Our New Infield: Why So Glum?
by David S. Cohen on Jul 1, 2010 1:21 PM EDT
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PrintThe news seems bad right now. If you can name all 13 hitters on the Phillies active roster you're ahead of most Phillies fans. And obviously, with Carlos Ruiz, Chase Utley, and Placido Polanco all on the DL, the infield is hurting the most.
Or is it? Without explaining first, wouldn't you be happy with someone hitting .391 with a .417 OBP and .783 SLG? That's a Bondsian 1.199 OPS. Giving away a bit more, would you be happy with a trio of players hitting 3 home runs and 10 RBI over the course of two games?
Of course you would. And that's exactly what the Phillies' catcher, second baseman, and third baseman have done over the past two games, the two games in which Ruiz, Utley, and Polanco have all been out.
So why so glum? This is completely sustaniable, right?
PhillyFriar FTW:
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I wish we could call them Iron Pig, Back Up, and Iron Pig, but I guess that will not be the case for a while— anybody heard timetables for Ruiz and or Polanco to return?
This better appear on the jumbotron next time one of them bats at home.
by Baseball Nerd on Jul 1, 2010 2:22 PM EDT up reply actions
12 minutes spent in MS Paint > studying for the bar
by PhillyFriar on Jul 1, 2010 2:34 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
rec’d for Philadelphia-area baby name contest winner.
by Wet Luzinski on Jul 1, 2010 10:23 PM EDT up reply actions
Oh yeah....
On ESPN it said Chase Utley will be out for 5-6 weeks due to his thumb injury……
eff you we winning anyway
A.I. IS BACKKKKKKK
Tonight's Fun Lineup.... Brought to You by the House of Backup
Victorino CF
Dobbs 3B
Rollins SS
Howard 1B
Werth RF
Ibanez LF
Valdez 2B
Schneider C
Hamels P
It’s not that good but still not the end of the world
by Sept.28.Oct.27.Dec.28.2008 on Jul 1, 2010 5:25 PM EDT up reply actions
yeah, no tony hawk in a deserted house in the woods
by jemagee on Jul 1, 2010 5:30 PM EDT up reply actions
I think the big thing that we may see in the next few weeks as relates to Dobbs is how much of his earlier form came from playing every day— he looked a little bit better yesterday against Cincinnati (and yes I understand the concept of small sample size)… but maybe he is one of those players who is never going to be great coming off of the bench, but if he plays regularly can be decent. As for Valdez, may he continue to improve… I think this is going to be (with the exception of Schneider, who hopefully will soon be replaced by Ruiz) our lineup for now, so might as well embrace it.
I just remember aprons saying that he had his best year when he was getting regular playing time. I was trying to paint this with the optimism brush and say that maybe both Dobbs and Valdez with the opportunity to contribute every day in the lineup may show more than they have in the past when they filled in every once in a while. I know it is doubtful, and that the season looks pretty bleak with the injury news today, but I am trying to hold some hope that this will be an opportunity for the bench to shine.
by dannijd on Jul 1, 2010 6:45 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Why bat Rollins 3rd?
Seems odd. What do you guys think about:
Rollins SS
Victorino CF
Werth RF
Howard 1B
Ibanez LF
Dobbs 3B
Valdez 2B
Schnedier C
Hamels P
I think that they are trying to put Rollins in a position where he will not have as many base stealing opportunities in an effort to protect him from himself. I also think that they may be trying to leave Werth down in the roster to give him an opportunity to hit some runs home. Also, they may be trying for left/right balance— with Victorino and Rollins both switch hitters, it prevents them from bringing in a LOOGY to get a lot more than one out by splitting the lefties as much as possible.
I'd rather Rollins leading off and trying to steal than bat third and try to hit homeruns.
Werth seems to me to be the best all around hitter now that those other fellows aren’t around.
Oh well—I hope this is a short debate anyhow.
I think it’s the whole “If you spread out the crappy hitters, maybe they’re less likely to be exposed” mindset. Whether that’s right or not, I have no idea, but batting Dobbs-through-pitcher 6 to 9 will result in a ton of 1-2-3 innings at the bottom of the lineup.
Either that or 3-run homeruns. ;)
That makes sense, I suppose. I’d rather have the good hitters clustered together so we don’t get a bunch of 1-out GIDPs with the bases loaded, though.
Cholly is suspended tonight btw
by Sept.28.Oct.27.Dec.28.2008 on Jul 1, 2010 5:34 PM EDT reply actions
Contact with an ump is usually a one game suspension isn’t it?
by jemagee on Jul 1, 2010 5:57 PM EDT up reply actions
Course, more reasons to hate bucknor – kind of a wuss thing -
by jemagee on Jul 1, 2010 5:57 PM EDT up reply actions
Bucknor can suck it
The whole time Cholly was arguing with him, Bucknor stood there with a shit-faced cowardly grin, waiting to pull some lame-ass suspension crap.
As soon as Cholly walked off, his cap BARELY grazed Bucknor’s head, and you could see Bucknor point to his head and mouth-off, undoubtedly telling Cholly that He Was Gonna Get ’Em.
Why doesn’t MLB get rid of clown like him and Country Joe?
Because they make it so that good umpiring is not taken for granted
by dannijd on Jul 1, 2010 6:59 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Surprisingly, a writer from the Hardball Times did a study a few years ago and concluded from the data that West was the best ball/strike umpire in the game. As in numero uno.
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/a-zone-of-their-own/
Obviously, he could still be a bad ump for other reasons, but it’s a data point.
Dumbest trade proposal of the day:
Dominic Brown, Raul Ibanez and Chooch for Wieters and Wigginton from the Orioles…. saw this on Yahoo
For one more night
Last night, Cerberus was effective and helpful yet again… a home run, an RBI, a 4-11 with a sacrifice bunt showing at the dish… and the inevitable two fielding errors (leading my little brother to joke that Exxon was doing his best imitation of Utley… errors and all). At least at the plate they outperformed the regulars— I understand that baseball is a game of statistics, numbers that I am only somewhat good with, coming from a football background where sometimes heart, desire, and other things can out weigh the simple numbers, but I can not help but wonder, if some of what we are seeing from the regulars is not the emotional hangover from being punched in the gut one time too many by the injury bug— I mean, if we are wondering whether this team can ever catch a break, I am sure that they are asking themselves the same thing. For Cerberus, however, the sadness that some of them may feel at losing strong members of the team gets tempered by the fact that they are getting the chance to be in the big show— while you never want to see your chance come this way, the fact is that (at least until someone is brought in via trade/free agency), they are getting their chance to show both the Phillies and other teams that they have something to offer— that maybe they should not spend the rest of their careers on the bench/in AAA.
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