Hamels having better Spring in '10 than '08

Here's three sentences. Hamels pitched yesterday. Hamels got hit around. Fans are concerned about Hamels. Those three sentences sum up what I found myself reading as I went on my computer and read some blogs and comments. Don't be so quick to put too much stock into Spring Training numbers, but if you want to, look at these:

Hamels Spring Training 2008

Innings: 21.1

Runs/Earned Runs: 16/15

ERA: 6.33

Hits: 24

Home Runs: 5

Batting Average Against: .276

Walks: 5

(Miles Kennedy Photo)



Hamels Spring Training 2010

Innings: 21

Runs/Earned Runs: 15/13

ERA: 5.57

Hits: 21

Home Runs: 3

Batting Average Against: .259

Walks: 6

Well there you have it. Cole has worked very hard over the off season and this Spring Training and if you want to take stock in the numbers, they prove it.

Spring Training Week in Review: 3/19/2010 - 3/25/2010

As quickly as Opening Day is approaching, it could go a little faster. As we grind out this final week to ten days we go about our usual business. Work, school work, failing school work, gaming, and following the Spring Training games. Luckily, there were alot of games on TV this past week. Unfortunately, two of those games were on ESPN and were two-three hours of terrible, biased, other words I won't say, announcing. Let's not forget the sheer amount of Yankees and Braves interviews. ESPN, if you're reading this, you should remember that you are broadcasting nationally and not locally.

Now that my mini-rant is over let's check up on how the Phillies faired this past week.

Ryan Howard- Ryan is probably the most locked in Phightin at the plate. He crushed two home runs this week, one to left and one to right, and is spraying balls all over the place. Hitting to left is become very consistent, next to his two homers and other hits  he also crushed a warning track out to deep left center against Atlanta. Bill Conlin wrote a great article and included that statistic how many hits the shift robbed Ryan of, the total was a whopping 51 hits. If Ryan can keep this up then the shift could be drastically reduced and allow him to hit get hits on many of the hard grounders or liners that Howard hit's to the right.

Raul Ibanez- Ibanez continues to search for his swing. Charlie Manuel is not worried however, he(Charlie) speaks of when Aaron Rowand struggled in Spring and went on to have a career year.

Starting Rotation- This was by far the rotations worst week. That however, can't be considered a bad thing. The rotation(Moyer and Kendrick included) combined for 35 innings and allowed 19 runs. While not the greatest numbers, it is certainly good to see the rotation deal with adversity and minimize the runs given up. Roy Halladay threw 7 innings of two run ball in a minor league game on the 25th.

Bullpen- Antonio Bastardo is likely to be the lefty out of the pen but continues to be inconsistent. Bastardo had several good outings but allowed 3 runs in 1 inning on the 25th. David Herndon continues to open eyes throwing another 4 scoreless innings. The pitchers who are definitely going to have a spot in the bullpen have combined for 10.2 innings allowing only 5 runs (3 earned). Brad Lidge threw 1 inning in a minor league game allowing 1 run as he continues to build arm strength. His fastball is said to be around 89 MPH. Lidge could possibly be ready for the Houston series.

Chad Durbin- Durbin is throwing a changeup this Spring and it has been filthy, he has collected 4 strikeouts in 4 innings.

Cole Hamels- Hamels had a not-so-great outing on the 22nd allowing 6 earned runs. Most of the damage was done in one inning but seemed like he kept his composure together and got his work in. Victorino did not play that day and Werth covered for him in center and misplayed a couple balls which Victorino probably could have gotten with less trouble.

Other Notes: Polanco and Rollins continue to swing the bat well hitting .390 and .314 respectively. Victorino's shoulder stiffness that he suffered from in the first week of Spring Training seems to be gone as he is pounding the ball hitting .314. The Phillies have also rallied for two walk-off wins, one against the Yankees and one against the Rays.

Grade of the Week- A for the Phillies. ESPN Announcers get an F-

Well that's it for this Spring Training Week in Review, stay tuned!

