Lidge Signed Long Term

You have to give the Phillies credit for locking up closer Brad Lidge for a 3 year $37 million deal. Considering that Lidge is currently 31 this deal appears to be the perfect length to get the most out of a guy who has been simply lights out since coming over from the Houston Astros. The key to this deal was getting done during the season so there were no other bidders in the running. His price would have almost certainly gone way up had they waited until the end of the season. So this deal was the right deal for the time and the right price. Good job Gillick. Now all you have to do is cut Taguchi and trade for a legit starter and I'll stop complaining.

Define "Elite Closer"

It's something the Phillies haven't had in a long time, if ever. A guy who comes in with the game on the line and shuts the opposition down no matter who's batting be it their defensive catcher or all-star slugger. He thrives on the pressure and elevates his game in tight situations. In all of baseball there are only a handful of truly elite closers. Brad Lidge is one of them. Lidge is 19 for 19 this season in Save opportunities and his outstanding performance has made GM Pat Gillick look like a genius for trading a long-shot prospect, journeyman reliever, and 5th outfielder to Houston for him. Gillick was able to buy low with Lidge as he was coming off a somewhat mediocre season and desperately needing a change of scenery to regain his confidence. Lidge had not been the same since blowing game 6 of the 2006 NLCS against Albert Pujols and the Houston faithful had never let him forget it. Coming into this seasons, a myriad of questions surrounded Lidge. Would he be able to handle the pressures of playing in Philadelphia? Would he regain his confidence? How good would he be? Was he even the best option with SP Brett Myers coming off an impressive half-season as closer? So far, the answer to all these questions has been a resounding "YES." Lidge has allowed just 3 ER in 33 IP while saving 19 games in 19 opportunities. He's also struck out 43 batters in just 33 innings (11.73 K/9) while walking just 15. His fastball has been fantastic and his slider has been downright filthy. Opposing hitters are batting a brisk .167 against him so far. All in all, he has been everything the Phillies hoped for and much much more. Simply put, he is an Elite Closer.

Weekly Awards

Player of the Week - 2B Chase Utley: Utley was bored this past week so he decided to homer in 5 straight games for the second time this season. With his hot start this season he has thrown his name in the hat for discussion as one of the best players in all of baseball and clearly the best 2B in the game today. The Phillies are extremely lucky to have such a star play for them everyday. The most special part of Utley is his work ethic and will to win. When Utley was first drafted, even his most optimistic supporters did not project him to do this well. Most projected him as a utility infielder or even a platoon-type player who couldn't hit leftys. Now he hits leftys at least as well as rights and he has gone from being much below average defensively to a top 5 defender at his position. All in all, he is a true superstar. That said, he had a very strong week leading the Phillies with 4 HRs and a .360 avg in 7 games. He went 9 for 25 with 7 Rs and 7 RBI for the week and even chipped in with 1 SB. He posted a very impressive 1.328 OPS as well.

Pitcher of the Week - CP Brad Lidge: You can't win games without a great bullpen and Brad Lidge has anchored one of the best bullpens in the majors all season. This week was no exception as Brad picked up 3 saves in 3 opportunities without allowing a single run. He allowed 1 hit in 3 IPs and struck out 4. Right now the Lidge trade is looking to be the finest move of the Gillick regime.

Goat of the Week - SS Jimmy Rollins: Jimmy has been dogging it recently and was actually benched by manager Charlie Manuel for failing to run out a pop-out in yesterday's game against the Cincinnati Reds. Hopefully Charlie was able to knock some sense into the reigning MVP. This behavior is quite uncharacteristic for the star SS and team leader and hopefully he turns it around in short order. His line for the week: 7 G, .185 avg (5 for 27), 2 RBI, 2 SOs, .222 SLG, .407 OPS.

Weekly Wrapup/Awards

The Phillies had another decent week posting a 4-3 record in their last 7 games and they are hovering in 2nd place in the NL East a game back of the Florida Marlins. 1B Ryan Howard continues to be absolutely pathetic at the plate and SS Jimmy Rollins missed the entire week still out with his ankle injury. However, Rollins is expected to be activated before tonight's game in San Francisco so the Phillies will finally be back to full strength for the first time since the first week of the season. LF Pat Burrell appears to have cooled off after going a dismal 4-22 in the past seven days. The Phillies starting pitching had a so-so week having 4 Quality Starts in 7 chances, 2 of them oddly enough from 4th starter Kyle Kendrick who appears to be on a nice run of mediocrity right now. That said, its time for the weekly awards:

Player of the Week - UT Eric Bruntlett: Well it was an impressive repeat performance from utility man Eric Bruntlett. Eric once again played very well in Rollins absence going 9-29 (.310) and leading the team with 16 Total Bases. He had 2 2Bs, 1 3B, and 1 HR on the week along with a team leading 8 RBI and 6 Runs scored. Another great week for Eric.

