We Should Be GM's

Mother Nature Loves a Win Streak

2009-07-19T08:41:00.005-04:00

Josh Johnson and the Marlins certainly pissed Mother Nature off. The prospects of the Phillies continuing their 7 game win streak didn't look good last night. Johnson seemed to be well on his way to another gem against the Phils, and Joe Blanton didn't bring his "A" game, so naturally the clouds burst open with rain and postponed the game preserving the win streak and 6 game lead over the rest of the NL East.

New Pitching Lineup: Today (Happ), Monday (Lopez), Tuesday (Blanton), Wednesday (Moyer), and Thursday (Hamels).

Around the Minors:
Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (46-47)- catcher Lou Marson has his batting average up to .301. Recently promoted outfielder Michael Taylor clubbed his 1st homerun. Carlos Carrasco notched his 6th win and dropped his ERA below 5.

Reading Phillies (51-41)- Joe Savery and Kyle Drabek were each roughed up in the past week, but are still having excellent seasons.

Clearwater Threshers (42-44)- outfielder Steven Susdorf is batting .414 in 21 games and .376 over 42 games spanning 2 stops this season (previously in Lakewood).

Lakewood BlueClaws (54-37)- 2008 13th round pick, Brian Rosenberg, is quietly becoming quite the closer prospect. Over 2 seasons he's put up these impressive #'s- 10-3 record, 51 games, 76 innings, 99 k's, 24 saves, and a 1.07 ERA.

Williamsport Crosscutters (16-13)- roster mostly comprised of 2008 and 2009 draft picks.

Around the Internet:
*From Jayson Stark- When Rollins has scored a run this year, his team is 32-8 (meaning it wins 80 percent of the time). And when he hasn't, the Phillies are 13-30 (meaning they win only 30 percent of the time). Over the last three years, the Phillies are 85 games over .500 (141-56) when Rollins crosses home plate -- and 40 games under (85-125) when he doesn't.

*From More Hardball- a look at the path to GM'ing by Ruben Amaro.

~Carson

While I Was Out

2009-07-18T12:28:00.005-04:00

Back from vacation feeling relaxed and rested. I'm also feeling pretty damn good about the Phillies right now as they've bumped their NL East lead up to 6 games and have won 7 straight and 11 of the last 12. They've played so well of late that frequent commenter Aaron has deemed them worthy of an ex-vagina tag...Cole Hamels was sweating that. What else happened while I was out...

*Feel good story Chris Coste's time with the Phils came to a shocking end. Shocking because he was released in favor of Paul Bako. I appreciate everything Coste-to-Coste did for the Phightins during his 4 seasons and will always have fond memories of him.

*Pedro Martinez was signed to a 1 year $1M contract. I don't foresee him helping much, but whatever.

*Ryan Howard is good at hitting homeruns and striking out. Quickest player to 200 homeruns, and will also likely be the quickest to 800 strike outs, but who's counting?

*Clay Condrey was activated from the DL and Tyler Walker was designated from assignment. I haven't heard what the plans for Walker are yet, but I hope he stays in the system, because he actually did a decent job.

*Roy Halladay is still the buzz name in the rumor mill, and I have my credit card poised for ordering a Phils Halladay jersey the day it becomes official.

*John Mayberry Jr. is too young to say he "sucks", but dammit he kinda sucks- .176 average and 31 k's in 51 ab's. In the month of July he has 13 at bats with no hits and 7 k's.

*Of course our other righthanded pinch hitting option is Eric Bruntlett and his fantastic .139 batting average. Ruben should try signing Julio Franco out of retirement if he's going to invest time and money into has-beens.

*Grand Pappy Moyer continues to battle back from the brink of sucking beyond belief and turns in a quality outing buying him some more time. Hard to believe he leads the staff with 9 wins.

*Raul Ibanez didn't miss a beat while on the DL, dude can still mash.

*My favorite prospect, Michael Taylor, is now a Triple-A Lehigh Valley Iron Pig.

*Tonight- Joe Blanton vs. Josh Johnson tonight in Florida. Blanton has been pitching great lately, but Johnson is always tough against the Phils.

~Carson

Moyer Owns Marlins, Again

2009-07-16T23:22:00.002-04:00

- Jamie Moyer is now 13-2 against the Florida Marlins. He has the most career wins versus the Orioles (18) and the lowest ERA versus the Cardinals(2.34), but he hasn't completely dominated another team like he has the Marlins.

- Ryan Howard reached 200 homers in only 658 games, the quickest to do so in baseball history. However, he hasn't recorded a single "Howard" all year, which makes the first milestone a little less special.

- The Phillies have the second biggest division lead in baseball, with only the Dodgers 7 game lead over SF larger.

Corey

An Argument For Siging Pedro

2009-07-14T00:32:00.001-04:00

1) If Bobby Cox ever charges the dugout, Pedro will be all over him.

