Philadelphia Phillies: Most human team in baseball, pro sports

The outfield walls inside Citizen’s Bank Park must seem imaginary. That’s how close, how real, how human, this Phillies team feels.

On most teams, you wonder what would happen if you pricked players’ fingers. Would they even bleed?

Shane Victorino bled, sharing his struggle with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) yesterday on The Herd with Colin Cowherd. It’s rare that athletes own their baggage, behaviors and choices and consequences within their control. It’s another entirely when they advertise congenital deficiencies.

It’s unheard of.

With most clubs, you wonder why jerseys aren’t sprinkled with dollar-sign insignia, little patches on green-hued uniforms, worn by consumerism personified.

Item No. 1 on Cliff Lee‘s wish list wasn’t mega bucks last winter. It wasn’t even geographics. There were other non-baseball factors, like Yankee fans badgering someone they didn’t realize was Kristen Lee, his wife. That, and his familiarity with a locker room of mostly former teammates.

But at the top was access to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), among the nation’s best research facilities for treating rare child illnesses, like the leukemia that struck Lee’s son, Jaxon, when he was five months old, boding a 30 percent chance of survival.

Granted, Lee got his, and inked a six-year, $120 million deal with his formerly-former club. But with the offers held under his nose—the Yankees threw a seventh year and at least $20 million on top—you realize this wasn’t a hometown discount.

It was a human discount.

It was exactly what former-Phil Jayson Werth wouldn’t take. Seven years and $126 million was too much to walk away from, even if it meant willingly filing into to baseball’s glue factory, where pennant hopes, hot Junes and, in Werth’s case, above-average talent go to wilt. All you need to know: Manager John Riggleman retired yesterday after the Nationals won their 11th of 12 games, because management wouldn’t pick up his option.

That’s a trade-off 99 percent of this roster doesn’t go for.

This are real people, with real problems and considerations and impulses. When a tornado tore through his hometown in Chotcaw County, Miss., Roy Oswalt flung the chalk bag and contractual obligations on the mound, tending to his scared-stiff wife and kids.

“Baseball is a gift…but this comes third or fourth on my list,” he said. “I could walk away from the game today and be happy. As long as you have your family, they’re going to be there a lot longer than the game will be. A lot of people don’t look it that way, a lot of people think this is who you are as a person. It’s not….Baseball doesn’t mean more than my family for sure.”

 

That quote was what happens when life gets too heavy to lift (At least for the few more authentic than a Beverly Hills bust line). If there is an exception, a model for how anyone might act—like the New Orleans Saints in the Katrina aftermath; or Haitian first, Indianapolis Colt second, Pierre Garçon—that’s it. 

But even Oswalt’s known for being somewhat homey. His player card makes you wonder whether he kicks up dirt after balls, or lets an “aw, shucks,” slip after walks. He just seems that outstandingly regular.

If you want a reason feels easier to get into President Obama’s laptop than Citizen’s Bank—couldn’t even find out how many consecutive sellouts it’s had—that’s why. Or why a Facebook poll tapped the Fightins as baseball’s most endeared franchise.

It’s because Philadephians can relate. I’m not about to go all “American Dream” on you, but for a franchise so hapless for so long to take off, it makes us wonder what’s in store for our lives. What’s unexpected. What’s immeasurable. What’s invaluable.

Bluest-collar hand of all the major cities, meet your (baseball) glove. That’s how this team fits.

Granted, Philly hammers who it dubs underachievers. When Ryan Howard’s bat took a nap on his shoulder on the last pitch of Game 6 of the NLCS, he got killed for buckling in the clutch. For a city who labors and scraps and bleeds for its money, it expects the same of stars who bank five-year, $125 million extensions on top of three-year, $54 million deals.

 

In other words: It likens stars to streetwalkers.