Pitcher of the Week - CP Brad Lidge: Lidge was once again unhittable this week in 4 appearances. He gave up 2 hits and no runs while picking of 1 save in as many chances. Right now he is completely on top of his game and hitters are pretty much helpless against him. (Note: CF Michael Bourn is batting .197 in Houston...Thanks Ed Wade!!!)

Goat of the Week - 1B Ryan Howard: Was there even a question of Howard not being the goat this week? He now has his own permanent segment where I will be counting down how many Ks he needs to break his own Single Season MLB record. Right now he is on pace to shatter his mark by more than 30 Ks. Keep up the good work Ryan! His line for the week: 2 for 24 with 12 Ks. Both hits were singles and he managed to drop his batting average down to .165 after posting an .083 average for the week. He is now 190th out of 191 qualifed batters for the MLB batting title. Only injured SS Troy Tulowitzki has a lower batting average on the year. He has a solid lead in the MLB SO rankings at 51 Ks on the year but Arizona 3B Mark Reynolds is nipping at his heels just 5 back at 46 Ks.

Weekly Wrap

Well, its that time again. 1B Ryan Howard continues to struggle in all aspects of the game and his "cold" streak is rapidly becoming a first-half slump for the 2008 season. Luckily both LF Pat Burrell and 2B Chase Utley have picked up the pace and are 1-2 in the League in RBIs so far. Both have had PS3-type weeks that have carried an otherwise underperforming offense to a 12-11 record. The Phillies went 4-3 on the week, losing a 3 game series to the Mets 1-2, sweeping the Rockies in 2, and spliting a 2 game series with the Brewers.

Injury Update: CF Shane Victorino started a rehab assignment in Clearwater on Monday and is eligible to come off the DL on 28 April which is an off day for the Phillies. He will be available to play on the 29th if everything goes well. SS Jimmy Rollins took batting practice at Clearwater and is eligible to come off the DL on 5 May although I wouldn't hold my breath on that. SP Kris Benson continued to throw on the side and had another Bullpen session but there is still no word on when he will start a game in the minors as he continues to come back from shoulder surgery.

Weekly Awards

Player of the Week - 2B Chase Utley: It was a tough decision but Chase basically went nuts this past week with an outrageous line of: .536 AVG/.581 OBP/ 1.831 OPS, 6 HRs, 10 RBI, 8 R in 7 games. LF Pat Burrell also had a very good week but not anywhere close to Utley's.

Pitcher of the Week - CP Brad Lidge: Brad had an excellent week making 5 appearances pitching 5 innings with no earned runs allowed while picking up 3 saves in 3 opportunities. Lidge has anchored the backend of the bullpen so far this year and so far the Bourn-Lidge trade has really paid off.

Goat of the Week - 1B Ryan Howard: Yes, we all know that Howard gets off to slow starts but this is ridiculous. His line: 3 for 28, .107 Avg/.138 OBP, 13 Ks, 1 BB and no extra base hits. Keep it up Ryan, you're definitely worth $10 million per. Interesting fact: No position player on the Phillies has a lower AVG than Ryan Howard so far...only pitchers.

Phillies Hang On To Win

Well UT Eric Bruntlett was able to save the day with a game saving play in the top of the 9th with the tying run in scoring position. He made a spectacular stop behind second base and threw a laser beam to first to get the runner. While I am pleased that Bruntlett was able to give us a flash of brilliance to save the game and help CP Brad Lidge close out the game, I still cannot wait to get SS Jimmy Rollins back at shortstop and at the top of the lineup where he is desperately needed.

Hot Streak: All-Star 2B Chase Utley hit two more HRs last night and now has HRs in 4 straight games. If he homers tonight against the Colorado Rockies he will tie the club record for consecutive games with a HR. So far, Utley and LF Pat Burrell have carried the club offensively while the rest of the lineup has struggled to produce runs. Burrell also made an excellent running catch up against the wall in the later innings that helped give the Phillies the win. Pat has been well above his career average in all aspects of the game from hitting to fielding this year.

Behind the Plate: It looks like C Chris Coste will probably earn himself some more playing time. He is batting .385 on the season and he went 1 for 4 last night. He has now started 3 of the last 4 games in place of C Carlos Ruiz who is healthy.

