No time for a full post, this will really just be a placeholder for the Mets series.
What’s on my mind…
- On a team full of multi-millionaire superstars, Carlos Ruiz might turn out to be the most popular Phillie on the team. Small, tough, unassuming, does the little things, hits when it matters and is humble.
- On a team that often gets shuts down by mediocre starters, the fact that we own Jonathan Broxton is both baffling and wondrous.
- It would be nice if EVERYONE in the bullpen didn’t suck. Our bullpen gave up an astonishing 23 baserunners in 11 innings in this series. What would be the harm in getting rid of Herndon and brining up Mathieson or Schwimer? Seriously? If they suck, send them down and bring up another one. We got to find some reliable bullpen arms – and we have a bunch of possibilities in the minors.
- When Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins took back-to-back walks yesterday, you knew something crazy was about to happen.
- Roy Oswalt’s fastball looked real nice. I hope we aren’t spoiled and show him the same love we showed Lee and Halladay.
- Looking ahead to the HUGE Giants series after the Mets series. It looks like we will miss Lincecum, but get Cain, Zito and Sanchez. You can’t really get a good draw with them though. They have a tough series against San Diego this weekend – it’s possible we’ll be in the wild card lead by Monday.
- Dom Brown’s numbers aren’t that great, but he’s had some great AB’s for a young player. He has a really good eye and takes a bunch of tough pitches. I feel like he needs to shorten his swing though. Too many moving parts there.
- Austin Hyatt was promoted to Reading and struck out 7 in 5 innings in his first start, allowing just 1 ER. The jump from Clearwater to Reading is probably the biggest in the Phillies system, so it will be interesting to see how Hyatt fares.
- Also in Reading, Harold Garcia is now hitting .331 with an .844 OPS. Would love to see him as an upgrade to Juan Castro / Wilson Valdez next year.
- I could see a sweep for the Phils in NYC this weekend. Hamels and Halladay going. We miss Johan. K-Rod causing problems. Victorino back to give a boost. Let’s go!
We better sweep the Mets.
We’ll have the same rotation for the Giants as we did the Dodgers. It could get ugly outside of Roy-O.
Fri 7:10- Hamels vs. R.A. Dickey
Sat 7:10-Halladay vs. TBD
Sun 8:05-Kendrick vs. Mike Pelfrey
Wont it be Hamels-Halladay-Kendrick against the Mets and then Oswalt-Blanton-Hamels against the Giants? It’s only when Kendrick starts off a series that 2 of the big 3 wont pitch in the same series.
It also seems that when Kendrick has to start off a series that he doesn’t do well, doesn’t it? If he can copy cat off of Halladay then he seems to do ok. Hopefully we’ll see some run support for Hamels – he deserves it.
I stand corrected.
Thanks, guys.
Let’s take a look at Stacy”s point, based on decisions.
It also seems that when Kendrick has to start off a series that he doesn’t do well, doesn’t it? >>
Keep in mind, that with a short leash, Kendrick has to pitch well to get a win, or benefit from a blowout.
5/5 versus Cards, won 3rd game of series, 4-0
5/17 versus Pirates, won 1st game of series, 12-2
5/28 versus Marlins, won 1st game of series 3-2
6/17 versus Mets, won 7-1, 2nd game of series
7/3 versus Pirates, won 12-4, 3rd game of series
7/24 versus Rockies, won 10-2, 2nd game of series
8/4 versus Marlins, won 7-2, 2nd game of series
so far, it doesn’t seem like pitching later in series is hurting him
losses…
4/30, lost to Mets, 9-1, 1st game of series
5/22, lost to Red Sox, 5-0, 2nd game of series
7/19, lost to Cards, 8-4, 1st game of series
8/10, lost to LA, 15-9, 1st game of series
early in series does not treat him well.
conclusion: more likely to lose pitching early in the series. Only 1 win in the first game of a series that didn’t include blowout support, at least by final score.
Pretty good point, although obviously, this doesn’t include no decisions, which might addI’d say 5-8 starts or so.
I think September should be bullpen tryouts honestly what would be so wrong with bringing up zagurski, bastardo, mathieson, rosenberg, defratus, worley, shwimmer and say okay only people who are safe are Madson, Lidge, durbin and contreras. We need 1 lefty, 1 righty and the best available remaining. What we have now obviously isn’t working.
Thanks for the research, Ken. I never looked at the numbers, I just remember hearing him say more than once that he would study the way Halladay approached batters and attack the same way.
’6.5 games out of wild card’ Dodgers don’t need stoic, distraught Torre today before playing Braves, they need “Bluto” Blutarsky: Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!
Phillies need to get over last night’s fraternity excitement and get down to business again against an out-of-contention enough to be loose-and-dangerous Mets team in alleys play/smaller ball Citi Field.
Phils, 442-386 all-time versus Mets. Lenny Dykstra says bet the house with a follow-up wink.
jjg,
Good one. One of the many classic lines from that movie. What do you expect from a guy who had a 0.0 GPA, anyway? Like he said in his own words, “Seven years of college down the drain.”
bski, Thanks for the reminder. That was another good one. In these dim times, our country needs more free-thinking and staunch leaders like Bluto who found time to fit balancing recreation into an extremely busy schedule.
Todd Z twits in advance of tonight’s game.
Manuel said Carlos Ruiz has a sore right quad, but said he should be OK. Wanted to give him a break. 6 minutes ago via TinyTwitter
Carlos Ruiz scratched from lineup. Brian Schneider will start instead. about 1 hour ago via TinyTwitter
Chase Utley is in Clearwater to continue his hittng program. about 1 hour ago via TinyTwitter
Tonight’s lineup @ NYM: Rollins SS, Polanco 3B, Ibanez LF, Sweeney 1B, Werth RF, Victorino CF, Ruiz C, Valdez 2B, Hamels P. about 1 hour ago via TinyTwitter
I never looked at the numbers, I just remember hearing him say more than once that he would study the way Halladay approached batters and attack the same way.>>
I could tell you didn’t look at the numbers the way you included “seems” (one of myfavorite words, and posed it as a question. Perked my curiousity, so I checked into it, and the no decisions leave it inconclusive, but leaning your observed way.
<<Phillies need to get over last night’s fraternity excitement and get down to business again against an out-of-contention enough to be loose-and-dangerous Mets team in alleys play/smaller ball Citi Field.>>
Only the club and staff need to do that, but I can think of at least 1 fan that should. I’m totally psyched for the game. Last night was just incredible.
I guess twits, in proper grammatical English checks in as tweets, from above. Maybe a Freudian slip, maybe a sign of my vocabularly being overvalued. Tskm tsk.
Wow! I just recovered from that. But I can’t really say I am shocked. they have done it for 4 years now. Charlie is the guy I want to go to the casino with. He knows how to roll the dice. You can play by the house odds like a Torre would when you have the best players, but when you are shorthanded you have to take some chances to win. Charlie really knows how to manage people – thats the easiest way to say it.
Looking at the next 20 games I give the Braves a decided edge in competition – meaning we have a tougher schedule. Looking at this weekend, I expect the Braves to take 3 of 4. LA is done and cooked now. In fact, I expect them to go on a decent roll minus Chipper, kinda like losing our guys tested our mettle and we responded. So it will be real interesting to see how the next two weeks turn out. Where the loss of Chipper will show up most, if it does at all, will be in crunch time, the last 2-3 weeks. He also got alot of clutch hits against us in the past that they may miss. But in reality, they could even be better without him since he was a liability in the field and he wasn’t doing much at the plate. So they may get a mental “rally time” boost and actually get a better player in his position.
I do not expect a sweep in NY. 2 of 3 would be great. Dickey and Pelfrey are no pushovers and I expect to lose every game kendrick starts. Blanton is falling into that category too. It doesn’t appear he will get it going this year which is fine – as long as we don’t need it to get to the playoffs. We can drop to 3 starters in the playoffs.
8-4 through the first 12 of the final 60 games – need to get to 37 wins. We need to go 29-19 rest of way to assure a playoff spot.
Halladay (9-3) (2-0)
Hamels (8-4) (1-1)
Oswalt (8-4 (2-1)
Blanton (6-6) (2-1)
Kendrick (6-6) (1-1)
zagurski, bastardo, mathieson, rosenberg, defratus, worley, shwimmer>>
don’t you think 7 is a bit much?
Maybe take 3 and go from there.
