, besides the cold, I had no idea what the hell it was.

So the game was pretty dreadful -- Cole Hamels gave up 6 runs in the third inning and was removed to a chorus of boos as the Mets went on to a 7-1 win. The volume of the booing was a real surprise, considering it was his first start of the year. And it wasn't like he was really crushed -- the Mets basically had a bunch of singles, with a couple of walks mixed in, and a number of them were softly hit and found a hole. One was a bunt single. Unfortunately, the first and last hits of the inning were by the Mets' pitcher, Chris Young. That's a big no-no.

But what was worse was the cold.

Hating The Phils -- On TV, That Is

Way back in that magical year of 2008 I did a series of posts on the Outsports Jock Talk Blog in which I reviewed a game broadcast of every major league team (thanks to my subscription to the MLB Extra Innings package that year) as well as nationally televised games on ESPN, TBS and Fox. A summary of my grades for every broadcast can be found here. For the Phillies, I assigned a C-plus grade to the Comcast Sportsnet broadcast of a Phils-Nationals game. One key quote from my writeup: "It’s impossible to imagine a Phillies broadcast without Harry Kalas. It’s unfortunate that the Phillies haven’t built a better broadcast around him."

Sadly, the "impossible to imagine" became the norm in April 2009 when Harry Kalas died. Since then, Tom McCarthy has exclusively done TV play-by-play. Chris Wheeler (1st-3rd innings, 7th inning on) and Gary "Sarge" Matthews (4th-6th innings) handle the "analysis." And the broadcasts have, of course, suffered. McCarthy continues to talk and talk and talk, especially rambling during his innings with Sarge. Matthews still hasn't met a cliche he doesn't like. Wheeler, unpopular as ever, now is even getting on my nerves at times.

Shut The Hell Up! Two Things I'm Tired Of Hearing On WIP

Presenting a pair of rants on topics that I no longer want to hear discussions about on our sports-talk radio station, WIP:

One: the endless Donovan McNabb debate, which goes a little something like this: The Eagles should get rid of him and give the starting QB job to Kevin Kolb. The Eagles should keep McNabb, Kolb sucks and/or isn't ready to be the starter. McNabb is a lousy quarterback. McNabb is a future Hall of Famer. McNabb isn't an accurate passer. McNabb throws interceptions much less often than almost every other QB. McNabb isn't a good team leader. McNabb's teammates love him. McNabb doesn't win the big games. McNabb's won plenty of big games. McNabb can't let go of the booing he got when he was drafted. McNabb always says how he loves being an Eagle and wants to remain an Eagle. McNabb threw up at the end of the Super Bowl...and on and on and on...enough! This is the one compelling reason I have for hoping the Eagles do part ways with McNabb: so this debate will end once and for all. Over a decade of this, thanks to Andy Reid (the one who really should be going, but isn't) -- I'm sick of it! Shut the hell up!

Two: the continuing occasional comments (and, with the recent signing of Joe Blanton to a 3-year deal, plus spring training being less than a month away, we'll hear this more and more) about how the Phillies should have kept Cliff Lee as well as acquiring Roy Halladay, especially because they're paying Joe Blanton almost as much as Lee is getting for 2010. If I could call the station and make this point without being interrupted or disconnected, I'd say the following: "Listen up, morons: in an ideal world, yes, it would've been great for the Phils to keep both Lee and Halladay. But this is NOT an ideal world. Time to face reality. Lee's ability to become a free agent after 2010 means he'll be likely to get upwards of $15-20 million per year after 2010. That's much more than the Phils will be paying Blanton, who is now signed through 2012. The Phillies are NOT the wealthy teams the Yankees and Red Sox are, and can't afford to pay top dollar to every single player. There was no way the Phils could afford to give up more minor league talent in exchange for Halladay, especially after giving up some players to get Lee last year. You have to keep some talent in the minor leagues to replace older players and to use for future trades when a need suddenly arises due to an injury. And with the salary Lee is expected to get in his next contract, the Phils would be almost guaranteed to lose him after 2010. That's why the Phils traded Lee after getting Halladay. It was the right decision. Now shut the hell up!"

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.

Phillies may be in trouble

The NL Division Series got off to a spectacular start for the Phillies, with a 5-1 complete game win by Cliff Lee on Wednesday. However, the Colorado Rockies bounced back Thursday, taking a 4-0 lead against Cole Hamels and hanging on for a 5-4 win.

The series shifts to Denver for Games 3 and 4 -- Saturday at 9:37 pm ET and Sunday at 10:07 pm ET. These starting times are ridiculous, especially considering the weather forecast Saturday calls for temperatures around 30 degrees with possible snow showers or freezing drizzle. The blame goes to MLB and to TBS (whose performance in televising the playoff games has been pathetic, by the way).

