Well – the Phillies certainly do have a way of making you want to grind your temple with a screwdriver, don’t they? Lazy defense, bad baserunning, poor ABs, horrendous starting pitching efforts, all amounting to a 1-5 stretch that very easily could have been an 0-9 stretch.
Luckily for us, Mets, Braves and Marlins fans are searching for higher powered screwdriver than we are, and we still have a relatively comfortable 3 game lead.
This is exactly what happened last year. In 2008, we were 41-30 entering interleague play with a 4 game lead on the Mets (this year we were 35-23 with a 4 game lead on the Mets. In 2008, we barely took 1 of 3 from the Sox, same as 2009, and then got swept by the Angels, this year it was the Jays. We then went 2-4 in the next 6 games against the Rangers and A’s, a trend we have to stop against the Orioles and Rays.
2009: 36-28
2008: 38-26
2007: 33-31
Player of the Series: N/A
Goat(s) of the Series: Starting Pitchers (5.20 ERA, 1.79 WHIP, none pitched into 7th inning)
The Good News
- We don’t play in the American League
- uhhhh……I bought this book, and I’m very excited to read it?
The Bad News
- Our bullpen is shot. They have been overworked more than any unit in baseball and it’s only going to get worse. You can’t expect to have to throw guys out there night after night and have them hold leads.
- The team is playing sloppy. One thing that we have become accustomed to the last several years is the Phillies rarely beating themselves (we were very used to this from about 1994-2006). The last week has been a flash to the past, and they have made loads of mental errors that have cost them.
- Ibanez to the DL is going to hurt. He has carried this team for stretches and really makes our line-up dangerous. I guess the good news is we might be able to showcase Mayberry a bit and maybe use him as trade bait.
- It’s looking more and more like the robust starting pitchers market is not going to be there. It’s also looking more and more like we need it to be there.
- How are we this bad at home? 13-19 at home, playing in front of sell-outs of SUPPORTIVE fans almost every night? That’s inexcusable. In ALL OF BASEBALL, only Arizona and Washington have a worse home record than we do.
- As much as I enjoyed uncovered those cool stats about the Phillies, it is now going to drive me absolutely crazy watching the miss curve ball after curve ball. Maybe ignorance would have been better on this one. I hope they are aware of this problem, and buying a good curve ball machine…
Series Preview: Baltimore Orioles at Phillies
The Phillies get a break from their 4 straight series against winning teams to play the last-place Orioles. The question of course, is can they actually take advantage of it. The Orioles are team that is going to be dangerous in a few years and remind me of the Rays of several years ago when only a couple of their big time prospects were up. Matt Wieters, Adam Jones and Nick Markakis are already up, with Chris Tillman, Brian Matusz and Matt Hobgood (among others) on their way.
Three Questions for the Series
- Can our pitchers finally give our bullpen some kind of rest?
- What will we see from John Mayberry Jr. in a starting role?
- Is Matt Wieters worthy of the hype?
Prediction
I’ve got to hope (and think) that the embarrassing Blue Jays series and unfortunate Ibanez injury will make this series a little more important to the Phils. The Orioles just beat the Mets 2 out of 3 and actually have a very good offense, so don’t expect them to roll over. In fact, with the bullpen as is, my lack of confidence in Bastardo and Happ to pitch deep into games, and the Orioles good offense (not to mention a lefty going for them tonight with, you guessed it, a good curveball), I’m picking the O’s to take 2 of 3 and for the Phillies downward spiral to continue.
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Went to O’s-Mets at Camden Yards last night. Very satisfying to see the Mets blow it and really the only bit of joy as a Phillies fan over the past week and a half.
Since this series against the Orioles opens on a Friday, I have a sense of foreboding.
In 2003, we played the O’s in Ballamer (sic Baltimore) at the end of June. The series opened on a Friday. We won it 4-2 in 17 innings after Jason Michaels hit a 3-run home run in the top of the inning. Brandon Duckworth only lasted 1 inning and we had to use the entire bullpen, with several guys throwing multiple innings. Hector Mercado gave up a run in the bottom of the 17th, but we held on.
In 2004, we played the O’s in Philly, this time in the beginning of July. Again the series opened on a Friday. This time we lost 7-6 in 16 innings. Brett Myers only went 3 innings and we used up the entire bullpen, meaning that Brian Powell was forced to stay out there and he gave up the go ahead run in his 4th inning of work.
