Some Phillies Links For You, September 9, 2010: Stranglehold, Lame Jimmy, BlueClaws Win
by WholeCamels on Sep 9, 2010 8:18 AM EDT
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PrintLet us take a moment to praise Charlie Manuel | HardballTalk
Maybe not the best day to run this, after last night's "difficulties," but Charlie's level-headedness has preserved the Phillies' season in many ways.
Phillies undecided on fifth starter
Oh man, Kyle Kendrick with the martyr act. Jeeeeeezus...
Paul Hagen: Victorino's on-field contributions catching up to his charitable works
Shane Victorino is having an odd season. Spike in power but the AVG is so far down, and the walk rate is down slightly. Lots of his struggles are a function of his inability to hit lefties this season.
Philadelphia Phillies broadcast crew doesn't match team's success
This guy is kind of saying what we're all thinking...
Phillies Notebook: Phillies reliever Baez says he's ready to contribute
"I'm not dead yet!"
Hamstring tightness, dehydrations, but Rollins expected to be OK
Give him some Pedialyte and let him watch cartoons on the couch all day today.
May pitches Lakewood to Game 1 win
The 20-year-old May set a franchise playoff record with 13 strikeouts in 6 2/3 scoreless innings. A year ago in the playoffs, he threw 11 shutout innings in two starts. May walked one and allowed four hits Wednesday as Lakewood took the first game in the best-of-three series.
Nice to see that Trevor May is already a big-game pitcher! (ducks)
Local kid wins Home Run Derby
Between Mike Trout and now this kid, Millville is becoming a true hotbed of talent.
Zoo With Roy: Mike Sweeney Punching Jeff Weaver In the Face!!!
This went up over the weekend but it definitely deserves more attention. Zoo With Roy, kids.
Lowe beats Pirates again as Braves win 9-3
Definitely too much to ask for a sweep from the Pirates. Two-out-of-three is awfully good for such a bad team.
Troy Tulowitzki Hits Two Home Runs In Rockies 9-2 Rout Over Reds - Purple Row
And like that, the Phillies have the best record in the National League.
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“I’m getting hurt by leaving pitches up,” Kendrick said. “I’m missing over the plate and that’s about it.”
Kendrick said he went through a similar period in August and September of 2008, but attributed that to a lack of confidence. This time, he’s just not sure what’s causing his struggles.
Kyle, I’m sorry to have to be the bearer of bad news, but I think the problem is that you just aren’t very good.
He actually is getting unlucky of late though. He should give up 4.75-5.00 per nine. He isn’t really a 7.00 ERA pitcher or whatever.
Yeah, but a 5.00 ERA pitcher still qualifies as not all that good, in my book. This is also the first time Kendrick has gotten an eye roll from me. He’s usually a stand up guy. I understand his frustration and I can see a complaint or two, but keep it in house. Complain to Mrs. Kendrick or one of the Roys, but shut up about it to anyone who needs a badge to get in.
Definitely, it isn’t very good. However, it does show that his current struggles, which go far beyond that, are not solely or even primarily the result of his lack of ability.
No, the 5.00 range FIP is solely the result of his lack of ability. Sorry couldn’t resist. I actually don’t think he’s completely useless, but I do think his future’s in the bullpen. For that reason, this may actually be good for him to move there and settle in for the playoffs. His assertion that everyone else gets a free ride is ridiculous though (See Moyer, Jamie this time last year.)
love the announcer link. It’s a shame that nothing will come of the poll that has Franzke as the best announcer by a mile.
"My grandmom's favorite grandson, ask my grandmom" --Rone
I think Jackson is substantially better than Franzke. Franzke looks better than he really is because of the inevitable comparison to T-Mac.
I still despise his overuse of chop, chopper, chops, chopped, etc….
Every ground ball involves some iteration of ‘chop’.
I like Franzke. Something about Jim Jackson’s voice bothers me. It’s like he’s not making enough of an effort to clearly enunciate.