2) He may routinely bring a goodluck Hispanic midget dressed in Phillies gear to the ballpark.

3) The team hasn't had a decent jheri curl since Steve Jeltz left.

4) Quotes. The man is a bloggers dream. My favorite:

I don't believe in damn curses. Wake up the damn Bambino and have me face him. Maybe I'll drill him in the ass, pardon me the word.

5) Cockfighting. Releasing the birds in the Dominican with Jaun Marichel is one thing, but throwing the roosters around Kensington with Steve Carlton would be another...

Corey

Mid-Season Awards

2009-07-12T21:55:00.000-04:00

Most Valuable Player - Raul Ibanez. No one saw this coming. He made the faithful forget about Pat Burrell almost immediately. His numbers would be even more ridiculous if not for the the recent injury.
Runner-up - Chase Utley. Consistently awesome.
2nd Runner-up - Jayson Werth. He has provided the right-handed power everyone was concerned the Phils wouldn't have when Burrell left.

Least Valuable Player - Tie between Miguel Cairo and Eric Bruntlett. Do you think that when they released Cairo he may have just lossed a coin flip?
Runner-up - Jimmy Rollins. For a major portion of the first half, Rollins has really hurt the team.

Most Valuable Pitcher - JA Happ - Happ is 5-0 with a 3.04 ERA. After losing the last spot in the rotation to Chan Ho Park during Spring Training, Happ has rebounded to lead the starters in ERA. With all of the starters struggling at some point and Myers going out for the year, the Phils desparately needed someone like Happ to step up.
Runner-up - Joe Blanton in his last nine starts.

Least Valuable Pitcher - Kyle Kendrick. KK has the fewest innings and highest ERA of anyone to pitch for the Fightins this year.
Runner-up - Jack Taschner. No one thought Taschner would be successful this season. Everyone was right.
2nd Runner-up - Brad Lidge.

Corey

Blog Update

2009-07-11T08:43:00.004-04:00

The GM's will be on All-Star break hiatus for the next week. Posting will be a little scarce and of even lesser quality than usual.

I'll be giving out mid-season awards later this week and if any major roster moves are made (Pedro, Roy, et al.), I'll be here to throw down a rant or two. Otherwise, I plan on being sunburnt, intoxicated and covered in sand.

Goodbye, Chris Coste.

Corey

Tale of the Tape - Pittsburgh

2009-07-10T00:30:00.005-04:00

Pop Singers
Pitt - Christina Aguilera. She packs a lot into a 5'1" frame. She hit the scene asking everyone to "rub me the right way" and got only more whorish from there, with tattoos, piercings and trashier videos. Very nice.
Philly - Pink. She sings songs and used to be married to some X-Games motorcycle guy. And Tim Armstrong from Rancid co-wrote songs for one of her albums. After that, I would have to go to Wikipedia...
Advantage - Philly. Yeah, Aguilera is waaaaaaay hotter, but Pink has two things she doesn't 1)songs written by Tim Armstrong and 2)the ability to kick the ass of most people she meets. Seriously, look at her. She has at least one testicle somewhere.

Condiments
Pitt - H. J. Heinz Company is the nation's largest distributor of ketchup.
Philly - Benjamin Jackson produced the country's first mustard in 1768 and sold it to fellow Philadelphians in glass bottles.
Advantage - Philly. Ketchup is versatile, but I'm a mustard guy. And just look at all the wonderful varieties of mustard: yellow mustard, brown mustard, dijon mustard, jalapeno mustard, horseradish mustard, honey mustard...

First to Make the...
Pitt - Big Mac. A Pittsburgh area Mickey D's was the first to make the "two all beef patties..."
Philly - Butterscotch Krimpet.
Advantage - Push. Both products are great, but they lose points because they aren't the most desirable things on their respective menus. McDonald's sells double cheeseburgers for $1, which means you can go their after the bar and get completely stuffed and get change for a five spot. As for Tastykake, the "Kandy Kake" is where the money is. Chocolate, peanut butter and cake? Yes please.

Important Piece of Paper
Pitt - Mr. Yuk sticker was created in Pittsburgh in 1971.
Philly - The United States Constitution.
Advantage - Push. Obama says the Constitution represents the "fundamental flaw of this country that continues today." What an ass. I bet he wouldn't say that shit to Mr. Yuk, though. Mr. Yuk wouldn't just sit back and take it, he would kick Barack's ass. Yuk's toughness earns him a "push", although maybe he should take the category if the constitution is that flawed...

