With the Phillies Struggling, Roy Halladay Comes To the Rescue

Let’s go old school for a second. Old school as in a game starts at 7:05 and ends at 9:14. That’s old school and means a very well-pitched game took place.

With the Philadelphia Phillies struggling, losing five of their last seven, they needed one of their pitchers to step up. That pitcher was Roy Halladay.

In a crucial three game series with the first-place Atlanta Braves, the Phillies drew first blood as Halladay outdueled Derek Lowe 3-1 in front of 45,000 plus at Citizens Bank Park.

It took Halladay only 93 pitches to toss his seventh complete game of the season. He scattered five hits while whiffing seven in the winning effort.

Watching Halladay pitch was a thing of beauty last night. He was busting lefties down and in and had righties flailing down and away all night. Halladay forced the Braves to swing at his pitches and nothing else. That is what happens when you throw 74 percent first pitch strikes.

Look at his pitch chart from last night…

The Braves featured five lefties in the lineup and Halladay just killed them inside all night. Halladay barely threw any pitches inside to righties or outside to lefties.

The Braves did have a game plan to combat Halladay, but Halladay had none of it. The game plan was to try to get to Halladay early in the count. Five of the first seven batters of the game swung at the first pitch.

I thought it was a good game plan to be honest. If Halladay has a tendency to throw first pitch strikes, then why not try to get to him early? The odds are they were not going to wear Halladay out, so it was better early than never in this case.

The Phillies moved within four games of the Braves last night. Halladay’s brilliant pitching was the reason why.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

2010 NL All-Star Roster: Were the Right Philadelphia Phillies Chosen?

In answer to the headline question: yes.

Three Phillies are going to the mid-summer classic in Anaheim. But are the right three guys going? Should there even be three Phillies going in the first place?

Those are appropriate questions, but as it turned out, manager Charlie Manuel and company made all the right calls when selecting the deserving Phillies. Here’s why…

Begin Slideshow

2010 NL All-Star Rosters: Why the Phillies Aren’t Going to the World Series

It can now be said without a doubt that the Philadelphia Phillies will not be making their third straight trip to the World Series this October.

Or at least their manager, Charlie Manuel, seems to think they won’t.

Why else would he do such a preposterous job of selecting his All-Star pitching staff and reserves?

As we all know, the Dumbest Rule in Professional Sports mandates that the winner of the MLB All-Star Game gets home field advantage in the World Series.

Thus, it only stands to reason that Manuel, the manager of the National League’s squad and also the manager of a potential World Series participant in the Philadelphia Phillies, would want to put together the best All-Star squad available to protect the Phillies’ shot at World Series home-field advantage.

Apparently, Manuel doesn’t see the Phillies back in the Series and has thus decided to sabotage whichever team it is that will eventually get there.

That is the only explanation.

Mind you, Manuel did not simply screw up one or two picks. Manuel practically picked the wrong player at almost every opportunity; everywhere that a pick wasn’t obvious, he went with the wrong one.

Consider, for example, the selection of Tim Lincecum for the pitching staff. Lincecum is one of the best pitchers in the game and is coming off consecutive NL Cy Young Awards. But in 2010, Lincecum is not one of the best 13 pitchers in the NL.  

The selection of Lincecum stands in contrast to the exclusion of Clayton Richard and Mat Latos of the San Diego Padres, both of whom have an ERA well below 3.00 (unlike Lincecum) and one of whom, Richard, is a left-hander.

Which brings up an interesting point—the American League will feature six left-handed starters out of nine, yet the National League has only one left-handed pitcher, Arthur Rhodes.  

So, to face a veritable murderer’s row of Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Robinson Cano, Ichiro Suzuki, Josh Hamilton, and Carl Crawford, the National League will be armed with a bevy of right-handers and Rhodes, a 40-year-old middle reliever who, while having a great year, may not even be in the game by the time those other guys have been pulled for backups.

Have a nice weekend, all you left-handed starting pitchers: Jaime Garcia, Johan Santana, Jonathan Sanchez, and Clayton Kershaw. Charlie won’t need your services.

