Philadelphia Phillies to Play 33 Games in 31 Days; How Will They Fare?

The Philadelphia Phillies are about to embark on their most daunting stretch of the season. As a result of schedule rearrangement in preparation for Hurricane Irene, the Phillies were unable to play the final two games in the series against the Florida Marlins. Now, the best team in the majors is forced to play 33 games during a 31-day span.    

With a record of 83-46, the Phillies are nearing the century mark in victories with 33 attempts to win just 17 games. The journey will begin with a series against the Cincinnati Reds featuring a return to the mound for 13-game winner Cole Hamels. The Phillies will close their season with a series against the Atlanta Braves—in a series that could be pivotal in terms of the division race—who sit six games in back of the Phillies. 

The Phillies have been playing mediocre baseball as of late going 6-6 in the last 12 games, which include four series against the Diamondbacks, Nationals and Mets. If you exclude the series against the Diamondbacks, who is the only winning team of the three, the Phillies are just 4-5 against the Mets and Nationals during the 12-game span. Both teams are a combined 13 games under .500. 

The biggest challenge during the 33 games will come during a seven-day period, where the Phillies will play the National League’s second- and third-best teams. The Phillies will play back-to-back series against the Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers. The three-game Braves series will begin on Sept. 5, and the four-game Brewers series will follow beginning on Sept. 8. This will be a great test before the team goes into the playoffs. The Phillies need to come out the two series 4-3, anything worse may be a negative signal. Immediately after their tough test, the Phillies can catch a breather as they play a three-game series against the Houston Astros, who are the major league’s worst team. 

 

The end of the season will be filled with games against National League East opponents. The final three series of the season will be against the Washington Nationals, New York Mets and finally closing against the Atlanta Braves. The best scenario for the Phillies include already reaching the 100-game plateau and having the division wrapped up. That way the series against the Braves won’t have as much significance.

The more riding on the series naturally means more pressure and a season finale series with a playoff atmosphere. Having to much on the line at season’s end could result in the Phillies wearing out in the playoffs. The Phillies are not a young team and should go into the playoffs as refreshed as possible. 

The Phillies have played well the entire season, and there does not seem to be a reason to suspect they will not continue to do so.

Going out on a limb, I predict the Phillies will go 19-14 during the final 33 games, bringing their season win tally to 102 wins and 60 losses and win the NL East Division.

Also Published on Phillies 101

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Philadelphia Phillies: Taking a Look at the Full End-of-Season Schedule

The Philadelphia Phillies only have 33 games left in the season. However, thanks to Hurricane Irene, all of these games will be played in 31 days. That will definitely test their durability.

Let’s take a look at where they will play and who they will play.

They will have one or two games every day for the rest of the season. This might not be so bad if every game was in Philadelphia. Of course, they will be traveling quite a bit over the next month. Of their 10 remaining series, six of them will be on the road.

Perhaps fortunately, half of these road trips are in the National League East, which will reduce travel time a little bit. Also, the Phillies do have the best road record in the National League at 37-24. Obviously, though, there will still be a lot of time in the air.

Again, the Phillies have 33 games left. 18 of these games are against teams with records at or above .500 (currently, the Phillies have four games with the Cincinnati Reds who are 66-66). They play the Milwaukee Brewers four times and the Atlanta Braves six times. Milwaukee has the second best record in the National League and Atlanta is third best. Of course, the Phillies do have the best record in baseball right now. However, if this was the NCAA, the strength of schedule is pretty high for this month.

Finally, they do have a 10 game homestand in the middle of September, but they have to play a pair of doubleheaders during this stretch. That essentially means that they will play 10 games in eight days. This could have implications on their starting rotation and require some spot starts from Kyle Kendrick or some September call up. If they do not utilize another starting pitcher, some of their regular rotation will be throwing on four days rest twice. This is definitely less than ideal.

They are going to play just over a fifth of the season in this one month. I guess that could be called busy.

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Philadelphia Phillies: A Look at the Phils’ Candidates for End of Season Awards

In the past decade, the Philadelphia Phillies have had a player win the MVP award, a pitcher win the Cy Young, a Rookie of the Year winner and a manager become Manager of the Year.

Just not in the same season.

From Larry Bowa in 2001, to Ryan Howard in 2005 and 2006, to Jimmy Rollins in 2007, to Roy Halladay this past season, the Phillies have recently been the recipients of every major end of season award.

This season, for the first time in recent history, the Phils’ have legitimate candidates for all four awards.

While some awards, such as the National League’s most valuable player, may be more difficult to obtain. Others, such as the league’s Cy Young award, have multiple candidates from the team that may win.

With 33 games to go, the Phillies not only have team goals that are within reach, but their players, individually, have accomplishments on the line that their play during the regular season’s final month may determine whether they are achieved or not.

The Phillies’ ultimate goal this season involves the team as a whole.

However, they still have players who, individually, have become candidates for the league’s end of season awards.