For some, it’s space-shuttle-touching-down-to-earth coolness, like Chase Utley’s humility that spews quotes like these:

“I know it sounds stupid and cliche, but I just want to get better,” he said, well after he was Chase Utley. “I want to keep improving.”

For others, it’s simpler, maybe even more superficial. Cole Hamels can deal—he’s 9-3 and tied for third in the National League with a 2.51 ERA—but that’s not what makes a certain demographic fall over themselves.

And for every heartthrob, there’s a machine, the Phillies’ being Roy Halladay, tied with Hamels in both wins and ERA and self-prided for pulling into the stadium at 4:30 a.m. most mornings.

But no one, not even the Nikon focused Halladay, gets too big for his red pinstripes. Not at the top, with a Jimmy Rollins who opened contract talks with a more reasonable three-year, $39 million ask than Derek Jeter did for his twilight deal. Not on the bottom-most rung, either. Dom Brown knows that until he hits, he’s just hype.

Not anywhere.

There’s just no room for it. Or fillers. Or pomp. Or pretense.

Not with so much that’s so real.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Vance Worley’s Solid Start Also Shows Slight Flaws

Vance Worley seems to be doing pretty well so far.

After five appearances last season as kind of a preview, where he went 1-1 with an ERA of 1.38, he got another opportunity this year with the injury-ridden Phillies pitching staff.

He has had a solid campaign so far, but there are a few areas that could be slightly improved.

First, the solid part. In seven appearances this season, he is 2-1 with a 3.41 ERA. He is also receiving an average of 6.28 runs of support in every start, and he is not wasting this support by allowing a lot of runs. Roy Oswalt would kill for this kind of run support, I’m sure (he is only receiving 3.60 runs of support on average). Worley has 22 strikeouts in 29 innings. These are all solid numbers, and he has more than filled in for the injured Joe Blanton.

However, he is throwing far too many pitches. He is reaching the 100-pitch mark around the sixth inning. He has not made it past the sixth inning in any start this season and has only made it even that far twice out of five games started.

Another slight area of concern is a high hits per nine innings ratio. He is giving up an average of 9.9 hits per nine innings. While he hasn’t been allowing them to score very much, if he could give up a few less hits, that would be better in general, but it would also alleviate the problem of a high pitch count.

These problems are not that major as long as the Phillies continue to provide him with a lot of run support and he is able to continue stranding runners on base. However, this is still kind of a dangerous situation.

Worley is having a solid season so far, but of course he has room for improvement. I am confident that these slightly higher numbers will come down to better levels as the 23-year-old continues to mature, and I think that he will be a solid option for the rest of Blanton’s DL time.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Which Prospect Can Be the Next Michael Stutes?

Entering the spring training, the Phillies bullpen looked to be mostly in place.  Brad Lidge was expected to close with Ryan Madson and Jose Contreras as his top set up men. 

Kyle Kendrick would fill the long man role while J.C. Romero and presumably Antonio Bastardo would be the lefties.  There was one opening which ultimately was filled by 2010 Rule 5 draftee David Herndon.

However an onslaught of injuries opened the door for a few minor league arms and no one took better advantage than Michael Stutes.  He has been nothing short of sensational thus far.  His strikeout stuff has translated very well to the MLB level as he has struck out 8.7 batters per nine IP.  While his 5.6 walks per nine IP is cause for concern he has been able to maintain a 2.38 ERA nonetheless.

Stutes was not the only reliever waiting in the wings though.  The Phillies farm system has been doing a very good job developing young impact relievers over the last few years.  In the next year or so many of them will be MLB ready.  Here are some names to look out for.

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Roy Oswalt: Has He Thrown His Last Pitch for the Philadelphia Phillies?

This is not the season Roy Oswalt was hoping for.

The Phillies all-star pitcher has had his struggles both on and off the field. On the field he has been plagued by back pain and ineffectiveness. Off the field his family home was badly damaged in tornado-ravaged Mississippi. And last night he had to leave the game after only the second inning with tightness in his lower back.

