It only took 28 years. Finally, thank God, we won it all. Think of it this way, no matter what happens for the next five years, WE WON A WORLD SERIES. A Mets fan tries to bash the Phillies...Yeah, that's great, WE WON A WORLD SERIES. The bottom line is that everything after this is gravy for at least five years, hell maybe ten years considering its Philly. The Phillies won the World Series and they did it as a team. Role players like Carlos Ruiz and Jayson Werth carried them to the championship. Guys like Eric Bruntlett, Matt Stairs, Geoff Jenkins, and Pedro Feliz had huge hits and even the big names came through when it mattered. Perhaps the most fitting moment of the 5 game series occurred when the maligned LF Pat Burrell, the longest tenured player on the roster came up to the plate in a key at bat with a huge insurmontable 0-13 line hanging over his head to that point. Pat the Bat, Manchine, PtB, whatever you want to call him came through and came through huge. He absolutely hammered a ball 400 feet to straight center. Off the bat it was a homerun on any other night. Unfortunately for Pat the wind was blowing straight in from Center. That didn't matter so much as Pat got every bit of that ball and got just enough to bank it off the wall for a standup double. Like clockwork, Burrell was lifted for a pinch runner and his Phillies career had its final moment. The pinchrunner ended up scoring the winning run for the clinching game of the World Series as Pat stood with tears in his eyes in the dugout. Pat did his job and helped his team, his only professional team, go ahead for the last time. After season after long season of losing, this victory had to be sweetest of all for Pat. And sweetest of all: WE WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!
Showing posts with label Pedro Feliz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pedro Feliz. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Finally!
It only took 28 years. Finally, thank God, we won it all. Think of it this way, no matter what happens for the next five years, WE WON A WORLD SERIES. A Mets fan tries to bash the Phillies...Yeah, that's great, WE WON A WORLD SERIES. The bottom line is that everything after this is gravy for at least five years, hell maybe ten years considering its Philly. The Phillies won the World Series and they did it as a team. Role players like Carlos Ruiz and Jayson Werth carried them to the championship. Guys like Eric Bruntlett, Matt Stairs, Geoff Jenkins, and Pedro Feliz had huge hits and even the big names came through when it mattered. Perhaps the most fitting moment of the 5 game series occurred when the maligned LF Pat Burrell, the longest tenured player on the roster came up to the plate in a key at bat with a huge insurmontable 0-13 line hanging over his head to that point. Pat the Bat, Manchine, PtB, whatever you want to call him came through and came through huge. He absolutely hammered a ball 400 feet to straight center. Off the bat it was a homerun on any other night. Unfortunately for Pat the wind was blowing straight in from Center. That didn't matter so much as Pat got every bit of that ball and got just enough to bank it off the wall for a standup double. Like clockwork, Burrell was lifted for a pinch runner and his Phillies career had its final moment. The pinchrunner ended up scoring the winning run for the clinching game of the World Series as Pat stood with tears in his eyes in the dugout. Pat did his job and helped his team, his only professional team, go ahead for the last time. After season after long season of losing, this victory had to be sweetest of all for Pat. And sweetest of all: WE WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!
Friday, May 30, 2008
Weekly Awards
Well, I don't have much time today so here's an abbreviated Weekly Wrap. We had a really good week and the offense showed up...now its time for the weekly awards:Player of the Week - CF Shane Victorino: For a "bench" player, Vic had a great week "subbing" for injured starter Jayson Werth. Vic went 11 for 25 (.440) on the week with 9 R, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 1 SO, 5 SBs, 0 CS, and a .533/1.013 OBP/OPS. Great effort Vic!!!
Honorable Mention: Pete Happy batted .346 on the week with 8 RBI.
Pitcher of the Week - SP Adam Eaton: Eaton probably didn't have the best week of the staff...that honor belongs to Kendrick in his best start of the season but Eaton had 2 very solid starts going 1-1 with a 2.77 ERA in 13 IP. His WHIP for the week was a very respectable 1.08. Good Job Adam.
Goat of the Week - C Carlos Ruiz: Chooch had an off week even for him: 3 of 16 for a .188 Avg in 5 games. He's also be giving up a bunch of playing time recently to fellow catcher.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Pete Happy or Rally Killer?
