After that 22 run laugher in the first game of the series, I expected the Phillies to, as they usually do after big run games, stop scoring runs all together for a week or so. They struggled with runners in scoring position the next two games, but broke out last night and finished off the series win.
2009: 45-38
2008: 44-39
2007: 42-41
Player of the Series: Jayson Werth (6 for 15, 4 HR, 9 RBI)
Goat of the Series: Jamie Moyer (5 IP, 6 ER)
OK, instead of my Good News / Bad News stuff, I’m going to look at some of the interesting paces that Phillies players have set for themselves the first half of the year…
166 – Strikeouts by Joe Blanton, his previous career high is 140
35 – HR’s allowed by Blanton, his previous career high is 23
1.20 – J.A. Happ’s WHIP. Would be the 2nd lowest for a Phillies rookie w/ 150+ IP. The lowest is HOFer Pete Alexander in 1911.
41 – HR’s by Ryan Howard, would be the lowest full-season total of his career
124 – RBI’s by Ryan Howard, would be the lowest full-season total of his career
.994 – Howard’s fielding %, the highest of his career
39 – Doubles by Howard, his previous career high is 26
50 – HR’s by Raul Ibanez, 17 more than his previous career high
22 – Games in which Brad Lidge has a loss or a blown save, or Ryan Madson has a loss
1.82 – Brad Lidge’s WHIP. The highest of any Phillies reliever with 60+ IP since 1945.
41 – Home runs allowed by Jamie Moyer, the 9th highest total in the history of baseball, but only 3rd highest by a Phillies (Robin Roberts, 46 in 1956 and Eric Milton, 43 in 2004).
2.0 – HR/9 by Moyer, 4th highest in baseball history and tops in Phillies history
16 – Wins by Jamie Moyer, 6 more than any other starter.
99, 38, 68, 26 – Runs, Doubles, RBIs and stolen bases by Jimmy Rollins. Incredible considering how bad he’s played. Most any team would take that from a gold glove SS.
40, 120, .300, 1.000 – HR, RBI, BA and OPS for Chase Utley. Only one 2B has ever done that in a season, Rogers Hornsby in 1922.
120, 40, 80, 30, .300 – Runs, doubles, RBI, SB and BA for Shane Victorino. Would be the 1st Phillie ever to put up those numbers, and only the 14th in MLB history.
205 – Hits for Shane Victorino. Would be only the 13th Phillie w/ 200+ hits in a season.
40, 107 – HR and RBI that Jayson Werth is on pace for, 16 and 40 higher than his career highs.
4 – Number of Phillies on pace for 40+ HR and 100+ RBI. Only Cy Williams, Mike Schmidt, Jim Thome, Ryan Howard, Chuck Klein and Dick Allen have done that in a single-season over the history of the Phillies.
6 – Number of Phillies in the top-17 in the NL in runs scored
Alright, that’s all I have for now – Anything else I come up with I’ll throw in my mid-season review, which I will be writing over the all-star break.
Series Preview: Pittsburgh Pirates at Phillies
Dannie and I were actually in Pittsburgh a couple weekends ago checking out PNC Park, so we got a good look at this Pirates team. They are full of young, decent players, but no one even approaching star level. Their starting pitching is more of a strength, but they still don’t have anyone that will blow you away. Their leading run producer in Adam LaRoche, who ranks 45th in the NL with 39 RBI, 5 more than Jimmy Rollins. They aren’t good, and probably won’t be good any time soon because management can’t draft, and doesn’t know what they are doing.
Friday: Blanton vs. Zach Duke (8-7, 3.28 ERA)
Saturday: Hamels vs. Ross Ohlendorf (7-7, 4.63 ERA)
Sunday: Happ vs. Virgil Vasquez (1-2, 4.50 ERA)
Three Questions for the Series…
- How will Ibanez look coming back from injury?
- Will we be talking more about the series, or the rampant Pedro Martinez / Roy Halladay rumors?
- Does anyone actually like the Pirates uniforms?
Prediction
I think that the final 2 games of this series heavily favor the Phillies, especially if Ibanez comes back strong. Blanton has been pitching great recently and I think the Phillies can ride their momentum into the break at 10-games over .500 with a sweep of the Pirates.
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
I posted this on the other board but I figured it was a big enough deal to post again…Rob Charry just said on WIP that the Phils designated Chris Coste for assignment and the Astros claimed him off waivers…this pisses me off because I loved Coste thought he was just as effective at the plate as either Bako or Mayberry….
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4319681
Fast Eddie Wade, up to his ol’ tricks. A reformed Shawn Chacon may soon be Coste’s battery mate, once he learns to fold Wade’s parachute properly.
Chris Coste was always a short story. Gotta give him credit for his long fight though.
Surmise: Pedro, not Halladay, will be a Phillie soon. Financial investments & prideful attachments to their valued minor leaguers will have Ruben going to the loose-limbed Dominican for help. Used car over new car rationale with a polished Cadillac trophy in their garage.
Responding to wrap-up questions:
Ibanez will look juiced, er, enthusiastic.
Pitching help talk will continue to dominate; the need’s not going away without an external move.
Pirates’ best unis were the 70s interchangable black, gold or white synthetics – outstandingly mod! Present version, unremarkable, like their anonymous team.
correction: yellow, not gold (made all the difference)
How about 230-the number of home runs our entire pitching staff is on pace to surrender which would be an all-time high, topping two other CBP years, 214 in 2006 and 211 in 2004 (also 212 in 1999 at the Vet—-how bad is that). Yikes!
I will be out of communication range for the next week. Heading to the beach tomorrow (Fenwick Island, DE). As the Drifters say, “On a blanket with my baby is where I’ll be.”
Have a great week everyone. I’ll catch up and get back in the mix upon my return.
Take a park made by Mattel, extra-hard, compressed baseballs and scattershot NL pitching and you got what you got – steroidal numbers which augment the Phillies “magnificence” for their legions of suburban fans wearing various renditions of official team uniforms while stuffing their faces with high-priced “delicacies”, socializing like its the beach & boardwalk and doing their electronic finger dances for the “unfortunate” at home. The prime cut of MLB 2009. Dig in.
“park made by Mattel” doesn’t work out in that argument
Utley, Howard, Werth, Ibanez
At Home: .265, 40 HR, 111 RBI
On Road: .299, 43 HR, 128 RBI
A draw so far in an anomalous preceeding to date. Phillies Team – exactly 1452 ABs home & away: HRs – 59 home to 60 away. Come
beginning of Oct. ’Candyland’ will have taken to the rail and won the race again vs. visited ballpark conglomerate.
I was pissed a the Phils management for keeping Bako over Coste but they obviously saw something I didn’t…Bako was great tonight…looks like Ibanez is healthy which is good to see…Howard is usually at his best when he is driving the ball the other way so hopefully that homer was a sign of things to come….
That was a ridiculous 9th inning. Best comeback I have ever seen up close (I was lucky enough to be there last nite).
Great to have Ibanez back, he seems to not have missed a beat.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/allstar09/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=4322908
Also great to see a Joe Biden sighting that night!! But I think our boys are back and hopefully with some major pitching to go with that!
I LOVE THIS TOWNN!!!