Phillies Use Ancient Methods to Defeat Braves

Long ago, the sport of baseball was a very different game. Players left their gloves on the field, when they returned to the dugout. If players spent more than two weeks on a roster, without playing, it was probably either because they were very bad at the game of baseball, or because they were actually spies. There was a batting maneuver, used to advance runners, known as the "bunt." The Philadelphia Phillies had an innings-eater, by the name of Grover Cleveland Alexander, who pitched more than three-hundred innings, seven seasons in a row. A "loogy" was just a synonym for expectorant. Way back then, creating a "Cliff Lee", using DNA obtained from Steve Carlton, would have been as inconceivable as the Phillies being labeled a "perennial contender."

In the much more recent past, the Phillies have pondered several questions. "If Brad Lidge blows every save opportunity, has he achieved perfection?" "Will Matt Stairs ever get a hit again?" "Is Eric Bruntlett really only the fourth-worst-hitting non-pitcher on this team?" They also considered a more philosophical question. They asked themselves, "If Scott Eyre is in the bullpen, and he never pitches, does he make a sound?" Noted philosopher/ineffective reliever Chad Durbin, who was not created using DNA obtained from Ron Reed, would likely answer that question, "Does he (Eyre) ever NOT make a sound?" Manager Charlie Manuel, however, hasn't appeared to be aware of Eyre's continued bullpen existence. At least until the eighth inning of the Phillies' 3-2 victory over the Braves, on Sunday night.

Scott Eyre entered his first game in two weeks, with runners on first and second, and no outs. Though he had warmed up numerous times during those two weeks, and his usefulness as a LOOGY had been oft-demonstrated, he had been reduced to merely cheering on his teammates. Suddenly, he was called on to pitch, during the highest leverage at bat of the game. Four pitches later, he induced an unconventional 4-6-5 double play. He retired the next batter on another grounder, exiting the inning with a 3-2 lead. Now, we are left to ponder why we had to wait two weeks between Eyre appearances. A Grover Cleveland Alexander-esque ERA of 1.65 should surely qualify Eyre for more regular use.

The Phillies' offense generated a lot of sound on Sunday night, with Chase Utley hitting yet another home run (his 29th), and Carlos Ruiz knocking three hits, including a pair of doubles. The loudest noise, however, may have been made by the softest contact. In bottom of the seventh inning, with the score tied at one, Raul Ibanez lead off the inning with a walk. Pedro Feliz followed, and performed the archaic maneuver known as "squaring around to bunt." This antiquated technique doesn't seem to have a lot of value in today's chock-full-of-extra-base-hit-game, except as a possible (occasional) deterrent to deep-playing infielders, or as a practice utilized solely by exceedingly weak-hitting batters. In Sunday night's context, however, it led to a two-base error. Carlos Ruiz followed Feliz' bunt with a two-run double, and the Phillies had all the scoring that they would require.

When you have (the post-April 2009 version of) Joe Blanton on the mound, not a lot of offense is needed. Blanton once pursued the quality start, and the seventh inning, as Moe Berg had once pursued Axis secrets (with a lumbering tenacity). Now that Blanton has made ten consecutive quality starts, venturing into the seventh inning in nine of them, the lanky northpaw has earned the "innings-eater" label that had once been, prematurely, bestowed upon him. Blanton ate seven more innings, surrendering only a solo home run, among three hits and four walks (and seven strikeouts!).

Brad Lidge, often effective when not used more than two days in a row, retired all three batters he faced in the ninth, for his twenty-seventh save. The Phillies had combined methods, both ancient and modern, in winning the rubber game of the three-game series. Philadelphia increased their divisional lead to eight games, with only thirty-four games remaining to be played. Joe Blanton may get the opportunity to reprise Alexander's 1915 role, as an innings-eater on a team that went on to play the Red Sox, in the World Series. (That is, if 2009's Red Sox can get past Detroit, in the ALCS...)

