J.C. Romero Starts Rehab Work Tonight

Tonight J.C. Romero will begin his rehab assignment with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Romero currently has 14 games left on his suspension and is eligible to start pitching in the minor leagues under the suspension rules. Pitchers suspended for more than 26 games can appear in minor league games starting 16 days before the suspension is lifted.

Romero will get the start tonight and you can figure he will go for an inning or two.

Considering the Phillies’ pitching struggles so far, it would be key if Romero can have a solid outing tonight to put some concerns to rest.

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Raul Ibanez vs. Pat… Pat… What Was That Guy’s Name Again?

I was wrong.  I was so very wrong.  I want to apologize for my mistake.

When word started to spread that the Phillies had acquired Raul Ibanez I read all the on-line debates that started on message boards everywhere. Many fans were not happy with the signing of Ibanez, and the subsequent departure of fan-favorite Pat Burrell that the signing signaled.  Some said that the lineup was too lefty heavy now. 

Others said that Pat Burrell was a better left fielder than Ibanez.  Fans argued that Pat was slow, but so was Raul. Many also argued that Raul would never match Pat’s power numbers.

My take on this?  During the offseason I argued that it was a good signing and would give the Phillies lineup a slight upgrade and a little more consistency.

And I was wrong.

It was not a good signing. It was a fantastic signing! Ibanez has far exceeded my expectations.

All the complaints that fans had in the offseason have faded away.

The lineup is not too lefty heavy. Phillie faithful were worried that Charlie Manuel would bat Utley, Howard, and Ibanez one right after the other. This would give opposing teams the chance to match up lefties easily against the heart of the lineup in the late innings.  Manuel only made that mistake in the opening series of the season.

Since then most games have seen Werth batting fifth and Ibanez hitting sixth. Ibanez has also batted third on days Utley had off.

I almost laughed out loud when I heard people trying to argue the merits of Pat Burrell in left field versus Raul Ibanez. They were quick to point out Pat’s fielding percentage of .991 in 2008.  Raul sported a .984 fielding percentage last season.

Just comparing the fielding percentage was a case of finding a statistic that superficially supports your argument. When you look closer at the fielding statistics you will also notice that Ibanez had 302 put outs compared to Burrell’s 204 in 2008. That points out two things. 

First, Ibanez was in the field more than Burrell. 

Burrell was consistently pulled out of games in the late innings in favor of a better defensive player. Second, did the Mariners just have a lot more balls hit to left field than the Phillies or was Ibanez simply getting to more balls than Burrell?  I would say the latter.

This thought has played out already early in the year.  Time and time again we have seen Ibanez make some great plays in the field and get to balls that we could only have dreamt of Burrell reaching. 

While it’s true that Pat didn’t make many errors in the field, with his concrete-embedded feet he also didn’t get to many balls outside of a 15-foot radius from his position.

As far as on the basebaths, Ibanez earns the check here, too. Burrell had zero stolen bases in ‘05, ‘06, ‘07, and ‘08. Ibanez has four already this year. Stolen bases do not tell the whole story.  Ibanez is by no means a speedster on the base paths. 

However, there is one thing he does really well that will never show up in a boxscore.  He can go from first to third on a single. Burrell’s only hope of making it from first to third was during a home-run trot.

One place that Burrell enthusiasts thought for sure they had the argument in the bag was in the power department.  Burrell hit 33 home-runs in 2007 and 30 in 2008.  Ibanez had only ever topped 30 one time in his career. That came back in 2006.

Ibanez never had the opportunity to play in a home-run friendly field like Citizen’s Bank Park. He has hit 13 out of the park already this season. Eight of those have come at home. It seems likely that he will equal Pat’s 30 from last season and maybe even surpass that number. 

He is also batting .357, has a .425 on base percentage, and has a ridiculous .714 slugging percentage.

The numbers don’t say it all though. This season Ibanez has been the clutch hitter the Phillies were missing in some of their long offensive droughts last season. As I watch the Phillies this year, there is nobody on the team I would rather see coming to the plate with runners on base in the late innings than Raul Ibanez.

Not only that, but when the Phillies are behind, he consistently seems to get on base late in games when the Phillies most need base runners. He just seems to always come through when the Phillies need him the most.

None of us fans wanted to see Pat Burrell leave Philadelphia.  He will always have a special place with fans for all the time he spent here and for being a part of the magical 2008 World Series Champions. 

However, the performance of Raul Ibanez on the field is making the slight pain many fans felt when Burrell was let go fade away a little more with each passing game.

