MLB: 3 Reasons Why Roy Halladay Is Going to Win the Cy Young in 2012

Roy Halladay had another Cy Young-caliber season with a slash line of 19-6 / 2.35 ERA / 233.2 IP / 220 SO / 1.04 WHIP

Halladay also led the league in ERA+, which is an adjusted ERA that accounts for the ballpark they pitch in.

Even with such a great season, Halladay did not win the Cy Young due to the even more impressive season from Clayton Kershaw. I’m already hearing the the boos in my mind, but it is hard to deny someone the award when they win the Triple Crown as well.

Putting the 2011 season behind us, I am going to give you three reasons why Halladay is going to win the award in 2012.

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25 ‘Can’t-Miss’ Phillies Prospects Who Never Panned out

Major League Baseball’s amateur draft can be like a game of chess.

Sometimes it’s like playing against an amateur. The checkmates come early and often, and in baseball terms, you find yourself drafting several players with plenty of upside that, for some reason or another, other teams have skipped over.

Other times, the draft can feel like a game of chess against a Grandmaster. Every move leads to a dead end and the result is always disappointing.

There is supposed to exist a commonality between each of these games: The first couple of moves are supposed to be simple to make, especially in today’s game.

In chess, each player has his or her own strategy, but the first move is the simplest. The same could be said for most clubs’ approach to the draft. In the first round, there is plenty of talent to be had. If you’re picking in the first round, there is a pretty decent chance that you’re drafting a very talented player.

However, sometimes, those “can’t miss” prospects turn into huge busts and lost causes for teams. When teams draft players in the first couple of rounds, they’re supposed to develop into MLB regulars. Sure enough, that doesn’t always happen, and when “can’t miss” prospects turn into “swing and a miss” prospects, it is a major disappoint.

For numerous reasons, the Philadelphia Phillies had plenty of those “swing and a miss” prospects throughout their history, and if they had chosen a little more wisely, it is certainly interesting to imagine what the history of this franchise could have looked like.

For up to the minute Phillies information, check out Greg’s blog: The Phillies Phactor.

Follow @Greg_Pinto

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MLB Rumors: Would Bringing Back Roy Oswalt Even Make Sense for Philadelphia?

The last Philadelphia (and baseball) saw of Roy Oswalt was the infamous “squirrel gate” game. Oswalt struggled against the St. Louis Cardinals, getting tagged for five runs in six innings in Game Four of the National League Division Series.

It was the end of a very strange, but disappointing season for Oswalt. He dealt with everything, from success to failure, from potential retirement to seeking security in a new deal, and from restoring tornado-affected land to pitching around sprinting squirrels.

What did it all lead to this offseason? Oswalt is still a free agent. He apparently was close to signing with St. Louis, but it appears a deal is now unlikely, as it has a full rotation and not so much money. It also seems to have not so much interest in him anymore.

On a quick side note, it is fitting that Oswalt had a deal with St. Louis apparently break down. He had a few notable starts against the World Champions in 2011, all of which being highs or lows on his roller-coaster season.

His first start against them, on May 17, he made his first start back from leaving the team for a few weeks to tend to his family’s tornado-stuck property. Next, he made what reasonably could have been the last start of his career on June 23, leaving the game early with back issues. The ailment was so bad; he was seriously pondering whether it would prevent him from ever pitching again.

But then he came back, and had a pretty strong finish, minus a few hiccups. The highlight was his start on Sept. 17 which clinched the NL East against the Cardinals, tossing seven shutout innings. The NL East was wasted though as he broke down in Game 4 in the playoffs, being affected by the squirrel.

And those four starts represent how Oswalt’s offseason has gone: Some early questioning of his future, disappointment, change of plans and demands, some hope, but then having it all thrown off by a break down. Maybe the squirrel ran by when he was signing the contract, threw his signature off, and he forgot the count of dollars and years afterwards.

Whatever happened, it was just another weird development in his offseason.

Why is this all important? FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi reported recently that the Phillies remain an option to sign the right-hander Oswalt. The 34-year-old remains without a team after becoming a free agent nearly three months ago. The Phillies are being described as “open” to the idea of bringing Oswalt back.