Phillies Complete Sweep of Bucs

With two outs in the first inning, the Phillies had the bases loaded. They had already taken a 1-0 lead, in Sunday's game against the Pirates. With Pedro Feliz at the plate, the Phils had a chance to break the game open. A single would give starting pitcher J.A. Happ a 3-0 lead to work with, which could be enough, considering how well the undefeated rookie southpaw has pitched.

Pedro Feliz failed to get a single, however. After falling behind in the count, 0 and 2, Feliz drove a Virgil Vasquez slider over the wall in left. The grand slam gave the Phillies a quick 5-0 lead. The Phillies' bats went dormant after the first frame, generating only three scattered hits, none of which were converted into runs. The early five-run advantage was sufficient, as J.A. Happ (seven innings, one run), Ryan Madson (scoreless eighth), and J.C. Romero (solo HR allowed in ninth) held the lead. Happ, the early favorite to finish second in NL RoY voting, completes the first half with a 6-0 record, and a sterling 2.90 ERA.

The Phillies complete the first half of their season with a 48-38 record, and a four-game NL East lead over Florida. The Phillies' once-horrific home record has improved to 22-23, as the Phils closed with a nine-win, ten-game homestand. The Phillies are were they want to be, leading the division at the break, but there are many questions to be answered in the second half. Will Cole Hamels return to form? Will Roy Halladay and/or Pedro Martinez join Hamels in the rotation? Will Paul Bako really remain the backup catcher? Will Eric Bruntlett really remain on an MLB roster? Which minor league prospects will be dealt to fortify the parent club's roster? (Kyle Drabek? Carlos Carrasco? Jack Taschner? Michael Taylor? Crazy Hot Dog Vendor?) Stay tuned for a maelstrom of personnel moves, as the Phillies try to protect their division lead, and replenish their roster for another long postseason run.

Bunts and Balks (6/25)

Jack Taschner surrendered a triple, a double, and a walk in one inning on Thursday. Taschner was fortunate to only allow one run. His ERA is a crisp 5.40, which understates the level of his ineptitude. (His 5.82 FIP and 1.87 WHIP, prior to Thursday's debacle, are better indicators.) How is he even still on this team? Gary Majewski, Mike Zagurski, Sergio Escalona, and (insert rotating cast of fungible, DFA'd relievers here) would all be superior options. Ugh.

Paul Bako is still on the P-Phils roster. Even less useful than Taschner...If the Phils trade Carlos Ruiz, Chris Coste, and Lou Marson, they should take their chances with Lehigh Valley (AAA) backup Paul Hoover over Gabor Paul Bako II.

How did Pedro Feliz and 1st Base Coach Davey Lopes combine to not make Feliz aware of the number of outs? Since when do the WFCs make mental errors, costing them extra outs and extra runs? Being doubled off first, before Matt Stairs could score on a one-out sacrifice fly, is unacceptable.

Jimmy Rollins watched the P-Phils lose to Tampa from the dugout. Hope the day off helped, as even Bad Rollins would have been an upgrade over his replacement, Eric Bruntlett.

Eric Bruntlett went 0 for 4 with a strikeout (and 3 LOB, now batting a gaudy .145), in Thursday night's loss.
Bruntlett made an outstanding defensive play on a first-inning pickoff of B.J. Upton. The rest of the night he killed the team on offense and defense. As Bruntlett is fairly useless, why not try Pedro Feliz at SS, with Greg Dobbs at 3B, and Chris Coste at 1B? Things couldn't go much worse...

Starter Antonio Bastardo left the game with shoulder stiffness. Hopefully, he won't miss any time. If he does, is it Carlos Carrasco's turn?

The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (AAA) broke an eighth inning tie, beating the Indianapolis Indians, 5-4.
Kyle Kendrick had a mediocre outing, allowing four runs over six innings (five hits, three walks/three strikeouts). Kendrick was victimized by a pair of solo home runs. Jake Woods got the win, with two scoreless, and Steven Register finished for the save. Andy Tracy, Miguel Cairo, and Lou Marson had two hits apiece, as the FeHogs totaled ten hits.