 

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Cole Hamels Looks To Continue Dominant Form, Raul Ibanez Big Weekend

Cole Hamels might be looking forward to tomorrow’s matchup against the Cincinnati Reds more so than his last start at home with the Dodgers where he threw seven good innings and whiffed nine hitters donning Dodger blue.

Why?

Last season, ‘Hollywood’ Hamels absolutely dominated the Reds, going a perfect 2-0 with a staggering 0.56 ERA and allowing only one run in over 16 innings. The only difference this time around is the Reds are a better team this year, so far.

The Reds are 20-17 and only three games out of first place in the Central. But, on the other foot, the defending world champs just came off of a four-game weekend sweep of the league’s professional AAA ball-club the Washington Nationals.

To defend that comment, the point is the Phillies swept a team they were supposed to beat.

The Phils offense during these last four games were consistent and clutch for perhaps the first time all season, scoring 33 runs in four games, collecting a stellar 49 hits.

The pitching however, was once again average at best. Allowing 22 runs to a terrible Washington Nationals squad who could barely put 22 fans of their own in their ballpark.

The Phils need another good quality start from the ace tomorrow as they embark on on an important three-game series in Cincy. Philadelphia is only a half game back of the division leading Mets, who begin a three-game series out in Los Angeles with the Dodgers.

RAAAAUUULLL and Burrell who?

For those who questioned the age or the potential mistake of signing left-fielder Raul Ibanez, they are definitely hiding in a closet somewhere far away now. Ibanez clubbed three homer runs while driving in nine over the weekend, adding to his already unbelievable stat sheet so far this season.

Ibanez’s profile now looks like this: .357-13HR-35RBI-.425OBP. Although we are only 36 games in to the season, Ibanez outside of San Diego’s Adrian Gonzalez is your NL MVP so far.

Pat Burrell, the all-of-sudden lovable son when he was on his way out of here after the World Series victory, was just placed on the 15-day-DL with a stiff neck.

Through 30 games this season that Burrell has played in, his line looks like this: .250-1HR-17RBI-.349OBP. Now, they look all to familiar besides the one dinger.

Basically, maybe a few times this season when Raul makes his jog to left-field, a few can feel obligated to yell, “Burrell who?”

Poll Results: How Long Until Jimmy Rollins Turns it Around?

The readers have voted, and according to you, Jimmy Rollins will break out of his rut by the end of May.

When tabulating the votes, 67 percent of you said Rollins will get his bat on track by the end of May. Some are believing that the All-Star Break is the target date, with 22 percent of the votes. The remaining 11 percent are a bit more pessimistic about Rollins’ offense, believing that 2010 will be the start of the new Rollins.

Not one vote was cast for this past weekend. Of course, it is too early to declare this past weekend as Rollins’ resurgence, but he did have three straight games with multiple hits and scored five runs. He also raised his batting average to .222. He is hitting .239 for the month of May, in which he predicted he would hit .400.

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Nick Kappel’s Fantasy Focus: What’s Wrong with Jimmy Rollins?

Several top sluggers have struggled through the first month and a half of the season.

Grady Sizemore is batting .220 but has seven bombs and six steals. Mark Teixeira is batting a paltry .238 in Yankee pinstripes but remains on pace for 39 HRs. Lance Berkman has battled just to stay above the Mendoza line despite blasting eight dingers thus far.

Jimmy Rollins, on the other hand, is batting just .216 with only two long balls and three steals, putting many fantasy managers in a tough position.

What do you do if you own Philadelphia’s second round pick in 1996?

There are two sides to this story.

The first side, which we’ll call the pessimistic side, would make the argument that Rollins’ 2006 and 2007 campaigns were a fluke, based on his previous career averages from 2001 to 2005.

	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG
2006	127	25	83	36	.277
2007	139	30	94	41	.296
‘01-’05 AVG	100	12	61	34	.273

 

Teammate Ryan Howard’s first full season in the majors did not come until 2006, the year Rollins found his power stroke. Furthermore, J-Roll’s career .331 OBP suggests he is not a true power hitter.

Still not convinced?

Baseball statistician Bill James suggests a player’s best years come between the ages of 25 and 29. Rollins’ 2006 and 2007 seasons came at the ages of 27 and 28, respectively. He turned 30 last November.

So is it all downhill from here?

The optimistic side would argue against it.

Rollins’ breakout season actually came in 2004, when he hit .289 (opposed to his .261 batting clip in his previous three seasons). The Phillies’ shortstop also cut his strikeout per at-bat rate of 17 percent in his previous three seasons to just 11 percent in 2004, further proving his progression as a young hitter.

