Werth or Victorino

Now that CF Shane Victorino has come off the disabled list, the Phillies and Charlie Manuel are left with a troubling dilemma of what to do in the outfield. Victorino was tagged as the team's starting CF the moment Aaron Rowand signed with the San Francisco Giants last fall. However, after getting off to a very slow start at the plate, Victorino went on the DL only to see OF Jayson Werth fill his shoes admirably in his absence. Werth has posted a very impressive line of 5 HRs, 13 RBI, 15 R while batting .289/.375/.954 in 76 ABs this season while playing above average defense in CF. Those are All-Star level numbers if he keeps it up. Victorino is batting .229 on the season with no HRs and only 2 RBIs. However, Victorino is Werth's superior at either outfield position. Werth has a plus arm and very good range in both right and center, but Victorino is an elite fielder who could be a gold-glover at some point in his career.

Defensive Breakdown in CF (2008):

Jayson Werth: 14 GS, .975 FPCT, 2.76 RF, .900 ZR, 1 assist
Shane Victorino: 12 GS, 1.000 FPCT, 2.84 RF, .969 ZR, 0 assists

Defensive Breakdown in RF (2007):

Jayson Werth: 55 GS, .983 FPCT, 2.34 RF, .912 ZR, 7 assists
Shane Victorino: 100 GS, .988 FPCT, 2.34 RF, .930 ZR, 10 assists

Range factor (RF) is an excellent measure of a fielders performance and it measures Put outs (PO) plus Assists (A) and divides it by Innings Played (IP) to give us a statistical measure of a fielder in comparison to others.

Zone Rating is a measure the percentage of balls fielded by a player in his typical defensive "zone". Anything over .900 is outstanding for a CF. For example, Andruw Jones has a .875 ZR for his career and barely brushed .900 (he did hit .922 once) during his elite Gold Glove years. His RF in his elite years ranged from a low of 2.82 to a high of 3.19.

Victorino has a slight edge in RF over Werth and a more considerable edge in CF but both are excellent defenders with strong arms who can play all 3 OF positions very well.

Basically it has to come down to matchups and who's hitting better. It also likely means that OF Geoff Jenkins will see his playing time squeezed as the season progresses. That is assuming Victorino starts hitting like he did last year and stealing bases.

Right/Left Splits:

Jayson Werth

Past 3 seasons:
vs. leftys - .316 avg
vs. rightys - .243 avg

2008:
vs. leftys - .333 avg
vs. rights - .262 avg

Shane Victorino

Past 3 seasons:
vs. leftys - .285 avg
vs. rightys - .283 avg

2008:
vs. leftys - .357 avg
vs. rightys - .176 avg

Overall, Victorino appears to be a more balanced hitter but Werth has more power from both sides of the plate. His power is offset slightly by Victorino's speed at the top of the order and on the basepaths. Werth has good speed as well but isn't quite as fast as Victorino. Both players can capably play either RF or CF and I envision Werth getting around 400-500 ABs if he keeps hitting with Jenkins losing out on playing time as a consequence. This is not exactly a bad situation for a manager to be in having two good players to choose from.

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.

34%

34% is the percentage of times Ryan Howard has struck out this year when he's at the plate. After going 0-2 with 2 Ks this afternoon he now has a grand total of 34Ks in 100 PAs on the year. Basically he's on pace for around 250 Ks on the year...which is great if you're a starting pitcher but not so great if you're the #4 hitter on a playoff team. Howard needs to figure it out and figure it out fast if the Phillies are going to continue to win games.

Phils Sweep Rockies

2B Chase Utley continued his hot streak last night and LF Pat Burrell hit a game winning 3 RBI double in the top of the 9th to give the Phillies a 2 game series sweep against the Defending NL Champ Colorado Rockies. Both Burrell and Utley are off to monster starts this April and their contributions have carried an offense that is without the top of the order (Rollins and Victorino on DL). Their contributions have been particularly important with Slugger Ryan Howard badly slumping after another 0-4, 2 K performance that dropped his batting average to .190 on the season.

