The Philadelphia Feud: Jamie and Asher Debate the Phillies and More

Jamie Ambler and I are both Featured Columnists covering the Philadelphia Phillies for Bleacher Report.

As we quickly learned upon meeting one another and becoming acquainted with each other’s perspectives on the Phillies and sports in general, there is very little we agree on.

From Ryan Howard to the Phillie Phanatic, to Mike Schmidt to Richie Ashburn, ask these two guys a question, and chances are we’ll disagree.

In honor of our bipolar views on the world of sports, we present the first installment of The Philadelphia Feud: A new weekly feature in which Jamie and I debate hot topics from the Phillies, the NL East, Major League Baseball, and the world of sports.

Away we go.

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Beasts of the NL East: 10 Young Stars to Freak Out the Phillies

Hey there, Phillies fans, I am not sure if you heard but the Washington Nationals had a young pitcher (I’ve got his name here somewhere) make his major league debut on Tuesday and he pitched pretty well.

The youngster (again, his name in a second) struck out 14 batters in 7.0 innings, throwing a dominant curveball, a fastball that regularly hit 99 mph, and a changeup and slider that were simply baffling.

Now Phillies fans, I’ve sure you’ve heard all about this guy, but what you may not have realized is that he isn’t the only youngster coming up in the NL East division.

Indeed, the NL East has become a veritable hot-bed of young future superstars; unfortunately, they are all playing on teams other than the Philadelphia Phillies.

Let’s have a look at the top 10 young superstars-in-the-making in the NL East, including ol’ what’s-his-name.

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2010 MLB Draft Results: Philadelphia Phillies Drafting for Future, but Whose?

Is Jesse Biddle the Philadelphia Phillies’ pitcher of tomorrow, or is he the next player to be dangled the next time the Phillies need help at the trade deadline?

Only time will tell.

In the three other major professional sports leagues, the annual player draft is an opportunity to discover what players will be on what teams in the immediate future. 

NHL, NFL, and NBA teams pick players in the draft who will be on the team and, for the most part, playing a role the following season.

Not so in the Major League Baseball First Year Players Draft.

Major League Baseball teams often draft players for one of two reasons.  They are either drafting players that can fill an anticipated need in the not so distant future or players that are good-looking prospects who can fetch a high bounty in return on the trade market. 

Generally, an already successful team will draft as much for the latter reason as the former.

It is unclear what the Phillies have in mind.  On the one hand, the Phillies are in constant need of pitching, and they pursued pitching three times in the first four rounds of the draft.  On the other hand, none of the three pitchers they drafted are without issues.

Pitchers that look to have developed skills but issues to work out make great trade bait.

Let’s have a look at the first three rounds of the Phillies’ 2010 draft.

 

First Round: 27th Pick Overall-LHP Jesse Biddle, 6’6”, Germantown Friends High School (PA)

See video of Jesse Biddle here .

At 6’6″ and 240 pounds, Biddle is obviously an exciting left-handed pitcher from a raw-materials perspective.  As a recent high school graduate, however, his short-term outlook is limited. 

He has a fastball that hits 92 mph and a change-up that might be his best pitch, though comes in a bit too fast to be successful when he’s throwing low-nineties with the fastball.

According to some scouts as well as MLB.com, Biddle has control issues and has room to grow on his fastball. 

For a team like the Philadelphia Phillies, these sorts of comments are likely to be ones that they will pass on to whatever team they try to trade him to two, three, or even four years down the road.

The upside here is, of course, that Biddle is only 18 years old—if he grows another inch, adds a couple of miles per hour to his fastball, and gets a little control of his pitches, he could develop into a very good major league left-hander.

For my money, I’m betting that’s exactly what Ruben Amaro says in July of 2012 when he’s shopping this guy for a deadline deal.

 

Second Round: 77th Pick Overall-RHP Perci Garner, 6’3”, Ball State

Perci Garner is a 6’3″ right-hander out of Ball State who also happens to be a former backup quarterback for Ball State. 