The Reading Phillies (AA) drabeked the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, 9-3.
Kyle Drabek permitted three runs, all in the sixth inning, in his seven and one-third inning start.
Drabek allowed six hits, and had an outstanding 9:1 K/BB ratio. Mike Zagurski got the final five outs for the save, allowing only one hit. Zagurski should replace Jack Taschner (or Paul Bako) on the P-Phils roster last week. Jeremy Slayden was three for five, improving his AA average to a tidy .467.

The Clearwater Threshers (A) beat the Jupiter Hammerheads, 7-6, in twelve innings.
Drew Naylor pitched poorly (six and one-third innings, six runs (four earned), nine hits, two walks/two strikeouts), but the bullpen (Christopher Kissock, Walter Tejeda, Santo Hernandez) held Jupiter scoreless the rest of the way. Matt Rizzotti had a homer and three RBIs, including the game-winner.
The big question raised by tonight's four-hour plus battle was "Why don't the Threshers have their own internet broadcasts available?" Listening to the extra innings, as interpreted by the Jupiter Hammerheads' announcer, was about as pleasurable as watching Jack Taschner pitch.

Happ Beats Nats a Day Early

J.A. Happ threw two scoreless innings Friday night, and Raul Ibanez got the key hit, as the Phillies defeated the Nationals, 10-6. The Phils face the Nats in a doubleheader on Saturday, with Brett Myers taking the ball in the first game, and J.A. Happ getting the start in the...Wait. That's not going to work now, is it? What happened here? It's an interesting story, actually. A tale of exhilarating highs, and tragic, though not entirely unexpected, lows. A saga of heroes (Ryan Howard), villains (Willie Harris), and incompetence (the Usual Suspects).

With a doubleheader a day away, the Phillies needed starter Joe Blanton to eat some innings. The needed Eight-Inning Joe Blanton. (Well, maybe not the eight-inning/six-run Joe Blanton. The seven inning/four run version would be preferable, actually.) Blanton rose to the occasion and contributed...five innings/four runs allowed. Thanks, Joe! Blanton was actually fortunate to only surrender four runs, as he permitted five hits and six walks in his one-hundred and one pitch outing. It was lucky that he was facing one of the worst teams in MLB, or Blanton would have departed with worse than just a 4-1 deficit.

The Phillies rallied against the weak Nats' bullpen, scoring two runs in the sixth, and three more in the seventh. The three in the seventh came courtesy of a Ryan Howard homer, and gave the Phils a 6-4 lead. They just needed their bullpen to hold the lead for the final three innings. Scott Eyre (two outs) and Ryan Madson (four outs) got through the seventh and eighth, without any damage. Brad Lidge entered to close out the Nats in the ninth, with the Phils' WE at 95.4%, after he retired the first batter. A walk, a single, and a fielder's choice later, and the Nats had runners on first and second, with two outs. Fortunately, all that stood between the Phils and the win was journeyman infielder Willie Harris. He of the lifetime .669 OPS. Unfortunately, Harris chose this opportunity to produce offensively, and hit a game-tying double. Lidge was able to strike out Austin Kearns to end the inning, but another save had been blown. (Is it time to DL Lidge, and get AAA reliever Gary Majewski into the bullpen, with Ryan Madson taking over as closer? Quite possibly.)

The Phils were forced to burn reliever Clay Condrey in the tenth inning, and then pinch-hit for Condrey in the top of the eleventh. (Chris Coste, the only backup catcher/last position player on the bench at that point, was used as the pinch-hitter, which sentenced Carlos Ruiz to finish the game behind the plate. Given their weak bench options, I'd like to see Coste pinch-hit more. If Ruiz had to leave the game with an injury later, they could just move Jayson Werth behind the plate. Werth's father had appeared in six MLB games (two starts) as a catcher, so this should be fine. Then pitcher Brett Myers could enter the game as an outfielder, and alternate with Raul Ibanez in left or right, depending on the batter. The possibility of an oufield where Ibanez is the second-best defensively, and centerfielder Shane Victorino covers two-thirds of the ground, would be preferable to another Miguel Cairo pinch-hitting appearance. Besides, it is rather unlikely that Ruiz would get hurt, right?) Coste singled, but the Phils failed to score in the eleventh.