Rollins’ keen eye prevailed again in 2005, when he cut his strikeout rate to 10 percent.

Where am I going with this?

My point is that it’s more difficult to argue that four seasons are a fluke, compared to just two. Based on Rollins’ 2004 and 2005 numbers, 2006 and 2007 were no fluke.

Rollins’ slow start this season can be attributed to his current .236 BABIP. Based on his career mark of .299, it’s safe to say his average will go up.

Furthermore, Rollins’ career stats by month show that he gets progressively better over the course of the season:

• April: .265
• May: .267
• June: .273
• July: .276
• August: .277
• September: .293

September has been his best month historically. During the last month of the regular season, Rollins has set career monthly highs in runs, doubles, triples, home runs, runs batted in, steals, average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.

This is important, because it shows that Rollins peaks during the fantasy baseball playoffs, when you need your star players the most.

If you own Rollins, hold on to him. Another 30/30 season might be too much to expect, but keep this in mind: Over the last four seasons (including his injury-shortened 2008 campaign), Rollins has averaged 114 runs, 20 HRs, 41 steals, and a .285 batting average, a stat line that was topped by only one player in 2008: Hanley Ramirez.

PACE represents the player’s 162-game pace based on their current stats. PROJ represents what I project the player’s stat line will be at the end of the season. These numbers are based on games played before Sunday, May 17.

	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG
PACE	100	10	57	14	.216
PROJ	115	18	75	40	.280

 

Original Article: Baseball Reflections

Poll: How many Philadelphia Phillies are All-Stars?

This week’s poll question is an interesting one. With the All-Star ballots out in the stadiums and voting online well underway, how many Phillies will make the All-Star team?

There are the usual candidates like Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, as well as some surprise candidates, like Raul Ibanez and Jayson Werth. Will Cole Hamels make his first All-Star appearance?

The Phillies may have the edge in getting an extra player (or two) on the roster, with Charlie Manuel heading the National League team, a perk (obligation) of representing the league in the World Series.

Your choices are anywhere between one (every team is represented so one is the bare minimum) and five (or more). Go ahead and cast your vote and then leave a comment with your guesses as to who will make it to St. Louis.

Here’s the catch: Manuel does not count, only players on the roster. Also, possible Home Run Derby contestants do not count either.

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Macho Row Phillie of the Week: Raul Ibanez

Raul Ibanez is the first Phillie to be named the Macho Row Phillie of the Week for a second time. There is no doubt that Ibanez has been the most consistent player in the lineup and this weekend against the Nationals,his bat seemed almost unstoppable!

In the past week, Ibanez has connected for four home runs, scored nine runs, notched 13 hits, and drove in 12 RBI. Ibanez lead the team in each statistical category mentioned, and in many cases was far and away the leader. He was the only Phillie to reach double digits in RBI. His batting average for the week was .481, the best out of the regular starters.

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Congratulations to Andrew Carpenter and Sergio Escalona

Just a note to send congratulations to Phillies prospects Andrew Carpenter and Sergio Escalona. Both prospects from the farm system were called up to give the Phillies some crucial innings over the weekend, and on back-to-back days the Phillies handed each pitcher his first career win in the majors.

For Drew Carpenter, it must have been a wild 24 hours. After J.A. Happ, the scheduled starter for the second game of the Phillies’ double header in Washington on Saturday, pitched a couple innings the night before in extra innings, Carpenter got word just before midnight that he would be called up and slated to start for the Phillies the next day.

It may not have been the kind of outing Carpenter would have wanted, but after 4.1 innings and five earned runs, Carpenter was credited with the win in the rain-shortened game.

After the game, Carpenter was sent back to Lehigh Valley and Sergio Escalona was called up from Double-A Reading for a spot in the bullpen.

Escalona had a different kind of outing than Carpenter. Escalona was called on in the seventh inning with the game tied at six runs a piece. He worked one full inning and allowed just one hit. He also recorded a strikeout. After the Phillies scored three times in the top of the eighth, Escalona was in line for his first career win.

Congratulations to both pitchers.

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Phillies 2009 Championship Gloat Tour, Part I: Washington, DC

This is the first in a multi-part series this baseball season where I take my fan act on the road to cheer on the World Champions. My first road stop of the year was in our nation’s capital for the second game of a doubleheader on May 16 between the Phillies and Nationals.

I had already trekked down to Nationals Park once before, last year during its inaugural season. It looks like a few things have been added, but I still have the same overall view of it: a nice place to watch a game, but very ordinary, almost like a minor league park.