Garner works with four pitches, primarily a 92-94 mph fastball and a very good curve, along with a slider and a change-up.  Garner’s weakness at this point is his command, but his future appears to be in his own hands—he has the build and the raw skills to be a solid major league power-pitcher if he can develop his game, and his control, in the minors.

 

Third Round: 108th Pick Overall-Catcher Cameron Rupp, 6’1”, University of Texas

At 6″1″, 240 pounds, Rupp is a bit of an ox behind the plate. Rupp had a very successful career offensively at the University of Texas, maintaining an on-base percentage above .380 and hitting for some good power. He also threw out 30 percent of base-stealers during his college career.

The Philadelphia Phillies probably aren’t looking to replace Carlos Ruiz anytime soon, but if Rupp continues to develop as he has from high school—where he won the Aflac All-America Home Run Derby—to college, he could make it interesting in a few years—or he could be the next Crash Davis.

 

Fourth Round: 141st Pick Overall-LHP, Bryan Morgado, 6’3”, University of Tennessee

I’ve never completely understood the obsession in Major League baseball with left-handed pitching, given that most hitters are right-handed.  I particularly don’t get it for the Phillies, who never have to worry about facing two of the most lethal left-handed hitters in the game.

Nevertheless, the Phillies have took their second left-handed pitcher of the draft, Tennessee Volunteer Bryan Morgado, in the fourth round.  The Chicago White Sox took Morgado at 102nd in 2009, but he returned to school to improve his draft stock.

That didn’t happen.

Instead, Morgado had major issues—he only started five games, and in the twenty games he pitched overall he walked 36 batters in 52.1 innings pitched.  On the other hand, he also struck out 75 batters, for a 12.9 strikeout-per-nine-innings ratio, which is just wacky.

This is the type of guy whose strikeout ratios will mesmerize some people into thinking that he is just a little maturity away from being a dominant starting pitcher—think Juan Cruz and Kyle Farnsworth.

He has journey-man middle-reliever written all over him.

 

Fifth Round: 171st Pick Overall-RHP Scott Frazier, 6’7”, Upland High School (CA)

 

Scott Frazier is the stuff that broken dreams are made of—a lanky kid from Southern California with a nothing-but-potential 92 mph fastball and a good curve-ball that sits in the 73-75 range. 

In the first game of high school season, Frazier threw a 17-0 no-hitter in which he allowed only a walk and an error while striking out 18 batters.

With a bit of development, he could be the best of this bunch, but he isn’t in that place yet.

Frazier has been signed by Pepperdine and, in all likelihood, will be pitching for them next spring.

 

Overview

For as long as they play in Citizen’s Bank Park, the Philadelphia Phillies will be looking for pitching, and in the 2010 Major League Baseball First Year Player’s Draft, they certain grabbed their fair share. 

While all of these guys have potential, none of these guys are automatic future major leaguers.

Sometimes potential is a lot easier to sell on the trade market than it is to actually turn into success.  I suspect that the Phillies will use these players re-load their minor league system for the deadline deals of tomorrow.

Frankly, there’s nothing wrong with that.

 

Asher B. Chancey lives in Philadelphia and is a co-founder of BaseballEvolution.com .

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Donald Glover All-Stars: Ten Players Who Are Not Sons of Major Leaguers

On April 21, 2010, actor Donald Glover of television’s “Community” went on the Jay Leno show.

At the beginning of the interview, Jay Leno said “I figure I gotta check this guy out on the internet. I look up Wikipedia. It says, “Donald Glover, son of famed actor Danny Glover, blah, blah, blah blah, blah.”

To this, Donald Glover replied “Yes,” and the crowd gave an appreciative round of applause.

Then came the gag: Leno and Glover informed the crowd that Donald is not, in fact, the son of Danny Glover, but people always assume that he is. Donald, it seems, has even had to correct his Wikipedia entry numerous times because it keeps getting changed.

Major League Baseball has similar issues from time to time. For example, Steve and Barry Lyons, who were both born on June 3, 1960, are not brothers.