Manager Charlie Manuel had an unappetizing dilemma facing him in the bottom of the eleventh. He could use J.A. Happ, or Jack Taschner, to pitch. If he chose Happ, the Phillies could win Friday, but would have to get creative to handle the pitching shortfall on Saturday. If he chose Taschner, the Phillies would get to leave about four batters later with a loss, but with their Saturday pitching plan in place. Manuel made the right call, and brought in Happ. Happ did his job, and an Ibanez two-run single keyed a four-run twelfth. Happ had beaten Washington, just a day earlier than planned.

Drew Carpenter will be recalled from AAA to start the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, with Miguel Cairo (finally!) DFA'd to free up a spot on the 25-Man Roster. (Carpenter was already on the 40-Man Roster.) I am assuming Cairo will still be available in the first game. (It might have been preferable to start Carpenter in the first game, and then option him back to AAA before the second game, in exchange for another player. A bullpen arm, such as Mike Koplove or Gary Majewski? Not sure why the Phillies didn't do that.) Considering that Jack Taschner was avoided on Friday night, his days may also be numbered. Brad Lidge was ineffective, again, so perhaps a DL trip is pending. The Phillies have much to consider, when determining roster moves in the next few days.

So, two Phillies games on Saturday. (How great is that?) Brett Myers needs to eat some serious innings in the opener. Drew Carpenter just needs to keep the Phils in the second game. A five-inning/four run outing would suffice. Yep. Carpenter just needs to put up a Blanton Start. Hopefully, the Phils can sweep today. They need these W's. And, hopefully, FOX will let out-of-market viewers watch the early game on MLB.TV.

More Often Than Not, Manuel's Hunches Always Pay Off

Chan Ho Park was allowed to remain in the rotation, and delivered six strong innings. Jimmy Rollins was dropped to the fifth spot in the order, and reached base twice, scoring and knocking in runs. Jayson Werth was given the green light to steal some bases, and he went ahead and stole all of them. Brad Lidge was brought in for the save, and, well, it wasn't pretty, but he did pick up his fifth save. Phillies' Manager Charlie Manuel's fingerprints were all over the team's 5-3 win over the Dodgers on Tuesday night.

Some have been calling for Park's removal from the rotation, ever since it was announced that he had won the fifth starter's job. (This replacement-level blogger was part of this rather unruly mob.) When Park got off to a slow start, others called for his ejection from the rotation, or, even better, from the team. Manuel showed confidence in Park, and kept sending him out for starts. Park rewarded his manager with his second consecutive strong start, evening his record at 1-1. Park held the Manny-less Dodgers to a pair of runs, and only seven hits. Park struck out three batters, without walking any, reminiscent of his magical 25:2 ratio in Spring Training. It was an outstanding performance by Park.

Chad Durbin, Scott Eyre, and Ryan Madson were also outstanding, constructing a scoreless bridge spanning between Park and Lidge. Lidge was sloppy, allowing three hits, and a run in the ninth inning. He required twenty-four pitches to get through the inning, which ended with the tying run on base. Yikes.

Jimmy Rollins was, finally, dropped out of the leadoff spot, as his inability to reach base was proving problematic in that role. Some believe that the shortstop's poor performance, after some very strong offensive seasons, could be performance enhancer-related. I think it is much more likely that he was injured filming that Dick's Sporting goods commercial. (Look at his expression. IMPERVIOUS. TO. PAIN.) Rollins is just in a bit of a slump. It's just more apparent, as his slump started when the season did, resulting in hideous season stats. He has also been unlucky, as his BABIP of .217 is well below his career average of .298. Rollins will get better, and luckier. That said, Manuel moved him to the perfect spot in the lineup for his success, as batting between Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez should guarantee him some good pitches to hit. Jayson Werth batted third in Tuesday's lineup configuration, which is fine, as Werth is kind of awesome. wOBA of .413 worth of awesome.

