Return to Normalcy/Weekly Awards

Well 1B Ryan Howard is back and his slump is over. That's right, its over! Ever since I posted a K-Watch on this blog, Howard (clearly an ardent reader) has turned it around and raised his average over 25 points. He had a great week and he looks like he's regained his swing which has been missing since Spring Training. I would like to take this moment to claim personal responsibility for his turn-around. Overall, this week the Phillies offense has been very productive, but their starting pitching is continuing to kill them with only SP Cole Hamels giving them anything resembling a major-league performance. Both SP Jamie Moyer and SP Brett Myers were blown out in their starts, while SP Kyle Kendrick extended his QS streak to 4 games with another 6 IPs/3 ER performance.

Back From Injury: SS Jimmy Rollins had a strong week back from his ankle injury. He went 8 for 28 (.286) with 4 extra base hits and 14 total bases on the week. He also managed to steal 2 bases so it looks like his ankle is fully healthy which is a great sign for the rest of the season.

Down For The Count: SP Scott Mathieson underwent a second Tommy John surgery on his elbow on Thursday and a 3rd surgery overall on the same elbow since 2006. It sadly looks like his Phillies career is over before it started. Good luck with your recovery Scott. (Note: Recovery rate from 2nd TJ surgery= 30%)

Missing In Action: Fastball, low-to-mid 90's velocity, 4-seamer...last seen in posession of SP Brett Myers in 2007. If you know the whereabouts of this object please contact the Philadelphia Phillies immediately at:

Citizens Bank Park
One Citizens Bank Way
Philadelphia, PA 19148
215-463-1000

Brett continues to struggle and his fastball velocity is way down for the year. He is getting hammered this season and is on pace to allow 58 HRs. His ERA is currently a team-worst 5.91.

On that note, its time for the Weekly Awards:

Player of the Week - 1B Ryan Howard: Well, I never thought I'd see the day but Ryan Howard has proved how quickly a player can go from being the goat to the hero this week. Ryan went 7 for 24 (.292) with 3 HRs/5 RBIs and also led the team in Total bases with 19 on the week. He chipped in 1 2B and 1 3B and posted a 1.112 OPS for the week. His hitting streak is at a season-best 7 games. Looks like the long slump is over. (I'm keeping the K-Watch up just to motivate you, Ryan)

Pitcher of the Week - SP Cole Hamels: Is there even a question of this? 2 Starts, 2 Wins on the week. Hamels went 2-0 on the week pitching 16 innings and striking out 13 along with a 2.25 ERA. He is the only dependable starter in the Phillies rotation right now and he has been a life-saver so far for them this year. I would like to pause at this point to thank GM Pat Gillick personally for flat out saying that the Phillies will not even consider locking up Hamels long-term at this point. I always appreciate when the Front Office goes out of its way to piss off a star player for no reason whatsoever. Way to go Pat! Hamels is on pace to pitch 250 innings this year which is a tad high, but I'm certain that that number will drop as the season goes on. So far he has been very effective at going deep into games and he was finally able to post his first CG shutout last night while throwing a somewhat questionable 120 pitches. We'll see if this much increased workload effects him in the 2nd half of the season.

Goat of the Week - SP Brett Myers: For an Opening Day starter, Brett has looked anything but dominating so far this season and this week's performance could easily be a microcosm of that. Brett was blown out by the Braves allowing 3 HRs in 4 1/3 IPs to post a 12.46 ERA on the week. His fastball is missing in action and he has had very little control on his other pitches. He has however been absolutely on fire at throwing whiny 4-year-old girl temper tantrums in the dugout when a call doesn't go his way. Grow up Brett and actually pay attention to your coaches!