Let’s have a look at the Donald Glover All-Stars: Major League Players Who are Not the Sons of Other Major League Players.

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MLB: Top 20 Players Who Look Odd in Their Current Jerseys

Most of the greatest players of all time spent the final year or few years on teams for whom they did not spend their entire careers, and it just didn’t seem right.

Whether it was Willie Mays with the Mets, Hank Aaron with the Brewers, Babe Ruth with the Braves, or Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker and Eddie Collins with the Athletics, seeing iconic players in some strange team’s uniform is always unsettling, like when your grandfather needs help going to the bathroom.

Guess what? Major League Baseball currently sports a gaggle of such players. Let’s have a look.

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Fathers and Sons: Top 20 All-Time Sons of Major Leaguers

The San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies face off this weekend in a match-up featuring a bewildering assortment of player related in some way to other players, including Will Venable, Tony Gwynn Jr., Jayson Werth, Scott and Jerry Hairston, and Padres coach Glenn Hoffman.

Nevertheless, with Ken Griffey Jr., announcing his retirement on Wednesday, the era of Major League sons truly comes to a close.

In the last 25 years we’ve enjoyed the careers of several sons of major leaguers, including some of the best players of the generation.

So where does Griffey rank on the list of the Top 20 Sons of Former Major Leaguers of All Time?

Let’s have a look.

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Phillies 2008 Post-Season Hero Matt Stairs Returns to Philadelphia

In 18 seasons spent in the major leagues, perhaps Matt Stairs’ most well-known moment came in a Philadelphia Phillies uniform.

Stairs, the former Phillie and current San Diego Padre, is back in Philadelphia this weekend for the first time since leaving the Phillies this off-season.  

Before Friday night’s game the Phillies held a brief ceremony in Stairs’ honor so that he could officially receive his 2009 National League Champion ring and receive an ovation from an adoring Phillies’ crowd.

While Friday night was about honoring Stairs’ role in the Phillies’ 2009 NL Championship, it was Stairs’ performance in the 2008 playoffs for which Phillies fans will remember him forever.

In Game Four of the 2008 NLCS, Stairs came to the plate as a pinch hitter in the top of the eighth inning with the Phillies and Dodgers tied 5-5.  The Dodgers brought in superstud closer Jonathan Broxton to face Stairs, and Stairs took him deep for a two-run homerun which ultimately won Game Four and gave the Phillies a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.

Stairs remembers the moment fondly.  He suspects that Broxton remembers that moment as well.

“We faced him a couple of weeks ago, and he blew me away.  He’d been throwing 91, 92 to the guys before me, then suddenly he’s hitting 95 against me.”

And so it goes for the most well-traveled hitter in major league history.  There is always someone, somewhere, who remembers something you did to them.

When Stairs came to Philadelphia before the 2008 season, the Phillies were his 11th team, which tied a major league record held by turn-of-the-century catcher Deacon McGuire. When Stairs joined the Padres this season, he took over sole possession of first place.

Ironically Stairs, who spent his entire career being known as rather a heavyset, perhaps even slovenly player, is now in the best shape of his life, having lost over 30 pounds to get his weight down from about 230 (which is his “yeah right” weight) to about 195.

To look at him in a Padres uniform, you might think you’re talking to Brian Giles.

Asked about his weight, Stairs was candid.

“I’m in better shape now than I’ve ever been.  Now, sometimes I’ll just go shag flies in the outfield during batting practice.  I’m seeing things—like my feet—that I’ve never seen before.”

Stairs is also candid about why it was that he joined San Diego this off-season.  The beautiful weather?  The young, talented club?  A chance to play regularly?

“They were the only team that wanted me,” he says with a smile.

Of course, the move has been a good one for Stairs thus far in 2010.  

Though Stairs hasn’t put up the prettiest numbers, the Padres are leading the NL West and currently have the best record in the National League.

Not bad for a team most people didn’t expect to make it out of the NL West cellar.

