Philadelphia Phillies Preview: First Meeting with Jayson Werth Since Departure

Phillies: 7-2, first in NL East

Nationals: 4-5, third in NL East (three games behind Phillies)

 

Phillies Preview

The Phillies offense has been on a roll through nine games this season. Philadelphia leads the National League in batting average (.334), hits (107) and are second in runs scored (59). Seven of the eight starting position players are hitting over .300 in the early portion of the season.

The Phillies need to get more production out of Jimmy Rollins in the third spot. Rollins is hitting .324 with three doubles, but has no RBI this season. He is only 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, and must improve the clutch hitting in order for the Phillies to produce runs at the top of the lineup.

Joe Blanton, Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee will take the mound for the Phillies in the series. Blanton and Lee look to rebound from their last outings. In his last start against the Mets, Blanton pitched 4.1 innings, allowed 10 hits and seven earned runs in a no-decision. He had a 7-0 lead entering the fourth inning of that game.

Lee was hit hard last Friday against Atlanta. He allowed 10 hits and six earned runs in only 3.1 innings of work. The Phillies’ left-handed ace is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in two career starts against the Nationals.

Roy Halladay is 8-1 with an ERA of 1.96 in his career versus Washington. In his last start against the Nationals, Halladay pitched a complete game, two-hit shutout as the Phillies clinched their fourth consecutive National League East title.

 

Nationals Preview

Washington’s offense was supposed to be much improved with the acquisition of former Phillies outfielder Jayson Werth. But that has not been the case. The Nationals are 12th in the National League in runs (36) and last in batting average (.217).

Ryan Zimmerman continues to hit the ball well. Zimmerman is hitting .357 with a home run and four RBI in the early part of the season. However, his high-profile teammates are struggling.

Adam LaRoche is hitting .194 with a home run and three RBI in eight games, while Ivan Rodriguez only has three hits in 17 at-bats through five games.

The Nationals will send Livan Hernandez, John Lannan and Jordan Zimmermann to face the hot Phillies offense. Hernandez is 11-10 with a 3.60 ERA in 27 career starts against the Phillies.

Lannan was the winning pitcher in both his starts this season. In his last outing against the Marlins, Lannan pitched five solid innings, allowed three runs and struck out four.

Jordan Zimmermann has not pitched well in two career starts versus the Phillies. He is 0-1, allowed 10 runs (including three home runs) and has an 11.25 ERA. Zimmermann threw 5.1 innings, allowed two runs and struck out four in a victory over the Mets.

 

Player To Watch

 

Phillies

Shane Victorino is hitting .417 with a home run and eight RBI in the leadoff spot this season. He was 9-for-13 with a double, home run, three RBI and two stolen bases in the Braves series. Victorino has hit .290 with six home runs and 30 RBI in his career versus the Nationals.

 

Nationals

Who else on the team but former Phillies star Jayson Werth? In his four years with the Phillies, Werth hit .284 with 95 home runs and 300 RBI, helping the Phillies win four division titles, two National League pennants and a World Series Championship. Werth is batting .200 with a home run and an RBI in nine games for the Nationals.

 

Probable Pitching Matchups

Tues. 4/12: Joe Blanton PHI (0-0, 14.54) vs. Livan Hernandez WAS (0-1, 4.76)

Wed. 4/13: Roy Halladay PHI (1-0, 0.69) vs. John Lannan WAS (1-0, 3.60)

Thurs. 4/14: Cliff Lee PHI (1-1, 7.84) vs. Jordan Zimmermann WAS (1-1, 3.18)

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Philadelphia Phillies: The Case for the Philadelphia Boobird

Hey Santa, are you afraid?

You should be.

Those scary Philadelphia fans are on the prowl. The same fans whose guttural noises can cripple a millionaire’s psyche. Just ask Cole Hamels, who was so distraught by the boos during his opening start that he was moved to say this:

“If you get that response, it’s the understanding that people expect you to do well, and when you don’t, they’re disappointed”

Wait, what? He should be in a daze. 

How on earth could he have overcome the sheer outpouring of vitriol aimed his way? It’s because this isn’t his first rodeo.

In a world where barely a week goes by without a clever journalist making a reference connecting booing and the city of Philadelphia, Hamels gets it. Phillies fans expect the world of him. John, the electrician from Fishtown, paid a lot of money to take his kids to the game and he wants to see a couple of scoreless frames. 