I like Worley. It’s ridicuous to draw cnclusions off such a short showing, but that 1 game he pitched the 9th, on a Saturday afternoon, I guess being showcased, he looked like he had good poise.
Found an article by Tom Verducci on si.com about Chipper Jones that, don’t ask me how, actually might contain more Phillies stuff in it.
First, Polanco gets a shout-out:
Jones is one of 10 active players with a .300 career batting average while playing at least 1,500 games. What’s so interesting about that list is that nine of those players were selected to at least five All-Star Games in their career: Jones, Jeter, Helton, Albert Pujols, Ichiro Suzuki, Manny Ramirez, Magglio Ordonez and Alex Rodriguez.
And then there is one guy who has hit .300 for this long but has been selected as an All-Star only once: the ever-underrated Placido Polanco of the Phillies.
Then there is a good bit about Halladay:
Just how much does Roy Halladay like the National League? Do the math on how well his AL exile has worked:
• His ERA (2.34) is lower by almost half a run from last year (2.79).
• His strikeout rate (8.2 K/9) is the best of his career for any full season.
• His strikeout-to-walk rate (7.64) is the best of his career.
• He leads the league in strikeouts (168) after having never finished higher than third in the AL.
• He is on track for his goal of fewer walks (22) than starts (24), something he did once in a qualified AL season.
He has put himself smack in the middle of a fantastic NL Cy Young Award race, one in which there is little separation among Halladay, Adam Wainwright, Tim Hudson, Ubaldo Jimenez and Chris Carpenter. Entering games Thursday, 13 of the top 14 strikeout pitchers in baseball were in their 20s. The exception is Halladay, who at 33 is at the top of his game. Halladay even has added another weapon in the NL: a changeup.
“I have to start tricking people I guess,” he said, laughing. “You hang around Jamie Moyer enough here and this is what happens.”
But in reality, they could even be better without him since he was a liability in the field and he wasn’t doing much at the plate.>>
I didn’t realize Chipper was actually faring okay at the plate in that he was hitting over .300 since June. Not sure about the rest of the numbers, but .300 over 6-8 weeks is a good start.
<<Just how much does Roy Halladay like the National League>>
Speaking of Doc, just as a reference point, you know how when Glavine or Unit (whoever was last) got to 300, and it was commonly believed nobody would win 300 again…Doc at 33 is at 162. Cliff Lee, who I would think is crushing Doc’s K-BB raio, jst walking like 9 this year, at 32, just won his 100th. Then there’s CC Sabathia, who just turned 30, and is at 151 (maybe 150). I don’t think CC 15 wins for 10 years to get there (he’d be 40) is that unthinkable.
Matt Gelb did an interesting thing. He posted the article he had written, and was ready to submit, about our losing to the Dodgers last night. I’ll grant you it’s not quite “Dewey Defeats Truman”, but there is some stuff worth noting in it.
The Phils have to use a five-man rotation, which means wins must come from pitchers not named Roy or Cole.
Against the Dodgers this week, that did not happen. The Phillies lost, XX-XX, to Los Angeles on Thursday after Joe Blanton put his team in an early hole. The Dodgers took two of three from the Phils because fifth starter Kyle Kendrick couldn’t make it through the fourth inning Tuesday.
The Phils never led because Blanton, yet again, was hit in the first inning. In 19 starts, the righthander has allowed 18 first-inning runs. On Thursday, Los Angeles sent nine men to the plate in the first inning and scored three times off Blanton.
Blanton lasted 5 2/3 innings, throwing 115 pitches, his second-most this season. His season ERA sits at an unsightly 5.69. The Phillies are now 8-11 in games started by Blanton.
It hasn’t helped that in the last two games started by Blanton and Kendrick, the bullpen has actually made the starting pitcher look more effective. The bullpen’s ERA is 5.16 in August and remains a growing concern.
It’s a small sample size, but this week, Blanton and Kendrick made a fine case for the Phillies to skip them as often as possible to start Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt or Cole Hamels in more games. The Phils have five off days remaining in the final seven weeks of the season.
I’m not trying to be a wet blanket or take anything away from last night’s win, and I know we all know about our problem areas. I posted the excerpts because, as I read Gelb’s article, it struck me just how close we had come to talking about all of these issues, instead of our never-say-die win, today.
Pat Misch apparently tomorrow night for the Mets.
Unimpressive numbers, but he’s lefthanded, which I guess still matters.
it struck me just how close we had come to talking about all of these issues, instead of our never-say-die win, today.>>
b.ski,
I’ll see your that’s baseball, and raise you to that’s life.
Ya know, Wheels did an excellent job breaking down the first inning Plac play, and Pagan holding, but I’m already hearing a little much on the Cole doesn’t get runs theme.
If Cole pitches great, and doesn’t get support, I commend him and think its big picture okay. But he knows what the score is. Keep the ball in the park, and if they do go ahead, like Francoeur last weekend, he’s got to bear some blame.
What a pair of shortstops defending tonight. This looks like a good one.
I bet a look back at theApril-May archives on this site would find some very telling Cole Hamels opinions.
The man is a pitcher.
That line drive that hit Hamels still troubles me. Next inning, after 10 minutes, should be key.
Looks like we’re facing the R.A. Dickey we can’t hit tonight (second time through the lineup isn’t looking much better either).
I liked the R.A. Dickey we faced last Sunday much better. :-)
Well, Todd Z said Cole got hit on the right thing. Looked to me like the left foot. McCarthy said the knee.
Lets play office pool, and for the grand prize, how many hits does this Dickey clown give us tonight.
Thing is thigh. A thing would be tres painful.
Where is the delete button around here?
where’s Bob Davidson?
frag! how hard is it to hit this guy?
That fan is a felon.
how hard is it to hit this guy?>>
um, very?
Raul is cool as a cucumber. Plays the decoy role well, as he has most of the year in left field.
It did look awfully clear as interference.
They should at least make the fan that interfered be the runner at 3rd. Maybe we could throw him out at the plate easier.
Boy does Francoeur suck. I love that dude
Watching Cole pitch this inning now is as exciting as last night’s comeback. The man is a pitcher.
wow Hamels can escape.
awesome.
Jeff Francouer is like Mark Reynolds, without the contact.
Okay, here’s the deal. Obviously, a great job….
but….
the “triple and intentional walk did get them through the bottom of the order. So in order to make that inning really successful, he has to fight off the Mets sending the top of the order to the plate next inning.
Of course runs, hits, anything this half inning could do that by itself.
Dickey just lost my hall of fame vote.
Watching the Mets broadcast and they absolutely cannot understand why it was ruled fan interference, saying repeatedly (it was a long review) that they saw no evidence that the fan touched the ball.
Looked to me like he touched it, though. Watching the replay (many times), the fan had both hands flat. Then when the ball arrived, one hand (I believe it was his right hand) turned sideways quickly while the other one stayed flat. Sure looked to me like the ball hit at least the ring and pinkie fingers on that hand and caused it to turn.
Did you guys see it that way? What were our announcers saying?
Whatever. Great job by Cole to pitch out of it.
Jeff Francouer is like Mark Reynolds>>
seriously, Francouer already did the need a change of scenery thing. I wish the Mets were stupid enough to keep him. He’s a poor hitter.
Our guys thought it was clear interference.
I thought of switching to the SNY feed to see whatthey were saying, Keith and Darling, right? But I thought of it at a time I thought was too late.
At the end of the review, and I guess judgement on batter’s base position is he rule obviously, but 3rd base seemed fair. But it did look like interference. How you determine which freaking finger touched the ball is beyond me, though. You must have tremendous vision. All I saw was contact from a hand that looked attached to an arm. I’m impressed.
I don’t know that it was a factor, but it sure didn’t hurt that they turned the order over last inning.
well. nothing more to be said. get it together.
I believe that to an extent, the lack of run support has forced, or encouraged Cole to concentrate a lot, and made him a better pitcher.
That might be fanspeak, but I really think there’s some truth in it.
scores from out of town….
Braves and Dodgers scoreless
Hamilton leads Winnepeg, 14-0
Birds lead the Jags 16-7
Orioles 4, Rays 0.
All games 4th quarter or earlier.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100813&content_id=13408220¬ebook_id=13408226&vkey=notebook_la&fext=.jsp&c_id=la
It’s amazing how you can go from closer in the all-star game to this.
I meant to say in a month.
Well, Broxton should get a chance to pitch tonight the way that game is going.
