The Citizens Report

Old Conlin Stuff

2004-08-10T01:25:00.000-04:00

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/columnists/bill_conlin/9299702.htm?ERIGHTS=2938516636113202703philly::briankovacs@yahoo.com&KRD_RM=0njgihgmmkngggggggggnogpkgBrianY

And just a couple of month's ago Conlin was telling everyone to stop clamoring to fire Bowa wasn't he? And now he's finally on board.

The only negative to this piece, I scanned it quickly, was him using Scott Kazmir as an example for moving top prospects. Just look at the Mets now, pretty much out of the race and out of thier top pitching prospect.

Without going into it, I think you can always count on the Mets to make a huge blunder a year in the personell area. And I love it.

Lidle and Collier

2004-08-10T00:58:00.000-04:00

Getting Lidle probably is an improvement over Abbott in the five spot, but he has let up alot of HR's (24) and now he enters the Cit which tends to see them leave at a higher rate. They gave up Movan who I kinda like, hits decent and is fast, but the guy doesn't take alot of walks and with a decent core of young outfielders he is expendable. Wilson has been a mixed bag, and the PTBNL probably will be a nothing. So it was a "fair" trade on my aspect of things.

Collier is up and apparently the new LF for the time being. And he has done well his last two starts, and since he is versatile and can play 3B as well he probably will be around for the remainder of the season. Collier has played a good amount of ball in the bigs, and it isn't so hot: .239/.314/.338 in 600 AB's prior to his current stint. He was doing pretty damn good in Scranton, so maybe he finally found his stroke. Or maybe he just a AAA lifer, we will find out.

Removing two months from this year and he compares with Burrell pretty favorably, although Burrell still has an edge on him. Collier is the better player per price at this point, and that point is pretty mute, but still LF is going to be an issue for a few years I think. Hopefully, Collier can have a solid two months.

Todd Jones finally faultered tonight, although I don't think F-Rod was really available although he's had two days off and Worrell has been getting alot of work lately. So if F-Rod wasn't available all that was left really was Roberto Horrendous, and although you have to live with him before getting to Geary, I'd take my chances with Jones and it didn't work out. Hopefully, Jones, like Collier, can piece together two months of ball. This is where we miss Madson alot.

Altough it was only Lidle, I am glad to see Wade hasn't just shut down since the passing of trade deadline. If he can become aggresive, and land a LF it would be nice. Hopefully send Polanco somwhere, but I have no idea who is available at all.

Apology

2004-08-09T02:35:00.000-04:00

Ive been off for awhile, with good reason. It happens. I'll be back tomorrow with my usual uplifiting commentary.

This is all I have to say for now: If your play the way you've been playing, and you don't make the playoffs....then the Braves and the (Cubs) need to be congratulated

The Phils are playing on a personal level better than they have in a long time....and detractors?

I will defend this injury shortened team to the death.

Synopsis

2004-08-06T12:44:00.000-04:00

Sorry about the week off, just alot of unexpected busy work to do came my way. Anyhow...

Sweeping the Padres wasn't only good, it was an almost must. The Braves continue on thier tear, and the Cubs are still 4 games up on the Wild Card. Ya know, if there is one thing this team could learn from Bowa, it's his sense of desperation and all-or-nothing attitude that he used to play with, they'll need it to finish out the stretch run.

If Kevin Millwood goes down, what next? Are there any answers to that question? Would Gavin Floyd come up, and at this point I think it would be alot to ask for Floyd. Pitching for Abbott is one thing, filling in for Millwood is another. Although there is hope, Padilla made another rehab start, and it was larely a bag of mixed results..5 K's, 4 BB's, and a grand slam.

Last night's game was just a good good good game to watch. Alot of gutsy play from both sides. Glanville had a good game, Burrough's had a great running play in advancing to third, Byrd recovered after badly misplaying a bad fly, and Powell worked hard through three innings in which runners were on base in each.

Todd Jones and F-Rod have gotten the job, simple as that. Although Jones should be an expected collapse, if Bowa continues to use him every night, these two have come in an given the bullpen good solid arms in which they needed so desperately. With Burrell down, and no Ledee, I'm sure alot of people have been saying "I told you so", but it wouldn't make much difference. He would have moved to left and Michaels or Glanville would have taken CF. So far, the trade has worked out for us. Especially since Ricky is 0 for 9 in SF.