Howard Stepping Towards the Plate(literally); Former Phillies Watch

So a couple things to get to, first we'll look into how Ryan Howard has moved closer to the plate and it's working. I won't go into too much detail as there are already several articles on it on Phillies.com and other various sites but let's take a look at Howard's stance in the World Series and now in Spring Training.

Onto the former Phillies watch!

Matt Stairs- Stairs is competing for a bench spot on the San Diego Padres, so far he has played in 13 games this Spring hitting .227 with 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 2B, 2 Walks, and 5 strikeouts. Think Matt and Broxton ran into each other yet?

Pedro Feliz- Feliz was signed by the Houston Astros in the offseason and is having a red hot spring. Pedro has played in 12 games and is hitting .371 with 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 2B, 3 Walks, and 3 strikeouts. Feliz will see his former team rather early in the season when the Phillies visit Houston.

Eric Bruntlett- Bruntlett was signed on a minor league contract by the Washington Nationals in the offseason and is fairing well this Spring aside from his 12 strikeouts. In 17 games Bruntlett is hitting .267 with 4 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 4 SB, and 3 walks.

Clay Condrey- After battling injuries through the majority of the '09 season, Condrey has allowed 9 ER in 8 innings of work for the Minnesota Twins this Spring.

Brett Myers- Rejoining teammate Pedro Feliz in Houston, Brett has posted a 6.43 ERA with 3 wins in 14 innings this Spring.

Out of all the former Phillies, who are you rooting for(not if it's against the Phillies of course!) the most?

Ryan Howard Hitting to Left Field

I was reading fangraphs.com and found an interesting piece of information in an article by Dave Cameron. We all know Ryan Howard is at his best when he is hitting the ball to left, but did we really know how good he was?

Here's the excerpt:

"I can’t end without giving a nod to Ryan Howard, however. The big Phillies slugger is known for his opposite field moonshots, and the numbers bear this out. Here’s Howard’s breakdown.
To Left: .701 (!!!)
To Center: .480
To Right: .327
Ryan Howard’s slugging percentage on fly balls to left field is a staggering 1.138. That’s not his OPS – that’s his SLG. 71% of all of his balls in play to left field are fly balls, and 27 percent of those leave the yard. You may remember from yesterday that the league average HR/FB for a lefty to left field was 3%. Howard’s HR/FB to left is nine times the league average.

We don’t have the historical evidence to prove it, of course, but I’d wager that Ryan Howard may just be the greatest opposite field power hitter in the history of the game."

If Howard can consistently hit the ball to left and improve against breaking balls and lefties then the numbers could potentially be record breaking. Good news though, if you're like me and follow every Spring Training game you'd know that Ryan has done some of that over his past few games.

Spring Training Week in Review: 3/11/2010 - 3/18/2010

The second week of Spring Training has ended. All in all, there really isn't much to complain about. The pitching staff continues to shutdown opponents and most Phillies are swinging the bat very well. Keep reading as I go into more detail.

Placido Polanco- Polanco injured his knee while attempting to field a fly ball, the injury does not seem to be serious and Polanco is expected back in the Lineup as early as Friday.

Brad Lidge- Lidge threw one inning in a Double A game Thursday. He says he felt great health wise but obviously needs to build up arm strength. Lidge threw 16 pitches(most being fastballs), allowing three hits and one run. While it doesn't sound too hot, he is still building arm strength, is coming off multiple surgeries, and the majority of his 16 pitches were fastballs.com

Ryan Howard- The big piece hit his first homer of the Spring this week... well homer might be an understatement. Howard's first homer of the Spring was a two-run bomb that nearly went completely out of Bright House Field. It was to deep right of Tiger's ace Justin Verlander. Howard has also hit the ball to left multiple times while the shift was on. One example was a pitch by Andy Petitte, Howard fought a tough pitch off and hit it in between the hole at shortstop-second base for an RBI.