Werth stole four bases in Tuesday night's game, including a rare steal of home. As rare and unlikely this was, it wasn't the most surprising occurrence of the night. Pedro Feliz, known as "Senor Hackmaster" in some circles, has accumulated one-hundred and ninety-one unintentional walks in thirty-five hundred and eighty-six plate appearances. (His fourteen intentional walks have been removed from these counts.) About one in every nineteen plate appearances, Feliz coaxes a walk. (By way of comparison, The Awesome Jayson Werth walks once in about every eight and a half plate appearances.) Feliz rarely sees a pitch he doesn't find worthy of a wild swing, and excels at minimizing the opposition's pitch counts. Feliz came to the plate four times tonight, and walked all four times. (I calculate the probability of this happening to be approximately .000625%, or even less likely than J.C. Romero and Jack Taschner being on the 2009 Phillies' roster at the same time.) Feliz' four-walk game is Reason #5699 that you should always watch the entire game. You never know what's going to happen.

The Phils play the Dodgers again Wednesday, with Dr. Jamie Moyer getting the start. Moyer has been ineffective in five of his six starts in 2009, but all of these starts were prior to his receiving his doctorate from St. Joe's. Moyer will be opposed by former Phillie Randy Wolf. Wolf has a .249 BABIP in 2009, and his good fortune is about to run out.

2008 Phillies Ready for Spring Training

"How old are these things?!", Phillies General Manager Pat Gillick demanded, as he tossed the offending snack cakes into the trash receptacle. The Butterscotch Krimpets had looked rather enticing, particularly considering that he had skipped breakfast, but tasted like they had been around longer than his 45 year-old 4th starter. Fortunately, this would be a quick meeting, as Clay Condrey would be down to drive the group to the airport shortly. There would be plenty of food on the flight to Florida.

"Those are the Krimpets we got from Baltimore in the Roberson deal", Assistant GM Ruben Amaro replied. "I think they were a bit past-their-prime when we got them. But I still think we got the better of that deal." Gillick nodded in agreement.

Amaro: "I think we got the better of all of our dealings this winter. While the media and the blogosphere have been critical of some of our personnel moves, we are definitely a better team than we were a year ago. Picking up Eric Bruntlett has already paid off big time."

Gillick: "It's always good to add another Economics major to the organization. He saved me quite a bit on my taxes. (Abraham) Nunez may be a little better with the bat, but he didn't find me nearly as many tax deductions."

Amaro: "(Brad) Lidge will solidify the bullpen, and we didn't give up a whole lot (Geoff Geary and Michael Bourn) to get him."

Gillick: "Yep, between his 12 K/9 IP and his kick-ass entrance song, he should be good for fifty saves. That song really gets the adrenalin pumpin'."

Amaro: "At least fifty saves. And (3B Pedro) Feliz will save about that many with his glove."

Gillick: "Feliz may be good for an out in 72% of his plate appearances, but nothing is more undervalued than strong defense these days."

Amaro: "Except, perhaps, the value of league-average innings. We'll get plenty of those from Benson, Blackley, Moyer, and Eaton."

Gillick: "With our lineup, league-average innings is all we need. The sequel to Moneyball is going to be all about us, Ruby."

Amaro: "The best chapter will be the one about when we told everyone we were happy with Dobbs and Helms at 3B. And then we shocked the world by signing Feliz!"

Gillick: "Now, all that's left to do is to trade Helms. I think we could get some Chocolate Juniors for him, if we eat some of his salary."

Amaro: "I could really go for some Chocolate Juniors about now. We'll have to have Clay stop at Wawa, so we can pick some up."

Gillick: "You're going to make a great GM, Ruby..."