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Roy Oswalt Retirement More Likely After Rough Start for Philadelphia Phillies?

Roy Oswalt followed perhaps his best start of the season against the Washington Nationals with one of his worst in a 6-5 home loss to the Florida Marlins on Friday night, giving up six runs on 12 hits in 5.2 innings before leaving to a chorus of boos.

There has been talk all season as to whether or not the 33-year-old right-hander will be able to pitch another season in Philadelphia, with Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com saying Oswalt “has hinted about retirement after the season.” Is this move becoming more and more probable?

Unfortunately, outside of that gem against the lowly Nationals last week in which he pitched eight shutout innings, he has allowed at least three runs in each of his other starts since June 7.

This number is slightly inflated, however, because he did not pitch at all in July thanks to back inflammation. Therefore, to put it more into perspective, he has allowed three or more runs in seven of his last eight starts.

That injury is also worth mentioning because of what Oswalt said back in June:

You throw as long as you can and when you can’t throw anymore you don’t. Hopefully it’s not to the point where I can’t throw anymore. If it’s at that point, you just have to accept it.

I also agree that I hope he is not at that point. However, he seems to be sinking into a trend of allowing more runs than he normally does in roughly the same amount of innings.

The Phillies have the option to buy him out for $2 million at the end of the season or pay him $16 million next year. It seems unlikely that the Phillies would pay that much for the injury-prone pitcher.

It will be interesting to see how this season finishes out for him.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Jered Weaver Deal Telling for Jayson Werth, Scott Boras

It wasn’t what Jered Weaver did, ink a five-year, $85 million extension with the Angels Tuesday.

It wasn’t even what he said.

“If $85 (million) is not enough to take care of my family and other generations of families then I’m pretty stupid,” he told ESPN L.A. “But how much money do you really need in life?”

It was what he didn’t do. What he refused to:

Submit to Scott Boras.

Save for position and geography, that’s the fundamental difference between Weaver and now-National Jayson Werth, and it resonates in the quote. That Weaver dictated how he decided. That he weighed money and opportunity and their inherent risk-reward, and made the No. 1 move for his “Star Player.”

The security factored in, for sure. A likely $30-50 million more waiting in 2012 free agency or not: How the Angels (two games behind the AL West-leading Rangers) will lean on him down the stretch, Weaver needed to cash in while his elbow’s stock was high. To cash in while he could.

But Weaver recognized that he was the one putting pen to paper. That the ultimate call, for both dollars and destination, was his.

 

Not Boras’.

That’s not the take-away from Werth’s southbound stumble. Maybe the question wasn’t asked—and shame on whomever didn’t—but Werth never addressed the white (or green) elephant. That his contract was outrageous, at least for a consensus complementary piece like himself. That it was prohibitive, assuming the NL East wouldn’t topple without support and a stash to pay them with.

That it was what Boras wanted, first and most and last.

That Werth wouldn’t captain his own choice. Or that he couldn’t.

Whichever it was, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter whether a hypothetical Werth-Boras shouting match over possibly staying with the Phillies matched Tyson-Douglas. Whether Werth would’ve flirted with a hometown discount, even if it meant dipping in Boras’ pocket. Whether he valued being part of something over being the beginning, end and in-between of nothing.

The fact is that he didn’t. And likely never will.

Who else will beckon? What other team will pony a $126 million temptation? Granted, Werth’s 2010 27-home run, 85-RBI season was somewhat underwhelming, at least to the extent that the 15th-biggest deal in baseball history became overpaying. But even that was head and shoulders and everything else above his output now.

 

All things considered: Between the deal’s seven-year shackles and how quickly Werth’s .230 BA/.330 OBP/.715 OPS season is hiking his value on this list, something’s telling me he’s not looping back to last winter’s crossroads.

Does it matter?

Not if you’re a Phillies fan, content beyond belief with Hunter Pence’s brand-name production for a Foreman Mills price—pennies of his $6.9 million 2011 salary, and prospects Jarred Cosart and Mike Singelton—something that never comes if Worth doesn’t go.

Not if you’re a free market economist and salary cap supporter, cozy to the principles that Werth’s signing exemplify: teams’ right to waste and players’ right to waste away for it.

Not unless you dabble in behavioral psychology (in which case I really need to know if you’re psychoanalyzing me).

But Weaver distinguished himself as the first of his kind. Never before had a Boras client clashed with his pursuit of haughtiness. Never before was it even thought an option.

Mark Teixeira famously fired Boras. But only after he landed in New York, and a mega contract.

In other words: Never before had defiance come before.

 

Not before Weaver.

Now, if you’re mulling Werth’s motives, this clears the picture.

Definitely money-drunk—and for that coin, who wouldn’t be?—Werth was figured to only be buzzed. Now, you know he was as blacked out as Nationals‘ local broadcasts.

Likely piqued by Stephen Strasburg, Drew Storen and Bryce Harper, Werth said that the Lerner family sold him.

