Comments on: Phils split shortened series with Nats

By: bski

bski — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:29:33 +0000

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.

By: Pete

Pete — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:31:22 +0000

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!)

By: jkay

jkay — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:56:49 +0000

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.

By: J Dubbz

J Dubbz — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:56:25 +0000

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?

By: jkay

jkay — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 04:25:12 +0000

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.

By: bski

bski — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 03:00:36 +0000

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.

By: bski

bski — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 17:30:36 +0000

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.

By: jjg

jjg — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 16:04:33 +0000

Rowand – on and off field – helped Phillies ascend. I hope he has success wherever he goes.

By: bski

bski — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 15:02:31 +0000

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?

By: bski

bski — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 14:40:02 +0000

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.