First One In America
Pitt - Baseball Stadium. Forbes Field, built in 1909, was the first one.
Philly - The Philadelphia Zoo was the first one in the states.
Advantage - Push. This category really should be a no-brainer. The stadiums are one of my favorite parts about the history of baseball in America. I've read books on stadiums, watched documentaries and scoured the internet for pictures, facts and storeis. However, zoo's are pretty cool too. In fact, just a few weeks ago I saw two giraffes knocking hooves at the San Diego Zoo. Also, a good friend of mine told me once when we were in college, "I love getting high and looking at the monkeys." So for those two exhibitionist giraffes and my friend, this category is a "push."

Awkward Guy on TV
Pitt - Mr. Rogers. If the "Land of Make Believe" and a mailman named "Mr. McFeely" weren't awkward enough, Fred Rogers himself was simply disturbing. He was a Presbyterian minister and vegetarian who did not drink alcohol or smoke, who sat around a little house changing his sweater, singing about neighbors, and playing with trains. Think he ever tried to hit on Lady Aberlin? I doubt it. He was too busy playing with Handy Man Negri's toolbox. Even as a little kid I remember thinking, "What is wrong with this guy?"
Philly - Chris Wheeler. Nothing used to scream awkwardness like a few innings of Wheeler and Harry. Now, with both Whitey and Harry calling games in Heaven, Wheels is left alone to spew cliche after cliche while T-Mac and Sarge chuckle like idiots, spurring Wheels on to new heights of broadcast idiocy one reached only by Tim McCarver and Joe Morgan. Personally, I don't know much about Wheels. He lives and Blue Ball and has a dog. It's unknown if he would ever hit on Lady Aberlin.
Advantage - Pittsburgh. It all comes down to the Hall of Fame. Fred Rogers is in the Television Hall of Fame and the Association of Educational Publishers Hall of Fame. Wheels, despite promotion via blog, has not cracked the MLB HoF.

There you have it. The numbers never lie. The Phils should take another series.

Corey

3 Runs Can Go Either Way

2009-07-09T07:08:00.009-04:00

Funny how 3 runs scored one night equals a loss and a complete turd of a game, and the next night the same run total equals a win and a well played game. Thanks to Final Vote hopeful Shane Victorino, the Phils took the game in the bottom of the 9th with his rbi single and remained 2 games up in the standings on the Marlins. Vic may not have the best numbers out of the 5 player group (Matt Kemp, Mark Reynolds, Christian Guzman, and Pablo Sandoval), but he sure is fun to watch. Go vote for him now, no questions asked (T-shirt by Birdland/The Fightins).

Meanwhile, Rodrigo Lopez left after 5 innings with discomfort in his pitching shoulder. This sucks. He was actually doing a decent job, but now it would seem he's DL bound. Myers DL, Bastardo DL, now possibly RoLo DL. Luckily the Phils don't need an extra starter until after the All-Star break, so they time to figure out what to do. Call up Andrew Carpenter and his 8-2 record with a 2.85 ERA? Nah. Trade for Roy Halladay? Hell yes!

Series finale tonight with Grand Pappy Moyer looking to continue his recent string of solid starts against slugger Micah Owings. I drool over the thought of acquiring Owings as a 5th starter/longman and letting him be the primary righthanded bat off the bench. He's 6-8 with a 4.48 ERA, but is also batting .262/.874 with 3 homeruns on the season (Career- .304/.898 with 8 hr in 158 ab). Dammit, Eric Bruntlett is unbelievably pathetic!

For a smile- Ollie Perez may have picked up the win last night, but he did so while walking 7 batters in 5 innings. That brings his season total to 28 bases on balls issued in only 26.2 innings. For a bigger smile- ESPN.com poll asks, "Will the Mets make the playoffs?" 88% of the vote said "No", even the state of New York.

~Carson

Same Old Phils

2009-07-08T06:53:00.008-04:00

10 hits, 5 walks, 3 runs, and 2 of the 3 runs came via solo homeruns. That means the Phillies, who were coming off a 22 run slugfest, stranded 13 runners. To make matters worse, they had the bases loaded with no outs and didn't score, and had a leadoff triple and didn't score him (Ruiz). That's the Phillies we've all come to know and ~~hate~~ love. Mr. Sideburns, Greg Dobbs, said it best, "The fact that we scored 22 runs the night before, that's great, but it doesn't mean diddly tonight." Luckily for the Phillies, every other team in the lackluster NL East aside from the Braves succumbed to their opponents last night as well.

Minors:
*Jack Taschner made his Iron Pig debut last night, tossing 2 scoreless innings. He did give up 2 hits and 2 walks though.

*Raul Ibanez (come back soon!) went 1-2, with a walk and a run scored for the Iron Pigs last night.

*To put a smile on your face, a Michael Taylor update. The Reading Phillies stud outfielder swiped 3 bags yesterday (now with 17), hit 2 doubles (now with 20), and knocked in 2 runs (now with 64 rbi). Oh yeah, he's batting .345.

*In the same game, top prospect Carlos Carrasco got lit up for 6 runs in 4 innings upping his ERA to 5.06. That's not very encouraging.

