The Phils played a 2-game series with the Nats, and obviously the focus of the fans was on Harry’s passing, so I’m just going to do an abbreviated wrap-up here.
2009: 4-4
2008: 4-4
2007: 2-6
The Good News
- I guess it’s good news that Blanton gave us the first “quality start” out of a pitcher, but it was worst possible start to still match the criteria (6 IP, 3 ER) and we lost the game.
- Howard got his first HR, and in a big spot, and continues his impressive start and improved approach at the plate.
- Ryan Madson looks like he might be the best 8th inning guy in baseball right now.
- In a minor league note, Kyle Drabek has been flat-out awesome in his first 2 starts. 12 IP, 6 H, 16 K, 1.50 ERA. It would be exciting if he keeps it up, as he has the best arm in the system, and #1 starter potential.
- My man Lou Marson went 2-3 in his season debut and looked pretty good defensively.
- The Mets are 4-5.
The Bad News
- It won’t be the same with Harry.
- The bullpen blew up a little last night, and it looks to me like Chad Durbin is going to be a problem this year.
- We couldn’t take advantage of a young, inexperienced right-hander in Shairon Martis last night. With our line-up, we need to take advantage of these kind of guys more often than not.
- A note on Victorino. I’ve mentioned his low walk total a couple of times before and I noticed that he swung at a couple 3-ball pitches out of the zone in this series. This is something he needs to work on.
- If the Marlins keep hitting, they look really, really good. They won the World Series in 1997, then 6 years later in 2003, and it’s been 6 years since then.
UP NEXT: SAN DIEGO
I don’t have time for a full Padres post today, so I’ll put the probables here with my predictions (which have been pretty much totally wrong so far!). We miss Peavy, which is good news, but we get Chris Young, who I can’t STAND. He’s throwing 89! Hit the damn ball!
Friday: Hamels vs. RHP Chris Young
Saturday: Myers vs. RHP Shawn Hill
Sunday: Park vs. RHP Walter Silva
Monday: Moyer vs. RHP Kevin Correia
I think we split, though I’m not sure how it will work. Pretty sure we lose tonight because I don’t think Hamels is better and we struggle against Young. I say we win both weekend games and lose the Monday one. All right handers in this rotation, hopefully we can start taking advantage of that.
Pre-Series Post: Phils visit Nats, White House
I always thought the coolest thing about being President was that you get all those jerseys from the championship squads. George W. Bush racked up about 50 unis while in office, and Barack Obama will get his 1st on Tuesday when the Phillies visit the White House.
The visit will break up a 3 game series against the 0-6 Washington Nationals. This is exactly the type of series the Phillies should dominate and exactly the type of series we usually screw up early in the season. Obviously, playing an 0-6 team you are thinking sweep, but the way I look at it is I can’t see the Nats (or any team) starting the year 0-9.
3 Questions entering the series:
- Can Lou Marson use this opportunity to create a catching controversy?
- Will the Obama visit be a distraction to the team, or will the final “champions” ceremony of April give 2008 some closure and improve their focus?
- Can someone, anyone, give us a quality start?
Probable Pitchers
Monday (3:05pm): Moyer vs. RHP Daniel Cabrera
Wednesday (7:05pm): Blanton vs. RHP Shairon Martis
Thursday (7:05pm): Hamels vs. LHP John Lannan
Prediction
Moyer gets lit up by a pretty good Nats line-up and the Nats get their first win of the season today. Blanton gives the Phils their first quality start of the year and Martis is beaten down by our lefties. In the rubber game, Hamels gets hit again, but Lannan leaves early after Chase Utley breaks his left hand with a liner and the Phils bullpen keeps it close enough for another series win.
{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
Pete…That is a serious prediction there with that forecasted injury to Lannan. Should I call and warn him?
In all seriousness, this series could be the spark the Phils need to get this offensive locomotive rolling into the 2009 season. The Nats will be tough against the Phils as usual and possibly even more so trying to get into the win column for the first time. This series should show us where Moyer and Blanton look to stand this year, as they should dominate this team. If not, there is trouble on the horizon, because we need to count on these guys against quality teams like the Mutts/Braves/Marlins.
Harry Kalas collapsed today in the press box. He was found at 12:30 and immediately rushed to the hospital. I would check Philly.com for updates as they are the first to report it.
You don’t break Utley’s hand (as Lannan did in 2007) w/o retribution!
also – How bout ol’ Bobbo Abreu showing some fire yesterday?
One more note on Kalas. The report I read said he was “passed out” which infers more of exhaustion than like a heart attack or something. Perhaps I am reading too much into it.
I will be there today and on Thursday. Get better Harry the K!
I have sad news for Philadelphia– Harry Kalas passed away!!
Perhaps one of the most recognizable and legendary voices in sports broadcasting. I’m glad he had the chance to see a Championship in Philly. May there be peace from “way outta here”, Harry!
GO PHILADELPHIA!!! SHOW SOME LOVE AND WE CAN OVERCOME ANYTHING!!
Does anyone have his last play by play words?