Are you picking up on my theme? Here we are in 2009. We are playing the O’s in Philly at the end of June. The series starts on a Friday. We have a very young starter going for us who may not give us many innings. We have played several extra inning games lately. I hope my intuition is wrong because our bullpen is fried as it is. An extra inning game tonight could really hurt us for the rest of the series.
I will be at Sunday’s game. I’d really love to see Hamels step up and give us at least 7 innings of shut down pitching. At this point we need all of our starters to step up, but, since Hamels is clearly the best we’ve got and the most capable of getting it done, it is imperative that he leads the way, IMO.
Agreed, I felt great last night eventhough the Phils loss hurt a lot. I actually think JA Happ is going to have a good season. I think he is pretty mature for only having 10 starts or so in the Majors. He has shut down some pretty good teams and it is now an adjustment period for him, with teams starting to figure him out. Hopefully Bastardo gives us 6 solid innings and the offense can hit Rich Hill (they creamed at Wrigley in ‘07 or ‘08). Hope they do it tonight and that PAT THE BAT kills the METS.
Forgot to mention it earlier, but let me know how you liked the book, Pete. I have read 3 different books about the Negro Leagues: “Shades of Glory” by Lawrence D. Hogan, “Negro League Baseball: The Rise and Ruin of a Black Institution” by Neil Lanctot, and a 3rd which I loaned to a friend, never got back, and unfortunately can no longer remember it’s title or the author.
Obviously, Paige received a lot of attention in all of them. It is difficult to get your mind around how many documented innings he threw and over how many years he threw them. Chances are that, with all of his traveling, the many leagues he played in, all the exhibition games he pitched in, the fact that he would throw anywhere, anytime, one day after another, including multiple times per day, and the likelihood that a lot of that was not documented, he threw many, many more innings that we will ever know.
Here comes another “pea at the knee”. Astonishing and beautiful career and accomplishments, along with many of his contemporaries.
http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/story/11879483
Howard went back to the hospital after his pinch-hit homer. Can’t find anything else about this. Anyone know about his availability today?
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Exactly what I was thinking Stu
Well, I got was I was looking for from Hamels. He just got nicked twice. Too bad we only nicked Guthrie once.
It is very difficult to watch this. The offense isn’t even kicking up any dust. The game just flew by while we did a whole lot of nothing.
I’ve had enough of this whole Rollins thing, too. Too much is being made of it, IMO. Forget that he’s a leadoff hitter. He cannot do anything else that a leadoff hitter does because he is not getting on base. Forget about where he is comfortable. How much worse could he possibly be if he were in an uncomfortable position? Forget about wanting to show confidence in him. He is not a rookie with a fragile psyche. He is a veteran who should understand what’s what. At this point in his career he should have the mental strength to deal with this whether he starts hitting or not. Also, as a self-proclaimed team leader, he should do what is best for the team. Forget who it is we are talking about. I know it does matter, but, at this point, it shouldn’t. Actually, we probably should remember who we are talking about. We are talking about the totally unproductive 2009 Jimmy Rollins (who happens to be coming off a subpar 2008, btw) not the 2007 MVP Jimmy Rollins. Forget all of it.
Charlie needs to keep it simple. 1) Our offense is struggling to score runs, which leads directly to 2) We are losing a lot of games as a result, which means that 3) We cannot afford to give away 4 or 5 unproductive at-bats every game by keeping Rollins in the leadoff spot. By batting him lower we will eliminate at least one of them each game.
If he comes out of it (for real, not just for a quick 2-game stint) and looks like he is primed for another very good second half, then fine, by all means move Rollins back to the leadoff spot. If not, he stays at the bottom. We have been hampered by him for almost half a season now and I’d rather not see it continue for the entire year. The move is completely justified. Rollins doesn’t have a leg to stand on.
I don’t mean to lay all the blame for our offensive struggles and our losing on Rollins. There certainly are other problems. It’s just that Rollins’ situation is the most glaring, consistent, longest running problem we have had all year. As such, it’s something that has to be addressed. Keep it simple, Charlie.
Good news on Ryan Howard. From Ruben Amaro:
“Ryan Howard was seen by Dr. Marc Harwood today. After reviewing previous tests and evaluating him, Dr. Harwood has diagnosed him with acute sinusitis. His fever is gone and he will rest at home today. If he feels better, Ryan will travel tomorrow to Tampa Bay to rejoin the team. We are hopeful he will be able to play tomorrow as well.”