It’s definitely an interesting decision.
tell me this guy is not gonna throw a CG shutout against the Phils.
How you determine which freaking finger touched the ball is beyond me, though.
Can’t say it was really a determination. They did show the replay on SNY about 50 times so I did look at it a lot, but maybe I tried to analyze it so closely that I ended up just seeing what I wanted to see in the end.
small consolation, Cole’s ERA drops to 3.33. Hope he gets to pitch another inning.
Hoping the reverse black cat works for us:
I don’t think we will score a run in Citi Field all year (we’re still waiting after 35 innings and counting now).
time to pick him up. give him his first win in a while.
top of the order.
who pinch hits against the knuckle baller?
I ended up just seeing what I wanted to see in the end.>>
shame on you, you human weakling.
Make it up to us, get us 2 runs.
RA Dickey for CY
Some nights, you just have to tip your hat. Shan maybe misjudged that fly, but ya know, it happens.
I don’t know what else to say, we just got beat.
frag!
mood killer.
dont wanna admit it but he was real good tonight, with his 77mph junk.
ugh.
Wow…in the worst sense of the word.
I did say maybe, Ken.
I still think I saw what I thought I saw, see?
Wow – shut out 5 times by the mutts this year. Is that some kind of record by another team against us? The cliche is true – momentum only lasts as long as the next starting pitcher. Nasty loss. Cole gets the only hit – poor dude.
8-5 through the first 13 of the final 60 games – need to get to 37 wins. We need to go 29-18 rest of way to assure a playoff spot.
Halladay (9-3) (2-0)
Hamels (8-4) (1-2)
Oswalt (8-4 (2-1)
Blanton (6-6) (2-1)
Kendrick (6-6) (1-1)
I still think I saw what I thought I saw, see?>>
si
Brooks Conrad just homered
Conrad has been killing us. won a game for Atlanta in Houston and now tonight. Chipper’s replacement!
How about a 1 game playoff for the division, Doc against Hudson.
What a game that would be. Those games never wind up 1-0, but I guarantee you that one would. Course since we play them the final 3, that would never happen. One of them would pitch one way or another in the regular season wrap.
No help from the Dodgers tonight. Crushing 9th inning. Posednik got picked off. Good drama tonight, loust results.
Kendrick is 7-4, Hamels is 7-9.
Julius Erving said it best. Don’t let the highs get you to high, don’t let the lows get you too low.
So we’re supposed to smile at 36 straight shutout innings at CitiField. Altogether now.
Whoa! Utley might be back in the lineup on Tuesday against the Giants?
Zolecki reported last night that Utley has headed down to Clearwater not just to continue with his rehab, but to begin playing in games. He threw out the possibility of Utley playing for the Threshers today, tomorrow, and Monday, with an eye toward rejoining the Phils on Tuesday.
That is aggressive. I hope he’s not rushing things along. As much as we need him on the field and in the lineup, we need him to be and to remain healthy.
In an attempt to forget about last night and to remain upbeat, I’m going to go back to our win on Thursday.
In the midst of all the talk about us beating Broxton again, and Stairs in 2008, and Rollins in 2009, I thought that I remembered another time we touched him up recently.
I forgot to check yesterday, but today’s Daily News sports website still has “Ruiz, Phillies derail Dodgers in 9th” as their headline piece, so I was reminded to check today.
Sure enough, during a BP special at CBP on Thursday, May 14, 2009, we scored 2 runs off Broxton in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game at 3. Unfortunately, Durbin surrendered 2 runs in the top of the 10th and we lost the game, explaining how this game against Broxton could be forgotten about (That, plus the fact that we did not beat him, only hung a blown save on him by tying the game).
Just finding ways to get last night’s game out of my head and trying to prevent the ominous feeling that we may not score a run at CitiField this entire season from taking hold.
“Timex” Hamels – takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’ - pitched well enough, well enough to lose for the 7th time since May 27, when his team was a game-and-a-half up in the East. Maybe he needs a new battery so he can surmount the efforts of rivals Pelfrey (NY), Hudson (ATL), LeBlanc (SD), Marcum (TOR), McCutchen (PIT), Santana (NY) and Dickey (NY) like a good 6.7 million dollar “stud” should, at least half the time. Nice tries, artful style and photogenics do not the playoffs make. Team not hitting for him? Happens. Unfortunate. Shutouts are the remedy. Goose-eggs, kid, goose-eggs. The best best the best. A lot of people give you a lot of latitude. But you’re not earning that high-rise salary. ‘Almost’ isn’t good enough at the price paid. And, no, you can’t go home early this year.
jjg,
I was waiting for someone to make a post like yours. It is utterly ridiculous to even suggest that Hamels is the one that needs to step it up after losing back to back 1-0 teams the second of which his teammates provided 0 hits. The only thing that’s almost as impressive as Hamels’ pitching this year has been his mental fortitude. The 2009 version would’ve cracked and given up months ago. Hamels is back and pitching better than 2008. He was the difference in the playoffs in 2008 and 2009 and he will be the key again if the Phils get there in a couple months.
wow jjg to type something like that is irresponsible. someone with a 3.3era is being underpaid at 6.7 mil. guys like you are the reason why the people of philly look like sore losers to outsiders
15 “quality starts” [6 completed innings, no more than 3 earned runs] in 24. OK, but nothin’ to brag on. 0.63 QS%.
Strikeouts are up, which gets the fan base excited, but so are gopher balls allowed.
And don’t forget that contract escalates: 9.5 million in 2011, 11 million in 2012.
Brett Myers is having a better year in Houston.
See I can kinda buy into when you lose 1-0 because you give up a homer (Francouer), you have to bear some degree of responsibility for it. Not a lot, necessarily, there’s still a lot to be said for the otherwise shutout, and all that, but last night, you can’t blame Cole for anything. Shane could have caught the ball, and it’s not like he got torched after that in giving up a single run again.
I think in some ways, and that means just what it says, some ways, sometimes there’s a little too fast a pace to defend a pitcher who doesn’t get support.
On the whole, I think you have to appreciate the Hamels results since I guess early May.
Regarding b.ski’s post, lets go to the copy and paste portion of the thought…
<< I hope he’s not rushing things along. As much as we need him on the field and in the lineup, we need him to be and to remain healthy.>>
pertaining to batting 3rd, number 26, second baseman, Chase Utleeeeeeey…
another I don’t believe what I just read. Here’s what we should do. B.sli should be the one appointed in charge of telling Chase when he’s “ready.”
And watch your life flash before your eyes from the glare you get. Your gonna tell this guy he can play more rehab, and not for The Big Club? If he wasn’t ready to play, the doc, I figure, professional career at stake, would have said negative. Don’t forget, Chase has had a lot of time to keep most of his body in playing shape, and I’m sure he’ll be fine, ready and raring to go before 3 games, let alone at that mark.
Sabathia has recorded 29 outs after the 7th inning, Halladay 63
courteousy Hall of Famer Peter Gammons
i get the mets broadcast and up until they scored, they would consistently mention after basically every out that it’s been 38 or whatever innings since we scored at Citi field. they got annoying pretty quickly.
Reyes looks visibly frustrated.
thought he felt like just stealing home.
only Doc can make it look easy.
http://mlb-facts-and-rumors.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22297882/23883706?tag=comBlogEntryListCnt;entry23883706
I thought the Mets made the suspension short because it was against the Phillies but apparently not. To me, he should have been suspended for the rest of the year, especially since the Mets weren’t going anywhere near the top of the standings.
Earlier this week, I had suggested in reply to what seems concensus thinking around here that skipping a starter was not that automatic. My feeling was that Charlie would see where we are toward week end, and plan accordingly.
Tonight, Joe Blanton was announced as Tuesday’s starter. Maybe they discussed it, maybe not. But Todd Zoelecki’s guess on the announcement …
<<I’m guessing because the Phils after Monday, Phils play 23 games in 23 days. Last day to give Halladay an extra day. >>
goes well beyond the generic no skips until the last 2 weeks. It’s an outstanding reason, if true, and there is no question that the rotation will be planned around Doc, a little bit less Oswalt, and a little less than that Cole the rest of the way. You guys just wait until you see the best of Doc later in the year. You’ve seen more than a glimpse of what he is so far, but when winning time approaches, whatever Charlie and Rich can do to make him fully equipped to execute is the right thing to do. My take is that Zoelecki came up with a great reason to start Blanton, who better do his job finally. And it will matter Tuesday since whoever starts for the Giants will be good, not to mention that I think its TL, but it won’t matter in the sense that Chase will be back, and adrenalin will be off the charts.
he should have been suspended for the rest of the year>>
That is one touchy subject. Where does the line fall between allegedly and right to work. Isn’t it the criminal court’s job to issue the punishment? And yet, the Mets are under pressure to do something.