*18 year old Lakewood BlueClaws outfielder Anthony Gose is on fire, upping his average to .284 with an amazing 47 stolen bases.

*A few seasons ago, Corey and I campaigned for a little known minor league utility infielder by the name of Bobby Scales to get the call up to the bigs and displace No-Hit Nunez on the roster. My new cause- Neil Sellers. He bats right, he plays mostly 3rd, but has seen time at 2nd and 1st, and 1 game at SS in his 6 minor league seasons. He was an all-star for the Reading Phillies this season, and he has a decent bat- .310/.854, 41 r, 20 dbl, 9 hr, 48 rbi on the season, which is in line with his career totals. Time to promote the 27 year old and get rid of that worthless sack of potatoes known as Eric Bruntlett.

Tonight:
New hero Rodrigo Lopez makes his 2nd start for the Phils against big hype, small returns Homer Bailey. A win is important here, and despite last night's crapping of the bed, would make the series a success.

~Carson

Dick Pole Can Only Scratch His Head

2009-07-07T06:58:00.015-04:00

22-1, that was a the score of last night's game in favor of the good guys. The Cincinnati Reds pitching staff was atrocious and their pitching coach as Tom McCarthy put it, "Dick Pole can only scratch his head." T-Mac probably didn't understand the innuendo he was making at the time, but because of that line he earned respect points in my book.

Stuph:
*Cole Hamels finally pitched a game that is ace worthy, going 7 innings while giving up only 1 run. If not for the blowout, he could have been left in for the 8th and possibly gone for the complete game if need be as he threw only 92 pitches.

*The top two batters in the Phils lineup (Rollins & Vic) were 7-9, with 3 walks, 9 runs scored, and 5 rbi. Martha Stewart couldn't set the table better than that.

*Scott Eyre returned from the DL with a scoreless inning pitched.

*Tyler Walker continues to be serviceable out of the bullpen, dropping his ERA to 1.80 and WHIP to 1.00 with a perfect 8th last night.

*Raul Ibanez finally began his rehab assignment, and went 0-2 with a walk and a run scored for the Reading Phillies. With the R-Phils heading outta town, it's likely Raul will continue his minor league tuneup with the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs.

*Because of the 10-run 1st inning, 9 of which were charged to Reds starter Johnny Cueto, he saw his ERA jump from 2.69 to 3.45.

*Same time, same place, same teams tonight with pitchers JA Happ and Aaron Harang tossing.

*In case you live in a cardboard box and haven't heard yet, Shane Victorino is up for the Final Vote as the NL's 33rd player. Vote for him until you get blisters, no 25 vote limit on this folks.

~Carson

The Schadenfreude Post

2009-07-06T08:01:00.000-04:00

Here is the Muts lineup from yesterday:
Cora
Murphy
Wright
Church
Evans
Reed
Schneider
Castillo

Here is their disabled list:
Beltran
Maine
Putz
Martinez
Reyes
Delgado
Perez
Pagan
Wagner

Here are Mets fans after the game on some of the Mets blogs:
"This is like a dance contest where the other guy is just doing the headstand spin and wagging his finger at you"
"Words can not express what I just saw and feel right now."
"Hey Hey, Ho Ho. Freddy Wilpon’s got to go!"

Here are the Wild Card standings:

Ryan Church batting cleanup, half of the roster on the DL, unhappy fans, and looking up at seven teams in the Wild Card race are not good things. It's good to be a fan of the WFC but sometimes it's even better NOT being a Mets fan. Celebrate that today.

Corey

A Sweep Would Be Nice

2009-07-05T08:06:00.004-04:00

Going into this series against the Mets, I had zero confidence that anything good would come of it. Having taken the first two games rather a-matter-of-factly the Phils are in a position to perform the coveted 3-game sweep. One obstacle- Darth Santana. I don't hate Johan, I fear Johan. The Phillies have never beaten him, lifetime- 4 wins in 8 starts, 55 ip, 49 k's, 2.95 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and a .199 average against. Opposing pitcher for the good guys, Joe Blanton, needs to pitch better than he's possibly capable of to pick up the "W" today.

Stuph:
*Ryan Howard is the 39th highest paid athlete in America according to Sports Illustrated.

*After breaking free of his career worst slump, Jimmy Rollins is 5-12, with 1 runs scored, 4 rbi, 3 doubles, and 2 walks in the past 3 games.

*Grand Pappy Moyer made his 600th career start yesterday and notched his 253rd too.

*Brad Lidge pitched a perfect 9th inning last night, possibly his best outing of the season.

*Jack Taschner was designated for assignment to make room on the roster for Rodrigo Lopez. Makes me like RoLo even more.

*Scott Eyre is likely to be activated for today's game, meaning Sergio Escalona goes back to the minors for the upteenmillionth time this season.

