Phillies Opening Day Recap: Phillies 11 - Nationals 1

The worst thing about Opening Day? Donovan Mcnabb stole a good part of the Phillies spotlight. The Phillies were ready to roll today as they did a little bit of everything and clobbered the Nationals. Halladay got off to a shaky start allowing an infield hit(followed by a stolen base) and a double by Ryan Zimmerman. Halladay however, never looked back. From that inning on Halladay was dominant and went 7 innings allowing 1 run and striking out 9. And the offense you ask? The offense did a little bit of everything but was started by Ryan Howard's 2-run smash off Josh Lannan to give the Phillies the lead. The Phillies manufactured runs, ran the bases aggressively, and were extremely patient drawing a whopping 9 walks. Polanco had the best game by far going 3-5 with 6 RBI including a Grand Slam.

The Phillies retake the field on Wednesday against the Nationals for Game 2 of the 3 game series as Cole Hamels is scheduled to take the mound for the Phillies.

Spring Training Week in Review: 3/26/2010 - 4/3/2010

Spring Training is finally over, what more is there to say? Aside from some minor setbacks with injuries to the rotation(Blanton) and the bullpe(Lidge, Romero) the Phillies are ready to go. So are the fans, around 85,000 fans combined went to the ballpark for the on-deck series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. While it's not quite April 5th just yet, here are some things you can think about to pass some time.

Who hits the first single? Double? Triple? Home Run?

Who scores the first run?

Who receives the first decision(W/L)?

Who steals the first base?

Who makes the first out(offense and defense)?

Who starts the first Double Play?

Who pitches the first complete game? First shutout?

Who gets the first call out of the bullpen?

Who gets the first pinch hit?

Who gets the first RBI?

Until the Phillies answer these themselves, you can post your thoughts in the comments.

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.