Nothing compares to the expectations that the majority of star athletes put on themselves.

Sure, there are exceptions. Manny, I’m looking at you. However, the majority of jocks want to perform their best every time they put on the uniform. So why shouldn’t the fans expect their best?

The Boo. It’s the over-hyped, over-analyzed, ESPN-headlining sound that out-of-town journalists sitting in the Philadelphia press boxes wait for.

Here they go again. Those disgraceful Philadelphia fans are booing another star player. 

Meanwhile, Dodgers fans beat and stab opposing fans who have the gall to wear their teams’ colors into Dodger Stadium.

Most Philadelphia fans have been told since they were young that they boo more than any other fanbase in the country. So naturally, they feel the need to over-compensate when a player goes out and produces a dud performance. Whether we like it or not, booing has become a part of the Philadelphia fan culture.

Sometimes the outsiders just don’t get it.

Donovan McNabb, Bobby Abreu, Eric Lindros—we booed because we didn’t think they cared. Allen Iverson left it all out on the floor. He never left you wondering if he had given his all that night. The aforementioned group did. Whether perception is reality is a wholly separate argument. 

The Boo is feared by the overly sensitive star but ignored by the grizzled veteran. It’s a singular expression of disgust. It comes in bunches, but is seldom heard in Citizen Bank Park, at least by Philadelphia standards. It’s the only way for fans to let their favorite player know they don’t appreciate their efforts.

Don’t expect A-Rod to come out by the players’ entrance and listen to each fan’s gripes about his playoff performance. The time when athletes were easily accessible is over. Now all we can do when Jimmy Rollins doesn’t leg out an infield grounder is let him hear it on the way back in.

Besides, he can take it. Even if Donovan couldn’t.

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Philadelphia Phillies: All-Time Defensive Team, Position by Position

For a team that has mashed the cover off of the baseball in recent memory, you would think at first glance that the Philadelphia Phillies‘ organization hasn’t been built around solid defensive players, but around offensive juggernauts.

Not so fast. That isn’t even close to being the case.

While the Phillies have had their good times, and very, very bad times in their history, they have always held one philosophy as golden—defense rules the day. Though that philosophy may not have been as clear as the “pitching and defense wins championships” motto that current general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. uses, the citizens of Philadelphia have always respected a team that plays a gritty, hard style of baseball, and those players just so happened to be of an elite defensive caliber.

Though I’ve done a few slide shows like this before, most notably the Greatest Phillies’ in Team History, this one is going to be a bit different. I’ve taken a look at what made a player great during his tenure with the Phils’, but never held the one thing that turns a great player into a fan favorite in Philadelphia—defense—in such a high regard.

With that in mind, we have to turn on the blinders a bit here. Sometimes, when a great player is mentioned, people tend to believe that his defense was stellar, but that isn’t always the truth. I’ll be looking at a number of criteria, including consistent, above average defensive play, to determine who comes out on time.

So here we go! Here are the best defensive players in Phillies’ history, position by position.

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The 25 Hottest WAGs in MLB History

Baseball season is in full swing! Yet, there is still one question we don’t know about the game of baseball as it stands today.

No, it has nothing to do about the current MLB standings or anything, but rather, about the hottest WAGs in MLB history. 

Sure we all know of the many girlfriends and wives our favorite baseball players have had over the years, but which girls are the hottest?

Are some of today’s current baseball girlfriends hotter than the girls of yesterday?

Or are wives the way to turn when talking about representing America’s Pastime in the most sexiest way?

Forget bringing a ball and a bat to this game; just bring your best pair of eyes and hold on tight, for you are about to enter a ride through what it is like as a major leaguer.

Here now are the 25 hottest WAGs in MLB history. Enjoy.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Grading Each Player After the Phils’ First Three Series

After all of the preseason hype, largely due to the return of Cliff Lee, the Philadelphia Phillies have come out red hot in early April like a fox escaping a forest fire.

The Phils are off to a 7-2 start, capped off by 2-1 series win over the Atlanta Braves, who are thought to be their main competition in the NL East.

While their loaded pitching staff was expected to be their deadliest weapon, the Phillies offense has been the dominant force in crushing opponents in their opening three series.

They lead the league in batting average (.334), they’re second in OBP (.380) and third in slugging (.484). These impressive stats have created 59 runs in nine games, all without Jayson Werth and Chase Utley.

From the bench players to the superstar starters, everyone has been producing since Opening Day as the Phillies have taken control of the division.