I don’t recall the chronology of the Brett Meyers incident (not that I’m clammoring for more posts on the issue), nor what went down with Bobby Cox’s spousal abuse incident some 10 years ago, but at the very least, there may be precedent for baseball punishment that supplemented evetual court action.
It feels awkward to let him play until the case is determined, but I’m just not real sure any suspension, let alone a long one is completely right.
I did think Rodriguez’s apology was nicely strategized. It reminded me of Giambi’s steroid apology. He simply apologized to his teammates, the front office and fans, but didn’t exactly say what for. Even saying incident doesn’t admit to anything, it could be taken as the distraction portion of things, which would have legitimacy, and yet no apology to the victim and family, which could have been taken as an admission of guilt.
Rights are great, but at the same thing, they can be a terrible thing. As I assume a first time offender, Rodriguez will essentially walk, but that’s where the punishment responsibility lies. Two games for embarrassing the organization might actually be about right, and that, perhaps quite sadly, is the Mets concern.
I sure hope that anybody reading this doesn’t take this as a defense of any sort of abuse.
9-5 through the first 14 of the final 60 games – need to get to 37 wins. We need to go 28-18 rest of way to assure a playoff spot.
Halladay (9-3) (3-0)
Hamels (8-4) (1-2)
Oswalt (8-4 (2-1)
Blanton (6-6) (2-1)
Kendrick (6-6) (1-1)
On the Cole thing. He needs to be better than the other guy…period. IF we need a shutout he needs to pitch a shutout. He still seems to be caught in a pitching well but not quite well enough mode. It seems to be Cole giving up the big hit and not the other pitcher. I can’t remember the last time he pitched a shutout,and for a pitcher of his quality in a pitching happy league, that doesn’t seem right. In 24 starts this year has he left the game without giving up a run more than once? If he is locked in a 0-0 or 1-1 or 2-2 duel through 5 innings, I don’t have confidence he can hold it there.
walks issued versus innings pitched, 2010
k ip
Doc 22/193
Wainright 42/176
Hudson 54/164
Johnson 38/158
Ubaldo 64/155
Latos 39/135
CC 58/174
Price 59/145
Cliff 9/160
Pavano 29/168
In that Keith Law piece posted the other day, he may have offended when he measured big game experience as a zero factor, but when asked about the Cy Young award, you’ll recall he had Doc at the head of the list. Give him credit for that.
from PF – I can’t remember the last time he pitched a shutout,and for a pitcher of his quality in a pitching happy league, that doesn’t seem right<<
Hamels is another example of a long list of players and teams that you make your mind up about, and show close to zero inlination to change. He pitched 7 plus of shutout baseball against the Reds, and an 8 inning shutout against the Cards, the only game we won of the post all star break debacle. So in the past month and change, he’s pitched 2 shutouts of about 8 innings, and 2 1 run games that he lost 1-0. While I agree that a pitcher simply has to pitch to circumstances, all these results in a 7-9 3.33 season show is that he’s made a handful of mistakes of late that another big league player is getting no credit for doing his job for the infrequent mistakes Hamels has made. Does Cole bear a semblance of blame for those? Absolutely. Is he being immature about it? Not one bit that I can tell. In the overall scheme of things, far more important, there isn’t a general manager alive that wouldn’t want Cole Hamels on his club for the value of his contract. The guy can flat out pitch, and I’ll stand by my statement that those thinking he shouldn’t be judged against his hot run of 2008, that he’s more of a 1A were wrong. He is one excellent pitcher, and if Charlie can brag on his mental toughness, which I’ve heard him do, that’s good enough for me.
A little fantasy if you’ll bear with me here.
Starting lineup by next Saturday.
SS Rollins
3B Polanco
2B Utley
1B Howard
LF Ibanez
RF Werth
CF Victorino
C Ruiz
We’re almost there, and it’ll be good to see again. Even if we don’t mash right away, that’s gonna be a tough lineup to beat.
to mention that I think its TL>>
He is pitching today against SD. We will miss him in this upcoming series. We are up against Zito, Cain, and Sanchez.
One more thing on this tendency to criticize Cole for coming up short with no run support.
Doc and Roy O have been through that a lot this year also.
Let’s see what Cole does when he’s given a 3-4 run lead, like Doc and Roy O have finally gotten of late. It was essentially game, set match. If Cole gets a 3 run lead 5 times, he’s going to win a minimum of 3, probably 4, maybe 5. Hell, even Doc blew a 3-0 lead against the Reds arlier in the year. It happens.
But if Cole blows 2 of 3 3 run leads, talk to me then about how weak he is. Until then, the lefthander is my man. Hell, even Senator Bunning loved him to death on the alumni weekend broadcast. It’s time to give this guy credit for everything we asked him to do from his mediocore 2009. Compared to that level of performance, what can we complain about?
He is pitching today against SD. We will miss him in this upcoming series. We are up against Zito, Cain, and Sanchez.>>
Geez, what a pity. I am beyond sad. Thanks for the update.
On the Cole thing. He needs to be better than the other guy…period. IF we need a shutout he needs to pitch a shutout. He still seems to be caught in a pitching well but not quite well enough mode. It seems to be Cole giving up the big hit and not the other pitcher.>>
Why did we get Roy Oswalt then? His record must indicate Amaro made the worst move ever, right? I understand the goal is to win but when the pitcher can’t be the only one to get a hit. Roy Halladay does not have a 0.00 ERA and is not undefeated. Cole is human, and I will happily have him as my 3rd starting pitcher for 11 million.
DVRed last night’s game and just finished watching it. Can’t get enough of watching Halladay pitch. As good as he was all game, the bottom of the 4th was exceptional. In a 1-0 game, stranding Reyes at 3rd after he led off with a triple was huge. After getting Pagan on a grounder, Halladay just threw one nasty pitch after another in dispatching Wright and Beltran, making them look silly. It was beautiful.
For all the hoopla & hyperventilating over the San Diegan hothouse flower, Cole Hamels (13-10, 3.61 ERA in 5 yr., 890.2 IP career) is many big change-ups from Babe Ruth, Lefty Grove, Whitey Ford or even John Candelaria:
Ruth 2.28 ERA 1,221.1 IP (primarily 5 years)
Ford 2.75 ERA 3,170.1 IP (16 years)
Grove 3.06 ERA 3, 940.2 IP (17 years)
Candelaria 3.33 ERA 2,525.2 IP (19 years)
At this point, Hamels projects as the current generation’s Don Mossi (11-9, 3.43, 12 years/1-time all-star), Jerry Reuss (13-11, 3.64, 22 years/2-time all-star), Ken Holtzman (14-12, 3.49, 15 years/2-time all-star) or John Smiley (13-11, 3.80, 12 years/2-time all-star).
B+ to C, depending on the year.
I didn’t say I didn’t think Cole was a very good pitcher. I didn’t say I didn’t want him on my team. I do and I do. Still, he needs to be better. He needs to morph into an ace. It is a subtle step. He isn’t far. It is the difference between stranding Reyes on 3rd with no outs and allowing him to score on a sac fly or bloop single. Get the key stikeouts.
At this point, Hamels projects as the current generation’s Don Mossi (11-9, 3.43, 12 years/1-time all-star), Jerry Reuss (13-11, 3.64, 22 years/2-time all-star), Ken Holtzman (14-12, 3.49, 15 years/2-time all-star) or John Smiley (13-11, 3.80, 12 years/2-time all-star). >>
Cole has executed at the games highest level, at the most clutch time – something those guys didn’t do to his level. I think that is what tantalizes many phillies fans. He still has a good 10 years left if he stays healthy, which doesn’t seem to be the concern it once was. If he can harness the last two months, and the last three months of 2008, and somehow put it together consistently, then he can elevate to the next level the players in modern history with which he is mentioned. I think he can be a career 2.8-3.2 ERA guy, 17-8 record over the next 6-8 years if he continues to mature. He definitely seems to have made strides mentally this year.
Big picture, on performance, “very good” is a stretch.