Notes: Utley's consecutive games with a HR streak is over at 5 games which ties a club record. He went 2-5 with a couple RBIs despite hitting one deep and he is now batting .433 with 6 HR, 11 RBI in his past 7 games. Burrell, in comparison, has cooled off and is only batting .370 in the past 7 games.

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.

Rollins On DL

Well after two weeks of watching SS Jimmy Rollins limp around the clubhouse and limp out to the batters box in feeble attempts at pinchhitting, club management finally made the long overdue decision to place him on the 15 Day DL. This is exactly what should have happened in the first couple days after the injury instead of two weeks later. So we can chalk this one up as an idiotic and cowardly move by the Phillies Training Staff and Manager Charlie Manuel. They should have known that JRoll is the kind of player that will try to play no matter how injured he is and not trusted his opinion of the injury. That's what they get for...to make tough decisions about the health of the players. Because of their complete ineptitude, Jroll will now miss at least another two weeks of the season at a time where the Mets seem to be slowly pulling away with the NL East lead. Way to go Uncle Charlie!!!

Now that my rant is over I should mention that OF Chris Snelling was also placed on the DL today and that SS Brad Harmon was called up from AA to take Rollins roster spot and OF T.J. Boh was recalled from AAA to replace Snelling.

Weekly Wrap

Well it was an up and down week for the Phillies in what has so far been an up and down year. SS Jimmy Rollins is still out of the lineup and is projected to be available possibly Saturday. I suspect however that he will probably not start until Sunday night at the earliest. The Phillies have missed his presence at the top of the lineup along with the speedy Victorino who is still out recovering from a calf strain. CF Shane Victorino looks to return on Apr 29 when he is eligible to come off the DL. Reports on his status are positive and his strain is less severe than originally thought. Hopefully he will be able to slide back into the lineup and give the Phillies another speedy leadoff type guy at the top of the lineup. OF Jayson Werth has been very solid in his place and is batting .370 on the year with 1 HR/5 RBI. It will be nice to get Werth back into his platoon role in RF along with Jenkins. I think it is safe to say that he has earned himself some additional ABs with his performance in the past 2 weeks. That being said, its time for the Weekly Awards:

Player of the Week - LF Pat Burrell: Pat continues to mash the ball in his contract year and he leads the team in all offensive categories. He went 7 for 20 with 5 BBs this week along with 3 HRs and 8 RBI and 6 Runs scored. He is also been playing outstanding defense (for him) in LF. Both his Range Factor (RF) and Zone Rating (ZR) are well above his career norms so far this year. For a player that is much maligned for his mediocre fielding he has been stellar in LF. He has simply been carrying the Phillies so far this season.

Pitcher of the Week - SP Brett Myers: Brett is 2-0 this week with an ERA of 2.40. In 2 starts he has gone 15 Innings while striking out 13 and walking only 1. His BAA is a mere .185 in those starts. He has really turned it on and begun challenging hitters with his fastball after a slow start to the season.

Goat of the Week - UT Eric Bruntlett: It may be unfair to expect much offense out of a utility guy but Eric has had a rough week filling in for JRoll. One surprising stat is that his defensive play has actually been better than JRoll in nearly every category so at least he's doing one thing right. Eric went 4-22 (.182 AVG/.217 OBP) this week and was the only position player without a hit yesterday in the Phillies rout of the Houston Astros.

Honorary Goat of the Week - Houston GM Ed Wade: Ed Wade made what I will politely call some "questionable" moves in his tenure as Phillies GM but I must say that his trade for SS Miguel Tejada appears to be topping all of them. Not only has Tejada been implicated in the Mitchell Report but now we've come to find out that he is indeed 33 years old instead of 31. All this makes the bevy of young prospects that Wade shipped to Baltimore even more painful for Astros fans. This is the same guy that traded his team's closer for a utility OF so go figure.

The Phillies have the Mets coming to town starting tonight where SP Johan Santana will face off against fellow lefty SP Cole Hamels in the Battle of the Changeup. It should be an interesting game to watch. Also the Phillies will be on national television again this Sunday when they face off in the series finale at 8pm on Sunday Night Baseball. Hopefully JRoll will be back for this series.

