Maybe the Phils should just stay away from The Bank for the rest of the season. After beating the Nationals in 4 straight in Washington, we moved to 12-4 on the road (and 8-12 at home). Only 9 other teams are even above .500 on the road, let alone winning 3 out of 4.
The Nationals might stink (I can’t imagine having a blog devoted to them) but sweeping a 4-game series is impressive nonetheless, and was much needed after 2 disappointing performances at home.
2009: 20-16
2008: 20-16
2007: 17-19
Player of the Series: Raul Ibanez (9 for 18, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 0 K)
Goat of the Series: Chan Ho Park (1.1 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 4 BB)
The Good News
- Brett Myers had his best start of the year and even though he hasn’t been great, 5 of his last 6 starts have been “quality starts.” With our offense, all we really need is OK pitching (i.e. 4.50 ERAs), and Myers is giving us that.
- When is this going to stop with Raul Ibanez? It’s like he’s almost too good right now and you want to tell him to chill out and save some for later because there is no way he can keep the pace. He’s on pace for a ho-hum 59 HR, 158 RBI season and currently ranks 1st in the NL in OPS and SLG%, 2nd in HR and RBI.
- Relating to the last note, I think the best thing about this team is that we have so many hitters than can carry us over periods of time. When Ibanez cools, it’s likely Ryan Howard or Chase Utley will heat up. Even Jayson Werth, Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino could put the team on their back for a little.
- We lead the NL in Runs per Game (5.7) and HR (50).
- Ibanez’ play has really overshadowed what Jayson Werth is doing in his first full season as a starter. He has a good chance to join Bobby Abreu and Jimmy Rollins as the only 30 HR / 30 SB players in team history.
- Pedro Feliz has 15 walks, half way to his full season average. His career high is 38 and he’s on pace for 68. It would be strange for a player to have such a change in approach this late in his career, but it’s something to keep an eye on.
- Similarly, Ryan Howard already has 10 doubles, his career high is a measly 26.
- Our 2 best hitters against left handed pitching? Raul Ibanez (.366) and Chase Utley (.333).
The Bad News
- The Chan Ho Park start today could be good news, but only if it means J.A. Happ finally gets inserted into the rotation. Right now we have 3 starters with ERAs over 6.80 and a really good starting option in the bullpen. It just doesn’t make sense to leave him there.
- As well as Werth has been offensively, he just can’t make very many running/jumping catches. I’ve noticed this for awhile, but it was a little glaring today when he missed two difficult, but makeable plays running towards a wall.
- Where’s the running game? Rollins and Victorino have a combined 7 SB and 6 CS. Rollins already has more caught stealings (4) than all of last year (3).
- Starters ERA still over 6.00.
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{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
apparently MLB execs agree with me on Werth…
http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090517&content_id=4794842&vkey=news_phi&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi
Yesterday simply had to be Park’s last start. Manuel’s comments really make you believe that Happ will be taking over. That should solidify one spot in the rotation.
Myers pitched well Saturday——-other than only pitching 7 innings, his line, 8 strikeouts and only 3 hits with 2 being solo home runs, was somewhat reminiscent of a Schilling start from 10 years ago——–and appears to be coming around.
Hamels looks like he’s all the way back.
Blanton has really been inconsistent but he’s not going anywhere, even if at this point it’s more about the fact there is nothing else to do with him. I suppose there is the possibility that he could go to the minors to try and straighten out like Myers did last year———-who was the pitching coach that worked with Myers down there, Rod Nichols? Maybe he can works some more magic with Blanton. If he does maybe he should replace Dubee.———–but I don’t know if Blanton has any more options or if he would go voluntarily if he does not have any. Whatever the case, I don’t see much happening with Blanton for a little while.
That leaves Moyer. Rearranging the rotation so that Moyer misses the Yanks and gets a start against the Marlins is really grasping at straws, IMO. I know the Phils are trying to give Moyer the respect they feel he deserves in the way of time to turn himself around, not to mention the prospect of having to eat a $13 million contract if he doesn’t, but this is kind of a backhanded, almost insulting, way of doing it, don’t you think? Even if he dominates the Marlins, what exactly will that tell us? Moyer needs to pitch well against everybody every 5th day in order for him to remain in the rotation, period. Both he and the Phils know it and they’re holding off as long as possible before they are forced to deal with it (actually they are both hoping against all hope that something will break right and they won’t have to deal with it, at least this year.).
I think the other thing that plays into the Moyer situation is that we really don’t have anyone tearing up the minors who would be a viable candidate to replace Moyer. I think that’s what the Carpenter start was all about ( i.e. to get a look at a possible replacement for the rotation). Carrasco has been getting hammered lately and Kendrick, with his 43 hits, 18 walks, 4.17 ERA, 1.49 WHIP, 9.4 hits/9IP, 4 walks/9IP in 41 innings in AAA this season, is no better than he has been over the last couple years. There really is no place else to go at this point, unless they want to take a chance on someone like Carpenter, which is buying Moyer more time.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record——–I know I’m dating myself with that expression———-we really need to straighten out our starting pitching one way or another. We are coming up on the 1/4 mark of the season, so it’s not early anymore. The bullpen threw 17 1/3 innings over the weekend, which amounts to half of the 35 innings played. That is just flat out unsustainable. Your move(s), Charlie.
