Phillies Win in 10 and Weekly Awards

So the Phillies showed that they do give a damn about the season and the offense came alive for them finally. The Phillies actually showed great composure in what could be a huge come from behind victory beating the Nationals 8-7 in 10 innings. It was good to see and it was a good sign to see the much questioned bullpen come up huge.

Positives:

1. Shane Victorino finally got his first hit of the year

2. Bottom half of the order came up huge (Jenkins/Feliz/Coste went 7 for 14 with 4 runs scored and 2 RBI)

3. Bullpen looked solid

Negatives:

1. Tom Gordon took 34 pitches to retire the Nats in the 9th. He managed to load the bases but not give up any runs. Scary.

2. 4 errors in the first inning and a third. The Phillies still don't appear ready to be playing meaningful games.

3. It basically took everything the Phillies had to eke out a victory against a mediocre team and salvage a 1-2 split of the Series. For the record, by the 10th inning the Phillies had no one left on the bench and only RHP Tim Lahay in the bullpen.


Weekly Awards:

Let me start off by explaining how this will work. Every Friday I will give out awards to top performers on the Phillies for the week. This is a somewhat shortened week but typically the period will run from Friday night - Thursday Night for stats and key contributions. That being said:

Pitcher of the Week - Chad Durbin: Now this could easily be Cole Hamels for his dominant 8 inning performance but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Chad Durbin. Durbin has appeared in all 3 games so far in relief and given up no runs in 3 IP. He has positioned himself to be a go-to guy out of the Pen for the rest of season with his performance.

Player of the Week - Jimmy Rollins: Yeah I know, he's only batting .231 so far in 3 games. However, his huge 1st to 3rd gamble in the 10th inning paid massive dividends yesterday afternoon and positioned the Phillies to win their first game. Also his 7 Total Bases leads the team and he's tied for the team lead in Hits, Runs, RBIs, 2Bs, and HRs.

Phillies Acquire Relief Pitcher

The Phillies claimed RHP Tim Lahey off waivers from the Chicago Cubs today. Lahey is a Rule V draft pick that failed to make the Cubs lineup and he must therefore be kept on the Phillies 25 man roster all season or be offered back to the Minnesota Twins. Lahey was originally drafted out of Princeton as a catcher but was quickly converted to a pitcher after one season in the Twins minor-league system. He is a prototypical power pitcher; He stands 6'5" tall, weighs 250 lbs and throws 3 pitches. His fastball stays in the 90-95 MPH range hovering around 93 most of the time. He throws a good slider and a decent changeup according to scouting reports. He has struggled with control so far in his career but his strikeout rate is above average.


2007 Stats in AA New Britain:

ERA W L GP GS CG ShO SV IP H R ER HR BB K
3.45 8 4 50 0 0 0 13 78.1 78 42 30 8 33 56


As you can see he was good in AA posting a decent K/9 ratio of 6.45 however his BB/9 ratio of 3.80 needs to drop if he is to be successful in the Majors. Also his WHIP of 1.42 needs to improve but its not horrible. The bottom line is that he can't possibly be worse than J.D. Durbin.

Closing notes: The Phillies are also hoping to add another pitcher off waivers before 3pm tomorrow when rosters need to be set.