As he’s pitching lately, a bonafide near all-star. Gotta notch those wins.
Agree, he’s still got upside. His psyche is better adjusted this year to being a subordinate man on starting staff. Lee’s coming rattled his cage a bit in my opinion. Halladay’s arrival seems to have strengthened him, though I still feel he’s capable of shriveling when adversity next arrives. The body maturation and added zip to fastball has helped.
At this point, Hamels projects as the current generation’s Don Mossi (11-9, 3.43, 12 years/1-time all-star), Jerry Reuss (13-11, 3.64, 22 years/2-time all-star), Ken Holtzman (14-12, 3.49, 15 years/2-time all-star) or John Smiley (13-11, 3.80, 12 years/2-time all-star). >>
Of that group, only Mossi had barely pitched by age 26. The others had all accomplished enough that they were undoubtedly viewed as optimistically as Cole at a similar point in career. It’s not a bad group to match records with.
It’s not an ace group, but not a group you’d look at and think your facing a day in the park against.
So it’s a reasonable projection, and would make for a good career, but on the other hand, I look at John Tudor, who was bouncing along until age 31 when he finally broke out, and off a 10 shutout season, finished with an average career of 15-9, 3.12 ERA. I don’t see where Hamels can’t get closer to that level.
“Cole has executed at the game’s highest level, at the most clutch time – something those guys didn’t do to his level.”
Not so. Reality check:
Holtzman: 4 postseasons/7 series 6-4 2.30 ERA 13 G 70 IP 3-time WS Champ (OAK ’72, ’73, ’74)
Mossi: 1 postseason/1 series 0-0 0.00 ERA 3 G 2 GF 4 IP for ’54 111-win Tribe v. Yanks in Yanks’ sweep [can't improve on run prevention-perfection]
Reuss: 5 postseasons/7 series 2-8 3.59 ERA 11 G 62 IP 1-time WS Champ (LAD ’81)
Smiley 3 postseasons/4 series 0-2 6.32 ERA 5 G 15 IP [pfft]
Hamels 3 postseasons/7 series 5-3 3.86 ERA 10 G 60 IP 1-time WS Champ (PHI ’08)
An ironing out (and a cluttering up):
Don Mossi pitched vs. NY Giants, a team led by Mgr. Leo Durocher and including 23 yr. old CF Willie Mays (only 8 regular season SB!), SP Sal “The Barber” Maglie (notorious for “close shaves”) and former Game Of The Week storyteller Joe Garagiola, who was claimed off waivers from Cubs on 9/8 - in ’54 World Series, not the Yanks. But a sweep to Cleveland’s disappointment it was.
Bottom of 6th, Braves up 8-0 on Dodgers.
Like I said, its a shame Lincecum isn’t pitching Tuesday, because we’d kick his ass. I mean any team that can dominate RA Dickey would have no problem with TL. Seriously, not just because of today’s game, this Padre club is very good. We’ll have to be very resourceful to beat them in the upcoming games.
These teams with great young pitching get doubted all year, 69 Mets, maybe the 66 Orioles, definitely the 91 Braves, as examples, but they probably reach higher heights than not, or at least did in those samplings.
Buster Posey is 3-3 today. What a great year.
<<Into my inbox this week came the 2010 Cy Young Award ballot, and this season it comes with a twist — really, an improvement. Having learned a lesson from last year’s vote, the ballot has been expanded. Instead of voting on the top three candidates for the award, this season the 32 writers with a NL Cy Young Award ballot will list the top five choices. >>
That’s from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
What’s not from the Post-Dispatch is me wondering if any of the 32 writers might feel an urge to do a makeup vote for Wainright to make up for last year.
We’re comin’ into the final turn … Jimenez, strong on the rail by a neck on Wainwright; Halladay, half-length behind, Johnson’s up on his tail; now Hudson’s making a late move on the outside … it’s gonna be close!!!!!
Here are some Matt Gelb notes for tonight…
Here’s what you need to know about the Mets lineup: They have seven lefties tonight. Kendrick is pitching. As Charlie would say, not good. about 2 hours ago via UberTwitter
PHI at NYM: Rollins 6, Victorino 8, Polanco 5, Ibanez 7, Werth 9, Dobbs 3, Ruiz 2, Valdez 4, Kendrick 1 about 2 hours ago via UberTwitter
Chase Utley was 0 for 3 with an error at 2B in his second rehab game for single-A Clearwater. #Phillies about 3 hours ago via TweetDeck
Ubaldo took another step sideways to backwards today. He threw a decent enough game, although he didn’t get the win, but with the way some of the Cy contenders are going, it was another step back.
8IP, 10k, 3 ER, 10 hits. Tracey called on Huston Street to save it for him, but welcome to another in the never ending series of relievers who can’t always do it.
With an ERA now at 2.59, he probably needs to throw 10 complete game shut outs in his remaining 9 starts or so. That’s not a typo. No matter how it plays out, let no baseball observor forget the wonderful start this seemingly very likable young man had when you didn’t need a period between he and Bob Gisbson’s name.
More importantly, the Rox won, and are alive in the wild card at 5 games back. despite having like 3-4 clubs to pass.
Looking ahead a little, I wonder who the lefty out of the pen is tonight. We should see whoever it is because they are so overweight lefthanded.
I would think its Romero
I wonder if Kendrick, making 480,000 this year could get his pay up to 550,000 next year. He should finish with over 175 innings, and will have had 2 years of full seasons. He’s arb eligible in 2012, so kinda at the team’s mercy, but I’d guess they compromise at 525kish.
Wonder if the NYC subway system has any stops as intruiging as Susquehanna-Dauphin.
I’m glad Charlie at least gave KK the 7th. I wouldn’t look back on this change at all. He walked a hitter, and Francouer is a lot less potent against Durbin (0-14) than KK (over .400). Appears to be Charlie on top of things.
I wonder if Kendrick, making 480,000 this year could get his pay up to 550,000 next year. He should finish with over 175 innings, and will have had 2 years of full seasons. He’s arb eligible in 2012, so kinda at the team’s mercy, but I’d guess they compromise at 525kish.>>
I read somewhere about a month ago that he could possibly be super-2 eligible. He is obviously nowhere near Howard or Hamels, but I guess he has had a decent career. I have no idea where I got that info from, but remember reading it.
piece of cake. Chocolate Junior, if you’e taking a tastybreak with tastykake.
never did understand rule 5, super 2, or things of that nature. Assumed it was straight negotiation since he’s not arb eligible for a year.
I seriously doubt they have interest in a multi year, but who knows.
I guess we’re down to DB and Bastardo as cuts when Chase and RyHo come back. Guess bastardo kinda did himself in last week against LA, but he was insurance against JC scrrewing up, which I guess they think will pass. Like to see DB get one more crack at drilling one before he leaves us for a couple weeks.
Takahasi backwards is Isahakat.That’s pronounced Iashakat. I think.
If they’d show Takahashi’s face, I’d confirm that its not Jesse Orosco 30 pounds lighter.
Mark that one down, scorekeepers at home. Familiar prognosticator Ken Bland has written off or at least cast as serious underdog in Cy Young consideration 17-3 2.59 ERA Ubaldo Jiminez on August 15. The Columbia School Of Journalism in unison asks, “Why?” Major league hitters who have faced him say “What?!”
Alright, as always, time to get serious. I’m predicting a fairly smooth 9th.
I just think Ubaldo has fallen clearly behind Doc and Wainright, has some serious, or certainly semi serious catching up to do, and expect Doc and Wainright to finish strong. He might even be behind Hudson at this point.
see ya Ike
lookin very, very good
I think Lidge could cure cancer sometimes. Not as always necessarily, but sometimes.
hmm, quiet win.
can’t even consider the Mets rivals anymore. they’re so insipid.
cmon G-Men.
A dispassionate voter would give pause to that line of thinking. But, hey, what are fans for? Ubaldo’s 17-3 for a 60-56 club is a ’72 Carlton direction (27-10 of 59-97). With 40-plus games left (at least 8 starts for those in the running), the Cy Young is wide open for the taking in my opinion.
Ubaldo’s winning percentage versus team record is certainly a plus. But his half run plus higher per inning is pretty significant, and he’s like 5th in ERA.
The thing I wonder is when you say its wide open, does that mean you don’t even think there’s a favorite, or leader at this point? If you had a vote and the season ended today, would you vote for Ubaldo?
