Roy Halladay’s Perfect Game Tarnished By Poor Offense

Roy Halladay’s perfect game against the Florida Marlins Saturday night was only the 20th in the MLB’s extensive history, and only the second in Phillies history. Halladay looked spectacular in every facet of his game and his defense picked him up during the rare occasions he needed them.

However, even after such a great performance defensively, there are still plenty of reasons to be worried about this team.

For instance, they’ve scored only four runs over the past five games. They were shut out three times against the Mets, scored three runs on the Marlins for a win, and most recently scored only one run to ensure Halladay’s efforts didn’t drag him into extra innings.

But for a team that has lived and died on its ability to score runs, it’s a bit unsettling to see them struggle so mightily for such a long stretch.

The Phils’ offense has been anemic, to say the least.

Halladay can’t pitch every day, and there are certain pitchers in this rotation that will need the offense to score a lot of runs if they want to win.

(Here’s looking at you, Jamie Moyer.)

Without that offense, this is a slightly above-average team because of the outstanding defensive play and, for the most part, very good pitching. Above-average might still sound like a good thing, but slightly above-average teams don’t win the World Series—they get knocked out of the first round in five games.

And what’s troubling about Halladay’s perfect game is that the Phillies couldn’t even score on a base hit, sac fly, or something to that effect. Instead, they have to rely on a boneheaded play by Cameron Maybin to bring Wilson Valdez across the play on an error.

Needless to say, you’re not going to win many playoff series by scoring four runs in five games.

Of course, they have been working without Jimmy Rollins, Carlos Ruiz has been banged up, and most recently Placido Polanco has been forced to miss a couple games with a shoulder injury. But if they want to repeat what they accomplished in 2008, they’re going to have to do it while fighting through some injuries.

It’s time for Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Jayson Werth to step up and start playing the way we’ve seen they can. They’re going to be the guys who put the runs on the board. If they don’t take it upon themselves to get the offense moving in the right direction, it’s going to remain in neutral all season long.

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Are Philadelphia Sports Fans Truly Front-Runners?

Back on August 13th, 2008, Jimmy Rollins became a short-term pariah in Philadelphia because of something he said on FOX’s Best Damned Sports Show, Period in response to a question about whether or not it’s tough playing in Philadelphia.

“There are times,” Rollins told the other guys on set, “I might catch some flak for saying this, but, you know, they’re front-runners. When you’re doing good, they’re on your side. When you’re doing bad, they’re completely against you.”

That was the absolute worst thing Rollins could have ever said but—perhaps enforcing his point—all was forgotten and forgiven once the Phillies won the World Series that year. The quote hasn’t really been brought up since then, but with the success the Flyers are having of late, it’s time to talk about it again.

If you’re from the Philadelphia area, take a look around every once in a while.

Before the Phillies’ improbable playoff run in 2007, did you ever see anything more than the slightest hint of Phillies red around the city?

During the 90’s, did you ever see a wave of Eagles green engulfing the sidewalks?

Now that the Sixers are slumping, do you ever see more than a few loyal fans donning their Sixers gear?

And now that the Flyers are making a run, how much more orange and black is there all over the city?

People who only a few years ago would have told you they thought the only Michael Richards was the guy who played Kramer on Seinfeld are suddenly Flyers fanatics who still think Boucher is the one shutting down the Canadiens because they haven’t watched a single game.

Every team has their loyal fan base that sticks with them through thick and thin. If their team is down by 21 points, 10 runs, or 5 goals they’re still in the stands or in front of the TV watching until the very bitter end because the hope for a miracle is still there.

But now, more and more, we’re seeing the “casual fans” who go out and buy a jersey-shirt or two and toss it on when they go out to the bars with their buddies. They learn a few names and regurgitate something they heard on ESPN until they’re welcomed aboard as a fan.

Every city has their group of people like that, but Philadelphia truly might be one of the worst cities when it comes to that sort of thing.

After a win, the city is littered with that respective team’s merchandise. But after a loss, it’s like they’re once again the red-headed stepchild.

The worst, however, are girls wearing Phillies shirts who probably couldn’t tell you the significance behind the phrase “Struck him out!” (in my best Harry Kalas) past that it’s what happens when the guy holding the wooden stick gets three—maybe four— strikes.

I would never lump all Philly fans together and say they’re all front-runners, but there is a large group of Philadelphians who truly are nothing but fair-weather fans.

It’s fine to support your city’s team when they’re in the playoffs, just don’t pretend like you’ve been watching since day one and go blow an entire paycheck on some new gear if you can’t formulate your own opinion on the team because you’re far too ignorant on the subject and are simply parroting someone else.