Of course, the caliber of baseball being played by the home team serves to enhance the feeling that you are watching minor leaguers.

Along with two friends, I signed up for a bus trip through a Phillies fan website. After leaving Citizens Bank Park an hour and a half later than we were originally told, we pull into DC shortly after 5 pm.

There is a brief tailgate and then some fairly heavy rain as we walk to the park. Upon entering, I notice three new statues that have been added this year. They look like they belong in a Body Worlds exhibit. Ghastly.

The rain subsides and the tarp comes up. Everything is right on schedule. Looking around, I observe that the busloads of Phillies fans have completely overwhelmed the home crowd. There is easily a 2 to 1 ratio of Phillies fans to Nationals fans, and the crowd is far less than the announced attendance of 23,896.

The national anthem singer is a guy named DC Washington, which I find funny. Andrew Carpenter, making his first career start for the Phillies, is extremely shaky in the first inning and lucky to get out of it allowing only one run.

In the third, the Phillies offense gets going. After a Chase Utley RBI double ties the game, Ryan Howard’s mammoth three-run home run sends the road crowd into a frenzy. Phillies fans are making a lot of noise, particularly our sections in left field that are completely filled.

Washington gets a run back in the fourth as I take an opportunity to stroll around and get something to eat. Again, nothing about the building really strikes you.  Apparently, there’s some things to do in the industrial-looking edifice attached to the stadium in left and center fields, but I don’t go in there.

I come back for the fifth inning and witness Raul Ibanez hit his third home run of the day, padding the Phillies lead to four runs. A bases loaded walk extends the lead to 7-2. Things look good.

Carpenter comes out for the fifth inning and promptly works his way into a jam. Clay Condrey relieves him and allows a triple to cut the lead to 7-5. But he saves the day by striking out the next two hitters.

The game is moving extremely slowly, well over two hours old with only five innings in the book. My friend comments to me that it has actually turned out to be a nice night. Then Ron Villone takes the mound for Washington.

In what might be the slowest display of pitching I have ever seen, Villone takes what seems like 20 minutes to issue two walks and give up a single. Ryan Howard steps to the plate.

I feel a single raindrop. Within 90 seconds, we are scurrying for cover in a torrential downpour. In my mind, Ron Villone has caused this delay himself.

Not only are the Nationals bad, but so is their grounds crew, which loses control of the tarp and is unable to pull it over the infield until it has turned to mud.

There seems to be little possibility of the game resuming, but still we wait. A young girl, I’m sure with one of the Phillies bus trips, runs onto the field and slides across the tarp.

Her backside is mostly exposed as a security guard pulls her to her feet and ushers her off to jail. Another overexcited (probably drunk) Phillies fan runs onto the field and slides on the tarp 15 minutes later.

A few minutes after that, two more Phillies fans, one male and one female, run out at the same time. The male does a feet first slide into the home plate area, spraying a security guard. Four arrests is the final tally, at least from what I see.

We wait for over an hour and the game is still not officially called off, but we head back to the bus. The bus is nearly full so we are not able to all sit together.

I sit next to one of our group leaders, who does not look like he is doing very well. As we sit in awful DC traffic, he complains of motion sickness, with an assist from numerous beers I’m sure. He grabs a plastic bag and very quietly throws up into it.

The bus trip lasts for almost three more hours after that and we finally get back to Philadelphia just before 2 am. It takes me another 45 minutes to get home after dropping off my friend.

Chalk up another win for the World Champions, as the game was called off shortly after we left. A successful and enjoyable trip even with the adverse weather. And it’s always fun to see your team play on the road, especially when it feels like a home game.

Phillies Sweep Nationals, but It Could Be the End of the Road for Park

Messages come in the most peculiar ways. 

 

This morning I sat wondering what makes players hot or sometimes cold when suddenly my son bound from his room firing his fake M-16 rapid-style about the room like we were in battle. 

 

So I asked him the logical question.  

 

“Is there something I should know?”

 

He simply flipped the gun upside down and started singing a rock song into end of the barrel. 

 

Maybe I thought too much of it. 

 

Maybe I’m doing the same thing with the Phillies. 

 

I think the message is, the Phillies do battle; then the fat lady sings.  That’s as simple as it gets. 

 

Charlie would say, “Stop talking about it.”  I will…starting now.

 

Just before the game, we saw a commercial for a movie called Drag Me to Hell.  After the violent, spastic horror trailer ended, I glanced at my son with my jaw gaped in shock and said, “Wow, you think that’s a comedy?”

 

He replied, “Probably a chick flick.  Looks a lot like Bride Wars.”