Raul Ibanez- Ibanez seems to be struggling with the timing of his swing and his average for the Spring is at a very low .143. However, with two weeks of Spring Training left it's not quite time to be too concerned yet.

Domonic Brown- Brown opened many eyes when the Phillies faced off against the Tiger's at Bright House Field. He worked a nine pitch at bat against Justin Verlander and then crushed a ball clear out of Bright House Field onto Route 19. Brown then was credited for another home run in which a fan interefered, he still would have been credited with an RBI as there was a runner on 2nd. Brown also showed off his speed when he got a bases loaded infield hit. Brown has been sent to minor league camp and will be getting more playing time.

Starting Rotation- The rotation continues to be excellent, unless you count Jamie Moyer. Moyer got hit around giving up 5 runs in 3 innings. Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, Joe Blanton, J.A Happ, and Kyle Kendrick continue to shut down the opposistion. The five starters have combined for 27 innings allowing only 3 runs(two off Blanton, one off Halladay, and one unearned run off Hamels) in Grape Fruit League games. Due to the day off on Thursday, J.A Happ pitched five innings of two run ball in a Triple-A game.

Antonio Bastardo, Sergio Escalona, and David Herndon- Bastardo seems to be pitching better than Sergio Escalona for the left specialist job. Bastardo did however give up 4 runs (3 earned) in one outing which could have been avoided if he properly fielded the back end of a double play. Sergio Escalona has pitched 2 innings allowing 4 hits, 3 runs and 3 walks. Herndon continues to pitch shutout ball throwing another 3 innings allowing only 1 hit and 1 walk. In my opinion, the job for the lefty specialist between Bastardo and Escalona could go either way, it just depends on who pitches better between now and the end of Spring Training. I'd also like to see Herndon pitch earlier(so he see's less minor leaguers) in a Spring game and possibly grab a bullpen spot if he continues to pitch well.

Bullpen- Not counting Brad Lidge or players attempting to make the team, the bullpen has pitched 10 scoreless innings. 3 innings by Durbin, 2 innings by Madson, 2 innings by Baez(also saved a game), and 3 innings by Contreras.

Other Notes- Jayson Werth is beginning to swing the bat well, his latest game included 2 hits and 3 RBI. Jimmy Rollins is picking up the pace collecting 3 hits and 3 runs in his last two games. Chase Utley has an upper respiratory infection but is not expected to be out for a long and could possibly be in the lineup in the coming days. The bench is handling the bat pretty well, Gregg Dobbs, Ross Gload, Brian Schneider, and Juan Castro are performing well offensively and defensively.

Grade of the Week: A Yet again, I give the Phillies an A for the second week of Spring Training.

Fans Visit Phillies Camp

Check out this video from Phillies.com as fans ask questions to Ruben Amaro Jr., Sarge, and more.

Phillies Fans Visit Camp

I enjoyed the part where Sarge and Larry Andersen discuss hats.

The Door has Opened for Kyle Kendrick

I'm pretty sure everyone knows this saying, one door closes and another door opens. Unfortunately, that door closing was Cliff Lee going to Seattle. As Phillies fans we've all witnessed it, players being traded for young talent to blossom. Chase Utley took over for Placido Polanco at second, and Ryan Howard took over for Jim Thome at first.

                                           (AP Photo)

However, Kyle only has his foot in the door. KK has pitched well over his 3 spring training games. He has compiled 9 innings pitched, two strikeouts, a hit batter, no walks, and no runs on four hits. The majority of hitters Kyle has faced have been retired via the groundball. Should Kyle not initially be the 5th starter at opening day, fear not, nothing is set in stone. Kyle could move into the rotation if Jamie Moyer fails to perform.

Don't write Jamie Moyer off just yet though. As Rich Dubee has said, it's Kyle's job to take. The veteran lefty Moyer has a career of success behind him. He has built up respect of the Phillies and their fans. Moyer has yet to pitch in a Grapefruit League game and has pitched six scoreless in "B" games. Moyer will pitch Monday in yet another "B" against the Blue Jays game and make his first Grapefruit League appearance of the season on Saturday against the Tigers.

