Some Tuesday Phillies Links for You, May 24, 2011: The Big 0-Fer in the 2-Hole
by Wet Luzinski on May 24, 2011 7:40 AM EDT
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Utley's back; so are Phillies bats | Courier-Post | courierpostonline.com
A tidy account of last night's big event by David Hale.
The Fightins " Chase Utley returns to the lineup, offense EXPLODES
Our pals at the FIghtins have the audio as Chase Utley steps to the plate. Teh gooey awesomesauce.
Phillies, Manuel will need Utley to be honest | Philadelphia Inquirer | 05/24/2011
Can a leopard change his spots? History suggests no, and yet past performance is no guarantee of future returns to the DL (or not).
Chase Utley’s return won’t be elixir for Phillies’ offensive woes - MLB - Sporting News
This explains the girlish giggling around Stan McNeal's cubicle this morning at The Sporting News.
Crashburn Alley " Blog Archive " Measuring Chase Utley’s Impact
Hey, Stan McNeal: SHOULD OF READ BILL BAER.
Phillies Notes: Blanton to be out at least a month | Philadelphia Inquirer | 05/24/2011
Worley's nickname is NITE OWL. There are no questions. While Blanton sees Dr. Andrews, Big Truck may be rolling down the Northeast Extension pretty soon.
NL East Roundup:
Corey Hart Hits 3 HR's, Milwaukee Brewers Cruise To 11-3 Victory Over Washington Nationals. - Federal Baseball
Utley is not the only big bat returning from a long DL stint. And to think I was thisclose from picking up Gorzelanny off the FA scrap heap.
Elsewheres in Baseball Internettery:
Pitchers & Poets
For those of you who are fans of first basemen of the 1990s, it's been a great reading of reading at Pitchers & Poets. My favorite is the Eric Karros tribute.
Minor Leagues:
The Associated Press: All Night Long: Class-A game goes 23 innings
Jupiter 2, Clearwater 1 (23 innings)
I kid you not. The box score to the Threshers game/marathon, featuring the return of Joe Savery, future Utility Hero(TM).
Scoreboard | Lakewood 6, West Virginia 5 (10)
Extrys Night down on the farm.
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I know its messed up but im looking forward to the month without Blanton. He hasnt been good at all so far and Worley has been lights out every shot he’s gotten. Im really looking forward to seeing Worley pitch the next 6 or so times.
Atleast people want to be on our bandwagon
Blanton has had one bad start, two meh starts (one win, one loss), and three good starts (2 NDs, one loss).
It does not lie, but it is distorted by the 12 runs he gave up in his first 10.1 innings (ERA for those innings 10.45). In his last four starts, during which he has been struggling with elbow issues that have mow forced a pair of DL stints, his ERA was 3.38 (9 runs allowed in 24 innings). He is not a bad pitcher- he is an injured one, and obviously it is better that he be on the DL until he is fully healed. Worley is a suitable replacement, but his ERA is artificially low due to a small sample size made up of teams who have not seen him before. He is not a better option for this team than a healthy Blanton.
Offense, offense, where are you?
by dannijd on May 24, 2011 10:32 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Yes, but it still lies. It depends on what you’re trying to say: if you’re saying "He hasnt been good at all so far ", then yes, ERA lies. The smaller your sample size, the less reliable an indicator ERA becomes.
I don’t know that what it does is “lying” per se. It is a rather good teller of history. I would say that it does not do a good job of telling the whole story, particularly early on in a season or career. But that does not make it a lie.
Offense, offense, where are you?
by dannijd on May 24, 2011 11:30 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
It is extremely frustrating that no matter how many times you explain it, so many stupid people in this city continue to refuse to understand how good Blanton is and how well he was pitching this year.
This year he had a 3.89 FIP and a 3.38 xFIP. He was victimized by a .360 BABIP despite posting a career low LD rate, a career low FB rate, and a career high GB rate. Blanton’s situation in 2011 has been precisely what DIPS were invented for – the starkest example possible of a situation in which ERA is wrong.