It was Oswalt’s eighth start since returning May 17 from a stint on the 15-day Disabled List with lower back inflammation. Since then he has struggled, going 1-5 with a 4.06 ERA.

This is not the season Roy Oswalt was hoping for.

He never looked comfortable on the mound last night and Oswalt admitted after the game that he had back discomfort in his last start in Seattle as well. But Oswalt is an old-school guy who doesn’t like to let his team down. He’s used to pitching with pain and he’s not a complainer.

“I don’t want to be labeled a quitter,” Oswalt said in comments to the media after the game.  “Everybody goes through aches and pains and I thought maybe I could push through and make it to the All-Star break and maybe get a few more days off, but I didn’t quite make it.”

Oswalt has struggled with back pain all season but this is not a new problem. Last year he had an MRI that showed two degenerated discs in his back—not a good injury for a pitcher who used to overpower hitters with his 95 mph-plus fastball; a fastball that has eluded him this year.

This is not the season Roy Oswalt was hoping for. 

Roy Oswalt has always been a gamer. He played left field in one memorable 16-inning game last year when the Phillies had run out of bench payers (of course the first fly ball came his way and he handled it like a pro). He also volunteered to pitch in relief in a playoff game against the Giants last year with a not-so happy ending.  But he has always been a payer who puts team first. As he will now.

“I’m going to do what’s best for the team,” Oswalt said. “If I can’t pitch, I can’t pitch. I’m not going to keep gong out there and keep being a liability to the bullpen to have to pick me up.”

No decision has yet been made as to whether Oswalt will go back on the DL. He will have an MRI on Monday and will most likely miss at least his next start. And given his history and the fact that he admits to being in pain a lot of the time. “When I sit down and I stand up, when I walk, pitch sleep,” he said. Even Oswalt has concerns for his career.

“I’ve had a pretty good one,” he said with a laugh last night. “You throw as long as you can throw, and when you can’t throw no more, you can’t throw no more. I’m going to keep throwing as long as I can, and hopefully it’s not gotten to that point where I can’t throw no more. But if it’s gotten to that point, you just have to accept it.”

This is not the season Roy Oswalt was hoping for.

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Patience with Ben Francisco: He Is Not All That Bad

It’s hard to go 15 minutes without hearing some fan complain about Ben Francisco. Their solution is usually to cut him or trade him for a bag of balls. For these short-sighted folk who just look at a .218 average and assume the player must be bad, they are wrong.

Their ire of the Phillies outfielders not named Victorino should be fully focused on Ross Gload and Raul Ibanez, who are worse than worthless. 

The main culprit of such a low average is simply a poor batting average of balls in play. Being one of the primary luck indicators, his .231 BABIP shows lady luck has not been on Francisco’s side.

This is over 50 points lower than his career norm. Fortunately, such bad luck has not hampered with him still being a valuable player.

Thanks to a career-high 13.0 percent walk-rate, his on-base percentage is still a respectable .338, which is significantly higher than Ibanez’s .290 and Gload’s .313.

His increased walk-rate does not appear entirely a fluke, as he’s been showing increased plate discipline and control. He’s swinging at fewer balls outside the strike zone and when he does swing, he’s been making more contact.

	Outside strike zone swing %	Overall swing %	Contact %	Swinging-strike %	Pitches/per PA
2011	20.4%	38.6%	83.7%	6.0%	3.91
Career	23.9%	43.2%	80.7%	8.1%	3.78

While Francisco won’t be confused with Willie Mays in the field, he’s still an average defensive player. Even though being an average defensive player doesn’t sound awe-inspiring, it’s certainly better than the albatross that is Ibanez.

All things considered, even with the poor average, he’s managed 0.6 WAR. Admittedly, while that is not very impressive, it’s a bargain when being paid just over a million dollars and compared to Ibanez’s -1.9 at $11.5 million and Gload at -0.1 at $1.6 million.