Manuel’s outfield picks, too, are baffling. In selecting Chris Young, Marlon Byrd, Michael Bourn, and Matt Holliday, Manuel made sure that each team in the NL is being represented at the expense of actual All-Star-caliber talent. Fact is, Colby Rasmus, Josh Willingham, and the Phillies’ own Jayson Werth are, to a man, each having better seasons than Young, Bourn, and Holliday.

Look, I realize Charlie is old school and probably despises modern statistics. So here are some old school stats for you: Chris Young is batting .264. Michael Bourn is batting .260. Holliday has 11 home runs and 39 RBI, which both rank behind his own teammate Rasmus’ 16 and 40.

And it isn’t like Rasmus, Werth, and Willingham are the only viable alternatives. So too would Andrew McCutchen, Angel Pagan, and Matt Kemp have been better selections.

It is funny that Manuel would diss Werth in favor of marginally better outfielders, because he selected Ryan Howard over Joey Votto, who is enjoying a significantly better season than Howard.

Votto isn’t arguably better than Howard; he’s demonstratively better than Howard.

Perhaps the worst selection of all, and perhaps even of all time, was Manuel’s choice of Omar Infante, a utility infielder for the Atlanta Braves, over, well, just about anyone else in the league.

Infante has played just 56 games in 2010 and has appeared at five different positions. He is hitting .311 with a .721 OPS, one home run, eight doubles, three stolen bases, and 23 runs scored. He has 28 strikeouts to only nine walks and 62 total bases.

Did Charlie lose a bet with somebody?

Look, I am sure Omar Infante is a nice guy, but there are 50 hitters in the National League who are more deserving of the All-Star Game than Infante.

Meanwhile, the final roster spot will be selected by fans in a vote between Votto, Carlos Gonzalez, Ryan Zimmerman, Heath Bell, and Billy Wagner, all of whom are significantly better than Infante, and frankly, several other players on the roster.

The irony here is that the NL All-Star team would be better off if it took the five worst reserves and replaced them with all five of the players in the Final Vote.

Even if Charlie Manuel was doing the noble thing and trying to pick the players that most deserved to be at the All-Star Game—which he failed to do—one must be mindful of the fact that, thanks to the Dumbest Rule in Professional Sports, we are beyond the era when every team gets an All-Star and everyone that is there deserves to be there.

An All-Star roster should be filled with the best players in the league with position, team, and fluke season performance aside.

Alas, it is not to be.

So this is it, Philadelphia Phillies fans. On July 4, 2010, you got all the indication you needed that Phillies manager Charlie Manuel feels that his Phillies team has no shot at the World Series.

If he did, he surely would have given himself a better shot at winning the NL All-Star Game—and he has given himself none.

 

Asher B. Chancey lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is a co-founder of BaseballEvolution.com.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

All Star Bound: Phillies Send Three to Anaheim

(Philadelphia, PA) – Tonight the elusive lineups for the 2010 MLB All-Star game were announced and three members of the Philadelphia Phillies were selected to represent the team in Anaheim California.

Chase Utley was the only Phillie selected to start the all-star game but because of his recent thumb surgery will not be able to participate in the annual mid-summer classic. Utley was elected with over 2.8 million fan votes and surpassed Martin Prado, the starter in Utley’s absence, by over a million votes.

Ryan Howard was selected as the reserve at first base. He was chosen behind NL leading vote getter Albert Pujols. This is Ryan’s third all-star appearance and was the 2006 Home Run Derby Champion.

Making his seventh selection as an All-Star is Phillies ace Roy Halladay. This will be his first trip as a Phillie and as a National Leaguer. Halladay will not start the game as that honor will most likely go to Ubaldo Jimenez of the Colorado Rockies who is 14-2 with an astonishing 2.27 ERA.

The Phillies will have one more member of the club represented as skipper Charlie Manuel will coach the National League All-Stars.

All four will be present when the 2010 MLB All Star Game takes place on July 13th at Angels Stadium in Anaheim.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Fantasy Baseball Prospect Report: Domonic Brown

Domonic Brown is, in a way, an insurance policy for the Phillies if they are unable to resign Jayson Werth this winter.  It’s pretty safe to say that the 22-year-old is quite the safety net.