~Carson

New Hero

2009-07-04T05:34:00.007-04:00

Rodrigo Lopez did something last night that Cole Hamels hasn't been able to accomplish in a month...win a game. Lopez made his return to the majors after nearly a 2 year absence due to Tommy John surgery. 6 innings and 2 runs usually gets the job done. He's the short term answer for 5th starter, and currently a hero for helping beat the Mets and recapture 1st place. The Phillies are now 1-0 in the new season which began last night.
___________________________________________________

Total Bust:
Remember last year's 1st round draft pick Anthony Hewitt? If you're lucky, you don't recall this absolute bust. In his first taste of professional baseball, Hewitt batted .197 with a .555 OPS in 33 games, while striking out 55 times in 117 at bats, and committing 7 errors at 3rd base for a .848 fielding %. Things have actually managed to have gotten worse this season- .152 avg, .455 OPS, 17 k's in 46 ab, and 8 errors in only 13 games.

~Carson

New Season

2009-07-03T18:01:00.000-04:00

Tonight is the start of a new season. The Phillies, Marlins, Mets, and Braves are all separated by only 2 games. It's Philly versus NY this weekend, while Atlanta heads to Washington, and Florida is at home against Pittsburgh. Come Monday morning things in the NL East could look a whole lot different in the standings.

Game Primer:
*Somehow Rodrigo Lopez, who hasn't started a game since 2007, is the Phils best option to fill the starting pitcher void. I'm rooting for him, but I'm not counting on him.

*The Phillies have lost 14 of their last 18 games. During that span they've hit .233, scored 76 runs (4.22 per game), while the rotation posted a 5.23 ERA, and the bullpen a 6.56 ERA along with four blown saves.

*Jimmy Rollins finally got a hit last night, two to be exact, snapping an 0-28 skid.

*Since June 7th, Carlos Ruiz is 7 for his last 60 (.117 average). The loss of Raul Ibanez surely hurt the offense, but the tailspin of Chooch has only worsened it.

*Speaking of Ibanez, he will not be back for the weekend series against the Mets. Ruben Amaro Jr. wants to make sure he's 100% before he returns. Let's all remember that Raul is 37 years old, so injuries do not heal as quickly.

*Series match-ups: (Fri) Rodrigo Lopez vs. Livan Hernandez, (Sat) Jamie Moyer vs. Fernando Nieve, and (Sun) Johan Santana vs. Joe Blanton.

~Carson

Player Comparison

2009-07-03T05:55:00.001-04:00

Player A: .256/.328/.535, 47 r, 76 h, 19 dbl, 2 trpl, 20 hr, 60 rbi, 3 sb, 30 bb, 93 k, and 4 errors.

Player B: .260/.396/.528, 36 r, 70 h, 12 dbl, 20 hr, 56 rbi, 61 bb, 87 k, and 8 errors.

Player C: .270/.357/.554, 50 r, 77 h, 16 dbl, 1 trpl, 21 hr, 56 rbi, 13 sb, and 13 errors.

*Stats through 7/2/09

By looking at the numbers you can see these players are poor fielding, strikeout prone, mediocre batting average sluggers. One player is regressing, one is consistent, and the other is progressing. However, only one of these players gets all the hype. Player A- Ryan Howard, Player B- Adam Dunn, Player C- Mark Reynolds.

Regressing- Ryan Howard set an arbitration record for 1st year eligible players and agreed to a ginormous arbitration years buyout this offseason (3 years/$54M). If you believed everything you read and heard, you would think Howard is the best player in the game, or at least the best 1st baseman. Thing is, he's not, and he's entirely overrated. In fact, his OPS is dipping again for the third straight season after a high water mark of 1.084 in '06 (currently .864). His OPS against lefthanded pitching is following the same trend, and southpaws are dominating him this season (.615 OPS). He's been a horrible fielder up until this season, but he's recently started botching plays again. I watch him on daily basis and am amazed by his power, but I'm also amazed by his inability to make contact with men on 3rd and less than 2 outs, or his errant throws into left-centerfield when he attempts to initiate a double play. People will point to his homerun and rbi numbers, in which he's the MLB leader in both categories since 2006, but the rbi's are a product of the lineup he bats in and homeruns are great, but they're not everything. He's a fine player, and entertaining to watch, but he does not deserve all the praise heaped upon him. Average #'s per 162 games: 102 r, 164 h, 30 dbl, 2 trpl, 49 hr, 140 rbi, 1 sb, 91 bb, 197 k, .276/.374/.583. His batting average hasn't been that high since 2006 or his OPS since 2007.