LA will be tough, but if we can take two into Colorado the Phils will be looking pretty good.

Gavin Floyd learned the difference between AA and AAA last night, by having probably one of his worst outings since joining the minors.

2004-08-04T22:43:00.000-04:00

will be on Friday morning or tomorrow night and Friday. Been unusually busy. Hope we can all enjoy this Padres series, hopefully we can start riding some kind of winning streak, for fan confidence sake.

Trading Places

2004-07-31T03:14:00.000-04:00

The Phillies made two moves, well trades tonight, and I will say that I am "pleased". First Ledee and Simon for Felix Rodriguez. Ok let's try and digest this.

This move obviously bolsters the bullpen, no doubt about it, because any reliable are would have done so. Ledee had been a very valuable bat off the bench the last couple of years, and had recently been placed in center. His numbers overall are .271/.386/.492, pretty damn good for being mostly a part timer. His numbers are the result of filling in for Burrell .333/.371/.636 more so than playing center .189/.362/.243, at aproximately equal at-bats. And his role has been playing center, and he hasn't been able to hold up to the task obviously offensively, nor being a defensive assest.

I don't think anyone foresaw Ledee being moved, so in regards to his performance since taking over at center and some creativity by Wade, I like the idea of moving Ledee. Simon has been on a tear as of late, and has good prephial numbers, he really is the key to this deal. I don't see Ledee providing much for the Giants, so Simon really was the kicker.

In all fairness, Byrd (who was called up) has been playing really well the last week. He can at least duplicate what Ledee was hitting, and provides a slightly better defensive edge.

Felix Rodriguez's numbers are inflated by Pac Bell, but then again he will be pitching in hitter friendly CBP, so I don't see much of a change in his numbers coming to the team. On a quick check, forgive me it's real late, I couldn't find his grounball/flyball ratio, but he has let up some home runs. His big disadvantage is his salary, but I don't care about that for this season, but he's locked into next year for $3 mil and some change. His market would probably be around the $2 mil mark, so we aren't exactly picking up an overpriced player here.

My verdict on this one is that it is good for the Phils. Simon is a few years away, and probably will be a reliever, or at least figured to be in the Phils scheme of things with Hamels and Floyd coming up. The future can only tell there really. Ledee isn't an answer in center, and neither is Byrd really, so moving him for relief actually makes sense. It does leave a big hold on the bench for a lefty. The Phils needed Rodriguez more than they needed Ledee at this point, so it works out, if marginally

The other move, concerning Todd Jones really rounds out a hurting bullpen. His K/BB ratio has alot to be desired, but he has managed nonetheless. Jones is pretty cheap, and done after his year. A pretty sturdy pick-up in that regard. IF we get Wagner and Madson back, this signifies the end for Hernandez in Philly if niether of these two collapse.

Hancock was sent over for him and he was regarded as a decent prospect, but his numbers really haven't been good at all in the minors and add that to the shalacking he received up in the majors and you can bet alot of confidence has been lost in him. Then there is Machado, who was widely regarded as Rollins' heir apparent, but he hasn't improved his defense or his hitting this year. Couple that with a born-again Rollins and he was deemed expendable. I like this move honestly, I don't see Machado or Hancock really amounting to anything in the majors, and Jones helps now.

So far, I'll credit Wade with really attacking a need on the team and filling it nicely. The pen is now Worrell, Cormier, Rodriguez, Jones, Telemaco, Hernandez, and Powell (hoepfully enough of Geary). This is a drastic improvement over what he had just tonight. Hernandez and Powell are bumped out with Madson and Wagner, and if Wagner can't come back it's still a solid pen with Hernandez being the last man.

So far he traded a center fielder who wasn't hacking it and replaced him with the hack he replaced. So we are down to two areas of concern, center and a possible fifth starter. Polanco for Lofton is probably going to happen at the last minute, if the Johnson deal falls through. If so, then we have Lofton in center, and maybe the release of Glanville. I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but Ricardo Rincon is probably well out of the picture at this point.

Floyd was moved up to Scranton, and it's very possible it might be a short stay. If has a good start, he just may be moved up to replace Abbott.

If we acuire Lofton via Polanco (and I think this is a mortal lock if the Johnson deal doesn't happen), and Floyd is called up within a week or so, I will issue the omnious words of "Mission Accomplished". Floyd is the question mark of course, is it a strategic move or just filling in the roster at Scranton? We'll soon find out. Wade may actually get a thumbs up from me if we land Lofton...we have 12 hours to find out.

