Cole Hamels is now a No. 4 starter.
Let me repeat that.
Hamels, the crafty left-hander with a career ERA of 3.53 while pitching in one of the most hitter-friendly parks in baseball, is the fourth-best starting pitcher in his team's rotation.
Most teams are happy if their No. 4 reaches the sixth inning, but the Philadelphia Phillies really won't have to give the sixth inning a second thought in 2011 after they pulled off the deal of the century Monday night. Cliff Lee, the most pursued player in the offseason, is returning for his second tour of duty with Philadelphia. He helped us reach the World Series, and exactly one year after we sent him packing, he turned down more lucrative deals with the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers to come back for five years and $120 million.
Things like this just don't happen, do they? It's like getting a winning lottery ticket, losing it and the lottery printing you a another copy of the winner.
OK, it wasn't quite that easy for Ruben Amaro and the rest of the Phillies brass, but it's not everyday in this present climate that you offer a guy less money than the competition and end up with him. Lee has not only proven himself as an elite pitcher, but an elite human being who unlike some others (ahem...Jayson Werth) considers multiple factors in a potential deal over just dollars and cents.
In an odd twist of fate, we have Amaro to thank for setting up this "fearsome foursome" of pitchers that may provide enough of an edge over a wildly inconsistent offense. Had he traded for Roy Halladay and kept Lee before the 2010 season, it's likely he wouldn't have traded for Roy Oswalt at the deadline. Sure, he would've saved himself a lot of grief, but things could not have worked out better for him or the team.
Lee made it clear several times over the past year that he didn't want to leave Philadelphia after the 2009 season. He loved his teammates, he loved his coaches, he loved the fans and so did his family.
And my fellow Phillie fans, pay your respects to Kristen Lee, Cliff's wife. She reportedly had just as much of a say in this decision, and why shouldn't she? I mean really, where would any of us be without our wives? She loathed the poor treatment she received from Yankee fans during the ALCS in October, while the Lee's most fond memories during the last two years of frequent city-hopping were apparently made with Philadelphia.
The best part: all of the high-prized free agents are gone, and the Yankees didn't land any of them. In the end, their bottomless wallets got the shaft from Lee twice in less than six months, and he returns to the place he never wanted to leave.
Welcome home, anointed one, and hang your red stockings with cheer.
Showing posts with label Jayson Werth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jayson Werth. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
All Good Things...
Pat "The Bat" Burrell is headed back to the World Series, but unfortunately for the white-rally-towel twirlers, not as a member of the Phillies.Brotherly love wasn't enough for the boys in red pinstripes as they saw their season end with a 3-2 loss in Game 6 of the NLCS to the San Francisco Giants, who needed to beat the San Diego Padres on the final day of the regular season just to make the playoffs.
Now the two teams that were expected to meet again in the World Series for the second straight year will both be watching from home. An offensive blackout led to the demise of the both the Phillies and the Yankees, though the writing was on the wall for Philadelphia.
Injuries took a heavy toll on the Phillie hitters for a significant part of the regular season. While the addition of Roy Oswalt led to a dramatic turnaround over the last two months and another NL East title, that same old magic that carried the team through the previous two postseasons was nowhere to be found. And playoff teams that boast some of the best pitching in baseball took a note from the Yankees on just how to handle such a dangerous lineup.
It was no surprise, then, that Ryan Howard was the strikeout victim who ended Philly's 2010 dreams.
Howard is now first or tied for first for the most strikeouts in two separate postseason series, and drove in nary a run from the clean-up spot this October. Since his infamous whiffing in the 2009 Fall Classic, the Big Piece has struck out in 30 of his 56 playoff at-bats. That means that in more than half his trips to the plate, the man who is paid $20 million per year to crush balls over the fence didn't even put the ball in play. Of the 26 times Howard managed knock the ball between the lines, only one left the yard.
Ironically, Howard was the only starter in the lineup to hit better than .300 in the postseason this year, though he was typically all alone on the basepahts. Raul Ibanez was a distant second with a .226 average. Carlos Ruiz, who had never hit below .262 in any previous postseason, was dead last at .192.
As Charlie Manuel explained, the Phillies were too concerned with working the count, rather than being selective. They stood and stared at too many fastballs down the middle of the plate, making it easier for pitchers to get them to chase at breaking balls that tailed out of the zone. Combined, Cincinnati and San Francisco held Philadelphia to 3.7 runs per game - compared to 4.6 in '08 and 5.5 last year - and not even the likes of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels can carry you to a championship with that kind of production.