Which one is the real Pedro Feliz? 3B Pedro Feliz was a controversial signing for the Phillies this off-season for several reasons. He doesn't take a lot of pitches, nor does he hit for average or get on-base more than 30 % of the time. He does however have an outstanding glove and gives the Phillies 2 Gold Glove caliber fielders on the left side of the diamond. We're now just two months into a two year experiment by Pat Gillick on what is more important from the Hot Corner: Offense or Defense? For the first month of the season, Feliz was absolutely brutal at the plate and he quickly earned the ire of the Phillies fateful as a Rally Killer who either would pop up weakly or ground into a double-play in a critical situation. He didn't do the little things at the plate like advancing the runner or sacrificing a run in. He was more liable to simply swing at the first pitch and weakly end an inning and a potential rally. After about 3 weeks of this type of play, I dubbed him Rally Killer in honor of his dubious penchant for doing exactly that.The bottom line is that Feliz is simply a flawed player. He is outstanding defensively and he has decent power for a 3B but he will not ever have a high OBP nor will he take pitches. Its simply not in him. A high-water mark for him statistically as a Phillie would be something in the 25 HR, 80 RBI, .305 OBP range with around 20 GIDPs and great defense. Considering what he was replacing in the Helms/Dobbs/Nunez platoon, I would consider it a slight, albeit very costly, upgrade. While Dobbs is a much better hitter than Feliz, he is absolutely brutal in the field. The same could be said for the projected Helms/Dobbs platoon that the Phillies were slated to use before the Feliz signing: Decent offensively but way below average defensively. Dobbs is much more useful as a utility player and pinch-hitter than as an everyday 3B and the Phillies recognize that fact. While Feliz is not the ideal option for the Phillies at 3B, he was the best available option at the time and, money being no option, was a good signing.
The Numbers:
Offense
...................G....AB...R....H....2B...HR..RBI...BB...SO....AVG....OBP.....OPS
Current:....52...181..19...49.......11.....7......26.....11....18......271.......313......760
Projected:.61..560...59..152......34...22.....81.....34....56......271.......313......760
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Defense
.................................................................................................................................
Errors: 4 (4th in MLB)
Fielding %: .970 (5th in MLB)
Range Factor: 2.97 (6th in MLB)
Zone Rating: .812 (6th in MLB)
.................................................................................................................................
Feliz is giving the Phillies outstanding defense with average offense at the moment. Considering that the Phillies already have one of the most explosive offenses in the Majors, I would argue that Feliz was primarily signed for his defensive prowess, which he has demonstrated consistently so far.
.................................................................................................................................
Conclusions: For now your moniker will be Pete Happy until you hit another slump at which time I may reevaluate my decision and go back to Rally Killer.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
A Night Best Forgotten
I live in Vermont which means I don't have the privilege of watching the Phillies on local TV whenever I please. So when they are nationally televised in HD like they were last night, I tend to block off that time so I can enjoy the game uninterrupted. I figured I would be in for quite a treat as the Phillies were looking to make it 10 straight against their division rival, the NY Mets. To say the least, I was somewhat disappointed by their lackluster effort in all aspects of the game. UT Eric Bruntlett was brutal filling in from MVP SS Jimmy Rollins. Bruntlett committed two little-league level errors in the games and looked out of place in JRoll's shoes. 3B Pedro Feliz, AKA Rally Killer maintained his place as the Phillie most likely to end any potential run scoring in the course of a game. He was only saved from grounding into another inning ending doubl-play when the usually surehanded Jose Reyes muffed an easy ground ball. However, not to be undone, Feliz promptly hit a weak popout to second base when he came up to bat in the top of the 8th with the bases-loaded and 2 outs. From here on out, I will never use Rally Killer's true name. He will need to earn that privilege back and I kinda doubt that it will ever happen.
Unfortunately for the Phillies, they got absolutely no support from SP Kyle Kendrick. Kendrick, a second-year player, lacked control for most of the night and got pounded when he did manage throw strikes. Kendrick is somewhat of a mystery. No one ever expected him to make the Major League roster last year, let alone win 10 games. He lacks an true out-pitch and gets by on hitting his spots and not walking anyone. He cannot afford to walk anyone as hitters bat .280 off of him with around a .330 OBP. As he also doesn't strike anyone out, his numbers don't project him having a very long career. I think alot of Phillies fans are going to be greatly disappointed by Kendrick this season. Last night, he threw a decent sinking fastball that stayed in the 89-92 MPH range and hit 93 MPH on occasion but he couldn't locate either his changeup or breaking ball with any consistency. He managed to walk 6 batters (a career high by the way) in just over 2 IP. He loaded the bases in both the 1st and 2nd innings on walks and in the 3rd on hits and errors by his defense. He was pulled in favor of RP Chad Durbin after 2 1/3 innings. Luckily for the Phillies, Durbin was able to stop the bleeding and contributed 3 2/3 strong innings with no runs allowed despite pitching the day before. Durbin also lowerd his ERA to 1.13 over 8 innings in 6 appearances in the Phillies first 9 games. He has thus far shown himself to be Manager Charlie Manuel's best option out of the pen.