I know many people are infatuated with having John Mayberry on the team, and I agree he should be, but not at the expense of Francisco. Hopefully, Manuel looks past Ibanez’s ridiculous salary and has the guts to sit him in favor of a younger, cheaper and better Francisco.

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Five Best 1-2 Pitching Combinations in the Major Leagues

Beginning a three-game series with these duos spells trouble for any opponent. Just look at the St. Louis Cardinals, who started a three-game series at Busch Stadium on Tuesday just 1/2 game out of first place in the National League Central.

Unfortunately, Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee were scheduled to oppose the Redbirds in the first two games. St. Louis lost both, getting outscored 14-2 in the process and Wednesday’s 4-0 defeat to Lee was the team’s 10th loss in 13 games.

The Phils top two hurlers get paid a lot, but they’ve certainly earned it this season. And they head the list of the big league’s best 1-2 punches when it comes to starting pitching.

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Philadelphia Phillies: As the Weather Heats Up, so Does Cliff Lee

Rapper DJ Khaled recently released a single sure to be a summer hit called “I’m on One.”  While the Philadelphia Phillies and their fans would certainly not approve of Cliff Lee being on one of whatever the rapper proclaims himself to be on, the pitcher is “on one,” and has been for the past month.

Over his last four starts, Lee has been the definition of “on.”  In his four starts, the lefty has allowed only one run in 33 innings.  This stretch of hot pitching came on the heels of a slow start that had some wondering if Lee had lost the form that made him a postseason hero for the Phillies and Rangers the last two years.

When Lee started his run of unhittable pitching, his record stood at 4-5, with an ERA of 3.94.  He was by far weakest link of R2C2.  Lee had suffered from an uncharacteristic lack of control, walking more batters than he had the entire previous season—although to be fair to Lee, no one expected him to replicate his historic performance of 2010. A season during which he walked only 18 batters.

As Lee struggled through an uncharacteristically-wild month of May, where he walked 15 batters and allowed hitters to bat .281 against him, many wondered when Lee would return to his dominant self.

The month of June seemed to flip a switch in Cliff Lee.  On June 6, Lee pitched seven shutout innings against the Dodgers and struck out 10.  He followed that win with three more, including two complete-game shutouts.  The low point of his impressive run would seem to be the single run he allowed to the Cubs.  His ERA during June has been a minuscule .27.

Not 1.27, .27.

Lee was especially dominant in his start against the Marlins on June 16, in which he allowed only two hits.  Coincidentally, Lee matched the entire Florida roster on the offensive side, with two hits of his own, and drove in the only run he would need.  This start was vintage Cliff Lee.  Lee is a simple man, and in this start, he made pitching as simple as it could be.  He pitched to contact with confidence, and simply overmatched the helpless Marlins.

Cliff Lee will be hard pressed to sustain this level of pitching excellence, but Phillies fans should not expect a huge drop off, or a return to the struggles of May for Lee.  In May, Lee was simply running into some bad luck when balls found holes in the defense.  He has not been shelled in any one start, rather, he suffered from an unusually high average on balls in play.  In baseball, stretches like that will occur based on bad luck alone. When a pitcher executes his pitches the way Lee has been the last month, no amount of luck can help the hitters who face him.

DJ Khaled hopes to ride his hit “I’m on One” to the top of the charts.  As long as Cliff Lee stays “on one” for the rest of the season, the Phillies will hope to raise the World Series trophy for the second time in four years.

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Cliff Lee: Has He Pitched Himself onto the NL All-Star Team?

Cliff Lee, the Phillies’ southpaw co-ace is hot—certifiably hot right now.

How hot, you may ask? How about hotter than a summer afternoon in Benton, Arkansas. 

You want specifics?