T-Mac isn’t terrible. He just doesn’t do anything that makes him special. I don’t live in Philly, so on MLB Extra Innings, I often have to listen to the other team’s announcers. T-Mac is WAY less obnoxious than Bob Carpenter for the Nats. He really doesn’t do anything different from Gary Cohen, and I think Cohen is well liked. T-Mac just comes from the school that you have to say something and always have energy, and trust me, this is what all broadcasters are taught these days. He is no different from any other TV play by play man under the age of 55. Granted, this does not make him great, but it does not make him the worst broadcaster either.
T-Mac is what he is, and I think we will just have to accept the fact that the days of the unique play by play guy are over.
by threezerofour on Sep 9, 2010 12:36 PM EDT up reply actions
Agreed. The PBP way has changed—if you listen to the younger folks nowadays, they like it. I spoke with a Yankees fan a few years ago who said he couldn’t stand Kalas and Scully, because there was “too much dead air”.
It’s a shame but people seemingly have shorter attention spans these days, so everything is changing to cater to the newer generations.
Lex clavatoris designati rescindenda est.
Decades ago, the idea of dead air on a broadcast was sacrilege. It was a better time.
Tell that to my bleeding ears when I listen to vin scully do a baseball game.
The dead air idea is an archaic holdover of radio when you were dependent on the announcer to tell you what you can’t see. This new fangled tv allows you to see.
by SportingFanaticism on Sep 9, 2010 10:58 PM EDT up reply actions
A lot of the time it is a failure of brain rather than a failure of mouth. If I want someone to shut up in a broadcast, it’s almost always when they are talking about something stupid rather than the game.
80% of the time Vin Scully isn’t talking about the game (No i dn’t consider home spun stories about a kids dads prom date relevant to the game)
by SportingFanaticism on Sep 10, 2010 5:03 PM EDT up reply actions
I like Franske better than Jackson as well, although JJ isn’t terrible. I agree with you on the voice thing, although my issue with JJ is that he tends to change vocal speeds frequently, which I find annoying. None of the Phillies’ broadcasting crew, though, is nearly as irritating as some of the other crews in our division. Listening to Wheels ramble about hanging cutters middle-in is nowhere hear as bad as HIS NAME IS DAAAAN UGGLA.
by ThinMountainAir on Sep 9, 2010 3:19 PM EDT up reply actions
Agreed that we could certainly do much worse. I was driving in North Jersey recently listening to a Mets game and I found it hard to believe these guys had the gig. It sounded like a “broadcaster for a day” promotion. The Yankees team is equally annoying but maybe they grow on you — it’s high, it’s deep, yadda yadda.
Mike Sweeney…dragging his left a little bit, that’s sure to hurt him in the later rounds
"The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants"
~Thomas Jefferson
by CoburnsCuddleBuddy on Sep 9, 2010 9:11 AM EDT reply actions
if you don’t like SJ, please don’t drive through. Just stay in Pennsy and quit screwing up our traffic every weekend.
Admiral Wilson Blvd is something to be proud of
(Raise your hand if you remember the MMR Admiral Wilson Blvd song)
by SportingFanaticism on Sep 9, 2010 11:19 AM EDT up reply actions
So this Rollins thing is worrisome to me because I worry it’s an indication of his body aging (his baseball age as it were) to the point where he just won’t stay healthy during a season and small injuries last longer than they should and reoccur too often in the same area.
by SportingFanaticism on Sep 9, 2010 11:20 AM EDT reply actions
Agreed. More concerning is their lack of depth at his position in the minors. Seems like all their eggs are in the Rollins basket, at the minimum for next year. Unless he completely breaks down, I expect them to resign him past next season.
Looking forward to the Kevin Kolb era.
5-8-10...the day the Purdue Boilermakers basketball team won the 2011 NCAA Championship!!
He was dehydrated and couldnt even take BP. I have a feeling the quad tightened up on him because of that. I think the calf thing was a fluke and I dont think he’s more ‘injury prone’ than anyone else his age.