By the way, I think Cole Hamels needs to be traded for Cliff Lee, Kevin Kolb is the savior, Michael Leighton is the greatest Philadelphia hero since Dr. J, and Andre Iguodala needs to be traded immediately.

(If you believe all of that, I’m probably talking about you.)

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Jimmy Rollins Not Expected to Hit DL After Calf Injury 2.0

For the first time since mid-April, the Phillies lineup was the way it should be. Every starter was playing, and they were handling John Lackey and the Red Sox fairly well along with the help of a stellar performance by Cole Hamels.

But once Jimmy Rollins hit a single in the sixth inning and had to limp to first base, the mood was immediately sucked out of the air.

The Phils got by without Rollins for an entire month, but no one wants to see if they could pull it off again. Even Juan Castro and the newest-but-not-so-new member of the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs, Wilson Valdez, weren’t happy to see Rollins pull up like that.

It was clearly his right calf again as Rollins aggravated the injury that kept him out of the lineup, until recently, since mid-April.

However, Rollins doesn’t seem all that concerned.

“An hour later, it feels a lot better than it did when I came out,” Rollins told the media after the Phillies’ 5-1 win against the Boston Red Sox, “so we’ll see.”

Charlie Manuel, on the other hand, seems a bit more worried than does Rollins.

“Yes, I’m concerned about Jimmy,” Manuel said. “He said he doesn’t think it’s bad, but we’ll see. We’ll probably be able to tell more about it tomorrow.”

It’s possible Rollins is simply downplaying the significance of the injury this time because he would rather try to play through instead of having to head back to the disabled list and definitely miss at least 15 days of action, but that doesn’t seem like a move that would work with Manuel.

If Charlie thinks Rollins needs two weeks to sit on the bench, watch, and recover, then that is exactly what will happen regardless of what Rollins says. It will all come down to what the team doctors recommend, but it doesn’t seem likely Rollins hits the DL again.

He will most likely miss a game or two, but Castro is ready to go and has shown he can fill in well enough for Rollins in the field and at the plate.

Also, now that Valdez has cleared waivers (surprisingly enough) and accepted an assignment to Triple-A ball, the Phils have an insurance policy should Rollins regress and have to be placed on the Mark Prior List.

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Philadelphia Phillies Must Be Careful, Not Panicky, With Roy Halladay

There is a lot being made about Roy Halladay’s high pitch count over his past few starts. Over the last four starts he’s made he hasn’t thrown any fewer than 118 pitches and is averaging 123 with his latest 132-pitch outing against the Pittsburgh Pirates this past Tuesday.

However, is that really so bad for a guy who has an MLB-high 53 complete games over the past eight seasons?

It’s a lot of pitches, but Halladay has shown it’s a workload he can handle. And with the bullpen once again a complete mess, the Phils are going to need him to throw between 115-125 pitches every time he steps on the mound.

In fact, Antonio Bastardo did a great job of showing exactly why the Phils need to bleed everything out of Halladay they can get after he gave up a game-tying home-run in the eighth against the Cubs on Thursday.

But, as Charlie Manuel acknowledged to the press recently, throwing so many pitches every outing could wear him down throughout the course of the season. And if last year’s playoff run was any indication, the Phils are going to need a lot out of Halladay when it matters most in October.

Manuel said he “doesn’t want to see (Halladay) throw 125 pitches,” so it’s unlikely Halladay will be afforded the opportunity to get his 54th complete game anytime soon.

As usual, Manuel is handling this the right way. He’s going to monitor Halladay, but not trying to take him out immediately once the pitch-count hits triple digits. If Manuel and the Phils start getting paranoid and pulling him early, however, it’s going to create more problems than it solves.

The Phils have a comfortable lead in the division right now, but ask the Mets how much that means 157 games in, much less in the middle of May.

Pulling Halladay early could mean a lot of blown games for the bullpen which could, in turn, mean the Phillies are in a tighter race than they would like come playoff time.

Manuel needs to let Halladay do his thing and not throw off the hot-streak he’s on or he’ll risk throwing him off for the season. Then, come the end of the season when the Phils have the East wrapped up, they can limit him to a little over 100 pitches and save his arm for the playoffs.

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Wilson Valdez Likely Axed with Return of Jimmy Rollins

With Jimmy Rollins slated to make his return to the lineup, someone will have to face the axe in order to make room on the roster.

Unless something drastic happens very, very soon, it appears as though the unlucky player to get the axe will be Wilson Valdez.