The beleaguered Phillies pitching staff still consistently put the team in a position to win. Aside from Game 3, each one of Philadelphia's losses in the NLCS could have gone the other way. It was basically the Giants coming up with the big hits, and some would add Halladay not getting the start in Game 4. No one can predict what would've happened in that scenario, but as close as each game was, such decisions loom very large.
But the shadows cast on the end of this season will quickly fade, as the sun shines brightly on a new day for the Phillies in 2011. All three elements of H2O are returning, as well as the entire starting lineup, aside from the likely departing Jayson Werth. Should the corner outfielder follow in Burrell's footsteps and find his way back to the Fall Classic with another team, the Phillies hope that when he gets there, they will be staring him down from the opposing dugout.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Deception Island
Brady Anderson, you'll never know it was me because you'll never read this blog, but I apologize for taunting you from the stands at that Orioles game my dad and went to nearly nine years ago. You were a great player nearing the end of your career, and I was too immature and disrespectful to realize that. A thousand pardons.
Though my blog title does reference today's topic, I would like to brag that I also have been to that island on the Antarctic Peninsula. It was amazing.
Admittedly, I'm finding it harder to blog about every Phillies game because I don't want to keep spewing out the same material over and over. There's not much point if I can't touch on something original, something new that hasn't occurred to me or - if I'm really lucky - anybody else. I've got to keep this thing fresh so it continues to be a product people want to continue to invest their time in, even if my audience is just a few crazy baseball fans. It's true that Jamie Moyer picked the worst time to have another bad outing when the Braves are starting to feel comfortable at the top, but today I'd like to talk about the Big Man.
I've held off blogging about No. 6 because more than anyone else on the team, his role is clear and simple: hit home runs and drive people in. Over the past four years, no one has been better at doing that than Ryan Howard. The only other three players to put up his numbers in four straight years - Babe Ruth, Ken Griffey, Jr. and Sammy Sosa - are either dead, suspect or retired. Ryan is, dare I say, an island unto himself.
Though he's been just as bogged down by the Phillies' struggles this season as anyone else, a quick glance at his present stats does encourage a little optimism. Howard seems to be continuing on last year's track of approaching the hitting success of his rookie season. The month of April notwithstanding, it's been a long, long while since we've seen Howard's batting average at .298. He's finally starting to understand why there are always three hitters on the right side of the infield when he steps to the plate. He's hitting the ball the other way with more regularity, especially on the ground.
And therein lies the deception...
Upon closer inspection, Howard is on the track toward the least productive season of his career. No one could expect him to maintain the freakish numbers forever, and he'll still probably hit more than 30 homers and knock in and score more than 100 runs. But all around, he's not taking the same approach at the plate as in years past. Consider these numbers in a "if the season ended today" scenario:
- Though Howard is striking out less (a career-low mark of 23.1%), he's also walking a lot less, just 7.3% of the time. Pitchers would consider themselves lucky to get Howard out when he first got to the bigs, but the task is not so hard anymore.
- Not surprisingly, Howard's discipline at the plate is also wavering. While teammate Jayson Werth is presently tied for second in the league in pitches seen per at bat (4.38), Howard's 3.79 is barely a blip on the radar. He'll still see his fair share of 2-2 and 3-2 counts from less experienced pitchers who just want to stay away from him, but Howard used to work the count a lot better than he does now.
- Howard's line drive rate remains steady in the 20s, but many more of those line drives are falling in for singles. We're used to seeing much more pop from Howard. If the ball didn't go out, it would at least be caught at the warning track or crushed deep into the alleys for a double. His present extra-base hits rate of 9.6% is not the inconsistency you'd expect from your cleanup hitter. It could be the pressure to perform from his new contract or the extra weight he lost in the offseason. Whatever the reason, Howard just isn't driving the ball with the same authority.
- Relative to the rest of the league, Howard's OPS of .854 is quite respectable, but it's not the figure you want from your power-hitting first baseman and sits 100 points lower than his career average.
- Despite his higher batting average, the big man's on-base percentage is only .349. There was one season in which he got on with less frequency, and that was 2008 when he batted just .251. That year, his numbers in all the other categories I previously mentioned were markedly better than in 2010.
Of course, we're only halfway through the season, and we all know what happens to Ryan in August and September: nobody can seem to get him out. If the Phillies continue to struggle, they'll need him to step up more than ever as the postseason looms. All these singles just won't cut it.
