Man, I hate 2-game series. Little to talk about, especially with a split.
Not going to do my usual deal since it was only 2 games, but I’ll bullet point some thoughts…
- I wouldn’t give Park another start. Especially not against Johan Santana on Wednesday as he is currently scheduled.
- Uncharacteristic baserunning mistakes were very frustrating, but also reminded me how few and far between those types of mistakes have been the last couple years.
- Didn’t like Manuel bringing in Taschner in the 10th yesterday. He got out of it, but needed a double play to do so. I hope he doesn’t start putting him in tough situations.
- 2 more walks for Lidge. I’m starting to wonder what we can expect from him this year.
- Quite the line-up Charlie put out there Saturday. If Ibanez loses his power in Year 3 of his contract, I could see him in the 2-hole.
- Also on Ibanez, loved hearing about his off-season taekwondo and hyperbolic chambers.
Sorry so short, just not a lot I feel strongly about after this series!
Pre-Series Post: Phillies. Mets. Part 1 of an Emerging Rivalry.
In one of my first posts on this blog, I wrote about how I thought that the Phillies and Mets had the potential to be one of the great sports rivalries. I argued that the fact that players trash talk each other, the fans hate each other, both teams are loaded with charismatic talent, they are 100 miles apart and play 19 times a year made for the perfect storm of a big-time, nationally significant rivalry. Now, with the Phillies winning the title (and Rollins calling out the Mets at the ceremony) and the Mets spending their 2nd straight off-season making big acquisitions to overcome the Phils after 2 well-publicized flops, the intensity has only risen.
Every Phillies/Mets series now has the feel of a playoff series (almost). I don’t watch every pitch of every Phillies game, but I will of this series, even though it’s only May. I hate the Mets. I hate David Wright’s faux leadership. I hate Carlos Beltran’s lack of accountability. I hate Jose Reyes’ arrogance. I hate Billy Wagner’s existence. I hate K-Rod’s flamboyance. I hate Oliver Perez’ ADHD. I hate that I have to hate Johan Santana and Carlos Delgado. I…hate…the…Mets.
Now that there is no confusion there. Let’s get on to the series.
Friday: Park vs. RHP Mike Pelfrey (2-0, 6.32 ERA)
Saturday: Moyer vs. LHP Oliver Perez (1-2, 9.31 ERA)
Sunday: Blanton vs. RHP John Maine (1-2, 5.40 ERA)
One note before I move on. I think that if Hamels throws fine in his bullpen session tomorrow, the Phillies should pitch him Sunday, where he would be on normal rest, and only having thrown 8 innings in his last 2 outings combined. They won’t, but they should.
Three Questions for the Series
- Can either team’s starting pitching be, I’m not sure how to word this…not horrible?
- Will the rivalry be the spark Jimmy needs to get going?
- Can Raul Ibanez be the Met-Killer Pat Burrell was?
Prediction
For all the trash talking I did in that second paragraph, I think that the Phillies’ flaws are going to show in this series. We’ve used a bunch of crazy comebacks and big innings to stay above .500 so far this year, but I don’t think that is going to work in this series. We have our 3 worst pitchers going and as bad as Ollie Perez has been (he has the worst ERA of any pitcher with over 19 IP. Joe Blanton is 2nd) he usually owns us and the big game, and his job on the line, might wake him up. We’ll probably split the Friday and Sunday games, and the Mets will take Saturday. Phils lose 2 of 3. Hopefully I’m less accurate than I’ve been with the other series.
Pete…I will be there on Saturday doing everything I can to prove you wrong. This team thrives on emotion and I think with the fans at their feet behind them, will take 2 of 3 from the Mutts. And I also HATE the fuggin Mutts.
I join with you all in a communal spirit of hatred for all things Mets.
Strictly going by the starting pitcher matchups, Saturday appears to be our best shot at a win. Moyer has good career numbers against the Mets. Meanwhile, we don’t know if Park will continue to improve and be solid for us or if Blanton has finally bottomed out and will finally give us something.
J DUBBZ…….Hope you see a good one Saturday. BTW, what did you think of Baseball Dynasties?
Pete: i LIKE David Wright, even if he plays for them. Fine Player! dunno bout his leadership but his professionalism, play and coolness have me impressed. IMO no one can be the leader of that club, too many egos and sneaky guys like beltran that wont show up for a post game conference. Maybe someone as flamboyant and ridiculous as Manny? also no one can hate Santana, he’s just too good. even though he’s on the dark side, you still cant hate the player. he’s awesome. objective appreciation transcends rivalry.
who knows what will happen? maybe our starters finally show up.
jkay -
I loved Santana on the Twins, Delgado on the Jays, Beltran on the Royals, Pedro on the Bo Sox. Was real annoyed when they all went to the Muts and I had to start rooting against them. Still haven’t fully turned on Santana or Delgado.
OK, it is officially time to start the Chan “Heave Ho” Park watch. How many more starts will he get before he gets moved to the pen and Happ takes over the 5th spot? I say 3 more starts, max, probably only 2 though.
Pelfrey wasn’t a whole lot better than Park, but we couldn’t really make him pay for it. Frustrating.
Need Moyer to give us a start today. New month, same story.
Today the GM said Park has 1 more start.
dean-
shouldn’t have come down to a 10th inning walk, but I’ll take it. disappointing to see Moyer give up those 2 HR’s after he was pitching so well.
Yeah, what the heck happened there? Two outs, nobody on base, HR, HR, tie game, triple, goodbye Moyer, hello Eyre, another run, down 5-4 pretty darn quick. Something how we pulled that one out (I’ve said that way too many times already this season). Another win with smoke and mirrors. Somebody up there likes us, but I don’t know how much longer we can go on like this.
I hope your report is accurate, Dean. My earlier estimate was based on the Phils lenient ways with both Myers and Eaton last year. I’d prefer a quick hook for Park, especially since Happ seems like a capable replacement. Maybe if our other 4 starters were solid we could give him a bit more time to see if he can sort things out. Unfortunately for Park, the way things are going with our starters we can’t afford that luxury.
I hope we don’t see the usual John Maine performance against us tomorrow, as I’d really like to see us win this series. We were given a gift tonight, so it would be nice to see us actually go out and win a game against the Mutts.
The GM on Saturday stated what I said. I was at the game Friday night and did not see 1 poster in support of Park. I hope I am right that Wednesday will be a do or die for Park.
Taschner is garbage. Righties just tee off on him. He should begin checking out the weather in Allentown.