So why are the San Diego Padres the surprise team in baseball in 2010?  Stairs is quick with his answer.

“Because we don’t have any superstars.”

Stairs points out that the Padres have an incredibly talented pitching staff made up of unassuming guys who are in the early stages of their careers and only just now making names for themselves.  They work hard, eager to prove they belong, and don’t get caught up in some of the things that can bog down teams with more experienced—and better paid —players.

That, and it really helps that the Padres have an absolutely dominant bullpen.  

“We’re playing six inning games out there, because our relievers are dominant during the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings.”

As for plans for life after baseball, Stairs eagerly awaits the opportunity to become a hitting coach and, perhaps some day, a major league manager.  

In fact, Stairs said that before he decided to return to the majors this off-season, the Phillies offered him two different minor league manager positions in the organization.  

But he wasn’t quite ready to retire.

And now?

“Well, who knows?” he said. “If I hit .390 for the rest of the season, I’ll probably want to come back.  If not, I’ll be ready to start down the coaching track.”

Whether he retires after the 2010 season and becomes a minor league manager, or decides to extend his record to 13 teams in 2011, Matt Stairs will always have a special place in the hearts of Phillies fans, and will always be welcome in Philadelphia.

Just make sure Jonathan Broxton isn’t in town.

 

 

Asher B. Chancey lives in Philadelphia and is a co-founder of BaseballEvolution.com

 

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

2010 MLB Season: New Pitchers’ Era, or Just Something in the Air?

Sometimes during the long and winding baseball season, there are games in which one gets the feeling that the action on the field isn’t just a function of the players on the field, but that there might just be something in the air that day.

There was, for example, the infamous Phillies-Cubs game on May 17, 1979, when the two combined for 45 runs and 11 home runs, and the Phillies won the game 23-22 in the 10th inning.  Both pitchers got Turbo Tanked, with Cubs starter Dennis Lamp giving up six earned runs while retiring only one batter, followed by Phillies starter Randy Lerch giving up five earned runs while retiring only one batter.

Clearly, something other than the performance of the players on the two teams was accounting for the ridiculous offense by those two teams.  In this case, though, the answer is relatively simple – it was Wrigley Field, and the wind was most definitely blowing out.

But what about the flip-side?  What about the situation where two teams score very few runs, and the two pitchers have apparently dominant games?

Perfect games in which the opposing pitcher allows no earned runs.

Last Saturday night in Miami (which, by the way, we’re apparently required to call “South Florida” now) Roy Halladay pitched a Perfect Game against the Florida Marlins in a game in which the Marlins didn’t manage a single base-runner while the Phillies needed an error to score their only run of the game, unearned, and take the 1-0 victory.

These are not two offensively challenged teams – the Phillies have one of the most potent (though not at the time) offenses in baseball, and the Marlins have generally been a good hitting/bad pitching team.

And sure, the game certainly featured a matchup between the aces of those two teams, Halladay and Josh Johnson, who also happen to be two of the top pitchers in the National League.

But I think there is more to it than that.  Check this out:

Johnson’s performance in that game obviously jumps off the page: seven innings pitched, seven hits allowed, one walk, six strikeouts, and only the one unearned run.

Naturally, one might think that having the other pitcher pitch so well in a game in which his opponent pitches a perfect game might be rare.

One would be wrong.

Looking back over the history of Major League perfect games, having the other pitcher give up zero earned runs is actually shockingly common:

– Lee Richmond: When Richmond pitched his perfect game, Jim McCormick also pitched a complete game for Cleveland, allowed three hits and one unearned run while walking one and striking out seven.

– Addie Joss: This game is on the short list for greatest pitching duel of all time, between Joss and Ed Walsh.  It could be argued that Walsh had the better game.  He allowed four hits and one unearned run in a complete game effort, while walking one and striking out 15.  Meanwhile, Joss had only three strikeouts in his perfecto.

– Sandy Koufax: in the game in which Koufax struck out 14, Bob Hendley pitched a complete game one-hitter, walking one and striking out three while allowing the one unearned run.  In fact, the only base-runner of the entire game was Lou Johnson, who had a hit and a walk.