I’d have to really look at Wainright’s record closely, but off 20-30 more innings, and the second best ERA in the League, I’d lean toward Doc if I had to vote. Those extra innings, and favorable ERA look petty strong to me.
Voters didn’t fall for the best record last year when they voted for Zack Greinke. His 2009 line:
16-8, 2.16, 6 CG, 3SHO, 229.1 IP, 242 SO, 51 BB
Doc’s 2010 line so far:
15-8, 2.24, 8 CG, 3 SHO, 193 IP, 175 SO, 22 BB, 1.01 WHIP
I forgot to include Greinke’s 2009 WHIP which was 1.073
If I had to vote today, it’d be for Wainwright:
17-6, 1.99, 5CG, 2 SHO, 176.1 IP, 158 SO, 42 BB, 0.970 WHIP
Those are ridiculous numbers.
I’m by no means opposed to voting for Wainright. But I wouldn’t base a vote on season totals without looking at game logs. But it’s certainly close between Wainright and Doc at a minmum. As ballots are completed immediately after the regular season, I’m sure the competition will come down to the end. Neither the Braves nor Phillies appear likely to shake one another, nor the Cards or Reds. As great a start as he got off to, it just looks like Ubaldo has a terrific amount of catching up to do, but I just don’t put a premium on his impressive percentage of his team wins. Out of 32 voters, perhaps some will.
When Steve Carlton won the Cy in 1972, making 65,000 dollars in salary, it doesn’t seem so much that he was a dominant pitcher compared to the rest of his team measured by his high percentage win total, it was that he was flat out the best pitcher in the League in a number of categories, and I would think that’s primarily what got him votes. Wins (27), ERA (1.97), Games started (41), Complete Games (30), Innings (346), Ks (257). He had a sub 1 WHIP, which wasn’t best, but part of the reason was he allowed a league high 257 hits. That’s still a great ratio on the 346 innings.
Using Tony’s season to date lines for Doc and AW, and adding Lefty’s full year numbers, here’s how they look
Doc 15-8, 2.24, 8 CG, 3 SHO, 193 IP, 175 SO, 22 BB, 1.01 WHIP
AW 17-6, 1.99, 5CG, 2 SHO, 176.1 IP, 158 SO, 42 BB, 0.970 WHIP
Lefty 27-10, 1.97, 30 CG, 8 SHO, 346 IP, 310 SO, 87 BB, 0.993 WHIP
Carlton finished 5th in the MVP, and made 165,000 the next year.
10-5 through the first 15 of the final 60 games – need to get to 37 wins. We need to go 27-18 rest of way to assure a playoff spot.
Halladay (9-3) (3-0)
Hamels (8-4) (1-2)
Oswalt (8-4 (2-1)
Blanton (6-6) (2-1)
Kendrick (6-6) (2-1)
Somehow wining 2 of 3 in NY against the Mutts feels like a letdown. The Mutts are horrible and missed a great opp to sweep with the quality Hamels start. 18-5, mostly without Howard, Utley, and Victorino – pretty darn incredible.
Brad Lidge is 16 for 20 in save opps this year. That 80 percent save rate is right there with the best in the NL and right there with baseball geeks suppossed sout-after rate for the best closers in baseball (85%). 85% and you supposedly have a great closer. So it appears we have a very good closer right now. We will see if it can continue. I think it will.
San Fran. I can never get a good feel as to how we will play against these guys. They seem to have out number a bit. I will say we win 2 of 3 and hope….Blanton, Oswalt and Hamels. It would be nice to win the first game of a series once, but doesn’t look good with Blanton up (although somehow we are 2-1 in his last 3 starts – kinda miraclulous wins though). Gotta think the Braves win tonight and at least 2 of 3 against the Nats and likely sweep. So we will enter Tuesday 2.5 games back and hope to come out Thursday night the same.
Jiminez, catching up to do? He was clockwork lights outs (13-1, including no-hitter) until mid-July (!), when 2 poor, consecutive away game performances (vs. Marlins & Phils) skewed the big picture via ERA warp. Otherwise he’s been great. 163.1 IP, 118 hits impresses most favorably. I’d say the 4 others had a ways to climb to match his 3 1/2 months of excellence, which, to their credit, they, to varying degrees, have.
Halladay’s sagging, small-shouldered 2-4 June has to remembered and factored. Remember those days when the locals stopped calling him “Doc” and the Lee mourners wailed again, thrashing wildly in pain? Of course, the perfecto feathered Halladay’s nest for award discussion time.
My voting today, with 8 or 9 starts to go for each contestant:
1) Jiminez 2) Wainwright 3A) Halladay 3B) Hudson 4) Johnson.
Will be a PHOTO FINISH.
You don’t get sub-2.00 ERA’s and sub-1.00 WHIP’s too often, maybe once every few years. If Wainwright can keep both up, he’s a shoo in for the CY.
As for Jimenez, it’s too bad CY’s aren’t given out in July for him. He won’t finish higher than 3rd in voting. It’s AW and Doc to the wire. Doc needs to lower his ERA as much as possible while racking up W’s and hope AW’s ERA and WHIP go above the said boundaries.
If season ended today, I would think Wainwright would get 80-90% of the 1st place votes, Doc coming in 2nd.
AW is 1st in W, ERA, and WHIP, 3rd in IP and K’s.
If Wainwright holds (you gotta think he won’t, give up 2 runs and your ERA goes up), but if he does, he’ll be the 17th pitcher since 1920 to go for 240 IP, 20 W, sub-2 ERA, sub-1 WHIP. 10 of the current 16 happened between 1963-1972, including 4 in 1968 and 3 in 1971.
I’m not as quick to dismiss a 26 yr old howitzer arm aiming for wild card placement. How do you know what’s to come in the next month-and-a-half? Jiminez’ pre-’10 history isn’t in his favor, but his talent is.
And some say Johnson’s got the best stuff of all.
jjg: re : ‘and the Lee mourners wailed again, thrashing wildly in pain? ‘
actually that was all you.
jkay, Today’s thread waits for your intelligence.
My point in the original thought was Ubaldo has dropped to where he has a lot of catching up to do. I don’t see his slate as the dominant one it was at 15-1, around the break. Is it possible he finishes superbly? Sure, he has a great arm, and is young. But even his last 4 starts have been great minus, and others are still sparkling. Doc has definitely had a few non Cy level starts in there, no question, but man, can Doc dominate, and Ubaldo hasn’t done it in a while. I know its all part of the time frame, but Doc seems closer to consistent, and Ubaldo has to be held accountable for the bad starts, few as they were. Hudson, in particular (this is memory, so don’t kill me, but I’m pretty sure of it) has really picked it up.
I’m positive that whoever gets first place votes is deserving, be it Hudson or Josh Johnson, too. It’s a great field, and will no doubt be a great finish. Good discussion, my final thought on the subject.
http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=mlb/teams//players.aspx?id=10964,pos=P,team=013,T=1
jjg: my point being – Halladay’s horrid june =
@CIN – L – 8IP, 4ER.
TOR – W – 7IP, 0ER.
MIN – L – 8IP, 4ER
@NYY – L – 6IP, 6ER
FLA – L – 8IP, 1ER
SD – W – 7IP, 2ER
take out the uncharacteristic Yankee game out, you basically have a starter averaging 7.2 IP and 2.2ER. sagging? i doubt the average malcontent fan would have had much to say after any of those games. point is; he stopped winning games, which if you have the stats for the lineup’s production (runs scored, BA et al) in June <slump-erific> you would easily blame on the latter party. I dont have the pulse of the fanbase in my statbook and I dont visit the airwaves (for fear of Eskin & Co.) but I doubt anyone was grumbling bout Doc. was more of a matter of; when are we gonna get a win? Lee mourners have always remained consistent; ‘wow it’d be awesome to still have him in addition to Doc’ but not ‘if he was here instead of…..’
even on this blog, Lee didnt really come up till trade rumors of RAJ going after a starter came flying.
was it necessary to elaborate on all this?
would have preferred you to just think of it as a snarky comment.
have nothing to add to the Cy Young debate.
mum.
I don’t get this Cy Young discussion. As far as I see it it is still a tossup between Halladay, Wainright, Jimenez, Hudson, and johnson. They still have 9 starts each, at least. What separates all 5 of them is very little at this point. While Johnson is in the shadows if he goes 7-2 and points up some crazy 1.5 ERA over that period I think even he is right in it. Bottom line to me is they are all sitting at the starting line about even. The one standout of these guys the rest of the way, then it is their award. If 2-3 know the light out then it is a tossup vote with 2-3 worthy winners. The only guy that has eliminated himself with recent play in my mind is Lincicum. He would probably need 3-4 complete game shutouts just to get back in the discussion.