No offense to Jimmy, but seriously, how hard is it to remember to drink some water, or gatorade?
by SportingFanaticism on Sep 9, 2010 11:49 AM EDT up reply actions
ugh
“The other guys are kind of perfect all the time,” Kendrick said. “You’ve got to be perfect, I guess. I’ve had some struggles. I’ve got to work through them.”
The other guys are:
—Roy Halladay, one of the 3-4 best pitchers in the game, having a great season
—Cole Hamels, former NLCS and World Series MVP, having a great season
—Roy Oswalt, who’s won about 150 games in the big leagues and is having a great season
—Joe Blanton, who isn’t having a great season but has a half-decade of solid work and still almost always delivers six-plus innings of decent work
They’re not “perfect all the time,” Kyle. They’re just much, much, much better than you, and they’ve earned a lot more slack than you have.
At this point, after those comments, I think a change of scenery would be best for Kyle.
Looking forward to the Kevin Kolb era.
5-8-10...the day the Purdue Boilermakers basketball team won the 2011 NCAA Championship!!
It would be best for the phillies if they had another option that was inexpensive and reliable.
I think for Kyle, it wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference because a change of scenery doesn’t change your aability
by SportingFanaticism on Sep 9, 2010 12:17 PM EDT up reply actions
You’re right it doesn’t, but it can change your mindset.
Looking forward to the Kevin Kolb era.
5-8-10...the day the Purdue Boilermakers basketball team won the 2011 NCAA Championship!!
but it can change your mindset.
Maybe the phillies can trade kendrick for colby rasmus.
Both need the ‘change of scenery’
by SportingFanaticism on Sep 9, 2010 12:26 PM EDT up reply actions
Ok, thats find if you want to act like a change of scenery means nothing then so be it, no sense in arguing with you about it, especially when you response shows you clearly do not understand the point I was making from the beginning.
Looking forward to the Kevin Kolb era.
5-8-10...the day the Purdue Boilermakers basketball team won the 2011 NCAA Championship!!
I understand the point you were making from the beginning, I just feel it’s a ridiculous point and brought up Rasmus to reinforce it.
Your mental state is your mental state, if you need a ‘change of scenery’ to refresh your mental state you need a change of profession.
in my opinion
by SportingFanaticism on Sep 9, 2010 12:32 PM EDT up reply actions
There are plenty of people who benefit from a change of scenery. Not just athletes. The comments from Kendrick read as someone who doesn’t feel appreciated. He feels like the other starters can do no wrong but yet he is thrown under the bus when he does do something wrong. If that is the case and that is how he feels then he would benefit greatly from being somewhere where that team wants him.
I never once said it would make him a better pitcher, as you pointed out, where you play has little effect on his natural ability, though it could have an effect on the outcome of his performances, all I did say was that a change of scenery would benefit him.
Looking forward to the Kevin Kolb era.
5-8-10...the day the Purdue Boilermakers basketball team won the 2011 NCAA Championship!!
in all fairness…Zebulon is likely way better than suburban Philly.
If you can get something of reasonable return for Kendrick which has potential, I’d agree that it could be a win-win for all involved parties. The public criticism from Dubee probably really didn’t help though.
I actually meant offices (both jobs are only 10 minutes from each other). Also you may be the first person ever to type the sentence Zebulon is way better than suburban Philly. I like both areas, but sometimes at work people grow to grate on each other, and sometimes a change of boss can be greatly helpful.
Does it, or does it affect the probable outcomes of batted balls due to the thinner air?
by SportingFanaticism on Sep 9, 2010 1:35 PM EDT up reply actions
Then thinner air significantly reduces the lift coefficient ( theoretical lift / measured lift ) where the theoretical lift is
(4/3) x (4 x 3.14^2 x S x B^3 x D x V) where S = spin, B = radius, V = velocity, D= air density
by more than 50% so fastballs have less movement and off speed pitches less break. With less moisture in the thinner air balls dry out quickly and become harder and slicker which diminishes a pitcher’s grip. Grip determines the spin and this inturn affects the speed, movement and/or break of the ball.