With last night’s 4-0 complete game shutout of the St. Louis Cardinals, Lee has posted some eye-popping numbers this month. That 4-0 score is appropriate as that reflects Cliff’s win-loss record for June. He has given up only one earned run in 33 innings (good for a microscopic ERA of 0.27), while winning all four starts, including back-to-back shutouts.

Not too shabby, and certainly most welcomed by the popular pitcher and all of his fans. You may recall that after his sub-par May 31 outing in Washington (a 10-2 loss), Lee stood with a mediocre 4-5 record and a 3.94 ERA. His ERA was affected by two bad starts out of 12, and he was not receiving any run support, but even so. The numbers just did not look right for a pitcher of his caliber.

The numbers look a whole lot more favorable now. The following are Lee’s ranks among all National League starting pitchers.

• Wins: eight, tied for fifth
• ERA: 2.87, seventh
• Complete Games: three, second
• Strikeouts: 114, third
• WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched): 1.12, 12th

Lee is also second in innings pitched (113), first in shutouts (3), and first in the hearts of Phillies’ fans.

But is he an All-Star?

If skipper Charlie Manuel had a vote, he’d offer it to Lee.  Per a story by Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Manuel said, “He’s definitely good enough to be on the All-Star team.”

Manuel may be consulted, but the honor and task of managing the NL All-Star team on July 12 will belong to San Francisco Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy.

Bochy will have tough decisions to make, including settling on the seven (or so) best starting pitchers to put on his squad.

Expect Lee and others being considered to make three, and in some cases four, more starts before the NL roster is nailed down, and Bochy will have the following (and more) to think about:

Can he take three starters from the same Phillies’ staff? Roy Halladay and Hamels are having even better years so far and appear to be locks.

Does he need to pick a lesser starter from a team, just to get them represented? All 16 NL teams must have at least one representative apiece. Will Bochy need to take Pittsburgh Pirates starter Kevin Correia?

Who does Bochy choose from his own staff? Pitching won Bochy and his Giants a world championship last year.  Does he take a Giant starter (neither Tim Lincecum nor Matt Cain have been as good as Lee thus far), just to appease his clubhouse and his fans?

Another consideration is the amount of rest that any starter would take into the All-Star Game, or break, depending upon the decision.

If Lee stays red-hot and wins all of his next three starts, it would seem impossible for Bochy not to select him. Conversely, if he loses two or more, it may be hard for him to keep a spot, which he seems to have earned so far as one of the five or so best starters in the NL this year.

Given Cliff Lee’s rep as one of the very best big game starters on the planet, one would think that Bochy would want to give him an inning or two. Ironically, a well-pitched inning or two on July 12 could end up helping Bochy’s Giants (or Lee’s Phillies, of course) secure home field advantage in the World Series.

 

Gold Notes

It will also be interesting to see which other Phillies will make the Midsummer Classic. Placido Polanco appears to be well on his way to receiving the starting vote at third base. Chase Utley, despite missing more than 40 games, is within striking range at second.

Albert Pujols’ injury (he’s not expected to return to the Cardinals lineup by July 12) may open up a spot for Ryan Howard, although Joey Votto and Prince Fielder are more likely to make the team. The Big Man stands second in the league in RBI, but may not even be the third choice at a deep position, if Bochy and company tab Gaby Sanchez of the Marlins.

Ryan Madson should get a long, deserved look as a closer, and expect Halladay and Hamels to be selected, with one of them (depending upon his throwing schedule) starting.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Shane Victorino’s Importance Is Underrated

Over the last few weeks, the Philadelphia Phillies have silenced many of their doubters and critics, going on a 10-2 tear and frequently lighting up scoreboards with run totals in the high-single and low-double digits.

This has come as a huge relief to Philadelphia fans, who have been worried about the team’s low offensive production for most of the early season and concerned that the Phillies’ best-in-the-league record was unsustainable if its pitching staff, phenomenal as it is, did not start getting some run support.

One of the major driving forces behind this offensive surge has been the hot-streak of Shane Victorino, who has hit safely in 11 out of the last 13 games.