This weather may be a factor for the Phillies, but a bigger question is who will start those games. Hamels was lifted for a pinch-hitter after 5 innings Thursday. The Phils then used both Joe Blanton and J.A. Happ in relief. Blanton only threw 19 pitches and Happ threw 4, with the fourth being lined off his left leg. He has a contusion and x-rays are negative. He says he can pitch Saturday but the Phils are planning to go with either Blanton or Pedro Martinez (as I write this, the decision hasn't been announced). Martinez has struggled in the first inning of most of his starts. With it being so cold in Denver, it'll be that much harder to warm up.

Happ is lefthanded and the Rockies have more trouble with lefties, so if he's healthy enough and doesn't start Saturday he'd better be pitching Sunday. It could be that he'll be kept in the bullpen, but if he enters a game early because the Phils have fallen behind (the way Blanton did today), the Phils are in trouble.

Phils leave DC with bad game, bad hair

The Phillies finished a strange road trip with a 2-5 record. After the 4-game sweep at the hands of Houston the Phils won twice in Washington, but looked less than impressive. They finally started scoring runs, but most of them were on solo home runs, and Brad Lidge has finally lost his job as closer (at least for now) after another near-disaster. But last night they failed to finish a sweep against the worst team in baseball. Jimmy Rollins, who hadn't made an error in ages, made two last night. Joe Blanton, who's been stringing together quality starts for the last three months, reverted to his April-May form. The offense got two runs in the first and then were shut down until the 9th, when the woeful Nationals nearly let an 8-2 lead disappear.

An error, an infield hit and a walk was followed by a pinch-hit grand slam by Matt Stairs that ended two streaks. Stairs broke an 0-for-30 slump with his first hit since July (or, as a caller to sports-talk station WIP put it the other day: "The last time Stairs got a hit I had two kids and now I have three" since his wife gave birth recently). The Phils also had hit 17 consecutive homers without runners on base before the slam.

A Rollins single, a wild pitch, a Shane Victorino double and a Chase Utley infield hit later and it was 8-7 with the possible go-ahead run on first. But Ryan Howard grounded into a double play to end the game. The Phils' lead is now down to 5 games over Florida. They return home for 4 against the almost-as-woeful-as-Washington New York Mets.

Speaking of Victorino, what is he thinking with this hair?

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.

Sweep the Mets, sweep the Mets...

...always fun to sweep the Mets!

The way the season has gone, it's probably still premature to say the Phillies have finally righted the ship after today's 2-0 win to finish off a three-game sweep of the reeling, injury-riddled New York Mets. They've had good stretches before and then slipped, but once again a lot of things seem to be falling into place. They got three consecutive strong starts -- today it was Joe Blanton with 7 1/3 shutout innings. The bullpen didn't allow a run all weekend, with Brad Lidge getting two saves by striking out five of the six batters he faced. Jimmy Rollins homered to lead off the first today, also singled and walked; in the last 4 games he's batting .467 with a .556 on-base percentage, a slugging percentage of .867, 5 runs batted in, 2 runs scored and 3 walks. And it's the first time the Phils have won a series at home against a team other than the pitiful Washington Nationals.

And while the Phils' defense was sparkling all weekend, the visitors' wretched sixth inning yesterday (two dropped foul pops and a horrendous throw from the outfield that wasn't cut off, allowing a run to score) tells you all you need to know about the New York Mess. Even their ace, Johan Santana, couldn't save them today.

My Phillies pet peeve...

Okay, it's technically one of my Phillies pet peeves. At times there are many. But this one occurred in tonight's game, a 7-1 loss at Tampa Bay. Last night they broke their 6-game losing streak by scoring 6 runs in the first inning en route to a 10-1 win. The runs didn't come easy tonight. Starting pitcher Joe Blanton did a fine job for 7 innings, allowing only a 2-run homer by our old friend Pat Burrell in the second inning. The Rays scored 5 in the 8th to break it open, with a couple of not-hard-hit balls that fell in helping.

In the 4th, though, with the game still close the tide seemed about to change. Three straight walks by the Rays' Matt Garza loaded the bases with nobody out. Any moron can tell you that, when a pitcher is struggling to get the ball over the plate, if you're batting you stand there and take at least one pitch, if not more. Jayson Werth went up hacking, and grounded the first pitch he saw for a third-to-home-to-first double play. A golden opportunity turned to dust.

This is the biggest problem with this team when they're going poorly: lack of discipline at the plate. If Werth is Exhibit A tonight, Exhibit B is Jimmy Rollins, who hasn't had a hit in the last 5 games and is batting below .200 in June. Because of his defense you can't bench him, but he simply shouldn't lead off any more, not until he has about a month of great hitting.

There is good news: closer Brad Lidge is ready to return from his knee injury and will be activated tomorrow.