Seriously, that’s very cool. I’ve wondered about the physics of Coors Field for a while but was too lazy to look it up.
by ThinMountainAir on Sep 9, 2010 3:43 PM EDT up reply actions
OT: But hilarious nonetheless.
Looking forward to the Kevin Kolb era.
5-8-10...the day the Purdue Boilermakers basketball team won the 2011 NCAA Championship!!
I know hes not a Phillies anymore but Keith Law had a nice piece on Kyle Drabek. Apparently his arm is getting stronger and hes adding more speed on his throws. Just needs to develop another pitch or so.
Just needs to develop another pitch or so.
Isn’t this what a lot of so-called prospects fail on though? They never develop additional pitches of quality?
by SportingFanaticism on Sep 9, 2010 12:33 PM EDT up reply actions
The vast majority of guys fail through lacking the ability to throw any good pitches at all. If a prospect develops the ability to throw one or two, he may or may not develop a third, but clearing the former hurdle increases one’s odds of overall success immensely and is therefore an extremely important development.
Drabek isn’t a sure thing at this stage, but he is a very valuable commodity. His odds of success are pretty high, and the payoff of successfully developing a cost-controlled pitcher, especially one with Drabek’s ceiling, is so enormous that Toronto should really be thrilled.
And I’m not disputing that, just seemed that the ‘develop another pitch’ idea by the original poster seemed like an easy thing to do. Drabek ending up as a bulllpen pitcher would be a disappointment based on hype (and valuation) when he was traded, wouldn’t it?
by SportingFanaticism on Sep 9, 2010 1:56 PM EDT up reply actions
You have to look at it in terms of probabilities.
A pitcher who has a great arm but hasn’t mastered any pitches maybe has odds of:
50% washout
20% serviceable reliever
15% very good reliever
10% serviceable starter
5% top of the line starter
A pitcher who has mastered 1-2 pitches and is working on a third maybe has odds of:
20% washout
25% serviceable reliever
20% very good reliever
20% serviceable starter
15% top of the line starter
I’m making those figures up, but I think they’re decent ballpark estimates. The point being that if a pitcher successfully graduates from Category A to Category B, that’s great news because it improves all the probabilities substantially. That it doesn’t eliminate the possibility of disappointment doesn’t change the fact that it’s great news. The possibility of disappointment has become much smaller.
Unless Drabek has a Knuckler I don’t know about, this isn’t really applicable. I love the knuckler. The hardest pitch to master, but it takes the least physical talent to throw it.
If you had absolute mastery over a two-seamer you might be able to do it. It’s agreat pitch because you can get some sink and horizontal break. But it’s hard to contol, it has a mind of it’s own. Just ask AJ Burnett. When Maddux was a Cub in 2006 I saw him dominate the Cards one game throwing almost all two-seamers. It had such wicked late movement La Russa came out twice to ask the ump if he could look at the ball.
Anybody See This?
Omar Minaya Flies Coach, Gets Heckled
Some pretty weak heckling in there, but I chuckled nonetheless. Why is Minaya flying coach? Things must really be tough in Queens these days.
Lex clavatoris designati rescindenda est.
Prolly wanted to avoid the better heckling you find in first class.
by phatj on Sep 9, 2010 1:05 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
More Links
So, Chris Leroux thinks Phillies fans are obnoxious
I remember saying I thought it was ballsy that the Fish hazed their rookies in Philly of all places—Leroux apparently did not like the taunting.
And another not so nice story about the Mets. I just don’t even know what to say about that one. Maybe the original quotes were in Spanish and just got lost in translation? I hope so, anyway.
Lex clavatoris designati rescindenda est.