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Jayson Werth, Chase Utley and Brad Lidge: Who Needs Them? Not the Phillies

The absence of Jayson Werth, Chase Utley and Brad Lidge from the Phillies left plenty of cause for concern at the beginning of the season.

Losing the team’s No. 3 and No. 5 hitters and the closer created a scenario where many hoped that the Phillies would be able to hang on until Utley and Lidge returned.

But instead of merely surviving, the Phillies, with a 7-2 record, are thriving.

The offense so far has been unbelievable. As of Monday, the Phillies were No. 1 in the league in hits (107) and batting average (.334) and No. 3 in runs (59), doubles (22), RBI (58) and slugging percentage (.484).

Last season, Werth epitomized selectivity at the plate, and I think that carried over to the rest of the team, who ended up being too selective and missing good opportunities to hit. But this season, the Phillies batters have been more aggressive, going after pitchers early in the count. On the first and second pitches of an at-bat, the Phillies have recorded 36 of their 107 hits.

This aggressiveness at the plate may explain why they are 28th in the league in drawing walks. (They have 22 this year; Washington leads the league with 44.) But they also have only struck out 56 times this season, fifth-best. (The Pirates are the worst in that category with 86.)

Shane Victorino came through as the leadoff batter against Atlanta, batting 9-for-13. Jimmy Rollins, batting third, is batting .324 so far, and Ben Francisco, batting fifth, has seven RBI.

Francisco provided much-needed protection for Ryan Howard, after Howard was intentionally walked by Brandon Beachy, by getting an RBI single. According to Phillies beat reporter Todd Zolecki, that’s the first time since 2008 that the No. 5 batter got a hit after Howard was intentionally walked.

With their 6.5 runs per game, the Phillies can confidently say good riddance to Jayson Werth and take your time to Chase Utley.

 

Jose Contreras and the Rest of the Bullpen Are Getting the Job Done

Is Jose Contreras the new “Lights Out” man in Philadelphia? Contreras recorded his second save on Sunday. He has scattered two hits and a walk and struck out four batters in three games. As his setup man, Ryan Madson has struck out four batters as well and has only allowed one hit and no walks.

Former starter Kyle Kendrick has been utilized for a couple of longer appearances after Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee collapsed early in their starts. Kendrick has only allowed one earned run.

Reliever Antonio Bastardo has nine strikeouts in 4.2 innings pitched. That’s only five strikeouts behind team leader Cliff Lee. His torrid, team-high K/9 ratio of 17.36 is due to his striking out six consecutive batters in Atlanta on Friday.

Don’t get me wrong—I’ll welcome back Utley with open arms and Lidge too (if he’s back to 100 percent)—but for now, the Phillies are doing fine.

With the bullpen and offense performing above and beyond expectations and the starting pitching living up to the hype, it’s looking like a very good year for the Philadelphia Phillies.

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Roy Halladay and the Top 7 Philadelphia Phillies of the Week: Who Is No. 1?

In This Past Week in Phillies Baseball, the Philly squad was coming off a season-opening, three-game sweep of the Astros and facing a pair of series against two division rivals—the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves.

With Sunday’s 3-0 win at Turner Field, the Phillies took the rubber game of the series after similarly rallying to take two of three at home versus the Mets.

The two series wins gave the men in red pinstripes a 4-2 record for the week, boosting the first-place team to 7-2 overall.

Needless to say (and somewhat inaccurately), the 25-man roster was obviously playing its collective bats off to try to win this columnist’s second-ever Top Phillie of the Week award.

With such a microscopic sample size, it’s hard to ascertain any trends here, although the runner-up slot may be jinxed.

New co-ace Cliff Lee earned the No. 2 spot (behind slugger Ryan Howard) after his electric, 11-strikeout winning performance against the Astros. Perhaps, Lee succumbed to the pressure of trying to do too much to earn the (TPW) award, and fizzled during Friday night’s loss to the Braves.

Of course, you may say that a pitcher who is one of the very best big game performers in Major League Baseball, would not be feeling this pressure, and your theory is equally valid. Okay, it was only one bad start, and he’s likely to have four or five clunkers this year. And it was nice of Cliff to do this on the road where he would not face the possibility of a scattered boo or two from fans that generally adore him.

With all that said, let’s get right to our Top Seven Phillies of the Week, culminating with this week’s winner.

Budgetary constraints render it impossible for me to make a contribution to a worthy cause in his name, although if any of you would like to do so in my stead, please contact me.