Looking at the long-term picture should Kyle continue to have success, he could find himself as a fixture in the Phillies rotation for years to come. Oh and for crying out loud, don't play another prank on the kid!

What the hell is Buster Olney smoking?

Buster Olney is reporting that sources say there are talks of a straight up trade between the Cardinals and Phillies. Albert Pujols for Ryan Howard. I obviously don't believe this for one second. The uproar it would cause in both Philadelphia and St. Louis would be massive. Pujols, arguably the best posistion player in baseball is a beloved fan favorite in St Louis and Ryan Howard, also a massive fan favorite, is the best power hitter in baseball. Now there are already talks of how the Phillies will not be able to afford Jayson Werth, how the hell would they afford Albert Pujols? Ryan Howard is in the prime of his career and will be in Philadelphia for atleast two more years. Let's also take into consideration that Ryan Howard carried the Phillies through the play offs and one of the major reasons the team got back to the World Series.

Ruben Amaro has denied the rumor saying "Lies". "That's a lie. I don't know who you're talking to, but that's a lie."

Obviously I'm calling this complete bullshit but I said that about Rosenthal's "hunch" on a Cliff Lee trade. I'll hope I am right this time.

So I spoke about how I feel on the situation, what about you readers?

More that meets the eye with Joe Blanton?

No this isn't a fat joke! You people are jerks.

Joe Blanton is often referred to as an innings eater or a quality starter. But my question is, is there more that meets the eye with Joe Blanton? In June, July, and August Blanton transformed(I'm so funny aren't I?) into a dominant pitcher. Blanton pitched a combined 109 innings for a 3.41 ERA in that three month span. However, it wasn't like that the entire season, Blanton got off to a bad start and a not so great finish in September and October(not counting two respectable postseason starts).

So what do you think Joe Blanton did differently in June, July, and August? Do you think he can keep it up for a whole season? What do you think Joe Blantons ERA will be in 2010? Do you think he can win 15+ games? Comment and share your thoughts!





(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Happ the "Fluke"

Well if you're a Phillies fan, chances are you have heard how J.A Happ is being called a fluke who only pitched well because he was incredibly lucky. Let's have a look at J.A Happ's career stats.

James Anthony Happ, drafted in the 3rd round of the 2004 draft, has had a large amount of success in his career. Dating way back to the 2006 season Happ was in A+ and pitched well posting an ERA of 2.81. Happ was promoted to AA in 2006 and for his great performance of a 2.65 ERA Happ was quickly promoted to AAA. In Happ's first full year(Happ had pitched one AAA game in 2006) in AAA he recorded a 4-6 win loss record and an ERA over 5. J.A started one game for the big league team in 2007, he was hit around for 5 runs in 4 innings. He was sent back down to AAA. Happ's second season in AAA went much smoother recording an 8-7 record and a 3.6 ERA over 24 games(23 starts). J.A was called up in 2008 and even pitched an inning in the World Series. Happ's 2008 season was successful while pitching in 8 games(4 starts), racking up 1 win, 31.2 innings pitched, and an ERA of 3.69.

Now after looking at Happ's history you can't contribute 100% of his success to luck. After all, who doesn't need a little bit of luck? How good of a pitcher would Mariano Rivera be if all the broken bat bloopers he gets found a hole for a base hit? Or how about the broken bat home run off Cole Hamels last year? Luck factors into the game, good or bad, there's no way to control it. Now is Happ going to have an ERA under 3 again? Who knows. Is there anything wrong with a mid-high 3's or low 4's ERA? Absolutely not!

Ghosts of Spring's Past

So the first couple of things you may think of when you hear "Spring Training" is that "it doesn't matter" or "player never has good Spring Trainings". Let's take a look at who has those bad Spring Trainings and who is ridding their ghosts or is still being haunted.

