by Pete on August 31, 2010
Prior Previews
The linebacker position was an absolute mess last season for the Eagles. Going into the season they had middle of the road quality in terms of both talent and depth and then suffered a rash of injuries, including losing Stewart Bradley before the season started. This year, they appear monumentally better at the position with a couple new acquisitions and a clean bill of health.
Depth Chart
This is arguably our best looking depth chart at LB in some time, which isn’t really saying much. I believe that if he’s back to 100%, Stewart Bradley can be a pro-bowl caliber player at the MLB position. I loved the Ernie Sims move, and his tenacity in training camp is doing nothing but making me more excited about it. Akeem Jordan is an average starter who is somewhat overrated by a couple big tackle number games.
Backing them up are 2 solid guys with starter experience in Fokou and Gaither. I was concerned about going into the season with Fokou as a starter and was happy when Jordan passed him on the depth chart.
Keenan Clayton and Jamar Chaney are rookies with a chance to make the roster and compete with Tracy White for a back-up spot.
Most Important Player
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August 31, 2010
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by Pete on August 30, 2010
4-game home set against the Ed Wade-run (into the ground) Astros? Horrifying! Impossible!
3-game road series against the NL-West leading Padres with their 3 best pitchers on the hill? Piece of cake! Bring it on!
Such is baseball. I think baseball fans tend to think that only their team is this schizophrenic, but as you can see by the Cardinals getting handled by the Nats and the Giants losing their series to the Diamondbacks, this is not a trend limited to Philadelphia, though sometimes it sure seems like it.
Miraculously, the Phillies hold a 1.5 game lead on the Giants in the Wild Card. I know that many people are looking more at the division race than anything else, but I’m focusing on the wild card, even if we take the lead in the division. With our rotation, all that matters is that we make the playoffs, not how.
2010: 73-57
2009: 76-54
2008: 71-59
2007: 68-62
The Good News
- Roy Oswalt since being acquired by the Phillies: 6 starts, 3-1, 2.18 ERA, 0.97 WHIP. We are officially spoiled. This guy should be being worshiped ala He-who-shall-not-be-named. I guess the first is always the most exciting. By the way, He-who-shall-not-be-named in his last 6: 6.20 ERA. Not hearing a lot of chirpin’ anymore.
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August 30, 2010
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by Dannie on August 27, 2010
Swept by the Houston Phillies Astros.
Braves swept by the Rockies.
3 games back in the division and a half game back in the Wild Card.
Are you a glass half empty or half full kind of person?
On the one hand we are lucky as hell the Braves had a bad series and fortunate we aren’t 6 games back right now going into a tough series against the 76 win Padres to finish out August.
On the terrible hand (the hand I tend to favor as a pessimist) we had a opening to gain ground in the division, distance ourselves in the Wild Card and build some momentum going into the Padres series and into September – and we blew it.
With the Braves going 5-5 in their last 10 games we actually lost ground. And the way we are losing is beyond unbearable.
Anemic hitting, especially with runners on base and lackadaisical play when we are lucky enough to even get on base.
The pitching line-up we face in the next three isn’t exactly the best group to start finding your mojo.
Let’s hope the Phils finally start rising to the challenge and show us the team we know is capable of terrorizing late season runs.
Probables [...]
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August 27, 2010
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by Dannie on August 26, 2010
All there was a conference call with Evan Turner today with a few bloggers.
We (Recliner GM) were invited but with Pete on vacation and me swamped at the Clark Kent job we unfortunately couldn’t attend.
But I’ll post the links when the other blogs post their recap so you can get the goods.
I am sure the Sixers will have a transcript and possibly the audio up as well.
Check them out. [...]
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August 26, 2010
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by Pete on August 23, 2010
Former Phils’ GM Ed Wade certainly has an affinity for Phillies’ players. The Phillies welcome back J.A. Happ, Brett Myers, Nelson Figueroa, Michael Bourn and Jason Michaels when the Astros come into town this week. If Pedro Feliz was not just traded, he would be coming back as well. Wilson Valdez must be looking forward to his 5 year, $25 million deal with Houston next year.
I’m on vacation so I’m just going to quickly preview the Astros’ series…
Probables
Monday: Blanton vs. RHP Brett Myers
Tuesday: Hamels vs. RHP Bud Norris
Wednesday: Halladay vs. LHP J.A. Happ
Thursday: Kendrick vs. LHP Wandy Rodriguez
Note: I will finish this post later – but feel free to talk about the Astros series here until I do [...]
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August 23, 2010
by Pete on August 20, 2010
The Phils played like a team ready to go win the World Series in their first 2 games against the Giants, but stalled when Jonathan Sanchez put together a soild outing and Cole Hamels hit his first road bump in awhile. The result is that the Phils are 1 game up in the Wild Card, and hopefully won’t look back.
2010: 68-52
2009: 70-50
2008: 64-56
2007: 64-56
What I want to look at today is the remaining schedule for the teams competing with the Phils for a playoff spot. Here are the current playoff odds from Baseball Prospectus…
1. Padres, 95.6%
2. Braves, 89.9%
3. Reds, 81.7%
4. Phillies, 52.7%
5. Cardinals, 46.7%
6. Giants, 26.3%
7. Rockies, 4.0%
I included the Rockies because even though they are 6 games behind us, I still think they are fully capable of going on a big run as they did in 2009 and 2007. I’m not going to include the Padres here, because (and this might be the most shocking thing in baseball this year), they are in a pretty comfortable spot and would really have to dive to lose their place.
I’m going to do this breakdown a little differently than most. Instead of just “games left against teams over .500″, I’m going to look at the records of teams since July 1st and break them down into 3 simple categories: bad, OK, good. Here’s how it comes out… [...]