What the Heck?: 1B Ryan Howard has been awful so far this season both defensively and offensively. He is batting a miniscule .186 including going 1 for 13 against the Mets over the weekend. The hometown crowd has taken notice and has taken to booing him loudly...especially after he strikes out. He has struck out 27 times in just 70 ABs and he is well on his way to breaking his own single season strikeout record. The former MVP needs to step it up quickly if the Phillies are to have any chance of winning the NL East.

Bad Luck: SP Adam Eaton had a stellar performance through the first 5 innings last night and thats when the wheels finally came off the bus. He didn't record an out in the 6th and was charged with 4 earned runs to get the no decision. He had a streak of 3 straight quality starts going into last night. He did keep the Phillies in the game which is the important part. Pitching has not been the problem so far this year.

Living Dangerously: Uncle Charlie has relied quite a bit on the bullpen so far this year especially RP Chad Durbin. Durbin has pitched 14 innings in 10 appearances in the Phillies first 19 games. At his current pace, he will pitch 119 innings out of the pen. I'm betting his arm will fall off first.

Pat Burrell Powers Phils to Victory

Pat Burrell hit 2 HRs and drove in 3 as the Phillies defeated the Cincinnati Reds 5-3 this afternoon. SP Cole Hamels delivered his second straight impressive performance going 7 innings and allowing 2 runs (1 earned) while striking out 4. There were alot of positives for the Phillies in this game. Both Jimmy Rollins and Pat Burrell continued their strong starts and RF Geoff Jenkins hit his first HR of the season and is proving to be a fine pick-up by GM Pat Gillick. However, CF Shane Victorino continued to struggle, going 1 for 5 which raised his batting average to .143. Perhaps a move down in the batting order would benefit the Flyin' Hawaiian for a couple of games until he can get his timing down. Or perhaps not. Its still very early in the season to be concerned with this type of slump. In related news, Ryan Howard is struggling somewhat at the plate as well; He went 1-4 with 3 Ks lowering his average to .208 on the season.

Positives:

1. Burrell and JRoll have both started the season fast out of the gate.

2. SP Cole Hamels had another dominant performance.

3. Closer Brad Lidge got his first Save of the season pitching 1 inning and allowing no earned runs.

Negatives:

1. The Phillies defense continues to be atrocious committing another 2 errors today. Both errors were by newcomers with OF So Taguchi and 3B Pedro Feliz each committing one. Both players were brought on board mainly for their defensive skills so go figure.

2. Victorino is off to a horrid start.....143 average in the first 7 games of the season.

3. Howard is also struggling batting .208.

Tomorrow, the Phillies start a 3 game series in NY against the Mets and SP Jamie Moyer will take the mound against SP Oliver Perez. After that they are back in Philly for a 9 game homestand against the Cubs, Astros, and Mets.

Weekly Recap

Well, there's good news for Ryan Howard and decidedly bad news for the Philadelphia Phillies as Miguel Cabrera has reportedly signed an 8-year, $153 million deal with the Tigers. Despite being 4 years older, Howard will almost certainly demand that that deal be a starting point for any future long-term negotiations with the Phillies. What does this mean for the Phillies? Well, lilkely it means that the Phillies will end up having to choose between signing either Cole Hamels or Ryan Howard long term and they will go with Hamels. That means that Howard could be on the trading block after this year. Of course, they could also open up their wallets and admit that as a team in the 6th largest media market in the country with a new favorable stadium lease and 3 million plus in attendance they can afford to sign both to long-term deals. I personally doubt that will happen though.

In other news, the Phillies rotation and bullpen situation has become much clearer in the past couple of days. Francisco Rosario has been placed on the DL and will not open the season on the roster. Travis Blackley has likely pitched himself out of the rotation and Eaton has continued to be solid in his last couple of starts. As it stands now, this will likely be our starting rotation and bullpen:

Starters:

1. Brett Myers
2. Cole Hamels
3. Jamie Moyer
4. Kyle Kendrick
5. Adam Eaton

Bullpen:

RHP Clay Condrey
RHP Ryan Madson
RHP Chad Durbin
LHP JC Romero
RHP Tom Gordon
CP Brad Lidge

On paper, both are slightly better than the beginning of 2007. That is, assuming there are no injuries of course. The bullpen, if Lidge is solid, looks much better on paper.

In the field the Phillies will field an impressive lineup and a very solid bench and it will likely come down to staying healthy and performing up to the level that they are all capable of for the Phillies to repeat as NL East champs.

Closing Notes: CP B. Lidge pitched in another minor-league game and his velocity (without radar guns) was estimated around 91 MPH. Otherwise he was very solid. However, he needs to get his velocity back to the 95-97 range to be effective against major league hitters and to help make his slider more effective.

Prediction right now: 2008 Record: 90-72