Philadelphia Phillies: 10 Things Phillies Fans Can Look Forward To for 2011

The Philadelphia Phillies shocked the entire baseball world when they signed Cliff Lee last month to a $120 million contract. Ever since the fans in Philadelphia have been anxiously awaiting the start of the season. With the addition of Cliff Lee to their already-stellar rotation consisting of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels, the Phillies will be unstoppable and their opposition has the daunting task of facing two of the four aces every series.

Although the Phillies have seen the departure of fan favorite Jayson Werth, who signed a huge $126 million contract with division rival Washington, they have Domonic Brown and Ben Francisco to fill the void successfully. While the Phillies’ outfield has less depth with the departure of Werth, fans will be eager to see what Brown and Francisco can do.

The Phillies fans are ready to watch their team start the 2011 season and potentially make it to the World Series once again. After losing to the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS this past October, the Phillies have much to prove to themselves: one with their rotation, and two by avenging their NLCS loss.

Expectations could not be higher for the Phillies and I believe they will live up to them.

These are the reasons why 2011 will be a magical year to remember.

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Philadelphia Phillies: 5 Reasons Roy Oswalt Will Win Cy Young Award This Season

After assembling what many are considering to be the greatest rotation of all time with Halladay, Hamels, Lee and Oswalt, Philadelphia has never been more excited for any season in its entire 121-year history and for good reason.

Behind an All-Star lineup with potential Hall of Famers in Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, the Four Horsemen boast a resume that includes 10 top five finishes in Cy Young award voting, three actual Cy Young awards, 13 All-Star selections, six 20-win seasons, three postseason MVP awards and a 20-8 postseason record.

Doc Halladay proved last year that his lack of postseason experience did not mean a thing as he threw a no-hitter in his first-ever playoff start. Cliff Lee’s postseason resume includes a 7-2 record, with a 2.13 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 76 IP. Cole Hamels was the World Series MVP. But here are five reasons why Roy Oswalt will win the Cy Young.

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MLB Predictions: A Complete Projection Of The Phillies Starting Pitching Staff

With all of the hype about the Phillies starting rotation, we all want to know how they are going to fair together.  This collective unit has been deemed the best in baseball, and with that title, they will need to live up to the hype.  Anything short of magnificent will be a let down for baseball fans.

As the regular season comes nearer and nearer, projections start flying in, and everyone wants to know what to expect (especially fantasy baseball owners).  It is with this in mind that I have decided to project the stats of every starter in the Phillies rotation, from Cliff Lee down to Joe Blanton.

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Cliff Lee Thinks Phillies Are Better Than New York Yankees: Why He’s Right

To make things plain and simple, Cliff Lee thinks that the Philadelphia Phillies are a more talented team than the New York Yankees, and after a moment’s thought, we realized he may be on to something.

To the disdain of Yankees fans who hoped they had heard the last of Lee, at least until the World Series in 2011 at the earliest, Lee made a scheduled guest appearance at the Philadelphia Auto Show on Wednesday, and as they usually do with all things Philadelphia sports, CrossingBroad had Lee’s appearance covered.

During the interview, the host asked Lee why, out of all of the teams in Major League Baseball, he chose to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Lee responded by telling the media the same story he’s told them all offseason: He liked playing in the National League, if the Phillies offered him a chance to pitch in Philadelphia again, he would take it, and most importantly, his family was happiest in the City of Brotherly Love.

That snippet wasn’t enough for the passionate Phillies fans in attendance, however. They wanted to know something a bit more specific—why he chose to spurn the Yankees and sign with Philadelphia.

In response to some chatter from the crowd in attendance, Lee jokingly made a bold statement: “The Yankees do not suck.” As many people already know, he quickly pointed to the fact that the Yankees have more World Series titles than any other team in the history of major league baseball, and not by a slim margin.

After dispelling the popular thought earlier in the offseason that a rowdy fan spitting on his wife in Yankee Stadium played a part in his choosing Philadelphia, Lee made a rather bold prediction of his own, saying, “I think this is a better team than the Yankees. I think the Yankees are always going to be a very good team, but at this point in time, I feel like the Phillies are the better team.”

Ouch. As if signing with the Phillies wasn’t a dagger in the heart of the Yankees fanbase already, he just had to twist that blade a little further.

But is it true? Have the Phillies done enough over the course of the past few seasons to push them past the Yankees in baseball’s power rankings?

A position-by-position analysis would give us a good idea of just how good these teams really are, but it would be very close. Without delving too far into the statistical debate, it’s fairly obvious to see that offensively, the Phillies and the Yankees both have some players that would come out on top, as well as a ton of question marks that make this a tough call.