But really, it’s the only move that makes sense.

Charlie Manuel has made it clear he’s keeping all of his pitchers, and Valdez is the guy currently filling in for J-Roll.

In fact, that’s not even entirely accurate. Juan Castro was Rollins’ replacement, and Valdez is actually Castro’s replacement, making him the third shortstop.

He might have survived and simply been used as an emergency guy throughout the season, but with pitchers dropping like flies the Phils seem to have decided they simply can’t part with any of them and risk losing someone else.

Valdez has been good in the field, but his hitting has been slightly below-average, to put it nicely, with a .229 average, four RBI, and four runs.

It’s not a bad line for a replacement player, but when we look back and see he had a five-game streak of hitting into a double-play, it paints a picture of a guy who has had a hit here and there, but hasn’t been able to contribute when it counts.

Valdez is out of options, so he will have to clear waivers first if the Phillies want to try to send him back to triple-A Lehigh Valley. However, it’s likely he wouldn’t make it through waivers and has likely played his final game as a Phillie.

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Phillies’ Closer Brad Lidge Gets Some Good News After Elbow MRI

If you listened closely enough this past Wednesday, you could hear the collective groan of a city when we were all informed that Brad Lidge would be leaving Denver in the middle of a series with the Rockies to head back to Philadelphia for an MRI on his surgically-repaired elbow.

Ryan Madson is already out for a couple months and the bullpen probably wasn’t up to snuff to begin with, so losing Lidge would be an absolute catastrophe.

But Lidge and Phillie fans everywhere got some good news on Friday when it was revealed that there is only minor swelling in the joint and nothing more serious like a bone chip or any ligament damage that would have required a stint on the DL.

“We knew the elbow joint swelled up, but the problem is, we didn’t really know if there was something in there that made it swell up,” Lidge told the media after a Phillies win against the Brewers. “In my mind, I was praying there wasn’t. Fortunately, it turned out that way.

“My goal now is to get the inflammation out of there very fast. Hopefully, it’ll not take much more than a day or so. Then, obviously, we’ll be doing everything we can to prevent it from coming back. Once it’s gone it shouldn’t be back.”

Lidge will resume throwing on Saturday, and could even close out the game later that day, if necessary, and if he throws without any discomfort.

Phillies’ skipper Charlie Manuel is going to take it easy on Lidge because he understands he will be a vital piece later in the season. If they work him too hard in May, it could affect his ability to contribute in August and September when the games really start to count.

So if Lidge isn’t 100 percent when he throws Saturday morning, Manuel will look for other options should a save situation arise. It probably won’t be anyone specific, just whomever he feels most comfortable with at that time—most likely Jose Contreras.

Hopefully the Phils can continue to hit the long ball like they did against the Brewers Friday and they’ll be far enough ahead that it won’t matter.

Joe Blanton steps onto the mound without a win this season and a complete game could be just what he needs to get his season moving in the right direction.

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Carlos Ruiz Day-to-Day with Sprained Knee

The injury bug continues to bite at the Phillies as another starter is down and could miss a few days after Carlos Ruiz sprained his right knee Wednesday against the Rockies.

Ruiz initially injured the knee making a tag at the plate, then aggravated it trying to run from first to third on a base hit by Wilson Valdez in the fourth inning. He made it to third safely, but immediately began grasping at his knee and had to be replaced by Paul Hoover.

Hoover then caught the rest of the game because Brian Schneider, originally the backup catcher, is on the 15-day DL with a strained left achilles.

Ruiz, however, doesn’t seem worried about it, saying, “It is not serious, it’s sore.” The slight sprain isn’t expected to land Ruiz on the DL and it’s possible he won’t even miss a start.

“We have an off-day tomorrow, so this is good news,” Phillies assistant GM Scott Proefrock told MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. “We’ll just have to play it by ear, but it’s not a DL situation.”

The Phillies also said there are no plans to bring in another catcher if Ruiz is unable to go. Were they to be faced with the worst-case scenario of Hoover also going down, Jayson Werth would step in as the emergency catcher.

Ben Francisco would likely take over at right field.

Ruiz joins Ryan Madson, Brad Lidge, J.A. Happ, Jimmy Rollins, Juan Castro, and Schneider as the guys bit by the injury bug. If it gets loose on anyone else in the Phillies’ locker-room, it could mean trouble—especially with the Nats and Mets playing well so far.

But, if it was going to bite at any time, May is certainly the time to do it rather than August or September.