Model of Mediocrity

Interesting and befuddling stat of the day:

2008 Longest Winning Streak - 2 games
2008 Longest Losing Streak - 2 games

The Phillies have simply been unable to get any sort of momentum going over the first 16 games of the season and interestingly enough it is not the pitching which is hamstringing this team. The Phillies are actually 3rd in the NL in Quality Starts (6 IP, 3 ER or less) from their starters and the Bullpen has been fairly solid as well. The Phillies hitting has been up and down all season though and they have simply not been clutch. 3B Rally Killer has led the way despite his late inning heroics on Tuesday with multiple momentum killing GIDPs, weak popups with men in scoring position and the ever popular ground out to 3B or SS when the Phillies are trying to advance a runner with less than 2 outs. However, more puzzling, 1B Ryan Howard has been just as inconsistent. While he has 3 HRs so far, he his batting a pitiful .189 with 20 Ks in just 53 ABs. In other words he's striking out in over 30% of his plate appearances. That is a ridiculous stat and if he keeps it up, he will easily shatter his own single season strikeout record.

In other news: SS Jimmy Rollins is not expected back in the lineup until Saturday at the earliest. I'm beginning to wonder why he wasn't put on the 15 day DL to rest his injured ankle. UT Eric Bruntlett has been brutal in his place both in the field and at the plate. He now has 4 hits in 7 games since taking over for JRoll at Short.

Good News: SP Kyle Kendrick had his first Quality Start of the season yesterday and SP Adam Eaton continues to perform well in the first couple weeks of the season. Eaton is 3 for 3 on Quality Starts this year and he is posting an ERA of 4.12 in the early going. His GB rate is up and he appears to be pitching to contact more this year instead of trying to strike batters out. That's a good sign of his confidence.

Even Better News: SP Brett Myers appears to have "turned it on" and is working on his second straight QS after looking timid in his first 2 starts. He's challenging hitters now and his K/9 rate has gone up in 4 straight starts. He's looking to improve to 2-1 on the season if the Phillies hold on to win this afternoon.

Phillies Prospect Watch

The Phillies don't exactly have the best minor-league system in Major League Baseball. In fact they tend to be rated in the bottom 3rd when it comes to prospects. Baseball America puts them at 21st out of 30 for their minor league system and Baseball Prospect only gives them 2 players in the top 100 prospects in baseball (#96 Joe Savery and #68 Carlos Carrasco). Neither project as more than a #3 Starter at this point. That being said, here is a quick list of the "healthy" prospects in the Phillies system. I say healthy because I'm not even gonna talk about the bevy of young arms the Phillies have that have had Tommy John surgery in the past year and are thus huge questionmarks from here on out. In case you're wondering Kyle Drabek and Scott Mathieson are on that list. So here goes:

Clearwater Threshers:

LHP Joe Savery: Has been dominant so far in 3 appearances (20 IP, 0.90 ERA, 13 Ks) and will probably end up in AA before long. As one of the Phillies top pitching prospects he will probably be rushed to the majors as soon as possible...he needs to be as he is already 22 years old and in Single A. His K rate is a little low for A ball but overall he has been impressive.

LHP Antonio Bastardo: Has also been dominant in the first couple weeks especially against leftys. Leftys are batting .000 against him with 7 Ks in 8 ABs. Overall he has 17 Ks in 10 IP with an ERA of 0.90 in 2 starts. He's 23 years old so he needs to get moving. In 2005, he struck out 63 batters in 38 innings in Rookie ball where he was used as a closer. He throws a power fastball with movement in the low to mid 90's but his secondary pitches need work. He's also undersized at 5'11", 180lbs. I'd love to find out more about him as his numbers make him look dominant.

2B Adrian Cardenas: Possibly the 2B of the future and one of the Phillies top position prospects. By the time he makes the majors (he'll be 21 this October, Utley will likely be the 1B so it won't matter. He's off to a hot start in Single A batting .378 in 45 ABs. One troubling sign...he's only walked 1 time in 46 plate appearances. Also he only has 3 extra base hits out of 17 total hits. He needs to learn patience at the plate or he'll never make it to the majors. One good thing is that his K rate (6 Ks total) is also very low so he's a very high contact hitter who probably should be in AA.