For instance, if you were drafting a team and could only choose players from the Phillies and Yankees, you’d be debating with yourself for a long while. Carlos Ruiz would probably go unanimously first at catcher, but outside of that, where are the obvious choices?

Are Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Placido Polanco significantly better or worse than the infield of Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez? Each of those players has significant question marks, and some have an air of uncertainty surrounding their level of production next season.

The outfield shapes up in much of the same way. The Yankees have a slight edge with their trio of Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson and Nick Swisher, but if Domonic Brown lives up to his potential in the major leagues, you may have to swing the outfield in favor of the Phillies, who already feature quality major league sluggers Raul Ibanez and Shane Victorino.

Offensively, there is no clear-cut favorite. In the long run, it may just be Lee’s decision that makes the Phillies the overall better team.

Looking at each team’s bullpen, the Yankees come out on top. As of right now, their setup man/closer combination of Rafael Soriano and Mariano Rivera is practically unrivaled.

With that being said, however, are Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge all too far behind?

Absolutely not. Over the final two-plus months of the season, the Phillies closer was practically untouchable, registering an ERA of just 0.76. Madson was just as good, and for longer, and entering a contract year, he may be prepared for the best season of his career.

With Lee’s addition, it is the starting rotation that gives the Phillies the overall advantage. With all that has been made of the rotation in Philadelphia, I don’t think that much needs to be said about that. In short, a rotation of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova/Freddy Garcia/Bartolo Colon could not come close to matching the Phillies rotation of Roy Halladay, Lee, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels and Joe Blanton.

In this regard, the Phillies are an overwhelming favorite.

In a short series like the World Series, that could be all that matters. Even if the Phillies and Yankees were to meet in the World Series and the Yankees offense entered with the edge, think about this. Which four starters would you be more comfortable with given the task of shutting down a tough offense: Sabathia/Burnett/Hughes/Flavor-of-the-Day or Halladay/Lee/Oswalt/Hamels? I’m pretty sure we’re on the same page here.

While it may not be as apparent as he made it sound, Lee is certainly right. With this rotation that’s shaping up here in Philadelphia and a complementary offense that’s set to rebound, the biggest question mark is a bullpen that was remarkably good over the final months of the season.

If anyone agrees with Lee, it’s the odds in Vegas—the Phillies and Boston Red Sox have been the favorites ever since Lee signed.

Let’s not forget, the Phillies’ last player to make a bold prediction was Jimmy Rollins following the 2007 season, when he told the media that he thought the Phillies were “the team to beat in the NL East.”

All in all, the 2011 season is shaping up to be an unforgettable year in Philadelphia, and the Yankees may not even come close.

Right on, Mr. Lee. Right on.

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Philadelphia Phillies: 10 Reasons Ryan Howard Will Re-Enter Greatness in 2011

Ryan Howard’s performances have dropped since 2008 and fans in Philadelphia are starting to become worried.  Howard however has some promising signs of why he can return to the MVP caliber level that he was at a few years ago.                                                                                                                                                                                     

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2011 NL East Preview: The Philadelphia Phillies Stand On Top

With only 11 days until pitchers and catchers report to camp, many baseball fanatics are ready to start the season. The National League East has been a very interesting race the past four seasons. In 2007, the Mets blew a huge lead in the division to the Phillies. In 2008, it was yet again the Mets blowing a late season lead to the Phillies. The past two years, it has been all Phillies winning the division by five games in 2009, and six games in 2010. Here’s how the division will unfold in 2011.

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MLB Phillies Preview: Cole Hamels Is an Ace Disguised As a Number Four

MLB/Phillies Countdown: 11 (Frigid) Days Until Pitchers and Catchers Report

To Phillies fans stuck in and around the improbably frozen tundra of the City of Brotherly Love, any warm glow emanating from baseball’s hot stove is a most welcome thing.

Baseball’s hot stove was scorching last December when Cliff Lee, quite enthusiastically, donned the red pinstripes and turned an already amazing rotation of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels into a four-headed monstrosity that some have nicknamed The Four Aces.

Admittedly, it would have been thrilling to have the Philly ice melt into a full season of H20, but thoughts of the Four Aces (or R2C2, if you prefer) has a majority of Phillies Nation jumping out of their skin in anticipation of an amazing 2011.

The Phillies have an experienced, steady-as-they-come manager in Charlie Manuel, a still potent (if slightly aging) lineup and they generally play terrific defense. Put all this behind baseball’s most vaunted starting rotation in decades, and there is great cause for optimism around these parts.