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Philadelphia Phillies Expect To Have Jimmy Rollins Back Monday

According to assistant GM Scott Proefrock via Matt Gelb and his Twitter feed, the Phillies expect to have Jimmy Rollins back next week when they start a seven-game homestand beginning with the Pirates, then the Cubs, and ending against the struggling Red Sox.

The Phils have played well without Rollins in the lineup, so having him back will make them that much better. Juan Castro and Wilson Valdez have performed admirably, but neither has been able to replicate Jimmy’s offense.

Rollins has only played in seven games this year, but he was on a tear to kick the season off (before hurting his calf), hitting .391 with three doubles, a triple, a home run, three RBI, two stolen bases, and an OBP of .516.

Shane Victorino, who has been the target of recent trade speculation, has been batting well in Rollins’s place at the top of lineup, but being able to move him back to the seven-hole will give the Phils back some speed at the bottom of the order.

And with Carlos Ruiz hitting the way he’s been behind him, it could mean a much better offense all-around for the Phils.

However, the Phils better be 100 percent positive he’s healed up and ready to go. Valdez and Castro have been playing well enough, so there’s no reason to rush him back and risk another injury that could knock him out for the season.

Some injuries won’t get worse simply by playing, but a calf strain will. If he has not fully recuperated, playing again could strain the muscle even worse or, worst-case scenario, he could tear the muscle entirely; Which could not only mean an end to his season, but his career if the tear was serious enough.

A lot of Rollins’s game is predicated on being able to run and making the opposing pitcher fear him while he’s on base; If he can’t run the bases, then he’s of no use to the team anyway.

The original reports said Rollins might not be able to come back before the end of the month, but now that he is expected back next week it makes me think the team might be rushing him back a week or two too soon.

Cutting two weeks off the expected time of return is difficult to do, so hopefully it just means that he truly is ready to get back in the lineup and not a move the Phils live to regret come September and (fingers crossed) late October/early November.

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Will the Philadelphia Phillies Try To Move Shane Victorino To Keep Jayson Werth?

According to Howard Eskin and his brand new Twitter feed, the Phillies are seriously considering trading Shane Victorino in order to free up some money to resign Jayson Werth.

It makes sense on the surface, as finding a way to keep Werth has to be on top of Ruben Amaro’s to-do list, and trading Victorino would free up $7.5 million next year. The Phils would then just insert Dominic Brown to play either center or right field, depending on where they feel he’s best suited, and move on from there.

However, trading Victorino seems to create more problems than it solves. Sure, they probably free up enough money to keep Werth, but what do they do once Raul Ibañez moves on and they’re forced to replace him in left field?

And even more importantly, how do you replicate Victorino’s fantastic defense? Brown is probably a much better hitter than “the Flyin’ Hawaiian,” but Victorino is one of the best defensive center fielders in all of baseball.

He often helps cover the fact that Ibañez can’t cover as much ground as he once could and is routinely making difficult plays look, well, routine.

Then add in the fact that he’s crushing the ball better than he ever has and you’ve got a guy who is very difficult to get rid of. Since becoming a starter in 2006, Victorino has never hit more than 14 home runs in a season; this year, however, he’s gone yard seven times and we’re only getting into May.

And for all the hype Brown gets as a hitter, he’s still has two less home runs than Victorino playing Double-A ball in Reading.

It’s obvious the Phillies need to keep Werth around to protect Ryan Howard and to be the power righty in the lineup, but moving Victorino is not the way to do that. It solves one problem but creates several more in the long run. The problem here is that Amaro overpaid for Ibañez and now it’s catching up to the team.

Speaking purely out of instinct, I think Amaro will find a way to keep Werth around. Paying Howard all that money doesn’t make much sense if you’re not going to have someone worthy of the fifth spot, so I would have to believe Amaro already has a plan in place.

The most likely scenario (other than simply letting Werth walk and trying to groom someone else) is that the Phils move Ibañez and eat up some of his contract. Then with the money they’ll save in the long-run they can pay Werth the $15-18 million per season he’s going to demand and have a natural fit for Brown in the lineup behind Werth in the six hole.

This would also mean getting rid of Jamie Moyer’s inflated contract and giving Kyle Kendrick a cemented spot in the lineup. A move that, despite Moyer’s wonderfully flukey two-hitter, is long overdue.

Then in 2011 the outfield would be Werth in left, Victorino at center, and Brown in right, with Werth batting fifth, Brown batting sixth, and Victorino batting seventh.

In a perfect world, that’s how everything would fall. However, as the Yankees showed us all last October, it’s certainly far from a perfect world.

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