Phillies finish “bad” split in L.A. – Prepare for showdown in Queens

Is there something Charlie sees that I don’t?  every time I see Coste on the field I am confused; he seems to get much more PT than Carlos needs to rest…

About our 4th outfielder, I found this on mlbtraderumors.com:

teams began calling the Rockies about Ryan Spilborghs last week when Carlos Gonzalez was called up. Here are the details from Rosenthal’s column:

The Phillies, Red Sox and Tigers were among the teams inquiring about Spilborghs.

Spilborghs is used to that role, he has played all three outfield positions during each of his big league seasons, and is only under contract (a modest one at that) for this year.  If he could be gotten cheaply, he could be a good option for this year, allowing Mayberry and the rest of our minor leaguers to play every day, get another year of development under their belts, and hopefully be ready to make it on the big league level starting next year.

About the draft, it’s hard to complain about giving up our first round pick for Ibanez, but you are dead-on about the Moyer situation, Pete.  As much as the Phils deny that it was a reward thing with Moyer, it surely was and it will cost them.

Since we don’t have a pick until #75, I thought I would go through the first 74 picks and give my thoughts about how everything will unfold before we get our turn.  Ready?

Pick #1……………….I’m just messing with you!

As far as us at #75, I did find this article on mlb.com.  Again, for what it’s worth.

The Spilborgh rumors worry me.  It makes me think they would get some sort of package deal with Jason Marquis and think our rotation problems have been solved.  Unless they can be had for nothing its not worth it.  Bruntlett is not an all star outfielder, but for giving the regular guys a day off, a mix of Bruntlett, Dobbs, and Stairs should be fine.  Dobbs held his own out there pretty well the other night.  And we certainly do not need another Marquis/Penny like pitcher.  We already have Blanton and Moyer to fill #4 and #5. 

I really like the way Happ has been pitching.  We will see how it goes tonight, but I tell you I love his composure and his stuff since the first time I saw him last year. 

And as for Jimmy, hes gotten snubbed for the past few years when he has torn it up in the second half, including his phenomenal MVP season.  I think hes become the best defensive SS in the league and we all know he’ll come around.  I’m real glad hes getting so much support. 

Paul Bako is being called up to take Lidge’s spot on the roster?…Why would they call up a third catcher?…if they weren’t going to call up a pitcher to replace Lidge they should have called up Mayberry Jr. (or pull the trigger on a deal for Spilbourghs) to have a viable right handed bat off the bench…I agree with Tim on Rollins…while he definetely is not playing at an All-Star level this year he got badly snubbed his MVP year and a spot on the team this year would make up to that injustice…I also agree with bski though in that he should show some gratitude towards the fans who he was hard on last year since they are going to get him an All-Star bonus (players are rewarded those aren’t they?) for hitting terribly this year (although he has continued to field like an All-Star though)…Pete, I was also wondering what you thought the odds were that Charlie would get Madson on the All-Star team if he continues to pitch well in the closer’s role?

sorry for the repost of the link.

Bski – I know that that trio has hurt us and spilborghs would certainly help.  I spose I am just worried that the Phils will once again make only a few minor tweaks to our lineup without delivering that great SP we are all hoping for.  But who knows the way our rotation has stepped up who am I to second guess.  I’d much rather have Happ and Bastardo continue to pitch like they have.  Nothin like watching these young home grown guys have success.

I also agree with you on Bako, with our catching depth I think bringing him up is testing the waters to trade someone back there.

Tim…..I’m hoping for both a tweak (Spilborghs) and a major pickup (top of the rotation starter). 

I think the Phils know that they need the starter.  Heck, Manuel came right out and said that Myers was our #2 starter and that he feels we need a #2 to replace him.  I also think the Phils know that we don’t have anyone in-house who can step into that role.

I like Happ and Bastardo, too.  It’s just that I don’t know if either of them are built up enough (read: can throw that many innings) to successfully handle the demands of starting for the rest of the season(and possibly the playoffs), especially Bastardo.  Next year is another story but now may be too soon. 

Also, we know how much having a solid 1-2 punch at the top of your rotation means in the playoffs.  We don’t have that now and I’d rather the Phils didn’t take a chance that something will develop/someone will emerge from within to address that need.

We obviously can’t get those games back but not throwing Lidge out there over these next few weeks should save us a few games.

yeah I couldn’t find much on Dugan in at all…he wasn’t in Keith Law’s top 100 prospects….

I wasn’t thrilled with how the 9th played out either, Pete.  As much as “the book” says you don’t play for a tie on the road, I would have gladly taken that rather than have it end the way it did.