But even [Jiminez's] last 4 starts have been great minus, and others are still sparkling.
Another baloney sandwich.
Jiminez 3-1 29 IP 22 H 6 ER 10 BB 33 K 0 HR
Wainwright 3-1 28 IP 16 H 7 ER 2 BB 22 K 1 HR
Johnson 1-3 24.1 IP 30 H 16 ER 9 BB 15 K 0 HR
Hudson 4-0 29.2 IP 19 H 2 ER 6 BB 22 K 0 HR
Halladay 4-0 31 IP 24 H 7 ER 2 BB 35 K 1 HR
*w-l numbers indicate TEAM record during span
But never let the facts get in the way of a good distortion.
might end up another close call like Timmy, Wainright & Carpenter of last year, winner might just be the one with the most edge, being that peripheral stats cant call it automatically.
clearly it will be an adventure with Hudson crashing the party real strong, real late.
if Wainright keeps the wins up and the WHIP down, he’ll win for sure but somehow i dont think that’ll happen, even with that division.
suffice to say that there will be a lot of candidates feeling robbed at the end of the day.
suffice to say that there will be a lot of candidates feeling robbed at the end of the day.>>
I don’t think so, as long as they are reading all of jjg’s posts, everything will be very obvious…:)
Looks like that KRod situation is getting messier. He appears to be out for the year with a ligament tear that will require surgery, and the Mets may try to void his deal. And the hits just keep on comin.
If you feel like comparing your opinion to an SI writer, Cliff Corcharan, knock yourself out. He’s got AW, Doc, Hudson and Ubaldo as the top
4.
link: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/cliff_corcoran/08/16/cy.young/index.html
Dodgers lead, 1-0, B2.
Looks like Chase was 1-4 in the opener of the Thrashers doubledip tonight. Made an error on a missed catch, whatever that means.
Chase tripled first at bat, game 2. Bet that felt gooooood.
RickHarmon56 #Phillies Utley is the DH in Game 2 for #Threshers he said he’s leaving stadium at 9 to catch flight to Philly. 37 minutes ago via web Retweeted by Threshers and 5 others
Chance Ruffin signed with the Detroit Tigers for $1.15 million… >>
pretty sure that’s Bruce’s son. Wonder what Moyer’s kid decided, or wants to do.
Can’t wait to see who pitches the 9th for the Dodgers, up 3-1. Hope its Broxton, maybe Joe inverted closers tonight with 2 Brave lefties up in 8th using HSK.
ESPM Classic getting future programming out of Texas-TB tonight. Cliff-Price, neither able to hold leads.
Looks like that KRod situation is getting messier. He appears to be out for the year with a ligament tear that will require surgery, and the Mets may try to void his deal. And the hits just keep on comin.>>
Phils totally destroyed that franchise in 2007-2008. May take 10 years to recover. Joe Morgan says every game the Phils play them that the Phils have swagger and the Mets don’t. HE says they are more “quiet” – trying to be a kind as possible. the reality is we sucked the life right out of them and they never got it back. The progression of individual players like Wright and Reyes never occurred and it seems like the crawled in a shell and never came out. They may need to just blow it up.
Braves look like losers tonight. 1.5 games out. We gained a 0.5 game but in reality we gained 1 game because if the braves won we would be 2.5 games out.
Playboy Channel is reporting Boras and Rizzo just about done with foreplay.
Thank you, Mr. Kwo.
Cliff Lee – 30.1 innings, 15ER in last 4 starts. Maybe time to quiet the hysteria a bit. I would love to have him mind you but it is possible all three of our top starters could be as good as Lee the rest of the way.
Geez, come-on Dodgers, wrap it up.
Hmmm, Dotel and Hinske, and in need of a double play. Wonder what the chances are.
Kuo has given up 0 runs in 36 of his 39 appearances this year (92.3%) and more than 1 run only once.
yet, here he is, trying to blow the game.
Resourceful South, I guess.
I would not want to be on the plane to Denver with the Dodgers.
impressive work by braves
All I can tell you is that there’s more evidence for those insistent that it takes a closer’s mentality to shut it down. Kuo does have 4 saves this yearm 5 career. I don’t know if that’s relavant. Then you bring Dotel in who saves games left and right, and that guy had zero command.
Big loss.
For the Braves, the matchup with the Cardinals will be key, with the exception of the two series matchups with the Phils. The Braves are 0-4 against the Cardinals in the overall matchup this season. They have a four game series with the Cardinals, but in Turner Field. Who knows?
Ya know what? I don’t want to take one ounce of credit from the braves, but its pretty obvious after this week against us and the Braves, the Dodgers really suck. I won’t say they quit, but I can’t believe there is anything close to a good atmosphere on that team. Kemp’s a mess, Manny is probably taking being Manny to a new level, Torre absolutely hates Broxton, and Andre Ethier deserves a lot better. Man, do they suck. I can just imagine how wed be screaming if that was our pen.
KB: <whole-heartedly> D’accord.
Cliff Lee – 30.1 innings, 15ER in last 4 starts. Maybe time to quiet the hysteria a bit.>>
He ran a similar stretch here last year around early September. He was 5-0 here and finished 9-4. The 5-0 carried an 0.82 ERA, same as Doc was in his first 5 starts here. If you remember, there was public debate over who should start Game 1 against……………………..geez, was it the Rox, yeah. Cole or Cliff. Anyway, its more prayer than likely that he doesn’t pitch well come crunch time.
KB: <whole-heartedly> D’accord.
Need that in English, or what are you in accord with?
>> was just about to post something very similar to # 158, so in concession d’accord
lost in the shuffle here is the inevitable race for the best record. with each division being tightly contested by at least 2 teams. its clear that;
- Reds and Cards will fight to the bitter end
- Padres are a force but Giants are not letting up
-Braves wont fade yet Phillies keep coming.
average division lead for the last 4 wks has been 3G or less with shuffling in the Central Division.
home field advantage in the WS? worth breaking a leg for. i believe the race has started already. scoreboard watching for the Braves is cool, but I’d also keep tabs on SD, STL. am sure Phillies (after Yankee regalia) are thinking the same. now its should just be about winning as many games as possible. division lead is necessary but gotta have foresight too; all 6 teams have a pretty good shot at it.
Pads 69-47
Braves 69-49
Reds 67 – 51
Giants 67-52
Phillies 66-51
Cards 65-51
cant remember the last time I’ve seen it this close in late August. usually one clear front runner cruising (Mets in 06, D-Backs 07, Cubs 08).
Looks like this Bryce Harper thing is going down to the wire. Strasburg signed 77 seconds before the deadline last year. Yes, at 11:58:43 pm.
While we are focused on what the Phils need to do to get to the playoffs, it is important to remember that they only need to do enough to get in. they only need to do better than their closest competition. that means they could conceivably just play OK, relative to their talent, and make the post-season. With their top 3 aces and Utley back and Howard nearly back, bullpen semi- issues and all, they are clearly the most talented team in the NL. They won’t be playing the last 45 games in a vacuum. Here is a look at the closest competition schedule
Games left – Home/Away
Phils:
26/19
Braves:
23/21
Reds:
19/25
Giants:
22/22
Cards:
26/19
Kinda snuck up on me how good the Phils have become at home. A 27-18 record the rest of the way looks somewhat more doable with that home/away split. To break it down a bit more, 20 of the 26 games left at home are against sub 500 teams. The other 6 are the Braves and Giants. 14-6 against the lousy teams and 3-3 against the good teams (both conservative estimates) gives us 17-9. That means we get to the target of 93 wins with a 10-9 road record (and 9 of the 19 games are against the Mets/Fish/Nats). Go 6-3 against the bad teams and 4-6 against the good teams and we get there. Again, pretty conservative vision as the team has been notorious road warriors. Long and short of it is we have a relatively easy road ahead. Like past years, beat up on the bad teams. We don’t need to sweep the Giants, Braves, and Padres, etc. Looking more like 95-97 wins not out of the question.
Reds are not going to make it…period. Tough home/away splits and alot of the away games are out west. They start a 10 game west coast road trip and then have to travel back to the west coast again, including 4 in Colorado and three in SD in mid-September. And three in St L early in September. Young team. 1-2 years away.