You already know the resumes of R2C2, but let’s refresh our recollections:

Roy Halladay: Defending (unanimous) National League Cy Young Award winner, a surefire Hall of Famer and the author of a regular season perfect game and a postseason no-hitter last year.

Cliff Lee: A former AL Cy Young Award winner and still widely considered the best big game starting pitcher in baseball. When last here, he did all that was humanly possible to lead us to another World Series title, and he did so in the coolest way possible.

Roy Oswalt: A longtime ace of the Houston Astros, he came to South Philly at the trading deadline last year, and may have been the Phillies best pitcher down the stretch.

Which brings us back to Cole Hamels, who has quietly settled in as the No. 4 starter, which has to be a nightmare for opposing hitters to ponder.

Ironically, Hamels is the youngest member of R2C2, but the one with the greatest seniority as a Phillie. In baseball, it’s only a few years journey from young phenom to veteran and Cole has traveled that path in a unique way.

In 2006, he was promoted to the show in midseason as a twenty-two year old future ace for a team that did not have one, let alone three or four. In 22 starts, he was 9-8/4.08 with 145 strikeouts in only 132.1 innings. Could he, indeed, be an ace down the line for a team in desperate need of one?

Hamels fulfilled much of his great promise the very next year, which not so coincidentally saw the Phillies make the playoffs for the first time since that wild bunch of 1993.

If Cole watched the World Series runner-up team full of personalities including Curt Schilling, Dutch Daulton, Lenny Dykstra, John Kruk and Mitch Williams, he did so from the perspective of a nine year-old. Does that put Phillies baseball in some perspective?

On the hill, the 23-year-old lanky lefty went 15-5 with a terrific 3.39 ERA. He made his first all-star team and finished sixth in the Cy Young balloting. He lost his one playoff start, pitching a fairly good game against the Rockies in the NLDS.

In 2008, Hamels’ 14-10 record belied how well he pitched. His ERA dipped to 3.08 (sixth in the NL) and he set career highs in many categories, including starts, innings and shutouts. As well as he pitched, he was just warming up for a remarkable postseason.

Hamels baffled the Brewers, Dodgers and Rays alike in compiling one of the best postseasons for a starting pitcher in baseball history. That’s not empty hyperbole; he was that commanding.

Hamels was 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA, yielding only 23 hits and 9 walks in 35 innings. He fanned 30 batters, and walked off with the NLCS and World Series MVPs for a franchise that had not been to the top of the mountain since 1980.

From the pinnacle of 2008, Hamels—for whatever reasons—suffered through a miserable 2009. If the whole team suffered a hangover, it may have been disregarded, but Cole had a 10-11 season for a great club and he achieved that mediocre record on merit.

Hamels’ ERA ballooned to new heights (4.32) in 2009, which is not a good thing—except for opposing hitters. A look inside the numbers showed that Hamels’ strikeout and walk ratios were actually a little better than in 2008, but he got hit around much more.

It seemed that he would always serve up the wrong pitch at the wrong time. When he pitched himself into jams, or if an error was made behind him, he lost the knack for wriggling out of it.

The acquisition of Cliff Lee, who became an instant hero to Philadelphians, seemed like it would help shake Hamels out of his slump, but it never did.

It is not unreasonable to suggest that if Hamels pitched like even a decent Number Two behind Lee in the 2009 playoffs, that the Phillies could have repeated as world champions. He did not, the team did not, and before you knew it, the fans had a target for their venom—a 25-year-old would-be ace who was one of the main reasons that the team, and the city, was drenched in champagne and honored with parades just 12 months prior.

For his part, Hamels just was never “that guy” in the 2009 playoffs, and he also came off as petulant on the field (gesturing in disgust when second baseman and team leader Chase Utley made an errant throw) and off (baring his soul and liver to the press in a comment that was construed as “I want this season to end right now; so what if we’re in the World Series”).

Perhaps, Hamels deserved a mulligan for all this, but he did not get one from most of the Philly sports community. It would be a gross simplification for me to suggest that a majority of fans wanted him shipped out of town, but it would also be a distortion to not acknowledge that there were many questions and labels thrown at Hamels for the first time as the Phillies entered 2009.

Some of the labels were “immature,” “whiny”, “soft” and “not a Philly guy.”

These can be hard labels to shed in a city that can be hard on its would-be superstars. And then there were the actual baseball questions to answer.

Could a (primarily) two-pitch hurler, without a great fastball, continue to succeed?

Has the league caught up with him?

Were his 2007 and 2008 seasons the true aberrations?