He dominated in Double-A with a .315 average, 15 HR, 47 RBI, 50 R, and 12 SB.  Then, in his new challenge of Triple-A, he has hit .429 with two HR in eight games.

Drafted in the 20th round in the 2006 draft, Brown has slowly progressed through the Phillies farm system. There had previously been concerns about his eye at the plate, but that no longer appears to be an issue. At Double-A this season, he struck out 51 times, good for a 21.6 percent strikeout rate. Couple that with a 10.9 percent walk rate and all that power, it’s more than acceptable.

Scouts talk about five-tool ability and Brown is certainly flashing them all this season with the power being the last thing that seems to be coming around.  He has stolen over 20 bases each of the past two seasons and appears to be well on his way to accomplishing that again.

As for the power, he’s been adding fly balls each year as he grows into his 6′5″ frame:

• 2008-28.8%
• 2009-37.5%
• 2010-41.0% (while playing for Double-A only)

It’s not a surprise that the extra fly balls have led to more power, something that should continue. He’s a big kid and he’s just going to continue to mature and learn to hit the ball over the fences. Just look at what Baseball America, who ranked him as the Phillies top prospects each of the past two seasons, had to say:

“His buggy-whip swing and growing strength give him plus raw power and he’s starting to translate it into production. He has the bat speed and strength to drive mistakes and take advantage when he’s ahead in the count. Brown’s other tools grade out as well or better than his bat.”

While he may not develop into a 35-40 home run guy, he certainly seems to have the talent to be 25/20 at worst.  With the possibility he turns into something even more, fantasy owners have to be drooling.

If injuries continue to cripple the Phillies in 2010 or if Raul Ibanez continues to struggle, it’s possible that he sees time this season (especially if they are fading late), but more likely he gets a September call up to get his feet wet.  Chances are he doesn’t get his real chance until 2011, when he will immediately be a must use fantasy option.

What are your thoughts on Brown? How good do you think he’ll be? Will he be a must use option next season?

Make sure to check out our new Prospect Tracker, for links to the latest updates on all the top prospects in baseball, by clicking here .

Make sure to check out some of our Prospect Reports:

• Dustin Ackley
• Yonder Alonso
• J.P. Arencibia
• Jake Arrieta
• Phillippe Aumont
• Josh Bell
• Jason Castro
• Starlin Castro
• Allen Craig
• Aaron Crow
• Kyle Drabek
• Todd Frazier
• Christian Friedrich
• Jeremy Hellickson
• Daniel Hudson
• Jay Jackson
• Desmond Jennings
• Mike Leake
• Will Myers
• Martin Perez
• Buster Posey
• Gaby Sanchez
• Carlos Santana
• Michael Saunders
• Anthony Slama
• Mike Trout
• Mark Trumbo
• Brett Wallace

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Philadelphia Phillies: Four Desperate Measures for Desperate Times

In just a matter of days, things have gone from bad to worse for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Injuries and losses continue to mount, all the while the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets have increased their lead in the NL East.  And, division aside, the Phillies currently sit fifth in the Wild Card standings.

After a brief revival from the offense, it has seemingly gone back in the tank. Heck, pitchers must be starting to feel like they need to hurl a perfect game to win—although that almost didn’t work for Roy Halladay.

When the team does manage to get a lead, the pitchers seem to squander it away. Although it would be  premature to conclude, the back-end of the bullpen scenario is starting to evoke memories of 2009—which, if you were vacationing out the country last year, is not a good thing.  

The prevailing sentiment amongst the Phillies organization is that there is no need to panic, but these are quickly becoming desperate times for them.

Over the past few days, the team learned that they would be without baseball’s best second baseman for a minimum of eight weeks. And, that only speaks to time off the field rather than a return to Chase Utley’s normal standard of play—which may not happen at all this season.

They also learned that their regular third baseman (and best option to replace Utley) will be out for at least another four weeks. It adds insult to injury that Placido Polanco is the one player who has hit consistently for them all year and currently sits second in the National League batting leaders.

Additionally, the news on the rehabilitation of its other injured players hasn’t been particularly encouraging, either.