The Sixers should honor Harry Kalas tomorrow for the game, since it is FAN Night against the rival Celtics. Maybe the team, Philly, and the sports nation as a whole can pull it together.
I hope Harry met Obama. Maybe this is the ultimate motivation for the Phils, like when Charlie’s mother passed away last season. Let’s repeat!!
Philadelphia lost one of its best broadcasters. There will be nobody like Harry Kalas!! He truly represents “America’s pasttime”!
I put a Harry post up so we could talk about him over there.
Looks like the White House visit is cancelled.
I wonder if they will have announcers today, maybe take the Nats feed… I can’t imagine they could be together enough to do it?
I have been very busy today. I just turned on espn radio to catch the Phils pre-game show and I got the report about Harry Kalas passing away. Very sad. When I first started following the Phils 35 years ago, the announcers were Kalas, Ashburn, Wheeler, and Musser. It was always comfortable to hear Harry and Whitey all those years. They were a part of the team as far as I was concerned. I have really missed Ashburn since his passing but still having Kalas helped me maintain that connection to my youth. Now Wheeler, who will obviously become the lead announcer now, is the only lifelong tie I have to the Phils. Things just won’t be the same for me without either Ashburn or Kalas calling a Phils game.
Well, we’re still waiting for a quality start (Moyer couldn’t give us one), our bullpen coughed up some runs (Condrey and Lidge each gave up a 2-run homer), and you’d swear this game was a slugfest played at Coor’s Field (Instead what is perceived to be the pitcher-friendly National’s Park). However, even though this had to be just about the most difficult day to play a game due to Kalas’ passing, the Phils hung in there and got a win. That makes 3 in a row with hopefully two more to come against the woeful (3 errors and even more sloppy play) Nationals.
BTW, even though we’re only 7 games into the season, I don’t think there is any question that Ibanez is outperforming Burrell so far. He is hitting the ball hard (3rd double and 3rd homerun today) and is playing well defensively (1 sliding and 1 diving catch today).
Pete: ‘but Lannan leaves early after Chase Utley breaks his left hand with a liner’ – awww shucks you remembered! how touching. I’d almost forgotten who it was. think he also plunked Howard in the torso too on his wild performance. payback’s a b****
so far Ibanez signing looks solid but lets see.
Phillies offense looks super POWER ful this year, we have more power hitters than one would like. A worry of feast or famine? I think not, they’ll score a ton of runs but our pitching seems as shaky as 2 yrs ago. Lets hope its just rustiness (apparently showing itself in a LOT of pitchers around the league) cos hitting is ephemeral, we gotta have starter arms. Guess keeping Happ on roster was smart move. Nightmares of 07 season where we had 6 starters (lieber in limbo) and 3 of them disappeared just like that into thin air! – Garcia the Mummy, Eaton the figurehead and Lieber ….. the injured? lol Poor Adam Eaton. how did he find the courage to come for the WS ceremony?
bski-
Ibanez is def outperforming Burrell (though Pat did have a good game yesterday). I’ll put the first comparison up after this series.
I’ve been most impressed with Ryan Howard. Lost a lot of weight, strikeouts are down (6 in 7 games) and he’s ripping the ball all over the field. The commentators said that Manuel has been extremely impressed with what he’s doing. He could be poised for a huge year.
Is it possible for Moyer’s velo to actually be down?? His “fastball” is usually at 82-84, and it hasn’t been there this season yet. I hope these guys step it up, I don’t mind throwing Happ in the rotation, but I want Carrasco to get at least another half season in the minors.
also – i really enjoyed watching the Mets lose their stadium opener yesterday. 2 former Mets relievers closed the door (Duaner Sanchez, Heath Bell) after Feliciano balked in the winning run.
it was also funny watching that Mets pitcher(i forgot the name) take a tumble off the mound mid wind-up lol, and another outfield error, Mets look a bit sloppy, good 4 phils!
Back to baseball today. Hard to say how we will handle Martis. We only faced him once. He pitched 2 1/3 innings in relief of Odalis Perez on the final day of the 2008 regular season. Aside from Coste, none of our regulars were in the starting lineup that day. The only guys that faced him then and have a shot at him today are Bruntlett, Coste, Howard, and Marson. They each had one AB against him with Howard the only one getting a hit. We’re hitting the ball better of late so I can see the lefties knocking him around like you said, Pete. However we do it, we need to take advantage of a team that is still winless (and very sloppy) and keep our own little win streak going.
Tonight’s game has been cancelled due to rain. There will not be a double-header tomorrow.
Disappointed with the loss last night, but not surprised. I was worried that the extra day off would interrupt the momentum we seemed to be building. There are enough days off in April as it is. Our pitchers need regular work to regain their sharpness. Also, our offense, except for Rollins and Victorino, was coming around. Extra days off certainly don’t help in either area.
We seemed to get past the world series distractions when we went on the road to play the Rockies, only to get blindsided by Kalas’ death. Now we’ll have a whole new set of distractions (I apologize if I seem uncaring. It’s not that at all.) to deal with throughout this 7-game homestand.