Indeed, even to his toughest critics, Hamels shed those pejorative labels last year, and answered all of the baseball questions in the most reassuring of ways. He pitched extremely well, and kept his poise even when things were not going is way.

The Phillies offense scored fewer runs in 2010, and often forgot to score at all when it was Cole’s turn on the hill. Still, Hamels kept taking the ball, pitching one quality start after another. His regular season record was only 12-11, despite a career-low ERA of 3.02.

During one cruel stretch, the talented southpaw was winless in eight consecutive starts, while compiling a 2.83 ERA. In those 54 innings, he struck out 63 batters, walked only 11 and yielded only 44 hits. For a reminder of that stretch, please see:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/445943-cole-hamels-snaps-winless-streak-shuts-out-padres-as-phillies-sweep

To his everlasting credit, Cole never showed frustration with his teammates, saying all the right things in interviews, and continually bringing, and improving upon, his A game.

In his first playoff start last October, Hamels cruised into Cincinnati (featuring a tough ballpark and a scary lineup) and closed out the series with a complete game shutout.

Hamels’ journey has already been fascinating, and he appears to just be hitting his prime years.

His fastball showed a little more bite last year, making his changeup all the more devastating, and vice-versa. He also now displays greater confidence in his curveball (now being tossed into the mix, with an occasional split finger thrown in for good measure), which increases the effectiveness of his full array of pitches.

It appears that all the elements are in place for Cole Hamels to have his best season yet.

And even if things don’t go well immediately, it also appears that the now 27-year-old veteran has the command and maturity to not let those circumstances derail him and his team from a memorable season.

For more information on Matt Goldberg’s books, other writings and speaking engagements, please contact matt@tipofthegoldberg.com

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MLB Rumors: 10 Shortstops Who Could Replace Jimmy Rollins After 2011

Since his debut in 2000, Jimmy Rollins has been the driving force for the Philadelphia Phillies both on and off the field. He’s the rare type of ball player that doesn’t come along all too often. He has been a vocal leader off the field and has the talent on the field to back that up.

Though he had been one of the best shortstop’s in the game in years prior, Rollins catapulted himself into Phillies’ lore in 2007. Before playing a single game, he told the media: “The Mets had a chance to win the World Series last year [2006]. Last year is over. I think we’re the team to beat in the National League East, finally. But, that’s only on paper.”

Rollins and the Phillies quickly took care of that last part. In 2007, Rollins had the best season of his career, posting a slash line of .296 / .344 / .531, with 30 home runs and 41 stolen bases, on his way to narrowly being voted in as the National League MVP. The Phillies, of course, would stun the Mets in September before being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

Following their elimination, Rollins predicted that the Phillies would win 100 games and go deeper into the playoffs the following season, and they haven’t looked back since.

After seeing the level of talent that their young shortstop possessed, and how hard it was to find an All-Star caliber short stop around the league, the Phillies quickly extended their young star. In June of 2005, the Phillies signed Rollins to a five-year, $40 million extension.

Now 32, Rollins is entering the final year of that extension with the Phillies, and things aren’t looking all too great for the veteran shortstop. He has been plagued by injuries over the last few seasons, and as a result, his performance suffered. Combined with the current state of the Phillies’ payroll, their options seem to be limited at the shortstop position moving forward. Surely, they wouldn’t want to commit to another injury plagued shortstop, like Jose Reyes, who would cost more annually than Rollins did.

Rollins, who is set to earn $8.5 million in the upcoming season, will likely set the bar. If he isn’t able to rebuild value for himself, it may be time for the Phillies and their prodigy shortstop to part ways. With that in mind, who could replace Rollins following the 2011 season?

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Ryan Howard: Despite a Shorter 2010 Season, Reigns Above the NL East Offensively

In the 2010 season, the first basemen of the Philadelphia Phillies, Ryan Howard, spent a great deal of time on the disabled list.  When doing the math by analyzing the innings played, it shows that Howard played in about seventeen fewer games in 2010 than he did in 2009. 

Of 162 games, missing seventeen games does not sound like that much. Howard usually plays well over 150 games per year.  In 2008, Howard started 156 games and 155 in 2009.  With the injury, Howard only started 139 games in 2010.

Even with missing so much time during the 2010 season, he still produced numbers better than most other players in baseball.  Of 1000+ baseball players, Howard produced numbers good enough for him being tied at 14th rank with the number of home runs. He was 11th in the number of runs batted-in. 

Howard was also ranked 49th for on-base percentage, 25th in slugging percentage and 29th in OPS.