 

I don’t know where he got his sense of humor, but Charlie didn’t have one after Chan Ho Park ‘dragged us to hell’ today. 

 

The skipper pulled him after one-and-one-third innings, nudging the bullpen awake early in the second after Park struck out two but allowed five hits, four runs, and three walks before he handed Jack Taschner loaded bases and a single out. 

 

So what’d Jack do? 

 

Jack be nimble

Jack be quick

Jack hit the first batter with a pitch

 

But he kept us in the ballgame until Chad Durbin came on in the fifth.  Durbin was disturbin’ more than just Phil’s fans when he gave Willingham a love tap right between the shoulder blades. 

 

The problem was it just so happened to be with an 85 mile an hour pitch.  The batter took his base and Chad took a warning.  It was the ninth batter beaned in this series. 

 

Can you feel the love? 

 

Then Durbin struck out a batter with such a nice pitch even Tom and Gary in the booth were surprised.  I almost expected Tom to say, “Check on that Sarge.  Are you sure Charlie hasn’t switched pitchers?”

 

Congratulations on a decent outing, Chad.

 

Then Sergio Escalona took over in the seventh.  (What did Flattish just write?)  Yeah, Sergio Escalona.  He’s from AA Reading (like I had any idea until Tom McCarthy said something).  He came up with Andrew Carpenter who started Saturday night and would have done better, but he forgot to breathe until the second inning. 

 

Sergio had a scoreless seventh and Scott Eyre did the same in the eighth, but he was summoned back in the ninth to face the first two batters–lefties.  He struck out the first and walked the second, leaving that mistake for Brad Lidge to deal with. 

 

Now remember, Lidge had not made it through a game without allowing a run until Saturday so, just like a good horror movie, I didn’t know whether to hide my eyes or giggle in anticipation of the next horrible slaughter. 

 

I had already chewed down two nails in the time it took him get to the mound.  As he threw the first pitch, I read the words that popped up on the screen explaining that Brad had no double play ground outs in twelve opportunities. 

 

It was like an omen; it felt like The Omen.  I was so scared.  But like a twist in a great script, the next pitch yielded a miraculous 6-4-3 double play to end the game.

 

So the bullpen covered seven-and-two-third innings and helped cap a four game series sweep with an 8-6 win.  We have the best road winning percentage in baseball at 12-4 and our hitters managed 33 runs and 49 hits in this series alone. 

 

The game had a lot of action but the best play came in the eighth.  Jayson Werth-y had just singled when my favorite Hawaiian drew a walk on four pitches from the hotheaded Julian Tavarez.  Then Pedro Feliz set down a perfectly executed bunt that was well-fielded, but the throw whizzed past the first baseman, allowing two Phils to score. 

 

It handed us the runs we needed to move ahead by two so when Washington failed to score again, it proved a costly error.   

 

And oldie Jimmy was back–again.  He went 2-for-5 and got picked off on his first stolen base attempt, but that didn’t stop him from trying again. 

 

I like try.  

 

I like it when Jimmy takes it upon himself to get into scoring position, and I like it when it just so happens to coincide with a Chase Utley double.  I guess I just like scoring, especially when I can do it in the same sentence with Jimmy and Chase.

 

Raul Ibanez was the league’s third leading hitter coming into Sunday, but he unfortunately went 0-for-5, only earning his way to base on a walk.  He would have had a hit in the ninth, but Adam Dunn decided to move his butt for the first time and actually field a ball in right. 

 

Hell of a time for the fire to light under him.  I loved Raul’s performance in this series but like Charlie suggested, I’m gonna stop talking about it.

 

Here’s an interesting fact. 

 

Eric Bruntlett led the Phils in batting average and steals in spring training, which must be why Charlie continues to send him to the plate even though he’s batting only 138.  But in the Sunday game, he pinch-hit in the sixth and finally delivered. 

 

He hit a double and earned an RBI in the process, and I’m sure that did more for his peace of mind than mine. 

 

Shane Victorino is using Matt Stairs’ bat.  He says it’s bigger in the barrel…the bat, not the Matt, although both are true. 

 

Jayson Werth is still “Playmate of the Week,” I mean, “Phillie of the Week,” at least for one more day. 

 

But there’s still no mention of a calendar. 

 

And I’m spent. 

 

The Phils battled through four games in just over 48 hours; I simply had to duck gunfire this morning in my living room.   Fortunately we have Monday off.  I think I’ll snuggle up on the couch and watch a good movie. 

 

But believe me, Hell won’t be in the title.    

 

See you at the ballpark. 

 

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