The Phils will get back to playing MLB teams tomorrow, but they got a nice break this weekend, sweeping the AAA-pitching, A-fielding Washington Nationals at home. Lots of stuff to talk about including Moyer’s 250th win, Lidge’s brief resurgence and Ryan Howard’s ridiculous home runs.
2009: 28-20
2008: 26-22
2007: 24-24
Player of the Series: Jamie Moyer (6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4 K, 250th career win)
Goat of the Series: n/a
The Good News
- Congrats to Jamie Moyer on his 250th career win. He is the 46th pitcher to reach 250 wins, and the only one with a career ERA over 4.00.
- Moyer is just the 9th left handed pitcher in history with 250 wins and 2,200 strikeouts. He joins Warren Spahn, Steve Carlton, Randy Johnson, Lefty Grove, Tom Glavine, Tommy John, Jim Kaat and Eddie Plank.
- Brad Lidge saved all 3 games of the series and did it in dominant fashion. He only allowed 1 baserunner in 3 innings, and struck out 4. The Nats might suck, but it’s not really because of their line-up, hopefully the tough times are behind him.
- I don’t know how they do the HR measurements, but if anyone thinks Ryan Howard’s 3rd deck bomb would have hit the ground before 500 feet….well….they are wrong.
- It’s crazy that Ryan Howard (191 career HRs) broke Mike Schmidt’s (548 career HRs) team grand slam record so quickly. The all-time record for grand slams is Lou Gehrig, with 23.
- I looked at the overall standings tonight and was shocked to find we have the 4th best record in baseball behind the Dodgers, Rangers and Brewers. Only the Dodgers are on pace for 100+ wins. Not much dominance in baseball so far this year.
- Not the most common stat, but Ryan Madson is tied for the MLB lead in “holds” with 12.
- J.C. Romero will be in the bullpen on Wednesday.
- Scott Eyre didn’t give up a single earned run in May, and his ERA dropped from 10.80 to 3.09.
The Bad News
- We are 18-18 against teams not named the Nationals.
- Since May 19th, Jayson Werth is 7 for 48 with only 2 walks, 2 RBI and 15 K. His average has dropped from .294 to .253. Seeing as he is our best (only) run-producing right handed bat, it would be nice to see him turn it around.
- After it looked like Ryan Howard would cut down on K’s this year, he’s back on pace for around 200.
- Getting close to getting out of the basement, but we still rank dead-last in starter ERA (5.96).
- We swept, so I’m not about to start nitpicking here…
Series Preview: Phillies at San Diego Padres
The Padres have had, by far, the streakiest season of any team in the majors. They started out 9-3, then went on a 4-19 stretch and now have gotten hot again for a 12-3 run. Hopefully the Phillies can start the trend in the other direction again. We will also get a look at Jake Peavy, who many Phillies fans think Ruben Amaro should sell the farm for. This series is the start of a 10 game road trip where the Phils will face the Padres, Dodgers and Mets. All games this week are at 10pm, so no one is getting any sleep.
Monday: Blanton vs. RHP Kevin Correia (1-3, 5.11 ERA)
Tuesday: Bastardo vs. RHP Jake Peavy (5-5, 3.67 ERA)
Wednesday: Happ vs. RHP Chris Young (4-3, 4.45 ERA)
Three Questions for the Series
- Pretty much anything about Antonio Bastardo…Will he impress? What will his fastball velo actually be? How will MLB hitters see his change-up? How will he handle the pressure?
- Can we contain Adrian Gonzalez and his MLB-leading 20 HR?
- Will Amaro spend some time with Padres’ GM Kevin Towers talking about Jake Peavy and Chris Young?
Prediction
Petco park isn’t terribly friendly for our HR-hitting squad, but with 3 right handers going against us, and us throwing 2 tough lefties at Adrian Gonzalez, I think we take 2. After Gonzo, the Padres offense is very containable, and I think sweeping the Nats after losing Myers might be something that gets us on a little run here. They might struggle with the travel, but I still think they pull it out.
as far as their record against teams not named the Nationals, last year it was the exact same thing except it was the Braves that we owned.
i was always curious how much this actually affects professional athletes, but they have a game tomorrow night at 7pm on the west coast, only a day after being on the east coast. so won’t it feel like 10pm for them when the game starts? i guess it helps that today’s game was over by 4pm so they have some time to rest. but i’d think their internal clocks would be all screwed up at least for tomorrow night’s game.
mike -
good call. 14-4 against the Braves last season accounted for about half of our total games over .500. And, as I recall, everything turned out OK.
On your second point, I’ve heard what you said, but I’ve also heard athletes say that sometimes they will get through the 1st game of the series on adrenaline, and then crash the 2nd game.
Pete-
I agree with you on the questionable distance on the Ryan Howard HR. I am always very skeptical of the distance trackers I feel like it’s more of just a promo for southwest
I’m glad you made that point about Madson and his holds this season. I think he has been the most dominant pitcher we have had this season.
Lastly, I think that’s pretty cool that Moyer is the only pitcher with 250+ wins and a +4 era…just another stat indicating how long he has been around.
The one thing that bothered me the most about the Nats series was Hamels. To have been pitching as well as he had and to then give up 6 in 6 innings to a team like that was very disheartening. Hopefully it was just a blip on the radar and he will get back to being dominant.
Also, I was wondering what anyone could tell me about Bastardo. I have seen his stats and I know he has been dominant in the minors but i don’t know what type of pitcher he is. How hard does he throw? What is his control like? What types of pitches does he throw?
jurnee16 -
I think Hamels was just a blip…
On Bastardo (I’ll do a post on him if I have time) – he’s about 5’11” and throws a 90-91 fastball, which apparently appears faster to the hitters because of his deceptive delivery. He has a great change-up, I don’t know much about the speed or movement though. His 3rd pitch is a slide that he doesn’t use all that much. He throws a lot of strikes and appears to have good control with his career 270/102 K/BB ratio.
He sounds a lot like Hamels except he throws a slider instead of a curve….
he’s not the level of prospect Hamels was – but very few are.
Kyle Drabek promoted up to Reading. We might see the 21-year old sooner than we thought. Maybe as soon as September or to start next year.
Ibanez now 2nd in NL OF all-star votes…. Rollins is real close to Hanley too…. looks like all our sell-outs are starting to get factored in…..
Peavy chatter gaining steam (translation: setting us up for disappointment)