Consistent- Adam Dunn is only 10 days older than Ryan Howard, both are 29 this season. So why is it that a man coming off of 5 straight 40+ homerun seasons only secured himself a 2 year $20M deal in free agency when Ryan Howard got that mega-deal and he was still under team control? The answer is hype, Howard is hyped, Dunn is not. Dunn is actually slandered for some strange reason, even though they're both essentially the same player. Dunn doesn't possess quite the power that Howard does, but his bat is every bit as potent, plus he works the walk. Put Dunn in the Phils lineup, instead of a putrid Reds or Nationals lineup, and he'd have a better rbi total too. Adam is a terrible outfielder defensively and belongs at 1st base, but he's not much better there either. Average #'s per 162 games: 99 r, 137 h, 29 dbl, 1 trpl, 40 hr, 98 rbi, 8 sb, 115 bb, 180 k, .248/.382/.519.

Progressing- The youngest of the trio is Mark Reynolds at 25, and he's also the worst fielding. This kid has tons of upside and it's starting to show this season. He can't field a lick at 3rd or 1st, but hot damn his bat is good. Strange thing though, you don't hear much about him. Why not? He has more homeruns than Howard. He has more stolen bases than speedsters Jimmy Rollins or Shane Victorino. Put him in Boston, LA, or NY and you've got yourself a bonafide superstar in the making, but alas he dwells in Arizona where he's forgotten. Average #'s per 162 games: 95 r, 147 h, 31 dbl, 4 trpl, 32 hr, 103 rbi, 11 sb, 66 bb, 209 k, .259/.338/.492.

I just don't understand why Howard gets all the love, yet there are very similar players out there that don't.

~Carson

Breaking News...

2009-07-02T22:32:00.003-04:00

Ryan Madson sucks!

~Carson

Bad Things

2009-07-02T06:47:00.006-04:00

Bad Thing- Jimmy Rollins is hitless in his last 27 at bats. Yes, the same Jimmy Rollins that was the 2007 NL MVP. The same Jimmy Rollins that remains leading off for the defending World Series champions. The same Jimmy Rollins that is batting .205 with a .569 OPS. That Jimmy Rollins is now officially classified in the "suck" department. This isn't a slump, this isn't a funk, it's a shitty season. He is currently ranked 4th from the bottom in batting average among qualified batters and 2nd from the bottom in OPS (Brian Giles is the lowest of the low).

Bad Thing- In 15 starts this season Cole Hamels has failed to go 5 innings in 5 of his starts, that's 1/3 of the time. In 6 of his starts he's allowed 4 or more earned runs. His stats are not of ace quality, with a 4-5 record, 4.98 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, and an unbelievably high .312 batting average against. The 25 year old had two very strong seasons in 2007/2008, but he's completely crapping the bed this year.

Bad Thing- The Phillies grasp of 1st place in the NL East is coming close to being no longer. With last night's loss, they fell to 39-36 on the season with a microscopic half game lead on the Marlins. Let's not fool ourselves, this team is just not the same team from '08. The pitching staff is disgusting from rotation to bullpen and that won't be getting better unless an overhaul is made (like a Roy Oswalt and LaTroy Hawkins addition).

Good Thing- prospects and teammates Michael Taylor and Kyle Drabek continue to dominate the minors. Drabek picked up his 5th win in Double-A Reading last night, going to 9-1 on the season with 2.58 ERA and 104 k's in 101.1 ip. Taylor went deep for the 15th time and upped his batting average to .350. He also has a 1.020 OPS with 14 stolen bases, 53 runs, and 58 rbi.

Tonight- 2009 staff ace JA Happ looks to salvage the final game of the series. However, Javier Vazquez and his 125 k's and 3.04 ERA will likely halt any idea of sneaking out of Atlanta with any pride. The Phillies are his favorite team to face with a career high 11 wins and 138 strikeouts against them.

Awesome- this jersey kicks so much ass! Picture courtesy of Who Does He Play For?

~Carson

"208!, 208!", Check that, "207!, 207!"

2009-07-01T06:52:00.006-04:00

Usually Braves fans annoy the piss outta me, but last night I felt compelled to join in their cheering. No, not that politically incorrect tomahawk chop crap, but the heckling they were aiming at Jimmy Rollins. J-Roll, fresh off of a 4 game mind and body refresher was stupidly slotted back into the leadoff spot. Perched atop the lineup last night he set the table beautifully by going Oh-for-Five. In the 9th inning as Jimmy was at the dish, Braves fans started chanting, "208!", "208!", which was his batting average at the time. He promptly struck out lowering his batting average to .207, so hopefully they pick right back up in the top of the 1st tonight with a "207!", "207!" cheer.

Questions:
*Why the hell was Chan Ho Park signed to a multimillion dollar deal? Everyone but Amaro seemed to know he'd be an epic fail in any role, as his numbers away from spacious Dodger stadium depicted.

*I understand playing J-Roll, because sadly enough he's still our best option at SS, but why bat him leadoff?