With Placido Polanco and Chase Utley out, Howard also needs to work the count a lot more. Werth's the only one doing a good job of that in the lineup right now, and many of his counts seem to end fruitlessly with strikeouts in key situations that only build a pitcher's confidence back up. The pitcher won't even experience that good feeling if Howard battles until he gets that mistake pitch and crushes it onto Ashburn Alley. Man, I sure miss that.
Though my blog title does reference today's topic, I would like to brag that I also have been to that island on the Antarctic Peninsula. It was amazing.
Admittedly, I'm finding it harder to blog about every Phillies game because I don't want to keep spewing out the same material over and over. There's not much point if I can't touch on something original, something new that hasn't occurred to me or - if I'm really lucky - anybody else. I've got to keep this thing fresh so it continues to be a product people want to continue to invest their time in, even if my audience is just a few crazy baseball fans. It's true that Jamie Moyer picked the worst time to have another bad outing when the Braves are starting to feel comfortable at the top, but today I'd like to talk about the Big Man.
I've held off blogging about No. 6 because more than anyone else on the team, his role is clear and simple: hit home runs and drive people in. Over the past four years, no one has been better at doing that than Ryan Howard. The only other three players to put up his numbers in four straight years - Babe Ruth, Ken Griffey, Jr. and Sammy Sosa - are either dead, suspect or retired. Ryan is, dare I say, an island unto himself.
Though he's been just as bogged down by the Phillies' struggles this season as anyone else, a quick glance at his present stats does encourage a little optimism. Howard seems to be continuing on last year's track of approaching the hitting success of his rookie season. The month of April notwithstanding, it's been a long, long while since we've seen Howard's batting average at .298. He's finally starting to understand why there are always three hitters on the right side of the infield when he steps to the plate. He's hitting the ball the other way with more regularity, especially on the ground.
And therein lies the deception...
Upon closer inspection, Howard is on the track toward the least productive season of his career. No one could expect him to maintain the freakish numbers forever, and he'll still probably hit more than 30 homers and knock in and score more than 100 runs. But all around, he's not taking the same approach at the plate as in years past. Consider these numbers in a "if the season ended today" scenario:
- Though Howard is striking out less (a career-low mark of 23.1%), he's also walking a lot less, just 7.3% of the time. Pitchers would consider themselves lucky to get Howard out when he first got to the bigs, but the task is not so hard anymore.
- Not surprisingly, Howard's discipline at the plate is also wavering. While teammate Jayson Werth is presently tied for second in the league in pitches seen per at bat (4.38), Howard's 3.79 is barely a blip on the radar. He'll still see his fair share of 2-2 and 3-2 counts from less experienced pitchers who just want to stay away from him, but Howard used to work the count a lot better than he does now.
- Howard's line drive rate remains steady in the 20s, but many more of those line drives are falling in for singles. We're used to seeing much more pop from Howard. If the ball didn't go out, it would at least be caught at the warning track or crushed deep into the alleys for a double. His present extra-base hits rate of 9.6% is not the inconsistency you'd expect from your cleanup hitter. It could be the pressure to perform from his new contract or the extra weight he lost in the offseason. Whatever the reason, Howard just isn't driving the ball with the same authority.
- Relative to the rest of the league, Howard's OPS of .854 is quite respectable, but it's not the figure you want from your power-hitting first baseman and sits 100 points lower than his career average.
- Despite his higher batting average, the big man's on-base percentage is only .349. There was one season in which he got on with less frequency, and that was 2008 when he batted just .251. That year, his numbers in all the other categories I previously mentioned were markedly better than in 2010.
Of course, we're only halfway through the season, and we all know what happens to Ryan in August and September: nobody can seem to get him out. If the Phillies continue to struggle, they'll need him to step up more than ever as the postseason looms. All these singles just won't cut it.
With Placido Polanco and Chase Utley out, Howard also needs to work the count a lot more. Werth's the only one doing a good job of that in the lineup right now, and many of his counts seem to end fruitlessly with strikeouts in key situations that only build a pitcher's confidence back up. The pitcher won't even experience that good feeling if Howard battles until he gets that mistake pitch and crushes it onto Ashburn Alley. Man, I sure miss that.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
What planet is this guy from?
I happily hopped into my wonderful Chevy Lumina and made the short drive to Dillsburg, Pa., to cover my first high school baseball state tournament game. One of our area teams was going up against a team that traveled all the way from Philadelphia, a three-hour trip after factoring in traffic. The hometown fans quickly became bored, as they saw their boys jump out to a 7-0 lead in the first inning and beat the Philly boys in five innings via the 10-run rule. It was disheartening to me that this squad was the best the inner city had to offer, and they struggled with basic mechanics you're supposed to learn in Little League. Major League Baseball has been trying to encourage inner-city youth to appreciate and learn the game again. From what I saw, there's still a long way to go...