OF Matt Spencer: Huge power threat from the left side of the plate. He projects more as a 1B than an OF but we'll see. He also strikes out a ton (similar to Ryan Howard). He's off to a pretty good start in Clearwater but his power numbers are down early on. Line: .300 AVG, .340 OBP, 3 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 7 Ks in 40 ABs. He turned 22 in January.

Reading Phillies:

RHP Carlos Carrasco: Rated as the Phils top prospect and projected as a middle of the rotation guy (i.e. 3rd starter). He's been strong so far. In 2 starts he's pitched 11 innings and struck out 14 while walking 4 with an ERA of 2.45. He could be on the MLB roster by the end of the season.

LHP Josh Outman: Another of the Phils top pitching prospects...he projects as a #4 or 5 guy or bullpen reliever (the Phillies system is kinda thin). He throws low 90's with his fastball and throws a good slider. He needs to work on his control though. In 2 starts he's piched 11 innings and struck out 12 while walking 6 for an ERA of 1.64. He's also allowed alot of hits (14 total in 11 innings) so he hasn't been dominant as much as hes gotten lucky to have such a low ERA.

LHP Fabio Castro: Rule V guy who should be in the majors right now if only he had any control of his pitches. Still he's been good so far with 12 K in 12 IP with "only" 6 BB and 6 hits allowed for an ERA of 0.75. He's another guy who we could see in a Phillies uniform if there are injuries and/or Kendrick completely collapses.

RHP Andrew Carpenter: He wowed Manuel and Gillick in that last spring training game but he has struggled so far at AA. (3 Starts: 16 2/3 IP, 22 H, 7 BB, 9 Ks, 5.94 ERA). He is better than those numbers suggest and will probably improve drastically as the season progresses.

OF Greg Golson: So far he's off to a good start in AA but he still is striking out a bunch and not taking a walk. He will be a bust as a prospect if he doesn't learn some discipline at the plate. So far he's batting .326 with an OBP of .356. He's also struck out 12 times in only 43 ABs with just 2 BBs. He is a perfect 7 for 7 in stolen bases though.

C Lou Marson: This is the guy will be the Phillies starting catcher in probably 2-3 years and Ruiz will be the backup...he's better than Ruiz in all aspects of the game including hitting. So far he's been pretty good in Reading batting .333 with an OBP of .438 in his first 8 games. He's the catcher of the future and the reason that C Jason Jarromillo in AAA probably won't ever start for the Phillies...oh and he's turn 22 this June.

SS Jason Donald: He projects as a utility player right now but could turn into a competent 2B (most scouting reports I've seen project him as a 2B not a SS. Rollins and Utley are blocking him in the majors so its kinda tough to figure where's he's gonna play. He's playing pretty well right now batting .269 with an OBP of .387. He'll be 24 in September so he's not exactly a young prospect

2B Brad Harmon: An Aussie import who projects as a utility infielder with a little bit of power and average defense. He's off to a slow start batting .171 in his first 11 games.

Lehigh Valley IronPigs:

First off, the Phillies don't have any real prospects in AAA so here goes:

LHP Travis Blackley: Blackley could probably be in Philly right now as the 2nd lefty in the Pen if the Phillies needed him. He has dominated leftys so far in the minors (.100 in 6 2/3 IP against leftys). The problem is that right handed hitters turn into Rogers Hornsby against him batting .353 so far this year. He's striking out exactly 1 batter per inning and his walk rate (the reason he didn't make the roster instead of Condrey) is bareable with 4 BBs in 10 IPs. He might end up doing a spot start as the options for spot starting this year are him, JA Happ or JD Durbin.