Howard had a very productive season in 2010, although it was certainly not his peak year, that we can blame on the time he missed from injury. 

He did hit for an average of .276 with 31 home runs and 108 runs batted-in.  His on-base percentage was .353 and his slugging percentage was .505 with 152 hits and 59 walks.  He also had 157 strikeouts, which is at a ratio of about a two-percent improvement.

Howard’s numbers were good enough, even with missing all of the time from injury, to be the best and most productive first basemen in the NL East Division.  When comparing Howard to the other first basemen in the NL East, the only player that can actually challenge Howard’s numbers, according to the stats of 2010, is Adam LaRoche.

LaRoche, who was not in the NL East in 2010, batted for an average of .261 with 25 home runs and 100 runs batted-in.  His on-base percentage was .320 with a slugging percentage of .468.

However, LaRoche was still lagging behind the numbers of Howard even though Howard started about 17 less games than usual and less games than LaRoche had played. 

When comparing Howard to LaRoche, it is easy to see that Howard will provide more offense to the team.  Howard beats LaRoche in batting average, home runs, RBIs, on base percentage, slugging percentage and stolen bases. Although neither are particularly a threat to run. 

On the defensive side of the field, they were both credited with the same number of double plays.  LaRoche had a few less errors, but you can expect the same from these two players defensively.

Howard and LaRoche produced similar numbers in 2010.  Although Howard did not beat LaRoche’s numbers all that significantly, that wouldn’t have been true if we were talking about a season that Howard played the entirety of. 

Either way, Howard is the most productive first basemen of the NL East, followed by LaRoche.  The other three first basemen follow these two further down the line.

The New York Mets have Ike Davis and the Florida Marlins have Gaby Sanchez for their role in first base.  These two players are coming off of productive 2010 seasons, but they cannot compare to the top, Howard or LaRoche. 

The Atlanta Braves have Freddie Freeman for first base, but it is hard to speculate how he will fair in 2011 since he is only 21-years-old and has only had 24 major league at bats. 

In those at bats, he had four hits including a double and home run, but only an average of .167. Seeing how Freeman will fare in 2011 will be interesting, but as of right now, I will predict that he will not produce numbers that can compare to Howard, which I think is a pretty safe prediction.

Davis batted for an average of .264 with 19 home runs and 71 RBIs.  He had an on-base percentage of .351 and a slugging average of .440.  Sanchez had an average of .273 with 19 home runs and 85 RBIs.  He had an on-base percentage of .341 and a slugging average of .448.

As these numbers show and Howard continues to prove, he is one of the best offensive producers in baseball, and he is, undoubtedly, the best first basemen that will be found in the NL East for at least the 2011 MLB season. 

If Howard stays healthy, which would be safe to presume about this season, he will certainly shine above the rest of the NL East at first base and most other players in baseball like he has in seasons past.  Howard can afford to play less then 15 games than usual, and still reign towards the top of offensive productivity.

Not only is Howard the most productive first basemen, but he is also the top producer of those who remain in the NL East Division. With the rosters currently set the way they are in the NL East, with all players included, Howard was second with the number of home runs and first with RBIs.

In the NL East, Howard is one of only three players with over 100 RBIs, where the rest of the RBI leaders did not cross 85 RBIs last season.

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Philadelphia Phillies Honored At the PSWA Awards Banquet

On Monday night, the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association held their 107th annual awards banquet in Cherry Hill, NJ.  The PSWA honors athletes in every sport around the Philadelphia area. 

This year, the PSWA honored Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay as the Outstanding Pro Athlete of 2010.  He was also presented with his 2010 Cy Young award.  Shane Victorino received the Humanitarian Award for his charitable efforts in the community.

A large portion of the Phillies family was in attendance as well, including President Dave Montgomory, the Phanatic, GM Ruben Amaro Jr. and manager Charlie Manuel.  As a guest speaker, Manuel had the crowd in stitches with his southern humor. 

Manuel spoke about his home state, saying, “You know they don’t have Christmas plays in West Virginia, you know that? They cut it out. They couldn’t find three wise men and a virgin.”

Also present was comedian Joe Conklin, who attends every year to entertain the guests.  He does amazing impersonations of a variety of Philly athletes, including Manuel, Cole Hamels and Eagles coach Andy Reid.  Conklin’s routine is the highlight of the banquet.

All of the Phillies’ speeches, plus Conklin’s appearance, are on video as well. Just follow the link.

The full Photo Album from the event includes members of the Phillies, Flyers, Sixers and Eagles, plus college and high school athletes.

 

Photos by Jenn Zambri Photography

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