Within a 10-game span from the Phillies’ June 10 win over the Cubs (7-4) to their June 18 victory over the Mariners (5-1)—during which the Phillies lost only a single game and really saw their offense come alive—Victorino hit .415 (17-for-41), with five RBIs and 12 runs scored. 

While he may not get the same kind of hype as team superstars Ryan Howard and Chase Utley, or even the amount of respect lavished upon the ever-consistent Placido Polanco, the Phillies record during his recent hot-streak shows just how vital he can be to the team’s success.

Even before his excellent last few weeks, for the early part of the season when guys like the injury-plagued Utley and the slow-out-of-the-gate Howard were plodding along, Victorino was one of the main reasons the Phillies were able to keep winning games.

He was consistently able to find ways to reach base and score runs when nobody else could, whether it be by home runs, bloop singles, walks or stolen bases. His weighted on-base percentage (wOBA)—a saber-metrics statistic designed to measure a player’s overall offensive contributions per plate appearance—is an impressive .389 on the season, 17th highest in the Majors and significantly better than that of any of his teammates. 

More importantly, Victorino has been virtually the only exception this season to the entire Phillies roster’s inability to get key hits with runners in scoring position.

In games like their May 13 win over the Braves (5-4) (when Victorino singled in the seventh to drive in the tying run) and last Saturday’s victory over the Mariners (when he snapped the team’s 0-for-7 streak with runners in scoring position with a huge tie-breaking double), he has come through at clutch moments when none of his teammates have seemed up to the task.

Both of the games were the Phillies’ sole wins in the respective series.

Imagine what a momentum-killer getting swept by either the Braves (their biggest division rival) or the Mariners (one of the worst teams in the league) would have been. Instead, thanks in part to some quiet heroics by the Flyin’ Hawaiian, Victorino managed to limit the damage done to their record while the rest of the team’s bats were sleeping.

Victorino probably will not make the All-Star team. At the end of the season, if the Phillies reach postseason glory once again, his contributions to the team will likely be eclipsed by those of flashier players like Howard and Utley, or the massive achievements of the Halladay-Lee-Oswalt-Hamels juggernaut.

But every Phillies fan should take a moment to be thankful for the presence of Shane Victorino on their team. Without his considerable contributions, the Phillies organization would almost certainly not be the powerhouse ball club that it is today.

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Philadelphia Phillies Bullpen Suffers Another Blow: Jose Contreras Hits the DL

Thirty-nine-year-old starter-turned-reliever Jose Contreras of the Philadlephia Phillies has hit the disabled list earlier today. According to NBC’s HardBallTalk.com, Contreras is headed to the DL due to a right forearm strain.

This isn’t the Cuban right-hander’s first stint on the DL, either. He spent time on the DL earlier this year (April 25 to May 26 to be exact) with a right flexor pronator strain. Prior to that stint, he was the Phillies closer, but Ryan Madson took his place and has been fantastic since then.

Since the Phillies have only one lefty in the bullpen at the moment in Antonio Bastardo, they have decided to call up 32-year-old left-handed reliever Juan Perez from AAA Lehigh Valley.

Perez, who has not made any big league appearances since 2007 when he was a member of the Pirates, was 0-3 with a 2.58 ERA in 28 appearances with the IronPigs. He also had four saves, and fortunately, he has struck out 41 batters in 30.2 innings. Even better is that he’s only allowed left-handed batters to hit .184 against him.

The only problem is that Perez, as a big leaguer, is 0-1 with a 5.17 ERA in 24 appearances. Especially since he was with the Pirates (who, at the time, weren’t so good a team), this doesn’t show much promise.

Since this is Contreras’ second DL stint in three months, does this signify a downward spiral for him? He’s still signed through next year with the team, so this could prove to be a problem, especially since he’s not too young either.

Here’s hoping that Perez can do the job in Contreras’ place. 

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