Over the last few Spring Trainings some of the Phillies with bad Springs were Cole Hamels('08/'09), Chase Utley('08/'09), Jamie Moyer('08/'09), and Jimmy Rollins('08). So far the quartet has not seen too much of their ghosts.

Hamels has already improved greatly from his '09 Spring where he had allowed 8 runs in 7.2 innings. Hamels has accumulated a total of 5.2 innings pitched thus far and allowing only 2 runs, both via the solo shot.

The workaholic who never takes a day off Chase Utley has had two not so great Springs. In '08 and '09 Chase batted in the low .200's with only 12 and 9 hits respectively. So far in this Spring Chase already has close to a third of the hits he had in '08 and '09 combined. Chase is batting a whopping .545 with a 1.212 OPS.

How old is this guy? That's right, I'm talking about Jamie Moyer. In the Springs of '08 and '09 Moyer pitched a combined 43.1 innings pitched allowing 30 earned runs. Knock on wood, Moyer is recovering well from his surgery and is pitching well in "B" games throwing 6 scoreless innings.

Ah, Jimmy. Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy. Who doesn't love the J-roll? In '08, by far one of Jimmy's worst Springs in recent history, J-roll batted a low .181. While the speedster is off to a slow start here in 2010, he has reached safely atleast once in three of his last six games.

Surprisingly there aren't too many Phightins with bad Springs over the last few years, and any previous ghosts that may have been haunting the select few don't seem to be around. Maybe they're doing us a favor and bugging the Yankees?

Spring Training Week in Review: 3/4/2010 - 3/10/2010

It began on March 4th with the highly anticipated debut of Roy Halladay and ended yesterday with the impressive performance my Cole Hamels. It is the first week of Spring Training. What took forever to get here is finally over. The months upon months of waiting for our Phillies to take the field yet again.

Let's look at how the Phightins performed over the week and at some highlights and candidates to earn those final spots on the rorster.

-Roy Halladay: Halladay has already captivated Phillies fans everywhere with his ability to carve up hitters and pure dominance. Halladay has pitched 5 innings, struck out 8, walked none, and allowed 0 runs on 3 hits.

-Cole Hamels: So far Cole has impressed the media, team, and fans. While featuring his new Cutter and sharpened Curveball, Hamels has pitched 5.2 innings, allowed 2 runs on 3 hits(two of the hits being home runs by Bautista of the Blue Jays), walked 3, and struck out 5.

-Joe Blanton: Kentucky Joe Blanton had a rough start in his first outing of the spring but pitched well after changing his grip on his Sinker to retire 5 of the last 6 batters he faced. Blanton pitched 2 innings, allowed 3 runs on 5 hits(one home run), walked none and struck out two.

-J.A Happ: So far, so good for Happ. The NL rookie of the year runner up has pitched 2.1 innings, allowed no runs on 2 hits, walked 2, and struck out 2.

-Jamie Moyer and Kyle Kendrick: Who the 5th starter will be is yet to be determined. Moyer, Kendrick, and Drew Carpenter(I actually thought it was Andrew but the Phillies website says otherwise) have all made solid cases for the 5th spot. Carpenter can be considered the dark horse of the bunch but has pitched well. The trio has not allowed a run as of yet. Moyer however has only pitched in B games.

-Bullpen: Danys Baez has so far stood out the most. Madson and Contrerras have had some poor outings but it's still early so don't get too worried. Antonio Bastardo, possibly the favorite to win a job in the bullpen has pitched one scoreless inning while striking out two.

-Lineup and Bench: What's there to talk about? Stacked line up is stacked. The everyday players for the Phillies have begun swinging the bat well. The bench has performed equally as well as the lineup.