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August 20, 2010
by Pete on August 17, 2010
Stats and Ranks
Some Interesting Stats and Facts
- Joined Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Willie McCovey as the only NL players to hit 40 HR with an OPS over 1.000 during the 1960’s.
- Was in triple crown contention throughout the year, finishing 4th in BA, 2nd in HR and 3rd in RBI
- Only player in Phillies history with 40 HR and 10 3B in a season
- Highest OPS by a Phillie from 1937 to 1981
- Highest OPS+ in Phillies history for a full season (Schmidt’s 1981 season is actually first, but they only played 107 games)
Why He’s Here
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August 17, 2010
by Pete on August 17, 2010
If the Phillies roster makes it to the playoffs healthy, I see no reason we wouldn’t be the NL favorites. Despite that, yesterday was the first time in some time that the Phils could actually say they were in line for a playoff spot, drawing even with Giants in the Wild Card race (but 1 ahead in the loss column).
Tomorrow, we expect Chase Utley back. Ryan Howard should be back by the weekend. Shane Victorino is now back. This recent stretch (18-5 in last 23) was done primarily without that trio, and getting them back (and keeping everyone else on the field) puts the sky as the limit for the Phils yet again.
2010: 66-51
2009: 68-49
2008: 64-53
2007: 62-55
The Good News
- This isn’t really “good news” per se, but it’s interesting. Cole Hamels has been much better this year than last year, right? Well, his WHIP (1.23) is almost exactly the same as last year (1.29) and he’s given up more HR/9 and has a higher BB/9 rate as well. So why is he doing so much better? First, he was flat out unlucky last year (a .325 BABIP vs. .270 the year prior) and second, his increased velocity has meant there are less balls being put into play in the first place as he has increased his K/9 rate from 7.8 to 9.2. This is a good example of why pitchers who can strike guys out are a lot more consistent than those who can’t (see Kendrick, Kyle).
- Yes, Joe Blanton has been horrible, but part of the horrible-ness (deal with the “word” choice) has been luck. Blanton has been one of the unluckiest pitchers all season long. Why do I say this? First, he has the biggest difference in baseball between his actual ERA (5.69) and his fielding independent ERA or FIP (4.46). Second, he has the 8th highest BABIP in baseball (.334) and that is up 32 points from last year. And finally, he has the lowest LOB% in baseball at 63.6%. Yes, part of that is his fault, but there is also luck factored in there as that stat is pretty random from year-to-year. This is not to excuse Blanton for his performance, but rather to offer hope that he really isn’t that far off from turning it around.
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August 17, 2010
by Pete on August 13, 2010
No time for a full post, this will really just be a placeholder for the Mets series.
What’s on my mind…
- On a team full of multi-millionaire superstars, Carlos Ruiz might turn out to be the most popular Phillie on the team. Small, tough, unassuming, does the little things, hits when it matters and is humble.
- On a team that often gets shuts down by mediocre starters, the fact that we own Jonathan Broxton is both baffling and wondrous.
- It would be nice if EVERYONE in the bullpen didn’t suck. Our bullpen gave up an astonishing 23 baserunners in 11 innings in this series. What would be the harm in getting rid of Herndon and brining up Mathieson or Schwimer? Seriously? If they suck, send them down and bring up another one. We got to find some reliable bullpen arms – and we have a bunch of possibilities in the minors.
- When Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins took back-to-back walks yesterday, you knew something crazy was about to happen.
- Roy Oswalt’s fastball looked real nice. I hope we aren’t spoiled and show him the same love we showed Lee and Halladay.
- Looking ahead to the HUGE Giants series after the Mets series. It looks like we will miss Lincecum, but get Cain, Zito and Sanchez. You can’t really get a good draw with them though. They have a tough series against San Diego this weekend – it’s possible we’ll be in the wild card lead by Monday.
- Dom Brown’s numbers aren’t that great, but he’s had some great AB’s for a young player. He has a really good eye and takes a bunch of tough pitches. I feel like he needs to shorten his swing though. Too many moving parts there.
- Austin Hyatt was promoted to Reading and struck out 7 in 5 innings in his first start, allowing just 1 ER. The jump from Clearwater to Reading is probably the biggest in the Phillies system, so it will be interesting to see how Hyatt fares.
- Also in Reading, Harold Garcia is now hitting .331 with an .844 OPS. Would love to see him as an upgrade to Juan Castro / Wilson Valdez next year.
- I could see a sweep for the Phils in NYC this weekend. Hamels and Halladay going. We miss Johan. K-Rod causing problems. Victorino back to give a boost. Let’s go!
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August 13, 2010
by Pete on August 12, 2010
Prior Previews
I’m not sure if you guys and gals have heard, but there were a couple changes in this area of the Eagles and the next decade or so of Eagles football depends on the success of those changes. No big deal.
Depth Chart
For the last 7 years, this depth chart read Donovan McNabb, QB and Brian Westbrook, RB for the Eagles. Now the winning-est QB in franchise history is in a rival’s locker room, and the most dynamic running back in team history might be hanging in the towel. That’s part of what makes this an exciting season for the Eagles, it’s the first time in years that we have relative unknowns in the backfield. It’s also part of why people aren’t quite sure what to expect.
Kolb and McCoy are the replacements, with fan-favorite Leonard Weaver sticking around at the FB spot. Michael Vick has proven completely worthless, and draftee Mike Kafka looks to have some tools, but needs a lot of coaching. Some people got excited about Mike Bell because he’s had 1 or 2 good fantasy weeks, but he’s an average back-up. Buckley and Scott are fighting for a roster spot.
Most Important Player
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August 12, 2010
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