I don’t really trust either that Crossing Broad guy or the NY Post.
by taco pal on Sep 9, 2010 1:33 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
It seems like NY is really out to play gotcha with that team now. I dislike much of the NY sports media; makes me really appreciate the Philly media, as bad as it is.
Lex clavatoris designati rescindenda est.
The post is to print journalism what the larry king show is to legitimate television journalism
by SportingFanaticism on Sep 9, 2010 1:38 PM EDT up reply actions
My girlfriend’s brother just took it. They put in a writing section and made the whole thing marginally harder. They also took out quantitative comparisons from the math section.
by ThinMountainAir on Sep 9, 2010 4:16 PM EDT up reply actions
I would have LOVED a writing section. That was really more my strong suit. I did better on the AP English exam than in the English section of the SAT’s.
Lex clavatoris designati rescindenda est.
I have handwriting that is kindly referred to as chicken scratch, i would have hated a writing section. I hated it on the MCATS, before I found out that it’s not really scored for content so much as formatting it properly as an essay and such nonsense that never made sense to me why it would matter that I could format an essay properly for med school (but at that point i had decided there was no way i wanted to go to med school and only took the test, hung over, cause i couldn’t get my money back)
by SportingFanaticism on Sep 9, 2010 6:25 PM EDT up reply actions
I don’t see how you can call it a standardized test if it includes something that can only be judged subjectively.
Not really—it’s really judged on other criteria. Formatting, intro paragraph, supporting paragraphs, formidable conclusion—things of that nature.
Lex clavatoris designati rescindenda est.
Which, Like I said, I find it asinine.
by SportingFanaticism on Sep 9, 2010 7:24 PM EDT up reply actions
I don’t know. Most of my undergraduate degree (lit major) was writing papers. I took very few tests. There were a lot of students there who had no idea how to write a basic term paper. It’s shocking, really.
Lex clavatoris designati rescindenda est.
Then that’s a failure of the high school, the SAT’s writing portion is not so much grading your knowledge of your thought processes but your ability to format via elements of style?
by SportingFanaticism on Sep 9, 2010 10:59 PM EDT up reply actions
When it comes to grading tests, math teachers must have it the easiest. English, humanities social scientist, philosphy teachers – it must take forever to read thru all those papers and essays.
Probably, and I bet they teach sense of humor.
Only ‘philosophy’ course I ever took was elementary logic which was all this symbol stuff, proving 2+2=4 was hard
by SportingFanaticism on Sep 9, 2010 11:00 PM EDT up reply actions
I took some philosophy courses in college and they were great—you would have loved them because there’s no right or wrong, really, and it’s all arguing all the time—but there’s really no practical use for them. My school just required 3 credits in philos/3 in religion.
Lex clavatoris designati rescindenda est.
Well if you don’t consider strengthening your ability to think critically and argue intelligently practical, then you are right there is no practical use for them, or many of the courses on takes in college.
by SportingFanaticism on Sep 10, 2010 5:04 PM EDT up reply actions
Well, I meant practical in terms of creating a job out of them, but, yes, skills obtained in them are very practical. I was downplaying because everytime I’ve said how much I loved my philosophy courses, I’ve been met with backlash on what time wasters they are as courses.
Lex clavatoris designati rescindenda est.
Worse than the dude who ran 4 Days Rest?
by ThinMountainAir on Sep 9, 2010 3:24 PM EDT up reply actions
No, the domain name’s been suspended or something. Good. I hated that site.
by ThinMountainAir on Sep 9, 2010 3:49 PM EDT up reply actions
Keith Law had an ESPN chat today and when asked about giving adam dunn 4 years / 55 million, said this
Forgive the tangent, but I love how the Phillies just backed up the truck for Howard two years before they had to, and yet still give Marti Wolever and his amateur scouting staff one of the smallest budgets for signing players every year. Where does ownership think all these good teenage prospects come from? How did they get Halladay and Oswalt? Oh, yeah, by trading the guys Wolever and his team drafted. They’ve done a great job the last three years, especially finding later values like Singleton and Cosart.