Begin Slideshow

That’s My Roy: Halladay’s Most Impressive 2010 Stats

Even though his win-loss record through 17 starts in 2010 is just 9-7, Roy Halladay is having one hell of a season. Hopefully that will be a little more clear after looking through this slide.

By the way, he’s more than twice as deserving of a spot on the NL All-Star Team than Jamie Moyer.

Begin Slideshow

Philadelphia Phillies Get Bad News About Chase Utley

The Philadelphia Phillies were hoping for the best case scenario with star second baseman Chase Utley, but on Thursday they got the worst case scenario.

The Phillies placed Utley on the 15-day DL on Wednesday with a strained ligament in his right thumb. They were hoping that he would only be out a couple of weeks, but after Thursday’s events he will be out more than just a couple of weeks.

Utley had surgery yesterday to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb and is expected to miss the next eight weeks. That is a big blow to Phillies.

With Utley out for eight weeks and Placido Polanco out for three-to-four weeks, I think the Phillies need to make a move to help stabilize the infield. I think the guy who would be a great fit would be Baltimore Orioles INF Ty Wigginton.

Wigginton struggled in June with a .208 average and one home run, but overall he has 14 home runs and an .807 OPS on the season. More importantly than his offense, Wigginton is a very versatile player on defense. He can play first, second, or third base if need be.

That is the type of infield versatility that the Phillies need right now.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Philadelphia Phillies Likely Felled by Injuries

As if the 2010 version of the Philadelphia Phillies wasn’t aggravating enough, the thinned-down and beaten up version of the Phillies is enough to drive a man insane.

Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco, Carlos Ruiz, Chase Utley, J.A. Happ, Ryan Madson, Brad Lidge, and others have all seen time on the bench or the DL. In fact, the only guy to see time in every game this season has been Ryan Howard—that’s it. One guy.

And due to the mix of injuries to big-name guys, it’s likely the Phillies could miss out on the playoffs altogether, much less repeat as NL East champions for a fourth consecutive season or NL champs for a third consecutive season.

The Braves sit atop the NL East right now and don’t appear to be slowing down. They’re winning the close games when they have to and are doing all the little things they need to do to stay atop the standings.

Then there’s the Mets, who look like they’re just a few weeks from hitting a real stride and perhaps challenging the Braves for the division. Or, as the Mets are known to do, completely fall apart.

Quite honestly, there’s just no telling with that team.

The Phils are only four games back right now, but I expect that number to go up now that they’re without a couple key players.

And then with teams like the Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies, and Los Angeles Dodgers, it’s likely the Phils wouldn’t even be able to win a playoff spot as the wild card team.

I would expect the Cardinals and Dodgers to win their divisions, which would leave the Phils in a wild card battle against the Mets, Reds, Padres, and Rockies. And honestly, they’re just not going to be able to compete with those teams in their current state.

Everyone is expected to be back this season, but it could be too little too late. Utley is gone for two months and it’s obviously going to be very difficult to replace their best hitter and a guy who has been a rock in that No. 3 spot in the lineup.

Polanco could struggle with that elbow all year long and could eventually wind up getting shelved altogether. Happ has looked awful in his rehab starts, and Ruiz is still bouncing around from specialist to specialist trying to figure something out with his head.

And even with Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, and Jamie Moyer all pitching well—along with a decent season out of Kyle Kendrick but a struggling Joe Blanton—the bats can’t get enough run support for the guys on the mound.

Even when they only allow two or three runs, it’s just too much for this depleted unit to put together. In fact, it appeared to be too much while everyone was healthy, so it’s not exactly a surprise.

The Phillies have become to beacon of hope for Philadelphia, and I understand that, but it might be time to temper the expectations and take this team for what it is this year—just a middle-of-the-pack squad who might get lucky and get hot at the right time.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

MLB All-Star Game 2010: The Should-Be NL Starters

As all baseball fans know, they get to vote every year for the players they want represented to start in the Midsummer Classic.

Unfortunately, most fans get the selections wrong and many undeserving players are selected to start in the All-Star game.

My list for the 2010 NL All-Star starters is based on what these players did for their teams in the first half of the season and the stats that back up their claim.

Phillies fans might be disappointed with these selections…

Begin Slideshow

« Previous Page — Next Page »