We need to focus on baseball, settle into the every day rhythm , and get everyone up to speed.
Zack…..I haven’t been posting as much as I’d like to because I haven’t been following the Phils as closely as I’d like to either. I don’t get Comcast Sportsnet on Directv and because of where I live I can only watch televised games if they are on a local channel or if it is a national game (like Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN). As a result, I only get to watch about two games a week. I try to catch a couple more on the radio, but that’s hit and miss. Anyway, I do what I can.
Another bad loss last night. 3 more home runs allowed (by Hamels). This is getting alarming. At this rate, our pitching staff is going to surrender somewhere around a bazillion home runs this season. OK, maybe only a kajillion, but that’s still a lot. I’d put the over-under for Myers tonight at 3 homers as well. Either the pitchers settle down or the offense is going to have to score in double digits for us to get some wins. As much fun as the latter would be to watch, we need the former to happen if we are going to have a consistent, winning season.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this. I read this is Hagen’s article yesterday:
“There are already rumors that the Giants may try to trade Aaron Rowand, who is just starting the second year of his 5-year, $60 million free-agent contract. The irony is that Rowand could have stayed with the Phillies for the same average annual value, but said he took the Giants’ offer because he wanted to stay in one place for a while. He has a limited no-trade clause.”
Rowand wanted the extra security and/or stability that came with the longer deal the Giants offered. Well, he missed out on a championship and he’ll be on the move anyway. You never know how things are going to work out, do you?
Rowand – on and off field – helped Phillies ascend. I hope he has success wherever he goes.
Not much analysis required to figure out what’s going on with the Phils. Most of our pitchers, including all of the starters, do not have their command. No command=falling behind hitters=throwing fastballs in fastball counts=opposing hitters teeing off and depositing most of those fastballs beyond the limits of the playing field. Until that changes we will be spinning our wheels.
As far as today’s game, we need solid outing from Park. The game is being played at sea level. It is warm. It is dry. He needs his curveball to be effective? Fine. He should have it today. Also, since both Madson and Lidge have pitched on Friday and Saturday, and thrown a lot of pitches in the process, I’m guessing neither one of them will be available today, so we need Park to step up. Then the rest of the starters can follow his lead.
Park was better today, but not by a lot. He still gave up a lot of hits, was in trouble too much for my liking, and ended up throwing too many pitches as a result. Yes, he could have had a better line were it not for Ibanez’ misplay, but it also could have been worse were it not for several good defensive plays made behind him.
Speaking of that, Howard’s defense is impressive. His fielding is greatly improved and he’s picking throws with regularity. If his throwing has improved as well, he should make a difference this year, which would give us a formidable infield.
Anyway, nice to see Ibanez make up for his misplay. Also nice to see the team continue to battle and to grind out another win. Happ gave them 3 solid innings and allowed the bats time to come around and put some runs on the board. Let’s even this series tomorrow.
bski: looking at Happ throwing in that game, i realize i was wrong bout him not being bullpen material. the scouting report on him is that lefties and right hit him equally. but the way he threw, he looked like a bona fide lefty-specialist type. the way his fastball sweeps across on its way to the plate, he REALLY NEEDS a breaking pitch like a slider or curveball or sumthin to go with that. he bravely attacked the hitters, he could be a very solid pitcher if he gets that offspeed pitch (not the changeup). i waited for him to throw one but it seems like he doesnt have any. does he?
on series so far: Ibanez was officially christened as a Phillie today. Hitting a comback GW HR in dramatic fashion, thats Phillies basesball. Victorino sealed it with the pie.
Park pitched well. but still got hit hard?? couldnt command the breaking pitch well at all. when he threw it to Gonzalez, thats bout the only time it loked sharp.
OK! I am officially worried bout our pitching. this looks VERY BAD!! something needs to start changing for us, we cant just do our usual September charge cos everyone’s gonna be gunning for us.
Do you guys think the Park/Happ switch from starter to bullpen and vice versa will come soon? How many more mediocre outings does Chaahlee give Park before he decides to give Happ a shot at the 5th starter?
Pete: you been busy? unlike you to not put up a Padres series preview, but then again these cats play everyday so its gonna be hard to keep up.
jkay -
had a bachelor party weekend that I was in charge of, so yeah, I was busy and had to sacrifice the preview. Will probably happen and handful of times during a long season.
looks like my series review might be up early though as I imagine they are getting rained out tonight (again right after we get a big momentum boost!)
jkay…..Looks like I was wrong about Happ too. I really didn’t want to see him in the pen but he is doing a good job for us. Still don’t know how this will affect him when/if he replaces Park as the 5th starter, or replaces another starter due to—–I can’t say it. I hate the “I” word—–you know what.
That leads me to:
J Dubbz…….Gotta figure that a change isn’t Happening (sorry, couldn’t reisit) any time soon. Park did throw better yesterday, so I’m sure Charlie will give it a while to see if he continues to progress.
That leads me to:
Pete.…..Maybe in addition to our Ibanez/Burrell watch we should add the Chan “Heave Ho” Park watch to try and track when we think he should be removed from the rotation.