Speaking of struggling teams from Philadelphia, I temporarily thought last night that I'd have to push back this particular posting when a Phillies hurler was pitching a no-hitter through six innings. Common sense then smacked me in the face, as I realized that pitcher was Cole Hamels.
Hamels no longer possesses the mental clarity to hold a team hitless for nine innings. Hell, he has to fight to keep his team in front when it gets an early lead for him, and the Phils hadn't even managed to do that for what feels like the 20th straight game. Sure enough, the Padres only needed two solo homers to break up the no-hitter and put themselves in great shape to win the game, denying the Phillies their first home series win in a month.
I know the rule is to never talk to a guy who's throwing a no-hitter, but Hamels is one of those guys you almost have to do the opposite. Talk to him about anything that gets his mind off the fact that he's throwing a no-hitter, because he'll think too much about the bite on his curve or the movement of his splitfinger and then bam! You're down 2-0.
One run.
Seriously, guys? I thought we were done with this. And the guy who dominated you on the mound...what's his name....LeBlanc? The only LeBlanc I had ever heard of before last night was the guy who played Joey on "Friends," and we could probably throw him out there and he'd have just as much success against this lineup.
The Utley-Howard-Werth combination is forming a Bermuda Triangle that wipes out all run production. The trio was a dismal 1-for-11 last night, and for the second game in a row, Jayson Werth ended it striking out swinging with a runner in scoring position.
This is starting to feel like some weird baseball horror movie.
LeBlanc's sucess against the Philly lineup reminded me of the all-to-recent scoreless drought of 30 straight innings against a bunch of no-name pitchers. At roughly the same time, early Cy Young Award favorite Ubaldo Jimenez pulled off a stretch of 33 innings without allowing a run. I've had the opportunity to see the wizard work and Praise Jeebus and Holy Hershiser, his stuff is nasty.
It’s too bad we don’t get more physical evidence of the supernatural or else the Phillies could claim that all those other pitchers they couldn't figure out were injected with Jimenez mojo or talent juice, and then the Monstars came down with orders from Danny DeVito to put the enslavement of the human race up for grabs in a contest featuring Michael Jordan and…oh wait, wrong fantasy…
You see how easy it is to get lost in this nightmare? For the love of Bugs Bunny, get out of this funk, Phillies, and get back in first place where you belong!
Speaking of struggling teams from Philadelphia, I temporarily thought last night that I'd have to push back this particular posting when a Phillies hurler was pitching a no-hitter through six innings. Common sense then smacked me in the face, as I realized that pitcher was Cole Hamels.
Hamels no longer possesses the mental clarity to hold a team hitless for nine innings. Hell, he has to fight to keep his team in front when it gets an early lead for him, and the Phils hadn't even managed to do that for what feels like the 20th straight game. Sure enough, the Padres only needed two solo homers to break up the no-hitter and put themselves in great shape to win the game, denying the Phillies their first home series win in a month.
I know the rule is to never talk to a guy who's throwing a no-hitter, but Hamels is one of those guys you almost have to do the opposite. Talk to him about anything that gets his mind off the fact that he's throwing a no-hitter, because he'll think too much about the bite on his curve or the movement of his splitfinger and then bam! You're down 2-0.
One run.
Seriously, guys? I thought we were done with this. And the guy who dominated you on the mound...what's his name....LeBlanc? The only LeBlanc I had ever heard of before last night was the guy who played Joey on "Friends," and we could probably throw him out there and he'd have just as much success against this lineup.
The Utley-Howard-Werth combination is forming a Bermuda Triangle that wipes out all run production. The trio was a dismal 1-for-11 last night, and for the second game in a row, Jayson Werth ended it striking out swinging with a runner in scoring position.
This is starting to feel like some weird baseball horror movie.
LeBlanc's sucess against the Philly lineup reminded me of the all-to-recent scoreless drought of 30 straight innings against a bunch of no-name pitchers. At roughly the same time, early Cy Young Award favorite Ubaldo Jimenez pulled off a stretch of 33 innings without allowing a run. I've had the opportunity to see the wizard work and Praise Jeebus and Holy Hershiser, his stuff is nasty.
It’s too bad we don’t get more physical evidence of the supernatural or else the Phillies could claim that all those other pitchers they couldn't figure out were injected with Jimenez mojo or talent juice, and then the Monstars came down with orders from Danny DeVito to put the enslavement of the human race up for grabs in a contest featuring Michael Jordan and…oh wait, wrong fantasy…
You see how easy it is to get lost in this nightmare? For the love of Bugs Bunny, get out of this funk, Phillies, and get back in first place where you belong!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Moyer is so money...