*Why pinch hit Chris Coste against Derek Lowe? Manuel was afraid he might waste Stairs in that situation, because Bobby Cox would have countered with a lefty, so he should have sent Bako up and then countered with Coste or Mayberry if Cox countered. Confused? Hope so!

*Why does Ryan Madson suck?

Tonight:
Phils supposed ace, Cole Hamels, attempts to even the series with the Braves sending Jair Jurrjens to the mound. Hamels has beat the Braves (7 wins) more than any other MLB team in his 4 seasons. Jurrjens has held Phillies batters to a .212 average in 5 career starts against the team.

~Carson

NL East- Baseball's Worst Division

2009-06-30T07:08:00.005-04:00

Heading into the 2009 season, many experts agreed the NL East was one of the most competitive divisions in baseball ranking only behind the AL East. Something happened between March and now, because only 1 team in the NL East currently has a winning record (Phillies). In fact, in terms of winning percentage the NL East is the least competitive division in the majors, and it's not all the Nationals fault.

1st- Philadelphia Phillies (39-34):
This division is theirs for the taking, and could be easily had if they only were able to play winning baseball at home (13-22). They're the only team in the East with a positive run differential (+23), and are are holding on to 1st place because of their astonishing road record (26-12). Pitching has been this team's Achilles heel. The staff sports a 4.80 ERA, the starters continually have short performances, the bullpen blows leads, and they all give up tons of homeruns (107). The offense and defense have kept the Phils afloat with a NL best 5.3 runs scored per game and .990 fielding %. Injuries to Brett Myers, Raul Ibanez, Scott Eyre, Clay Condrey, and Brad Lidge have taken the wind out of the defending champs sails, but better times are ahead.

2nd- Florida Marlins (39-39):
Many figured this team would make some noise with their excellent core of young talent, especially in the pitching department. A lot has gone wrong for the Fish though, with only starting pitcher Josh Johnson holding up to the hype. Even when their pitching does seem to create outs, the defense is liable to cough it up (59 errors). Florida's offense has its moments, but they lead the majors in strikeouts and have instability at a couple positions (3rd & CF). There's no doubting the legitimacy of SS Hanley Ramirez as one of the best all-around talents in the game today.

3rd- New York Mets (37-38):
What the hell is wrong with this team? Their offense has a terrific batting average (.273), yet they lack the ability to drive in runs. There has been a power outage in Queens, as the Mets have hit a MLB worst 47 homeruns so far this season. Their defense and pitching have been good at times and bad at others. K-Rod has been great at the back end of the bullpen, but Putz was a disaster. Johan is still doing his thing and Livan Hernandez has been the durable innings-eater they needed. There have been plenty of injuries though- JJ Putz, Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, Oliver Perez, John Maine, and Carlos Delgado. Time for the Phils to kick 'em while they're down.

4th- Atlanta Braves (35-40):
With a tremendous pitching staff (3.89 ERA) the Braves should have a far better record than they do. The problem has been their sputtering offense, even with the addition of Nate McLouth. Brian McCann is truly the only position player doing what he is capable of. The left side of the infield has been particularly feeble on defense (Chipper Jones/3B 13 errors, Yunel Escobar/SS 11 errors). This is how bad the Braves offense has been- Javier Vazquez has a 3.04 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 125 k's in 106.2 ip, and has a losing record of 5-7.

5th- Washington Nationals (22-52):
The worst team in baseball, I need not say more.

Tonight:
Joe Blanton against Derek Lowe in Atlanta.

~Carson

Chasing Eaton - Part II

2009-06-29T07:03:00.002-04:00

Fifteen starts into the season and Jamie Moyer is still a train wreck. We're keeping track of how this season compares to Adam Eaton's season of 2008. Here are the numbers so far.

Losses 8
ERA 5.80
WHIP 1.64
BAA .310

Losses 6
ERA 6.05
WHIP 1.51
BAA .309

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Monday Poll
I have simple question today. Which Phillie would you most like to see get cut/released/sent down/shot/etc.? Your nominees are:
- Paul Bako - A third catcher so Coste can be our main RH PH? No thank you.
- Eric Bruntlett - Useless.
- Jack Taschner - Useless.
- Other - Write in votes accepted in the comment section.

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WSBGM's Fantasy Standings

Corey

Altercation, Shutout, Uselessness, and Chen

2009-06-28T09:22:00.010-04:00

Based on the title of this post you may be lead to believe that it is about an altercation involving Bruce Chen in which he was useless while the team was shutout, but you'd be wrong.

The Altercation:
Eaton still haunts the Phillies. Just so happens it's not Adam this time but some buttholesaurus named Robert Eaton. Eaton told The St. Petersburg Times that JC Romero grabbed him by the back of the neck and shoved him after the two exchanged words about Romero's ~~vitamin supplements~~ performance enhancing drug supplements. Eaton asked, "How about you get me some juice?". JC retorted with the obligatory "shut the f*ck up!". That wasn't it from the ill-tempered reliever as he "He reared back and kinda grazed my chin and grabbed me by the neck and threw me back," Eaton told the newspaper. Eaton sounds like an a-hole, but Romero is clearly in the wrong here and suspension is likely forthcoming.