Nice find, Pete. Another successful under-the-radar pickup by Gillick. Long live “Gillickball”.
it’s grasping at straws to switch Moyer, yes, BUT I think it’s the right move. The Yankees are a veteran team and would eat him alive even if he was pitching well. It’s gives them a little more time to figure out what the heck to do.
Agree on Blanton, he’s simply got to figure it out.
one option to bring up is Antonio Bastardo. He’s in AA and has a 1.82 ERA and 39 K in 34.2 IP. He a short lefty who might be effective for a little while hitters try to figure him out.
looks like we will get Burnett, Pettitte and Sabathia in our first trip to the new Yankee Stadium.
Bastardo’s last 3 starts:
18.1 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 24 K, 1.47 ERA, 0.71 WHIP
I’ll be working on a long minor league update over Memorial Day weekend.
Yeah, Pete, it’s the right move with Moyer. Lucky that we have it to make now. That will not be the case too often, which means there’s not a whole lot more time to give him.
“The Yankees are a veteran team and would eat him alive even if he was pitching well.” I completely agree and that is exactly the problem with Moyer now. Even having him pitch well doesn’t appear to be enough anymore. We might be able to dance around it for a while but it sure looks like eventually, and eventually appears to be right around the corner, we will have no choice but to read the writing on the stat sheet (as it were) and put someone else in his spot.
I forgot to check on Bastardo as an option. Just blanked on him I guess. Thanks for mentioning him.
Mike Zagurski could throw an inning in lieu of Moyer. The paunchy portsider is lickin’ his chops for another shot.
I’d love to see Zagurski back up. I like that they are giving Escalona a shot as well. The Phillies don’t look for bullpen help enough in their minor league system IMO.
Agree. After all, boiled down, it is just backyard pitch-and-catch (with 80,000 or so extra eyes on ya). Worst case: failure. Best case: success. Typical case: a little of both. It’s not like decisions are irreversible. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
How smart does Ruben look right now for giving Ibanez a multi-year deal? He doesn’t look like he i son the tail-end of his career…we’d all be sweating bullets already if we gave him a one-year contract which would have been lauded as the “smart move” at the time…
Stu-
I’m still concerned about year 3 of that contract, but there is obviously nothing to complain about now, and having learned more about his work ethic and watching him play, I’m becoming less concerned.
Here’s a question for everyone. Who would you rather have on the Phillies for the next 3 years: Raul Ibanez or Derek Lowe? I wrote all off-season that I wanted Lowe, not a hitter. Lowe is currently 5-1 with a 3.80 ERA.
Personally, I think I’d still take Lowe, as much as a love Ibanez. It was clear we needed pitching before the season, and it’s more clear now. Ibanez is not going to collect the 60 HR and 160 RBI he is on pace for, and we have Michael Taylor and Dom Brown tearing up the minors.
Not saying I wouldn’t re-do the Ibanez signing, just something to think about since the Ibanez / Burrell debate is no argument.
Ruben looks like a Mensa card-carrier at the moment for Ibanez signing. Long season though; he may get dumb and dumber.
Clobber for show and pitch for dough.
I’d take Lowe. Over the long haul, you win with pitching—–we just did last year—–and you can never have too much of it.
If Zagurski makes it back to Philly, don’t listen to the radio when he pitches. Larry Andersen has some sort of a mental block and cannot say his name correctly.
Agree about not using enough of our own minor league relievers on the major league level. The Phils standard line is that they prefer guys with big league experience. They don’t like to just throw guys out there. This of course begs the question, how are they to get big league experience if you don’t give it to them? Also, how do you know what you’ve really got unless you give it a look?
Who plays OF this season if Ibanez is not being run out there? Taking Raul’s bat out of the lineup not only loses his production, it also puts more pressure on the other big sticks in the lineup and I feel like Utley, Werth, and Howard would be struggling.
Ibanez has been the tie that binds so far this season and has single handedly won a number of games…
Sure, Lowe would have been nice and effective, but even with a TERRIBLE starter’s ERA, our bats have kept this team as front runners. Pitching will correct itself with some flier from the minors like Carrasco coming up if necessary; running Eric Bruntlett out there in LF instead of Ibanez would be a massive downgrade.
The Phils just signed Paul Bako to a minor league contract. OK, now that you’re finished running around your living room whooping and hollering over this great pickup by Amaro, I have a question. Any chance this might mean that Marson is the right-handed bat we will call up and take into interleague play with us?
bski-
We’re tied for first with the Mets again…anyone wee how the blew it against the Dodgers last night?…that was great…I enjoy it more when they blow games by not stepping on a base and making a crucial error than when they just get blown out….