I was really hoping to see Rollins steal 2nd, especially once Feliz got ahead in the count (2-0 I believe).  Then Feliz could have bunted him to 3rd, where he would be with only 1 out.  At a minimum, I’d go your route and have Feliz bunt him to 2nd.

The thing is that even if it didn’t work out we would still only be 1 run down, meaning that the home run we were looking for still would have tied the game.  

Also, our bench, or lack thereof, came into play when we had nobody other than Coste or Bako to pinch run for Stairs(that really took away any notion of playing for the tie).

Again, I know you don’t play for a tie on the road(at least Charlie doesn’t), which makes all of the above scenarios moot.  Sometimes I just can’t understand that logic, though.  I mean, you’d rather take your shot at winning but come up short and lose in 9 innings rather than try to tie the game and give yourself a chance to pull it out in extra innings?   Whatever.

Even though Santana had just given up his 4th home run, I was surprised to see him taken out of the game, as was he.  Wonder if Jerry Manuel will say anything to him about his behavior prior to being removed.  His demeanor and gestures (yelling at the catcher, angrily walking around, holding the ball up to Manuel’s face) bordered on showing up his manager.  I don’t blame him for being upset.  I get that he’s a competitor.  He just pushed it a bit too much for my liking.

BTW, we got  break on that bad call at the plate.  I forget who it was, but his foot was on the plate and Ruiz tagged him on the knee.  He was clearly way safe.  But, you take what you can get when you can get them, right?

Came across this today on dugoutcentral.com:  Weighted Base Runners and the True Value of an RBI.

It’s a bit long, so here is the upshot:  The guy who wrote it says that sabermetrics claims RBI to be a poor indicator of individual offensive value because it is a team context statistic.  He disagrees.  His intention is…… “to make a traditional baseball stat, meaning a simple formula that is easily calculated, to determine the actual value of an RBI and I believe I have done that. In closing, I love the sabermetric movement but have never understood how the RBI could be relegated to a virtual non-factor. I hope I have made strides towards bringing the RBI back to the mainstream.”

I found it interesting.  How it pertains to us as Phillies fans is this:

“Last year, Ryan Howard led the majors (.176) for the second time in the last 3 years in RPR and was followed closely by AL leader Carlos Quentin (.174). People tend to assume that Howard gets his almost 150 RBI a year because of the lineup he hits in, but that’s not the reason. He gets them because he is one of the premier power hitters in baseball. Actually, last year was Howard’s second most productive of his 4-year career despite what many thought was a down year for him due to a low batting average and low on base percentage. In his 4 seasons his RPR has been .148 in his ‘05 rookie year, a major league leading .178 in ‘06, a top 10 .156 in ‘07 and last year’s league leading .176. My research has shown that this is a repeatable stat and that the homerun is what primes the pump.”

He has a chart of the RPR leaders for the 2008 season, with Howard at the top, and a chart of all-time (since 1956) RPR leaders, where Howard ranks 5th.

I know that we know Howard is a run producer.  Just thought this was a sensible way to try and quantify it.

Even if Madson pitches well Lidge will have to do a lot to lose the job with how stuborn Charlie is.  The fans are another story…   If Lidge comes back and isn’t any better one would have to think that he will lose the role eventually but not for a while.  Madson can’t pitch well enough to win the job, Lidge would have to pitch poorly to lose the job. 

Pete – What is your take on Bako? Why is he here?  We could use a pitcher or an OF (especially one who can pinch hit) way more.  When he first got called up I thought it was because the Phils were close to completing a trade and one of our catchers was involved.  It was the only logical reason I could come up with.  But it’s been too long for it to be that now.

Sorry I wasn’t home to watch the game last night, Pete.  If I was, I would have been on here babbling with you. 

We really dodged a lot of bullets and/or danced between a lot of raindrops and/or and any other cliche you’d prefer in getting that win last night.

I’m sure that by now you’ve read Charlie’s logic for pinch-hitting Bako instead of Stairs: “The moment I put up Stairs, they are going to go get the lefty,” Manuel said. “I’d bet my house.”

I’m sure that Charlie is correct, but it doesn’t make me agree with his decision.  Faced with that choice, I’d much rather take my chances with Stairs against a leftie.  Although if Charlie doesn’t use Bako here and there, it begs the question why he was brought up, doesn’t it? 

I’m sure it’s nothing more than using the guys you have at your disposal.  Still, I’d like to think that Charlie is using some sort of perverse logic where he will use Bako enough to show that we need someone better on the bench, hoping that will push Amaro to get someone, like Spilborghs, for him.  I doubt it, but I’d still like to think it anyway.

