That’s enough of that – Phils try to right ship vs. NL

The Phillies are finally done their disastrous 4-11 interleague run and head to Atlanta. Last season, they had a disastrous 3-9 interleague run and then, headed to Atlanta, where they promptly swept the Braves (and then lost 4 straight right after). Hopefully we can repeat history with the former, not the latter.

Luckily for us, almost the entire NL East has been playing this way, here are our division rivals records during our 4-11 swoon…

New York: 5-10
Atlanta: 5-10
Florida: 9-6
Washington: 6-9

Only Florida has made up significant ground, and they now sit in 2nd place, 2 1/2 games back. The important thing for the Phillies to realize at this point is that they are still very much in charge of their own destiny, and we aren’t even half way through the season. There is a ton of baseball left.

2009: 39-34
2008: 42-31
2007: 38-35

I’m not going to do the whole good news / bad news thing, just bullet point what’s been on my mind…

• Even though Amaro is frantically searching for pitching, it’s our hitting that has been the cause of our June slump. In June, we have hit .247 as a team. The biggest slumpers this month have been Rollins (.176), Ruiz (.185) and Howard (.237).
• Our starters on the other hand, have been solid with the exception of the 5-spot. Happ (3.00 ERA), Hamels (3.31) and Blanton (3.34) were all great, and Moyer (4.80) was at least improved. This is still not a rotation that will go deep into the playoffs, but we don’t have to worry about that just yet.
• So who gets the start on Thursday? I’m fine with either Carpenter or Carrasco. On on hand, I’d like to put some pressure on Carrasco and see how he reacts. He pitched so-so in Reading and then was lights out once he got promoted to AAA, maybe the same thing could happen with a major league call-up. On the other hand, Carpenter has been amazing since going back down to AAA after his spot start. He has a 1.50 ERA in 8 starts and has gone 7+ innings while giving up 1 run or less in 5 of those. I couldn’t really disagree with either decision, but if I had to make the decision, I think I’d put Carrasco in there and see what he’s made of. Either way, we need one of these guys to step up the way Kendrick did 2 years ago.
• Amaro said that Drabek would remain in the minors the rest of the year. This is absolutely the right decision. He just had Tommy John surgery and we need to take our time with him.
• On Rollins – I think he will come around eventually and end the year around .250-.260, but I wonder what his long term future with the team is. He is signed through next year, but there is a team option for $8.5 million for 2011. You have to wonder, if Jimmy can’t turn this thing around, and with Jason Donald as a good replacement, whether or not his time with the Phils is running out. Hard to imagine this team without Jimmy.
• On Romero – he’s an idiot. Nothing quite exonerates you of steroid use than displaying “roid rage.” Akin to congress talking about how steroids can cause ones emotions to fluctuate wildly followed by Mark McGwire strongly saying he’s not there to talk about the past and then bursting into tears. Curse out the fan all you want, you obviously can’t hit him.
• Mayberry needs to be kept up on the team when Ibanez gets back. Paul Bako, Eric Bruntlett and Jack Taschner should not be on a major league roster.
• I’m working on an organizational depth chart, like I did for the outfield in my Michael Taylor article. I want to start thinking more like the Phillies should be thinking and looking both at the present and the future of the club. Look for that later this week.

Pitching Match-Ups: Phillies at Atlanta Braves

Tuesday: Blanton vs. Derek Lowe (7-6, 4.53 ERA)
Wednesday: Hamels vs. Jair Jurrjens (5-6, 2.93 ERA)
Thursday: TBD vs. Javier Vasquez (5-7, 3.04 ERA)

Prediction

The Phillies catch some bad luck and will meet the Braves 3 toughest starters. However, unlike any team I’ve ever followed, the Phillies seems to follow a similar pattern year after year, so I’m sticking with what they did last year in this situation and say they beat the Braves 2 out of 3. Hopefully Rollins’ days off will clear his head and get him motivated and the right handed pitchers will get Howard on track.

June 30, 2009