C Jason Jaromillo: He's the only other player on the IronPigs roster who should ever see a Major League uniform. He's off to a dreadful start but he's still an outstanding defensive catcher. He'll probably end up as a backup somewhere in the majors in the next few years. Right now he's batting .138 with a slugging percentage of .345. His biggest problem is that he'll be 26 this year and he is not a young prospect anymore. He did bat .271 last year in Scranton and he could easily replace Coste as the backup right now if something were to happen. The phillies are set at Catcher for the next several years between Ruiz, Jarromillo, and Marson

Weekly Wrapup

Well, after weeks of speculation, the Phillies signed LHP Steve Kline to a minor-league deal and he will report to the AAA Lehigh Valley IronPigs next week. Considering how often pitchers go down with injury and/or are ineffective, Kline could very quickly find himself on the big league roster as long as he performs in Allentown. RHP Ryan Madson has been complaining about soreness in his pitching shoulder (the same injury that forced him to miss 2 months last year) and both Tom Gordon and Clay Condrey have been somewhat ineffective so far this season. Gordon had a streak of 4 scoreless appearances going into last night where he gave up the winning run in 1 2/3 IP. Granted that run came on a horrible call by the home plate umpire but a run is a run is a run and the Phillies always need more pitching.

In other news: RHP Kris Benson continues to throw off the mound in Clearwater and looks to start in a minor-league game in hopefully two weeks if everything goes well. Considering how poorly SP Kyle Kendrick has pitched thus far in the season, Benson could quickly find himself in the starting rotation.

Huge Surprise of the Year: SP Adam Eaton has pitched in two games so far and both have been quality starts (6 IP, 3ER or less). He has posted a 3.91 ERA so far. Perhaps this will be the year that he figures it all out and somewhat earns his $8 million a year in salary. Or perhaps he will give up 10 runs in his next start...with Adam you never know.

Its About Time: SP Brett Myers was quoted as saying that he will be a "Closer for 9 innings on Saturday". Basically he means he's gonna go out there and just rear up and throw fastballs. Hopefully the Cubs don't read the Daily News and just sit fastball on him but hey if he can bring it, let him. It would be nice to see him stop throwing 90 MPH fastballs and actually get some mustard on the ball.

Weekly Awards:

Player of the Week - LF Pat Burrell: LF Pat Burrell has simply been on fire this week going 9 for 21 with 7 BB, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 4 R, and 20 Total Bases. For that math impaired that's a .438 AVG/.571OBP. Burrell has been the most consistent hitter for the Phillies so far and he looks to build on excellent second half in 2007. Over the past couple season, Pat has cut his strikeout rate and raised his OBP each year and those trends seem to be continuing as he becomes a much more patient hitter than the free-swinging days of his early career.

Pitcher of the Week - SP Cole Hamels: SP Cole Hamels went 7 strong innings on Monday afternoon picking up his first win of the season snapping a two game losing streak and salvaging a 2-2 series split with the Cincinnati Reds. He struck out 4 and gave up 1 ER getting the win. Reliever Chad Durbin was a close runner-up pitching 5 innings in 3 appearances with no runs scored. He continues to be strong out of the Pen.

Goat of the Week - 1B Ryan Howard: Despite Victorino's struggles at the top of the order, Howard has actually been worse this week going 4 for 28 (.148 AVG) with 11 K. The only bright spot is that he has hit 2 HRs with 4 RBI but otherwise Howard looks lost up at the plate.

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)

Phillies Ruin Mets Home Opener

Well the Fightin' Phils managed to win again. They were able to come from behind and defeat the Mets 5-2 despite a very strong performance by Mets Lefty Oliver Perez who went 5 2/3 innings without allowing a run. It was truly a team effort as SS Jimmy Rollins, 2B Chase Utley, and CF Shane Victorino each chipped in on offense with key contributions. In particular, Victorino had his first multi-hit game of the season going 2-5 with 1 BB and raised his batting average to .188 on the year. Utley reached base 4 times with 3 HBP and an RBI double to deep right that cemented the Phillies lead in the later innings.