Let’s start with apologies to Roy Oswalt (another strong start, and win) and Ryan Howard (tied for the NL lead in RBI) for just missing the top seven.

7) Cole Hamels – Yesterday, Hamels pitched the best game by a Phils starter this young season: seven innings of four-hit ball, eight strikeouts and one walk in the 3-0 shutout. Of course, earlier in the week he threw that stinker at home versus the Mets.

6) Ryan Madson / Jose Contreras (combo) – The back end of the bullpen made two appearances together and yielded a combined one walk and two hits (versus four strikeouts) in four innings of work. Madson has two holds and Contreras has two saves.

5) Placido Polanco – Polly was a little RBI machine this week, contributing a .308 batting average (6-23) with one run and eight runs batted in. He hit safely in five of the six games this week.

4) Roy Halladay – Scoring 11 runs with Doc on the hill is like sending in a tank to do battle with a mosquito—overkill. Halladay was his brilliant self in the 11-0 win over the Mets, throwing seven innings, giving up six hits and one walk and fanning seven.

3) Antonio Bastardo – The man with either the best or worst last name in MLB (I see it both ways) pitched 4.2 innings in three appearances. He made the most of his work, picking up a win, and only giving up two hits and striking out nine batters. Bastardo only yielded one walk, and his ERA is 0.00. Nine of AB’s 14 puts have been of the strikeout variety, including his last six!

2) Carlos Ruiz – No. 51’s bat came alive this week. Chooch went 7-16 (.438), homered once and knocked in six, while scoring four runs. His game on Saturday was quite impressive. He pinch-hit for Brian Schneider (who had also homered) in the seventh, and torched the Braves for a grand slam and a run-scoring double in two at-bats. Going out on a sturdy limb, let’s just say that the Phillies should win every game where they get two homers and seven RBI from their catchers.

1) Shane Victorino – The Flyin’ Hawaiian was the hottest of all Phils this week, with a .481 batting average (13-27), one homer, five RBI, six runs and two stolen bases. Victorino has five straight multiple-hit games.

So, congrats, Shane, and let’s see if anyone can wrest Top Phillie of the Week honors from you next week.

 

GOLD NOTES

Small sample sizes sometimes produce very strange results.

In the American League, the Cleveland Indians have won seven straight and the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays are a combined 3-15. Is it the Carl Crawford Curse, plaguing both his former and current teams? The lifetime .295 hitter is batting .132 in the early stages of 2011.

But, the weirdest stat line may belong to the man widely considered the best player in the game, Albert Pujols. The already legendary Cardinal has only hit safely in four of nine games played, and has produced this slash line: .143 / .225 / .229 (for an OPS of .454). He has homered once (his only extra-base hit) and driven in just four runs, and scored twice. The Gold Glover even committed a very costly error in Friday’s 12-inning loss to the Giants.

I would not count Albert out of another MVP-type campaign by season’s end, but it’s highly unusual to see a player of his caliber struggling so badly, if only for nine games.

 

For more information on Matt Goldberg’s new books, as well as writing, speaking and interview requests, please e-mail: matt@tipofthegoldberg.com or contact him via his Bleacher Report homepage.

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MLB: Are the Phillie’s Phantastic Phour Living Up to the Hype?

The Phantastic Phour, R2C2, The Four Horsemen, The Foureign Legion…I could go on. The Philladelphia Phillies starting rotation of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels created massive amounts of speculation this winter—could they be the greatest rotation ever assembled?

So, after two turns each, have they lived up to the hype?

Through the first eight games of the year, the foursome has compiled a 6-2 record, pitched to a 3.80 ERA and have struck out more than a batter per inning. These are good numbers, but they are hardly numbers that would place the Phantastic Phour in the company of baseball’s historically great rotations. 

Roy Halladay has been his typical brilliant self thus far. On opening day he limited the Astros to a single run over six innings, striking out six while allowing only five hits. His second start, against the Mets, was also vintage Halladay domination. Over seven innings, Doc shut out the division rival, striking out seven while allowing six hits. Dubbed “Tunnelman” in a Sports Illustrated profile (for his remarkable focus), Halladay has exhibited just that in two overpowering starts.

Cliff Lee, the man who made Philadelphia proud this offseason by spurning the Yankees for the City of Brotherly Love, has not been so dominant this season. Lee pitched well in his first start, striking out 11 over seven innings, with a Carlos Lee home run as the only blemish on his record. 