As hard as the SD schedule is, its mirror opposite is the Cards. They seem to be a shoe-in for the division and may not need 90 wins. Good home/away splits and their 10-15 tough games (Cincy, SD, Colo) are all home. After analyzing the Cards and reds schedule you can get more of a feeling as to why the reds have been hanging around.
Giants are interesting. They have 6 against SD but not an overly difficult schedule otherwise. I like their pickup of Jose Guillen for the offense. But will Lincecum get it back?
One other possibility is San Diego falls apart. Seems unlikely but they are only 3.5 games from being out of the playoffs and they have 22/23 the rest of the way and a brutal schedule – several long road trip against quality competition. Again, no vets of playoff races to lean on in September.
Looks to me like the Phils and Cards are the only definites to be in. San Fran could grab the WC at expense of Braves. IMHO the likely scenarios are:
Most probable:
Div winners: Phils, Cards, Pades WC: Braves
Second most probable:
Div winners: Phils, Cards, San fran WC: Braves
Third most probable:
Div winners: Phils, Cards, Pades WC: San Fran
Anyway, its more prayer than likely that he doesn’t pitch well come crunch time.>>
Let’s just see it play out the rest of the way. I am not saying he won’t repeat last year but one year does not a career make. Remember last year was the first time he did what he did.
Braves home record 41-16
Cards home record 39-20
other than those two home field adv. through LCS is not that important. all 6 teams are built to win on the road, some moreso than others.
not only that but unlike football and the NBA, home field is not much of a factor in the playoffs as I would like to think.
with that in mind; #162 kinda makes no sense.
** jkay subscribes to the Huffpost Complete Guide to Blogging’s principle of; ‘voice your first thought’. as a result, a plethora of odd bits and mistakes flow. pls. bear with the author.
in an unrelated note: Harper for $10M !@ - they try hard but no one really cares about the MLB draft.
cant remember the last time I’ve seen it this close in late August. usually one clear front runner cruising (Mets in 06, D-Backs 07, Cubs 08).>>
jkay,
You spemt alittle time detailing how important home field edge is, and then proceed to list 3 clubs that never saw the World Series that had it to that point. The first of which played in a year that a very average, but fundamentally sound Cardinal club got hot at the right time, the 2nd of which ran into a momentum driven Colorado buzzsaw that when they lost their momo got blitzed by Boston, and a third team that was the best in the League any way you looked at it, but couldn’t buy a hit against a right place right time Dodger staff, capitalizing on righty righty matchups that weren’t there aginst their next opponent, the Phils.
You want to play for home field, no question. It helps your percentages, and more often than not, this is a game of percentages. But the playoffs are a paradoxical combination of right match, hot, and luck. Have a parade, and joyous fans and media might speculate on where a club ranks historically, but the hard core truth is that if you win the last game, there were probably 2-4 of 8 playoff clubs that were a heartbeat here, a heartbeat there of crushing your winter.
Your best strategy is to make sure as best you can that your rotation is set, players are not overplayed, and you’re paid in full to the luck gods. Never, ever confuse luck with greatness in the fall.
I doubt I said one thing in there that you didn’t know already. But it is the stuff champions are made of more than home field advantage, which isn’t underrated, but hardly a lock indicator. Maybe it’s a modest difference of opinion on the importance of home field.
San Francisco starters haven’t won any of the last dozen games. They’ve gone 0-7 while the bullpen went 5-0 in that stretch. This is the longest stretch this season that the Giants have gone without a starter earning a win and the longest such stretch since San Francisco starters went 16 games without a win from Sept. 7-23, 2007
Roy Oswalt today makes his fourth start against the Giants this season. They won the first three matchups – with Tim Lincecum getting the win each time – when Oswalt was with Houston. He has allowed seven runs in 20 innings against S.F.
Hard throwing Giants closer Brian Wilson throws hard. 99 mph. Wilson’s the one that gave up the 3 rbi double to Werth in a game I forget why, but the Phils had little business wining until Werth’s hit sparked one of the few first half of the season comebacks. Leastwise for sure after The Slump started. That avoided a Phils sweep.
You don’t read much critcism of the way Charlie runs a game. That’s not say he’s perfect, or even perceived that way, but the Giants Bruce Bochy has picked up some criticsm from SF media during the season. Things like ill timed hit and runs, little ball related strategies more than pitching decisions.
We’ll see if any of that surfaces.
Only 1 of the 3 games shows an edge to San Fran in starting pitching. A Phils win against Matt Cain in that matchup figures to come from a different source than starting pitching superiority.
Looks to me like the Giants newest power source, Jose Guillen will get his share of at bats this series. He’ll paly RF 4-5 days a week according to Bruce Bochy.
If it’s any sort of measuring stick, the Phils beat the Dodgers 2 of 3. The Braves beat them 3 of 4. The Braves beat the Giants 3 of 4. The Phils will now try to at least match that off having lost a minimum of the last 2 series
to a team with the good sense not to wear names on the back of their jerseys.
Players who played for Philly and San Fransisco now include Wilt Chamberlain, Brian Westbrook, Pat Burrell. Burrell is gonna get a very warm greeting at the Bank. Being as he’s in the middle of one of his clutch streaks, or maybe I should just say in since middle is a rear view mirrir deal, you wonder if it might not make him feel too comfortable for the Phils good. But it is nice that his story has a chance again for a happier ending than the Tampa chapter.
sources: here, there, and everywhere
Additional SF/PHI: Gary Matthews, Garry Maddox, Steve Carlton, Randy Lerch, Steve Bedrosian, Mark Davis, Charlie Garner, Terrell Owens, Bill Romanowski, Jeff Kemp, Clyde Lee, World B. Free …
Mike Krukow?
Yes, and Alvin Dark, Joe Morgan, George Mira, Charle Young, Max Runager and Donyell Marshall …
… 3 starters on ’62 pennant-winning Giants made late career appearances in Phillies uniform as pinch-hitters - LF Harvey Kuenn, 2b Chuck Hiller and ss Jose Pagan. And Jack Sanford, hard-throwing righthanded starting pitcher (24-7) for same team was NL ROY for Phils in ’57.
And Jack Sanford, hard-throwing righthanded starting pitcher (24-7) for same team was NL ROY for Phils in ‘57.>>
I was fairly sure he had been ROY with Phils in 57. He shut them down during the 23 game streak at least once and in reviewing it, tried to recall if it was true.
If he’s not mentioned above, yeah, he’s not Manute Bol.
Funny that Hiller played here. 62 Giants were the 1st sports team I cried over their losing. 62 series versus Yanks. And I’m not questioning it, but for the life of me, much as I remember that late season interest, I don’t remember Hiller playing here. Pagan, I do.
Just for fun Maybe Kueen?….
Hiller 2B
Pagan SS
Willie CF
Willie 1B
Felipe LF
Davenport 3B (later Hart)
Bailey C
well, I’m lost on the RF, I’m sure I’ll recognize it.
Ed Bailey also played for Cincy and maybe the Phils?
Not bad. Kuenn was LF, Felipe RF, Tom Haller C (split job w/veteran Bailey) and Orlando “Baby Bull” Cepada, after monster 46 & 142 ’61, was your 1B. McCovey, on his way up, played 57 games in outfield, 17 at 1B.
Catchers Ed Bailey, Johnny Edwards, Del Crandall, Smoky Burgess, Moe Thacker and Jesse Gonder didn’t play here but meant-wells Jimmie Coker, Choo Choo Coleman, Sammy White, Bob Oldis, Bob Uecker, and Jimmie Schaeffer did.
Well, yeah, Cepada. Am embarrassment to have forgotten him. I’d have thought McCovey played more by then. I never would have remembered Choo Choo here, nor Sammy White, who I remember with Boston only because I remember his baseball card.
I’d have been shocked if Ed Bailey played here. I realized that after I hit the send button. Giants and Reds I remember, but that’s all.
Oh, ya know why I thought McCovey played more? Has to be because of Ralph Bleeping Terry. he’s the one that smashed that liner to Richardson. Has to be why. Last batter, clutch spot, your memory tends to think the guy played a lot. Maybe it was that year, 62 that McC had some awesome numbers, .344 average or so and was ROY. had to be, that guy wasn’t a 74 game player twice, leastwise at that end of his wonderful career. Mays, McCovey and Cepada. Wow.