“I think in a short time, we’re going to surprise a lot of people,” Werth told the Washington Post December 6. “…We’re going to go after some guys that are going to make a difference, that are going to put this team where it needs to be.”

Now, you know he sold himself.

Now, with Weaver’s wrinkle, comes closure.

Judgment aside, Phillies fans finally know how to class him: in with the rest of them. In with Adrian Beltre, who packed up for pennies more in Seattle over staying with the Dodgers in 2004. In with Johnny Damon, who followed Green Lantern’s light from Kansas City to Tampa Bay, a six-team trek that always put cash over community.

Judgment included, Phillies fans finally know how to remember him. Is this the stuff of Scott Rolen’s and Curt Schilling’s dishonorable discharge, stemming from contractual quibbling? Or does the bluest-collared town identify with a guy getting his when, and because, he can?

Either way, that’s no longer about what Werth controlled, his performance and popularity. Maybe that’s the lesson—not for the fans, but for their favorites:

Know what you’re giving up when you give in to Boras.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Can the Atlanta Braves Catch Them in the NL East?

Philadelphia Phillies fans largely believe that first place is all but wrapped up. They have a six-game lead with just over a month left in the season. The Phillies have the best record in baseball. Why bother worrying?

The Atlanta Braves are the reason why. Even though they are six games behind the Phillies in the division, they have the second-best record in the entire National League. They are on a hot streak right now as they have gone 8-2 in their last 10 games. They obviously have a lot of talent, yet Phillies fans don’t seem overly concerned.

However, should they be? Let’s take a look.

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Philadelphia Phillies: 7 Best Midseason Additions in Phils History

After their transactions in recent years, the Philadelphia Phillies declining to make a big-name, mid-season acquisition ,would be like seeing Bill Belichick without his sweatshirt; it just wouldn’t be right.

From Chuck Klein and Harry Walker, to Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt, the Phillies have been trading their fair share of big-name players for over 70 years.

Unfortunately, these trades have not always improved the team.

For every deal that brought the Phillies players such as Joe Blanton and Hunter Pence, there have also been deals such as the one that sent Curt Schilling to the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2000, and the trade that dealt Bobby Abreu to the New York Yankees in 2006.

While some of these trades resulted in setbacks, or minimal improvements, others paved the way for World Series appearances.

As of late, Phillies fans have been spoiled by general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr., and his recent mid-season acquisitions.

Although teams have a shorter window to get deals done by the non-waiver deadline than they do in the offseason, these deals may be the final chance a team has to make the postseason, and advance.

And, in the Phillies case, eventually become World Champions.

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Philadelphia Phillies: The All-Nickname Team Position by Position

What’s in a name?  Well, when it comes to baseball, nicknames are an honored tradition that go back to the early days of America’s national pastime. There was “The Splendid Splinter,” Boston Red Sox left fielder Ted Williams  or “The Yankee Clipper,” the nickname given to Yankees center fielder Joe DiMaggio.  

Nicknames are as much a part of baseball as the suicide squeeze or the sacrifice fly. Now a good nickname is one that stands the test of time, one a player can’t shake no matter how hard they may try.

The Philadelphia Phillies have had their share of nicknames during their long and storied history.  So here is an All-Star Nickname Team, the best Phillies nicknames position by position.  And these are names you won’t find in any box score.

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Philadelphia Phillies Trade Rumors: 5 Guys That Could Put Them over the Top

The Phillies are, no doubt, on pace to achieving their second consecutive league-leading season and subsequent home-field advantage throughout the postseason.

But the Phils know more than anybody that once entering the playoffs, it’s a whole new ballgame. While the team remains the clear favorite in the NL, there are improvements to be made.

With the waiver wire deadline quickly approaching, the Phillies organization has little time to decide on possible moves. Additionally, the moves they may wish to make are near impossible due to their status as the best team in baseball (in terms of record). Although, some players are available and have already made it through waivers and are available to the Phillies to make an offer for.

Like any team, the Phillies have holes. Whether or not those holes come back to haunt them in October is anybody’s guess.  

Here are the top five players that can put the Phillies over the top (if aren’t there yet anyway).

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Philadelphia Phillies: 5 Big Trends as the Phillies Chase the Pennant

A ninth consecutive winning season is already secured, a 90-win campaign is a mere formality, and 100 wins looks more and more likely. So what’s left for these Philadelphia Phillies?

A little fine tuning, that’s what.

The goal for the rest of the regular season is clear: Stay healthy and secure the best record in the National League.

Ignore what head-to-head history or gut tells you, the Phillies would much rather play whatever weakling comes out of the NL West than the presumptive NL Central champs from Milwaukee. First place in the division would all but guarantee a showdown with the Diamondbacks or Giants.

After that it’s a crap-shoot; so if I’m the Phillies I do what I can while the sample size is still big.

With that goal in mind, let’s look at the five key areas of concern as the Fightin’ Phils wind their way toward October.

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