...and he doesn't even know it!
Mr. All-Business. Dr. Humble. Professor Changeup. Whatever title you throw his way, Jamie Moyer is all those things.
Living up to the innocence invoked by his first name, the 47-year-old won his 100th game over the age of 40 - and 264th overall - in style, tossing a complete game at a time in his life when most major league pitchers are teeing off at the country club or breaking down pitches and at-bats from the broadcast booth.
Most pitchers in their 40s don't reach the number of their age in wins, much less 100. Pitchers in this era are generally afraid to throw even their breaking balls at 80 miles per hour, and Moyer just baffled the San Diego Padres lineup with nine innings of that speed.
Mr. Ageless even added a Kodak moment in the ninth inning when his chest met grass going after a ground ball up the first base line from Jerry Hairston, Jr (flashbacks to Game 3 of the 2008 World Series, anyone?). He flipped to Ryan Howard to get the out and seemed annoyed that it took him so long to get the ball to first after he quickly rose to his feet again. Jamie, a lot of guys your age would need assistance from multiple family members/friends to get up after a spill like that. It just says so much about his great desire to help the team win.
The Phillie bats finally showed their appreciation for their veteran hurler's efforts, scoring more than three runs in a game for the first time since I started this blog (I briefly considered shutting it down and sitting on my cursed typing fingers until the drought was over).
Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth finally realized the bottom of the order couldn't hit above .220 forever, and they broke through against Jon Garland, one of the best pitchers in the league for the past month.
The sluggers also finally accepted the fact that to break out of a slump, you absolutely must hit the ball the other way. All three men did that on their run-scoring hits, and the humid, June air of home sweet home did its part as well. Let's face it, Werth's blast might have been playable for an infielder in April.
This is exactly what I like to see - some good baseball against a first-place team. Work out the kinks now because it won't be this easy against the Red Sox and Yankees later this month. They've got short porches too and batters who will foul off every deceivably slow pitch in the world until they find one to their liking.
That won't stop Moyer from challenging those hitters, just like all the others he's faced over the past 24 years. It's also nothing to him to dive for balls like his much younger defenders behind him do every day. That's why the Phillies keep him around.
And that's why he's so frickin' money.
Mr. All-Business. Dr. Humble. Professor Changeup. Whatever title you throw his way, Jamie Moyer is all those things.
Living up to the innocence invoked by his first name, the 47-year-old won his 100th game over the age of 40 - and 264th overall - in style, tossing a complete game at a time in his life when most major league pitchers are teeing off at the country club or breaking down pitches and at-bats from the broadcast booth.
Most pitchers in their 40s don't reach the number of their age in wins, much less 100. Pitchers in this era are generally afraid to throw even their breaking balls at 80 miles per hour, and Moyer just baffled the San Diego Padres lineup with nine innings of that speed.
Mr. Ageless even added a Kodak moment in the ninth inning when his chest met grass going after a ground ball up the first base line from Jerry Hairston, Jr (flashbacks to Game 3 of the 2008 World Series, anyone?). He flipped to Ryan Howard to get the out and seemed annoyed that it took him so long to get the ball to first after he quickly rose to his feet again. Jamie, a lot of guys your age would need assistance from multiple family members/friends to get up after a spill like that. It just says so much about his great desire to help the team win.
The Phillie bats finally showed their appreciation for their veteran hurler's efforts, scoring more than three runs in a game for the first time since I started this blog (I briefly considered shutting it down and sitting on my cursed typing fingers until the drought was over).
Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth finally realized the bottom of the order couldn't hit above .220 forever, and they broke through against Jon Garland, one of the best pitchers in the league for the past month.
The sluggers also finally accepted the fact that to break out of a slump, you absolutely must hit the ball the other way. All three men did that on their run-scoring hits, and the humid, June air of home sweet home did its part as well. Let's face it, Werth's blast might have been playable for an infielder in April.
This is exactly what I like to see - some good baseball against a first-place team. Work out the kinks now because it won't be this easy against the Red Sox and Yankees later this month. They've got short porches too and batters who will foul off every deceivably slow pitch in the world until they find one to their liking.
That won't stop Moyer from challenging those hitters, just like all the others he's faced over the past 24 years. It's also nothing to him to dive for balls like his much younger defenders behind him do every day. That's why the Phillies keep him around.
And that's why he's so frickin' money.
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