I agree with bball that, at this point in time, Lidge won’t lose his job as the closer no matter how well  Madson does in his stead.  Amaro was quoted as saying that Lidge will not be Wally Pip and Charlie is very loyal, as bball said.   Gotta figure that as long as Lidge is healthy he will be in the closer’s role and will be given every opportunity to keep it.  He may lose it to Madson at some point later in the season if he continues to pitch poorly, but not now.

You’re on the money in bringing up Bruntlett, Stu.  We do not have a 4th outfielder capable of making good defensive plays, let alone one of that caliber.  It has hurt us and it will continue to hurt us as long as we do not.  I hate to see us rolling the dice every time we want to give one of our outfielders a day off or we need to cover for a few days due to a minor injury(like Victorino’s recent one).   Rather than addressing this need, however, we have Bako on the roster.

Forgot to mention before……Sure looks like here we go again with Rollins.  Every time he gets back into the leadoff spot the 0-fers start up again.  I wonder if Charlie will ever get to the point where he finally accepts that having Rollins bat lower in the lineup, regardless of how he feels about it, is the right way to continue, rather than viewing it as just a short-term shakeup to try and get him right.  I doubt it.

bski, i am happy to see that you understood where I was going with the Bruntlett reference.  I am a big fan of Spilborghs as a 4th OFer.  He offers versatility as somebody that could actually start and be taken seriously if something were to happen to one of our starting OFers.  We need an insurance policy for the OF.  Why?
- Victorino has already been banged up this season
- Ibanez has played every game since the start of LAST season and is 37 years old.  We are pushing our luck that he remains healthy and ready to go for what may be a long (crossing fingers) playoff run
- Werth has been slumping and could use a day off every now and then.

Who cares if Spilborghs is also right-handed?  He is cheap and is used to not playing everyday.   He would know his role and knows that Colorado has a ton of young talent so he is blocked as a 29 year old late bloomer.  Spilborghs hasn’t gotten extensive playing time b/c of the logjam of young OF talent in Colorado and he is a great BUY LOW candidate (much like Jayson Werth a few seasons ago, sound familiar?), and adds speed and even somewhat of a power threat.  He could bat 2nd or bat 6th.

We don’t need a starter, just somebody that is capable at the plate and can also play a good OF.  Heck, some dude named Jeremy Reed made a fantastic play for the Mets last night.  These guys add value.  Bruntlett is a Quad-A player that really doesn’t do much besides draw a walk once in awhile.

And if we can get Jason Marquis as well, Colorado seems to make the most sense as a trading partner.

Yeah, Stu, Spilborghs would really fill a need (I hope we can get him cheaply) for all the reasons you mentioned and then some(like he can play all 3 OF positions). 

Actually, I care that he is right-handed because the right-handed bat we currently have on the bench is Coste.  I don’t have anything against the 33-year old rookie, mind you.  It’s just that using Coste in that role necessitates that Bako remain up with us, which means we are carrying two backup catchers.  This redundancy comes at the expense of leaving ourselves short a viable 4th outfielder.  Not a good trade-off, IMO.

Thanks for the info, Pete. 

I’ve been snooping around while I’m waiting for tonight’s game and I came across this about our draft picks on day 3 (one of whom is Amaro’s nephew, btw), and this about Pablo Ozuna being suspended for 50 games, effective immediately, due to a performance enhancing substance violation.

bski,
Pelfrey got pissed when Utley called time and stepped away from the plate before one of the pitches in the at-bat.  That much I know happened but the fact Pelfrey got so angry about something that insignificant makes me think something else might have happened in addition to that or there might be something in the past between the two we don’t know about.

Thanks for filling me in guys.  I’m watching tonight’s game on SNY and I was able to catch some of the pregame show.  They showed video of what happened and they also had brief taped interviews with both Utley and Pelfrey about what happened.

As far as tonight’s game, I’ve had more than enough of the Castillo-Cora-Beltran show.  It’s the same thing over and over and over leading to single runs for the Mets in the 1st, 3rd, and 5th.

Meanwhile, Kevin Youkilis, I mean Tim Redding, is taking care of our vaunted left-handed lineup with relative ease.  It’s maddening that pretty much any sinkerball pitcher, no matter how mediocre, can shut us down.

Rauuuuuuuuuuul!!!!

Dang, I wasn’t expecting him to have a shot like that off a lefty after the night he had been having at the plate….

Pete, we need a new post so we can properly make fun of Boston.