Before we go any further as far as negotiations and dollar figures, would bringing Oswalt back at a normal price make sense for the Phillies?

No, it’s hard to say that it would.

First, they have a full rotation already. If you consider Joe Blanton the No. 5 starter, the team has a fifth starter making $8.5 million this season—good luck moving that contract. If you consider Vance Worley the No. 5 starter, he posted a .786 winning percentage in 21 starts.

They have plenty of depth, as well. Kyle Kendrick is as solid of a sixth starter as you are going to find. Joel Pineiro could realistically be a fourth starter on most big league teams. He could even be a candidate to start on opening day if he were a Met. Pat Misch, David Purcey and company are solid emergency-type guys anyway.

“You can never have too much pitching” is the famous line, often used by Amaro himself. You can have too much pitching if it’s costing you too much money. Allocating a few million dollars to a pitcher just for depth purposes is a waste.

The money, and overcrowding the pitchers’ depth chart is just the start of it. What about the questions about whether Oswalt’s heart was in it all season? It’s hard to at least not question it. He did take off a pretty long time just to clean off a property from a tornado. He also was not even sure if he wanted to play this year. It wasn’t until he gave up six runs in a late September game against the Nationals that prompted his agent to speak for him and say he is not retiring.

 

This is just speculation, reading body language and putting some translation into actions, but that was for a team that was expected to win the World Series, in which he struggled to invest his heart. What if this team has unexpected struggles, then where is his heart?

More importantly, the biggest reason it would not make sense to pay him more than a few million? They do not need him. At all, really. That’s not just because of their depth.

Oswalt won only nine games last season and had a sub-.500 record. The Phillies aren’t missing much if they lose that from a team that won 102 games and got better in the offseason.

It is very reasonable to think Vance Worley can win 11 games again this year, if not top that. Joe Blanton seems like a near lock to top his one win, if not multiply it by a dozen or so. Kyle Kendrick can probably get close to eight wins and a .571 winning percentage if there’s an injury and he needs to fill in for someone. 

On top of all of this, we have no idea how Oswalt’s back will hold up throughout the season.

Now, fortunately we have seen Amaro actually do this quite a few times over the past few offseasons. He remains in contact with a player who remains unsigned for quite some time during free agency, but most of the time he resists overpaying. He did it this offseason already with Lidge, keeping in touch with the reliever. Chad Durbin is another example, as the team did not bite on him as he remained without a team late. Chan Ho Park, too, if you wanted another example.

You have to hope that is exactly what this is. They just do not have any reason to get on this roller coaster. That could seriously damage backs, too—for both of them. For the Phillies, their backs can only stretch so much before they bang their head on that luxury tax.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Philadelphia Phillies: Biggest Strength/Weakness of Every Roster Player

Baseball is a funny game in the sense that players actually have an opportunity to be “perfect” on any given day. Just ask Philadelphia Phillies ace Roy Halladay about being perfect.

More often than not, however, no one is perfect. Baseball players are human beings, and human beings have their strengths and weaknesses. Unlike other human beings, though, baseball players live their lives under a microscope.

As far as the game of baseball is concerned, their strengths and weaknesses are made available to the public. Which players can hit for contact? Which players can hit for power? Which players can’t hit at all?

Over baseball’s history, statistics have been developed to keep track of who does what well. Organizations pay players more money on what their strengths are, but their weakness subtract from their overall value.

So with spring training right around the corner, what better time to take a look at the greatest strength and weakness of each player on the Phillies roster? Who needs to work hard during spring training, and who needs to hone their skills?

For up-to-the-minute Phillies information, check out Greg’s blog, The Phillies Phactor.

Follow @Greg_Pinto

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Philadelphia Phillies 2012: Can This Roster Contend for a World Series?

Boy have the expectations changed around here.

Who would have thought 10 years ago that a season where the Phillies won a franchise-record 102 games could leave fans with a bittersweet taste in their mouths?

The reality is that ever since the Phils reached “team to beat” status in 2007, expectations have been steadily climbing. That’s not to say the Phillies haven’t been meeting them, though. After being World Champions in 2008, we could deal with a loss in the 2009 World Series.