Ground balls may actually have caused some of his woes- Valdez is actually the fourth worst defensive second baseman in terms of UZR, meaning that a lot more of those supposedly good ground balls are turning into hits and runs. While the article below talks about this for it’s fantasy impact on the Phillies aces, it also illustrates how much defensive issues have cost Blanton.
http://fantasynews.cbssports.com/fantasybaseball/story/14931863/the-2011-trendy-fantasy-blog
Offense, offense, where are you?
by dannijd on May 24, 2011 6:25 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I hear that. I just shake my head and walk away when people complain about him anymore. When some folks I know were bitching about Kendrick’s awful game against the Rockies last week, they actually had the audacity to say Blanton wouldn’t have pitched much better.
Gee-zus. I mean, there’s reality and then there’s perception.
What kind of plane is it? Oh, it's a big pretty white plane with red stripes, curtains in the windows and wheels and it looks like a big ol' Tylenol.
The thing that’s missing from the Eric Karros tribute is a bit more perspective. Sure, he was bland and didn’t have the performance of a Bagwell or the pizzazz of a Mondesi. And it’s true that he’s god-awful on air. But, he still had a major league baseball career that eclipses the careers of probably 97% of all baseball players to have ever played the game professionally at the big league level. Add in all the people who have played it professionally at any level (because, after all, they all want to get to his level), and he’s in the top 99.9% of players in the history of the game. Add in all the people who have ever played baseball at any level for pay or not and . . . . Well, you get my point.
Yeah, this is kind of a meaningless ramble about something completely tangential to the Phillies links, but something about that piece made me think of the perspective angle here. Even the players who are in the majors who are “mediocre” are special athletes.
Even Wilson Valdez?
"You can commit no mistake and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." - Jean-Luc Picard
Ha! Looking at things from this perspective is the only way I’d ever say anything nice about the guy.
by David S. Cohen on May 24, 2011 10:06 AM EDT up reply actions
fyi, for those of you who, like me, use Fangraphs a lot, they’ve added a base-running component to their WAR calcuations… guys like Utley, Rollins, and Victorino see their WARs bumped a bit (esp. Utley); Howard’s loses some.
That’s great. Was really the one thing missing from the Fangraphs WAR calculations (other than foolproof defensive statistics, which I’m not sure will ever exist).
by PhillyFriar on May 24, 2011 10:29 AM EDT up reply actions
Damon’s ’09 postseason WAR must be off the charts now.
"Call me dumb, call me stupid, whatever. I block shots."
@boknows71
Ugh… Who’s on Third ?!?
Offense, offense, where are you?
by dannijd on May 24, 2011 12:55 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Ouch, Howard takes a pretty big hit.
by philsandthrills on May 24, 2011 3:39 PM EDT up reply actions
Tonight's lineup is up...
It seems Manuel liked last night’s production so much that he is sticking with it…
Rollins
Utley
Polanco
Howard
Ibañez
Ruiz
Brown
Mayberry
Worley
Offense, offense, where are you?
by dannijd on May 24, 2011 2:56 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Still no rest for Rollins and Howard.
"You can commit no mistake and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." - Jean-Luc Picard
Yeah- on one hand it is wonderful seeing the infield all together, on the other, I know rest is important.
Offense, offense, where are you?
by dannijd on May 24, 2011 3:42 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I have a feeling Rollins will get a day off the same day the cable, internet, and radio simultaneously go out at your place, on a day that you are so sick that you nyqil the day away to wake up and not believe he actually got a day off.
by Joecatz on May 24, 2011 4:48 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I will be there, attempting my first mobile game comment(s). Spelling and punctuation better not count.
"Ninety percent of this game is half mental" - Yogi Berra (SI, May 14, 1979)
by bandwagonesque on May 24, 2011 3:27 PM EDT up reply actions
Why start now? j/k
What kind of plane is it? Oh, it's a big pretty white plane with red stripes, curtains in the windows and wheels and it looks like a big ol' Tylenol.
SpellingHumor andpunctuationgood taste better not count.
Auto-fixed.
"Ninety percent of this game is half mental" - Yogi Berra (SI, May 14, 1979)
by bandwagonesque on May 24, 2011 3:38 PM EDT up reply actions
Is it just me or does this lineup just make you feel so much better instead of the one with Valdez and Francisco? I look at this lineup and I see a team that has a chance for a HR at every bat except the pitchers spot.
Atleast people want to be on our bandwagon
Definitely… It no longer looks like the Iron Phillies!
Offense, offense, where are you?
by dannijd on May 24, 2011 6:12 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
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