His second start of the season, however, is cause for concern.

Lee was pulled in the fourth inning after giving up six runs on 10 hits to the Braves. Four of those hits went for extra bases as he was clearly missing his best stuff. This is an issue for Lee. He is usually hit hard when he doesn’t have his best stuff. His excellent control can be a detriment here, as his pitches are rarely off the plate.

Phillies fans shouldn’t worry too much though. Lee’s BABIP this season is .433. Balls will start finding gloves when Lee is pitching.

The third member of the staff, Roy Oswalt, has been the picture of consistency during his tenure with the Phillies. Since arriving last summer, Oswalt has gone 9-1 for the Phillies, including victories in his first two starts this season. Without much fanfare, Oswalt simply does what is expected of him. 

Oswalt was largely hidden for the beginning of his career in Houston, and his personality doesn’t generate tremendous excitement. But if the Phillies are to attain their lofty goals this season, they will need Oswalt to maintain his steady pace.

The last member of the Phantastic Phour, Cole Hamels, is also the most puzzling. At times he has the most dominant repertoire of the staff; at others, he fights to get batters out. Hamels has struggled at times to overcome the perception that he is too California Cool to consistently dominate Major League hitters.

Hamels’ stuff is undeniable, but at times he is prone to giving up the long ball, a major concern at cozy Citizens Bank Park. In his first start of the season, he was shelled by the Mets. He was not hit particularly hard, but gave up seven hits in only 2.2 innings. He does this, not getting hit particularly hard but posting crooked numbers nonetheless.

Working with Halladay, Oswalt and Lee may allow Hamels to bear down more effectively and get key outs. In his second start, his dominant side was on display against the Braves. He shut them out over seven innings, giving up only four hits while striking out eight. For the Phantastic Phour to cement themselves as one of the greatest rotations of all time, Hamels will need to dominate more often than not.

It’s a bit early for the coronation, but the Phour’s first eight starts show that they are on the right track. If the Phillies offense continues to produce, there is no reason to doubt that another parade down Broad Street is possible—with the Phantastic Phour in the lead firetruck.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Recapping the Atlanta Braves Series

It’s still early, but for the first time all season the Phillies finally saw some decent pitching.

The Phils took a quick 3-0 lead in Game One, but Cliff Lee struggled while Tim Hudson settled down.  Atlanta took the first game 6-3.

In Game Two, Carlos Ruiz came off the bench and contributed with a grand slam and five RBI en route to a 10-2 rout for Philly.

Game Three saw a pitching duel between Derek Lowe and Cole Hamels. Philadelphia scored two of their runs with a baserunner on third with less than two outs, a great sign. Shane Victorino went yard as well and the Phillies won the series with a 3-0 win.

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Cole Hamels Dominates the Atlanta Braves and Quiets His Critics

He’s not mentally tough. He stinks. He’s a prima donna. Those were just a few of things some Philadelphia fans were saying after Cole Hamels’ poor first outing against the New York Mets. The criticism is nothing new for Cole in Philly. After a rough ’09 campaign and shaky start in 2010 there has been a raging Anti-Cole sentiment among some of the Phillies’ fan base. 

Thankfully, those fans are not in control of player personnel moves. Cole Hamels came out with a vengeance for his start against the Atlanta Braves. He was cool, calm and collected during his seven innings of dominant work. After striking out eight and keeping the Braves off the score board, Hamels gave way to Ryan Madson and Jose Contreras to finish off the shut-out performance. 

Derek Lowe was solid for Atlanta, but the Phils managed to scrape up a few runs. Shane Victorino led the charge with a couple singles and a home run for good measure.  Victorino was on fire this weekend, going 9 for 13, showing that he is the right choice at the lead-off spot for Philadelphia. 

The Braves offensive woes continued as they managed only four hits against Hamels. So far this season, Atlanta’s offense has been the exact opposite of Philadelphia’s. Where the Phillies have only one starter batting under .300, the Braves’ Brian McCann is the only starter hitting above .300. It is only April and barring any significant injuries it should be a two team race for the N.L East crown, but new manager,  Fredi Gonzalez can’t be happy with this start for the “revamped” Braves lineup. 

Today’s victory gave the Phils the series win and gave the Cole detractors a reason to keep quiet for another five days. The more consistent Hamels is, the more pleasant the streets of downtown Philly will be to walk through this season. 

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