The 2010 NLCS loss hurt a bit more, but it was understandable.

Last year, though, was not OK. Losing in the first round of the playoffs after having the best regular-season record? Cliff Lee blowing a four-run lead and the offense wasting Doc Halladay’s gem were incredibly agonizing to watch.

No amount of Philly Phanatic belly-shaking could cheer me up after those performances.

Needless to say, anything less than a title this year will fail to fully satisfy many of us. So, is this roster good enough for the Phillies to get back to the top? 

Before making my verdict, let’s take a quick glance at each facet of the 2012 Phillies. We’ll discuss the Phils’ projected lineup, bench, rotation and bullpen.

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Washington Nationals Launch Preemptive Strike Against Philadelphia Phillies Fans

Hey Phillies fans.  Have you heard the news?  The Washington Nationals are taking back their park.  From you, that is.  Like dogs and winning baseball, Phillies fans are no longer welcome at Nationals Park.

Maybe you missed the news.  It is Super Bowl week.  You have likely spent the last few days trying to figure out who to boo the loudest at the party on Sunday, Tom Brady or Eli Manning.  Forget about it.  The “Gnats” deserve your attention.

They tried to avoid it.  They announced their new “Not Friendly to Phillies Fans” policy with great stealth.  It came on a Friday afternoon, the eve of Super Bowl weekend and a day when Philly sports fans were preoccupied with Wing Bowl, an annual Buffalo wing eating contest. 

Sneaky those “Gnats,” like a Cole Hamels changeup.  They are making single game tickets for the May 4-6 series against the Phillies available via an exclusive presale for season ticket holders and residents of Washington, Maryland and Virginia. 

Phillies fans looking to attend can take their cheesesteaks and go home.  “Gnats” chief operating officer Andy Feffer told mlb.com, “Frankly, I’m tired of seeing the Phillies fans in our ballpark in Washington more than anything else.” 

Where’s the brotherly love?  Phillies fans are an amicable bunch.  They might belt out the occasional “Chooch” to recognize favorites such as Carlos Ruiz, but there is little to fear.  These are not your father’s Phillies fans.  They rarely even boo anymore. 

Just prior to embarking on their current streak of winning the National League East five years in a row, the Phillies became the first baseball team in history to lose 10,000 games.  That is a whole lot of heartbreak. 

It has now turned to joy.  An organization committed to winning will do that.  Even last year’s early postseason dismissal, as disappointing as it was, has failed to damper the optimism about spending summer nights in south Philly, or to follow the team on the road.

This was once, not long ago, unmentionable.  Maybe you took the transistor to the Jersey Shore, but that was as much to listen to Harry Kalas and Whitey Ashburn call the games as it was to keep up with the Phillies. 

It’s different now.  Phillies fans are proud of their team.  They are pleasantly surprised to find thousands of their kind, wearing Utley and Howard jerseys, bonding with one another on the road. 

Phillies fans are not hitting the road to hate on the fans of other teams.  They’re doing so because they just can’t get enough of their Phillies.  They are relishing the moment and they are sharing it with one another.  It simply doesn’t get any better. 

This all began with the winning, of course.  Still, loyalty to the Phillies runs deep.  Millions of Phillies fans endured bad baseball for years, whether at Shibe Park, Connie Mack Park or at Veteran’s Stadium.  Throughout, they sat next to plenty of other teams fans who cheered as the Phillies got pummeled.

Attempting to keep out Phillies fans can mean only one thing.  The “Gnats” are nuts.  This is not a surprise.  It’s been apparent for awhile.  They broke the bank, remember, to sign Jayson Werth.  Werth is a good player on a great team.  The “Gnats” are not that.

And maybe, that is the problem.  In announcing his “Take Back the Park” initiative, Feffer informed mlb.com that, “For several years now, our fans, everybody have been screaming about the number of Phillies fans that invade our park when we have a series here at Nationals Park.”

Aiming ire at Phillies fans is misplaced.  It’s a smokescreen that obscures the real problem facing the “Gnats,” bad baseball.  Phillies fans who visit Nationals Park in droves are doing Nationals fans a favor. 