-Dressed to Impress: The highly praised Domonic Brown is showing off both the bat and arm while recording several hits, RBI's, and an impressive throw to nail a runner at the plate. Another outfielder that is certainly dressed to impress is John Mayberry Jr. Mayberry is batting .368 with 1 HR and 5 RBI's thus far. Rule-5 Draftee David Herndon has also impressed. Herndon has come in late in the game twice allowing no hits, no runs, and one walk. Jesus Sanchez has pitched one scoreless inning with two strikeouts. Tyson Gillies doesn't stop running hard and sprinted around the bases after hitting a home run.

-Grade for the Week: A While some of the young prospects have both struggled and shined, the majority of the regular Phillies have performed well.

What if...

So who doesn't love some good speculation? Relax, relax, I'm not going to say anything about Jayson Werth being a free agent after 2010... Oops, I won't say anything about Jayson Werth being a free agent again... Oh for crying out loud, let's get on with this.

Ok so here's how this will work, I am going to ask "What if...?" on several Phillies topics and you, as the reader can comment on the likeliness of it happening or just your thoughts on the subject. We'll start with the every day players.

1. Jimmy Rollins: What if Rollins plays the way he did in the second half of '09 or better for the entire '10 campaign?

2. Placido Polanco: What if Polanco turns out to be as good defensively as Feliz?

3. Chase Utley: What if Chase plays between 145 and 150 games? Will he even let Charlie rest him that much?

4. Ryan Howard: The big piece, the big bopper, that awesome guy that wears #6 and hits tons of homers and piles on the RBI's. What if he hits .300 or higher again? What kind of numbers could we see? Record breaking perhaps?

5. Jayson Werth: What if Werth becomes a free agent... Ok seriously, last time. What if Werth breaks the 40 home run mark? Do you think he is capable of it? Keep in mind he had 9 home runs in the postseason.

6. Raul Ibanez: What if Ibanez can play somewhere in between his first and second half forms?

7. Shane Victorino: What if batting lower in the order ultimately boosts the Flyin' Hawaiin's offensive numbers? Will he steal 50 bases? Have a good amount of RBI's?

8. Carlos Ruiz: What if Ruiz hits .300 in '10? Will our dear Chooch become more well known across the nation and be spoken about with the likes of the Molina's and Victor Martinez?

Post your comments, or even your own what if's.

Oh and yes, I do realize these are all positive "What if's". Do you really think I want to play Debbie Downer in my first post on the team?!

Making the blog pretty

I will be prettying up the Blog over time. Expect to see more Phillies pictures, logos, and colors.

Welcome to Never Phull Phor Phillies!

Hi there, thanks for visiting my blog, Never Phull Phor Phillies.Over the course of March and the regular season I'll be posting my insights, jokes, comments, and reviews of specific players or the team as a whole.

So here's a little bit about myself and extreme passion for the team we love and call the Philadelphia Phillies.

I'm 18 and live in Philadelphia. Growing up I never really followed baseball, let alone sports in general. My love for the team began when I received my Xbox 360 Magazine in the mail. The demo disc came with the demo for MLB2K9. Soon after I found myself playing the mere 3 innings against the Rays over, and over, and over, and over... Wait, where was I? Oh right, the demo. Soon it quickly evolved to watching the game and led into a passionate feeling I have for the team.

Like many Phillies fans I watched the game everyday. After watching the countless number of innings, pitches, at bats, and home runs it was finally October. I wasn't quite sure what to expect to be honest. Before I knew it the Phillies began their series against the Rockies in the 2009 NLDS and continued their dominance throughout the postseason. I don't think I can count how many cheers and emotions I let out that I couldn't contain at all, I had become a true fan.

I was pretty unsure what I wanted to do with my life, but the Phillies helped me with that. Cross proffesional baseball player for the Phillies off my list and the next best thing would be a sports journalist. I watch Daily News Live everyday, check the blogs, read articles from the likes of Todd Zolecki and David Murphy and could honestly see myself being a journalist.

Ok, so if you're still with me or even care about one word I typed above, I hope you continue to read this blog and comment on my articles which will be more focused on the team and not myself, but I am pretty awesome so you might beg me to write an autobiography.