Overall, the Phillies bullpen has proven to be very deep early in the season, especially after the return of CP Brad Lidge. Durbin, Lidge, Romero, and Gordon have all been excellent. Gordon's only bad game so far came on Opening Day. Since then he has not given up a run in his past 4 appearances. Rudy Seanez looks to be a fine addition to the back end of the pen and RHP Ryan Madson should also contribute. So far, the 12th pitcher Clay Condrey is the only reliever to be really concerned about and I honestly doubt he'll see much meaningful action for the Phillies.
New and Notes: LF Pat Burrell continued his early season tear going 2 for 4 last night raising his average to .400 on the year with 3 HRs/9 RBI. Much maligned starter Adam Eaton looks for 2 strong performances in a row as he faces off against SP John Maine tonight at 7:10 pm. CF Shane Victorino took a step backwards last night going 0-5 with 1 K lowering his average to .162. 1B Ryan Howard continues to struggle at the plate and is batting .188 so far this year. RF Geoff Jenkins made a spectacular diving catch in the 3rd inning last night to help stop the bleeding and the RF platoon of Jenkins and Werth appears to be working out so far early this year (Combined stats: .278 AVG, .381 OBP, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 3 R)
Unfortunately for the Phillies, they got absolutely no support from SP Kyle Kendrick. Kendrick, a second-year player, lacked control for most of the night and got pounded when he did manage throw strikes. Kendrick is somewhat of a mystery. No one ever expected him to make the Major League roster last year, let alone win 10 games. He lacks an true out-pitch and gets by on hitting his spots and not walking anyone. He cannot afford to walk anyone as hitters bat .280 off of him with around a .330 OBP. As he also doesn't strike anyone out, his numbers don't project him having a very long career. I think alot of Phillies fans are going to be greatly disappointed by Kendrick this season. Last night, he threw a decent sinking fastball that stayed in the 89-92 MPH range and hit 93 MPH on occasion but he couldn't locate either his changeup or breaking ball with any consistency. He managed to walk 6 batters (a career high by the way) in just over 2 IP. He loaded the bases in both the 1st and 2nd innings on walks and in the 3rd on hits and errors by his defense. He was pulled in favor of RP Chad Durbin after 2 1/3 innings. Luckily for the Phillies, Durbin was able to stop the bleeding and contributed 3 2/3 strong innings with no runs allowed despite pitching the day before. Durbin also lowerd his ERA to 1.13 over 8 innings in 6 appearances in the Phillies first 9 games. He has thus far shown himself to be Manager Charlie Manuel's best option out of the pen.
Overall, the Phillies bullpen has proven to be very deep early in the season, especially after the return of CP Brad Lidge. Durbin, Lidge, Romero, and Gordon have all been excellent. Gordon's only bad game so far came on Opening Day. Since then he has not given up a run in his past 4 appearances. Rudy Seanez looks to be a fine addition to the back end of the pen and RHP Ryan Madson should also contribute. So far, the 12th pitcher Clay Condrey is the only reliever to be really concerned about and I honestly doubt he'll see much meaningful action for the Phillies.
New and Notes: LF Pat Burrell continued his early season tear going 2 for 4 last night raising his average to .400 on the year with 3 HRs/9 RBI. Much maligned starter Adam Eaton looks for 2 strong performances in a row as he faces off against SP John Maine tonight at 7:10 pm. CF Shane Victorino took a step backwards last night going 0-5 with 1 K lowering his average to .162. 1B Ryan Howard continues to struggle at the plate and is batting .188 so far this year. RF Geoff Jenkins made a spectacular diving catch in the 3rd inning last night to help stop the bleeding and the RF platoon of Jenkins and Werth appears to be working out so far early this year (Combined stats: .278 AVG, .381 OBP, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 3 R)
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