Their presence pressures the “Gnats” ownership to put a team on the field worthy of fan support.  If the Nationals are better this year, they should thank Phillies fans, not work to ban them. 

Especially for a team engaged in our national pastime, playing in our nation’s capital, keeping out Phillies fans is not only ungrateful, it is un-American.  Like betting against Rocky Balboa. 

Cheesesteak anyone?          

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Philadelphia Phillies Most Underrated Prospect at Each Position

The Phillies don’t have a super strong prospect farm.

Big trades, including the Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Hunter Pence trades, have sent the Phillies’ best prospects in recent years to other organizations.

On the other hand, there are many guys in the system who go underrated and underappreciated by scouts and fans.

Here’s a list of a player at each position who’s undervalued and how their assets could drop them onto peoples’ radars in the future. 

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25 Incredible Philadelphia Phillies You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

The history of the Philadelphia Phillies is kind of like that gigantic history textbook that your teachers forced you to lug around in grade school.

That textbook covered an enormous amount of time and history, and frankly, it was impossible to get through the whole thing in one year. So, your teacher would have you skip around from chapter to chapter, reading the most “important” information but leaving some of the more interesting chapters and people out of the curriculum.

The history of the Phillies is very similar: It’s extremely long and very hard to cover in its entirety.

With just about 130 years of Phillies baseball in the books, scribes skip around from year to year to cover the greatest moments. The World Series teams of 1980 and 2008 are givens. We’ve all heard about the Whiz Kids of 1950, the first Phillies team to appear in the World Series in 1915, and the string of dominant clubs during the 1970s, led by Steve Carlton and Mike Schmidt.

Those are a lot of great clubs, but generally speaking, barely a fraction of the history of this organization. Created in 1883 as the Philadelphia Quakers, hundreds of excellent players have worn the Philadelphia uniform in some way, shape, or form, most of whom are often forgotten about as time takes its toll.

Those players accomplished great feats; feats that will no longer go unnoticed.

The goal of this slideshow is to bring some of the greatest players in the history of the organization into the forefront of the minds of the casual Phillies’ fan. You diehard fans may have heard of some of these players, but I’m willing to be there are a few surprises.

Shrouded by recent accomplishments, the history of the Phillies has become somewhat of an uncharted territory, and there are still plenty of great names to uncover.

*All statistics refer to time spent with the Phillies’ organization alone, unless otherwise stated.

For up to the minute Phillies information, check out Greg’s blog: The Phillies Phactor.

Follow @Greg_Pinto

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Philadelphia Phillies: 10 Players Under the Most Pressure in Spring Training

It is now officially February, the month baseball begins to come back. Pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training in less than three weeks and Philadelphia again will be a buzzing baseball town with the 5-time NL East Champions getting set for their 2012 season.

As they do, they have decisions to make regarding roster spots, lineups and pitching staffs. The players also have to get into game shape or improve for the following season.

These things, and a number of others, place pressure on the players to get themselves ready for the season.

The following are the ten Phillies who will be under the most pressure during Spring Training.

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Philadelphia Phillies: 25 Greatest Postseason Moments in Franchise History

To state the obvious, getting to the postseason is not easy.

Some fans believe that fate plays a hand in the outcome of the regular season, while others will boldly proclaim that the hottest teams make the playoffs and the hottest team of them all wins the World Series, but all can agree that it’s not easy.

All of the pieces need to fall into place. Team chemistry is one thing that great teams have always stressed, but no team would make the postseason without a vast amount of talent. You don’t get to the playoffs without being a good team, and you don’t win the World Series unless you’re firing on all cylinders.

But once a team reaches the postseason, magical things happen.

Sure, that sounds like a cheesy thing to say, but how else can you put it? Great moments are crafted during the regular season, but the postseason is a different beast. The stakes are higher and emotions run wild, and now, when great moments happen, they are so much more than just great moments—these moments are what legends are made of.

The Philadelphia Phillies have had their share of memorable postseason moments. Since their inception in 1883, the Phillies have appeared in the postseason following 14 different seasons. That opens the door for a number of great moments, but which of them made the cut?

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