The Shutout:
JA Happ has sadly become the staff ace. I type that in a mocking tone, if there is such a thing, because the fact that he's pitching well is terrific, but it's sad that he's been our best hope at winning a ball game. After yesterday's shutout of the Blue Jays, Happ went to 5-0 with a 3.00 ERA on the year. That's far better than goldenboy Cole Hamels' mediocre numbers.

The Uselessness:
I understand the use of benching Jimmy Rollins, but I do not understand the use of Eric Bruntlett. The man is on pace to collect nearly 200 at bats, but he wields a putrid bat, and by putrid I mean complete crap. I would rather do something crazy like start Pedro Feliz at SS for a few games and have Greg Dobbs play 3rd. He has the worst OPS in the majors with players of 60+ at bats (.402).

The Chen:
There has been a Bruce Chen sighting and it was against the Pirates with Chen donning a KC Royals jersey. Well, it actually was a Kansas City Monarchs jersey, but who's watching anyway? I somehow fondly remember Chen from his days with the Phils. Oh, how time can play tricks with one's mind.

~Carson

Oh Great, Lidge Is Back...

2009-06-27T10:35:00.003-04:00

Brad Lidge and his mole came back last night. He gave up 2 runs on 2 hits and two walks and only got a single out. It's not looking good. Brad Lidge is so bad...

...How bad is he?

Well, he's so bad, that:

- Jose Mesa just bought a new red glove.
- Lee Thomas now thinks Wayne Gomes was a pretty good draft pick.
- The Phils have invited Heathcliff Slocum, Roger McDowell and Jeff Brantley to a workout.
- His performance is more nauseating than the Blue Jays throwback uniforms.
- Ruben Amaro has inquired about the availability of Joel Hanrahan.
- A fan was overheard saying, "Whatever happened to Mark Leiter?"
- Billy Wagner seems like less of an asshole.
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Gameday
Lucky for us, we don't have to wait until 8:00 before the fate of the game is decided. Today we'll know the Phils are going to lose by 2:00.

JA Happ goes for the Phis while Brad Mills makes his second career start. You may remember him from his first career start, when the Phils jumped on him for 4 runs in 3.2 innings. Of course, the Jays won the game 8-7. I see similar events happening today.

On a positive note, Jimmy Rollins should be back in the lineup today and the Blue Jays likely won't wear those horrific blue unis. So we've got that going for us, which is nice.

Corey

Phlashback Phriday - Little League Rollins

2009-06-26T01:31:00.001-04:00

I'm changing things up a little today for the Phlashback. Usually we focus on a former player of relative obscuratiy but today I want to look at current player and "phlashback" to when he was a kid. Today's subject: Jimmy Rollins.

Here's a video I found on the 'net that shows young Jimmy fine tuning his swing during a little league game in Oakland.

In little Jimmy's defense, that was only strike one. And if he would get that pitch today, he would likely fly out to short left field...

Corey

Phils Lose, USA Wins

2009-06-25T12:20:00.005-04:00

The NL East is beginning to become a logjam, with the Mets, Marlins, and Braves all withing 4 games of the Phils. The Phillies craptacular play of late has been the reason for this, not because the other teams have played particularly well themselves. Ex-Phillie and forever stud, Pat Burrell, was the man for Tampa Bay last night sealing the deal early with a 2-run shot. In the rubber match tonight the Phightins send Antonio Bastardo to the mound with Andy Sonnanstine going for the Rays. Go Phils!

4 My Homie:
Corey is a huge football fan (round black/white checkered, not brown oblong), so this is for him. In case any of you missed it the USA soccer team beat the world's #1 ranked team Spain in the FIFA Confederations Cup match yesterday 2-0 and are advancing to the finals in Johannesburg on Sunday against the winner of the Brazil/South Africa semifinals match. USA! USA! USA!

Bouncing Souls- Ole

~Carson

If It's Broke, Fix It

2009-06-24T22:11:00.003-04:00

I can't take it anymore. Jimmy Rollins as a leadoff hitter is simply asinine. Charlie Manuel's refusal to semi-permanently remove J-Stroll from the top of the lineup is blatantly retarded. After his fifth straight hitless game, his batting average has fallen to .211 and his on base % to .254. Two-Fifty-Four would be a shitty enough batting average, but instead that's his frequency of reaching base. The man is on pace to set the all-time record for outs in a season, yet our incompetent leader sticks by him. He's 9-22 (.409) when batting anywhere in the lineup besides leadoff this season, which is a far cry from what he's done from that spot 54-277 (.195). If it's broke, fix it!

~Carson