Most importantly, the Bullpen came up strong again in what appears to be a growing strength for the club this year. RHP Chad Durbin pitched another scoreless inning lowering his ERA to 2.08 and LHP J.C. Romero and RHP Tom Gordon pitched the 8th and 9th innings to seal the deal for the Phillies. Gordon has not allowed a run since Opening Day and he appears to have gotten stronger with each outing which is an excellent sign for the bullpen. He recorded his first save of the season as Closer Brad Lidge was unavailable for work as he had pitched the previous 2 days in a row coming off the DL. Romero has continued his excellent pitching for the Phillies this year and Chad Durbin looks well suited to the middle-relief/right handed setup role that he has been given so far early in the season.

SP Kyle Kendrick will take the mound tonight for the Phillies as they try to make it 10 in a row against the NY Mets. Gametime is 7:05 pm EST and will be broadcast nationally in HD on ESPN2.

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.

Breaking News!!!

Tom Gordon pitched an entire inning and didn't give up any hits or runs...and it was in a meaningful part of the game.

~feels the ground~

Kinda cold. I guess Hell did freeze over.

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.

Ouch

So 4 errors through the first 4 inning today for the Phillies defense. "Gold-glover" Jimmy Rollins now has 2 in his first 3 games as does 2B Chase Utley. "Gold-glove" 3B Pedro Feliz committed his first error of the year today as well. So officially the infield has 5 errors and 6 hits in 3 games. Impressive performance so far by the the Fightin' Phils. Considering that hitting and offense were supposed to be this team's strengths, their pathetic performance at the plate is somewhat concerning. Subpar performances by starters Brett Myers and Jamie Moyer have only compounded the situation. I am fully confident that Kyle Kendrick and Adam Eaton will be able to stop the bleeding this week and give us two solid outings...or more likely the Phillies will start the season 0-5.

Pedro Martinez Injured

So the Mets lost their 2nd best pitcher and the lynchpin of their rotation last night when Pedro Martinez came up clutching his thigh after a pitch. The part of me that started him in my fantasy league was sad but the Phillie Fan in me rejoiced at the injury. Major injuries to key players is honestly the only way the Phillies have a chance to beat the Mets this year. Injuries to their pitching staff in particular are huge as they really don't have that much depth. Hopefully, for the Phillies sake, Pedro is gone for at least a couple of months. He has an MRI scheduled today and hopefully we'll know more by tonight or tomorrow morning as to how severe it is. However, 36 year old fragile pitchers with extensive injury histories aren't exactly known for bouncing back quickly.

In other news, Cole Hamels will take the mound tonight against the Nats and hopefully he has a good outing because as we all know, the rest of the Phillies staff isn't exactly reliable so a 2 game losing streak could easily turn into a 5 game streak in the blink of an eye. I will boldly predict a strong outing from Hamels and a win for the Phightin' Phils tonight.

Rookie to Watch: I know this is a Phillies Blog, but I just had to mention rookie CF Carlos Gomez of the Minnesota Twins. He had a spectacular debut on Opening Day for the Twins and made the Santana trade look a little less lopsided with his 2 H, 2 SB, and a couple of spectacular defensive plays in center. If he learns how to consistently hit, he could be an All-Star for years to come.

Injury Update: Mets SP Pedro Martinez is reportedly headed to the DL and is expected to miss a minimum of one month assuming everything goes perfectly with his rehabilitation.

Phillies Acquire 39-Year-Old RHP Rudy Seanez

The Phillies apparently feel that they don't have quite enough washed up aging relievers so they decided to sign Rudy Seanez, who was cut by the Dodgers earlier this week, to a contract. Seanez is expected to be in uniform for the Phillies tomorrow. Seanez was signed to a 1 year - $550K contract with $750 K in possible performance bonuses back in February of this year by the Dodgers. However, after a poor Spring, he was cut on Sunday. The Phillies will be responsible for his contract this year after claiming him off waivers.

I'll go out on a limb here and guess that Tom Gordon will be on the DL with a "previously undiagnosed" injury within the next 2 weeks as Seanez will be thrust into his setup role. Its pretty sad that it's Day 2 of the 2008 Season and Pat Gillick is already picking up Arms from the scrap heap. Not a good sign for the rest of the season.