– Mike Witt: Witt struck out ten in his perfect game, while Charlie Hough pitched a complete game seven hitter, walking three and striking out three while allowing only the unearned run.

– Tom Browning: Browning struck out seven batters and threw 100 pitches in his perfect game.  Tim Belcher pitched an eight inning complete game three-hitter, also striking out seven, walking one, and allowed the one unearned run.

– Dennis Martinez: When Martinez struck out five in his perfect game against the Dodgers, Mike Morgan also struck out five in a complete game four-hitter, striking out five and walking one while allowed two unearned runs.

Other good performances by the “oh-by-the-way” guy.

There have been other famous pitching performances where the other guy, in “oh-by-the-way” form also pitched lights out:

At the beginning of his 20-strikeout game on May 6, 1998, Kerry Wood struck out the first five batters he faced.  At the same time, the opposing pitcher, Shane Reynolds, also struck out the side in the first and four of the first six batters overall.  Reynolds finished the day with a complete game, eight hits and two runs (one earned) allowed while striking out ten and walking two.

When Randy Johnson struck out 20 Cincinnati Reds and allowed only one run in nine innings on May 8, 2001, the game went to extra innings because Reds pitcher Chris Reitsma also allowed only one runs through eight innings.

On May 26th, 1959 Harvey Haddix had a perfect game through nine innings.  And ten innings.  And eleven innings.  And twelve innings.  Haddix lost the perfect game and the game itself in the bottom of the 13th, and had to settle for a 12.2 innings one hitter. 

Why?  Because opposing pitcher Lew Burdette threw a 13 inning twelve hit shutout.

When Tom Cheney struck out 21 batters and allowed only one run in 16 innings on September 12, 1962, the game lasted as long as it did because opposing pitchers Milt Pappas and Dick Hall combined for 15 innings of one run ball before giving up the deciding run in the 16th.

Pedro Martinez famously lost a perfect game on June 3, 1995, when, after pitching nine perfect innings, he gave up a lead-off hit in the bottom of the tenth.  The only reason the game went into the tenth was that Joey Hamilton pitched a nine inning shutout himself, allowing only three hits and two walks.  Reliever Brian Williams gave up the deciding run in the tenth.

So what’s the point of all this?

Three perfect games (sorry, two perfect games and a near third) in one month of a season raises a lot of questions.  Is this the end of the steroid era?  The end of the amphetamine era?  Are we season the dawn of a new pitchers’ era?  Has something changed with the balls?  The bats?  The gloves?

In trying to make sense of what we’ve been seeing in regards to pitching so far this season, perhaps the best explanation might be the simplest: maybe there’s just something in the air.

 

Asher B. Chancey lives in Philadelphia and is a co-founder of BaseballEvolution.com.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Zack Greinke and the Top 20 Worst Cy Young Follow Up Seasons

With his latest loss on Thursday, the Kansas City Royals’ Zack Greinke has fallen to 1-7 on the season with a 3.60 ERA.

Greinke, of course, is the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, having gone 16-8 with a sparkling 2.16 ERA and 242 strikeouts a year ago.

So, is Greinke having the worst follow-up to a Cy Young Award season in baseball history?

Maybe, but at this point, he isn’t close.

One of the major sub-plots of Greinke’s season has been the loss of his catcher from his amazing 2009 season. As we take a look at these Top 20 Worst Cy Young Follow Up Seasons, we’ll also take a look at the catchers involved to determine whether a catcher change was a factor each time.

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The Top 10 Philadelphia Phillies Draft Busts of All Time

Ask any modern—day Philadelphia Phillies fan who the biggest Phillies draft bust of all time was, and chances are that they’ll tell you it was Pat Burrell.

On behalf of Pat Burrell, I’d just like to say: Wrong!

Compared to this list of the Top Ten Philadelphia Phillies Draft Busts of All Time, Pat the Bat was practically a Hall of Famer.

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