by SportingFanaticism on Sep 9, 2010 4:31 PM EDT reply actions
Further commentary
I heard the other day that the Phillies have traded 20+ prospects from their system in the last (roughly) two years – if true, it is amazing that their system is still in the shape it’s win. Wolever’s group has done really well and they’ve found some promising kids internationally while also dealing with a tiny budget.
by SportingFanaticism on Sep 9, 2010 4:42 PM EDT up reply actions
I would like to see a ranking of draft signing budgets. Surely somebody out there must have this info compiled somewhere.
This years draft budgets for some teams may have been out of the ordinary according to this guy
by SportingFanaticism on Sep 9, 2010 5:19 PM EDT up reply actions
An interesting point that has been raised by various agents and sports law scholars is based …..
I figured there would be sports law and sports lawyers but not sports law scholars – at least yet.
well curt flood was 1970 right? That’s like 40 years just since that event. That’s long enough to have a scholar.
by SportingFanaticism on Sep 9, 2010 5:29 PM EDT up reply actions
Thanks, but still can’t find it.
I’m not saying Keith Law is making stuff up, but I don’t trust him. He can be sloppy.
Agreed. I don’t think the Phillies have a high ceiling, but Law’s making it sound like the Wolever gets dollar store money and has to unearth hidden gems no one has ever heard of, while having to pay them all with dreams and promises. A little hyperbole going on here, I think.
Or in relation to other teams who hand out ludicrous contracts 2 years too soon to guys who probably won’t age well they are spending a lot less on the draft.
It wouldn’t surprise me to see them be a more middle of the pack draft spending team in relation to major league budget and market size, they seem more often to go for the slot then to bust the slot when ‘slot busters’ are available.
They’ve done well, but if they’ve done well on a restricted budget, imagine what a better allocation of funds (you know, less for over paying ryan howard and more for the draft) might or might not do.
by SportingFanaticism on Sep 9, 2010 5:31 PM EDT up reply actions
I’m perfectly open to arguments that the Phillies should spend a marginally larger percentage of their overall budget on signing amateurs, and a marginally smaller percentage of their overall budget on the big league payroll. My point is just that I would like to see a factcheck of Law’s statement that they have “one of the smallest budgets” for signing amateurs.
I’ve seen comparisons of draft budgets before (probably on some Phuture Phillies draft recaps), but even those are somewhat apples-to-oranges because the teams with higher picks inevitably have to spend more to sign those guys. Now, the Phillies have had good spending years (2008) and bad spending years (2003), but generally speaking, they’re pretty middle-of-the-road.
Now, I’d certainly agree that the Phils should spend more on both the draft and in Latin America, as they’re middle-of-the-road both places while spending a significant chunk on major league payroll, but I don’t think the situation’s quite as dire as Law implies.
Middle of the road (say 15) when your market size is? and your payroll is x?
If your market is top 6 and your payroll is top 6 – why isn’t your draft spending commensurate with those things?
I’d probably look at it differently and not look at the top of the draft when evaluating the spending so much as the ‘slot buster’ guys who ended up going to the teams willing to bust slot lower in the draft. Maybe it doesn’t happen as much any more, but a second rounder with a million dollar bonus type?
by SportingFanaticism on Sep 9, 2010 6:33 PM EDT up reply actions
In any event, market size is probably irrelevant here, because the amount of money that is spent on the draft is not primarily a function of overall ability/will/whatever to pay as it is a function of the relative weight that the team places on the big league payroll vs. the draft.
The right way to look at it would be: First, determine where the Phillies overall budget stands in comparison with their peers’, adjusted for market size. That measures ability/will/whatever to pay.
Then, separately, you would break it down by proportion of spending on major leagues vs. player signings. That would measure the relative priority they place on each area in comparison to other teams.
1-0 Braves. Walks On Water drove in Infante who got to third on a two throwing errors on an groundball to short. 5 people are in the stands.
A few years ago when rumors of Abreu to the Yankees started to surface there were a lot of folks who wanted Melky in return. In retrospect, that might have been an upgrade, but it would look pretty bad now just the same.
How would it have been an upgrade, even at the time?
by SportingFanaticism on Sep 9, 2010 11:00 PM EDT up reply actions
Cards threatening. Gonzalez got hit in the head by McCann’s failed attempt to pick off the man at second. B. Ryan knocks in two runs and then Shcummaker first pitch jack. 4-3
You know the way the crowd sounds at Marlins games like there’s alot of open space for sound to travel before hitting a solid object, that’s how many.
It’s especially offensive considering how long (in sports terms, relatively speaking) it’s been since the Braves were in the running for the title. I don’t want to hear this “Braves fans are from all over the country” crap. There are a crapton of people in Atlanta—the majority of them just don’t care for baseball. Period.
Lex clavatoris designati rescindenda est.
What do you guys think of an AL Philly team? I think we’re the single biggest market with just one team. How would Philadelphia Royals sound?
Also, going by pure market size is slightly misleading. The Boston media market is 7th largest in the U.S., but the Red Sox’s reach extends far beyond the media market proper because of the amount of space between them and the nearest team, as well as the cohesiveness of New England as a region. Similarly, the Braves’ reach extends far beyond the Atlanta metro area since they’re the only team in the South and because they used to be on Turner. Philadelphia’s “out-of-market reach” is shorter than almost any other city’s in America.
Los Angeles only has one team
Anaheim has another team
by SportingFanaticism on Sep 9, 2010 11:01 PM EDT up reply actions
At hitting, I should clarify.
But don’t worry, everyone! We can count on Pedro Feliz to pick him up!
All he had to do was keep his glove on Damon….though let’s face it that was such a team crap yer pants fail.
2010 OPS of bottom-of-lineup Cardinals
Pedro Feliz – .528
Adam Wainwright – .489
Brendan Ryan – .563
Wainwright’s actually having an off-year though. If he were up to his normal standards this season (career .600) he’d be better than either of the other guys.
Ryan isn’t actually a terrible hitter for shortstop — he’s had miserable BABIP luck this year — but yeah, that’s not exactly a fearsome end of the lineup.
Jurrjens has been really good over the past month, a blip at Colorado aside, but he’s not catching any breaks tonight. Not pitching great, but a lot of hits and a total gopher ball home run.
Cardinals sweep would put them right back in the playoff hunt.
They’d be about 2-3 games back of the WC and 3-4 games back of the division, with 17 games to go.
Sounds reminiscent of the Phillies in 2007 – except I think they were still 6-7 games back in the division. On the other hand, the Reds seem to be making a habit of getting swept in four-game series, so they don’t have anything locked up.
by phillyinportland on Sep 10, 2010 3:40 AM EDT up reply actions
Jayson Stark Says
From his ESPN column Rumblings & Grumblings, 9/9/10:
“The Phillies, obviously, are a long ways from making any final decisions on what their lineup will look like without him {Werth}. But the likely plan is to give hot-shot rookie Domonic Brown most of the playing time in right — while complementing him with a right-handed-hitting fourth-outfielder type.
A couple of potential options for that role: Cody Ross or Jeff Francoeur, if they’re nontendered.”
Is he kidding?
by phillyinportland on Sep 10, 2010 3:13 AM EDT reply actions
Unfortunately I don’t think he is, but hopefully it doesn’t reflect Amaro’s thinking. Ross may be ok for that role.
Jeff Francoeur a Phiilie – that would be so hilarious. It’d be like Pedro Feliz never left and had been converted into an outfielder.
The thought makes me feel slightly ill.
Ross, annoying as his face is, would actually be a non-horrible bench signing at the right price. He’s better than Francoeur against both lefties and righties. And it’s not as if Francoeur’s face isn’t annoying too.
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