There is a drawback to everything, the Phils would have 4 lefties in the lineup, and it would be impossible to break them up. But improvement should be held above all else at this point.

Fun fact: Todd Jones, other than being a loudmouth at times, is a switch hitter. A pretty bad one, but a switch hitter nonetheless.

Pick your head up

2004-07-30T00:18:00.000-04:00

Ok, yesterday I said my words on Bowa and Wade, and now I'm done with it. It's time to move on, too much of this blog, as well as others have focused too much on Bowa. The issue is really out of our hands, and by now we have all made our positions on the issue, extremely clear. Any further bickering about those two on this site for the time being is, in my opinoin, wasted space.

We got trashed by the Marlins, again. And all I have to say is..Oh well. Really, the Marlins will not make or break this team, in fact we only play them seven more times this year. It's the rest of the schedule that should be the center of our focus. And we can do it. So what if we never beat the Marlins again, those seven games should not be the difference. I know that's pretty bold to say, but it's a fact. We have, if my math is right, and it hardly ever is, 60 games remaining.

This is the reality of our situation:

Only Montreal and Pittsburgh are the only laughers left on the schedule, whoops let's throw in Colorado too. So the schedule is tough, but thus the cards are dealt. We can only help ourselves out the rest of the way, almost everyone is in the running for a playoff spot, every win not only improves us, but slows down another contender. If the Phils pull through in the next two months, I would have to say they would be second to St. Louis coming into the playoffs.

At our disposal we have a leadoff hitter who has been playing above anything he has ever done in the last two months. We have two starting second baseman, one who can hit for power and the other who virtually puts the ball in play everytime. Our leftfielder is an on-base machine, with excellent power and speed numbers. First base? Do we even need to go there. At third base we have David Bell, who has been playing as he always had when he isn't racked by injuries. Our catcher, is still being plagued in the stat column by a horrendous first month, right now he is of no offensive concern. In center we have Ledee and Michaels, they aren't what you want in a CF, but serviceable nonetheless, and an improvement over the first couple of months. LF contains an enigma, you don't know what your going to get night in or night out. A hot streak can send him in the right direction however, and he still carries alot of power in that bat of his.

Our starting rotation is Millwood, Wolf, Myers, Milton, and Abbott. They are who they are, and what they have been doing is pitching better since the All-Star break. We have four guys who can be considered number 2's on almost every team, Abbott is bad, but he's not the solution just a patch until/if Padilla comes back. I know we want a better option than Abbott, but he's a number 5, he's not supposed to be that good anyway.

The bullpen is in trouble, admittadely. But Cormier and Worrell do more than to hold thier own on most occasions, and as we saw last year, Cormier can take on an almost insurmountable amount of usage if called upon. Telemaco is back, which helps out by knocking Hernandez back towards his role of low cost situations. But as much as I have spoken out about Roberto, he isn't the biggest issue right now. Getting Madson and Wagner back healthy are. Put those guys altoghter, and it's a very solid pen, with or without Hernandez. And Wade will get a reliever, as he always does, so there will be some help on the way.

This can be a playoff team, there's no doubt about it. I expect them to play hard the next two months, there shouldn't be the raising of the white flag the entire way.

If everything plays itself out, and we are at the very cusp of the playoffs come that final series against the Marlins, we'll pull it out. I guarantee it.

Go Phils

On Bowa

2004-07-29T01:35:00.000-04:00

Did somebody let the cat out of the bag that Bowa isn't a good manager? My God, the Bowa bashing is at an all-time high. And I don't know if it is all justified.

First, let me begin that I don't want Bowa as the manager, never have, never will. I don't like his brash style nor his in-game tatics, or the threat of small ball hanging over my head every Spring Training. Lucky for us, it seems Bowa has largely avoided the small ball.

The fever pitched anti-Bowa should, and has by the blog community, have always been this high for his mismanagement and the way he degrades his players with off the cuff comments, like his bullpen being a AAA bullpen. Which, by the way it is, but you don't say it because these guys are as much ballplayers as the next, and it is publicly embarrassing them in their career choice.

So far I established that I have nothing wrong with the Bowa bashing, and although I don't put it on this site, my feeling is that is has always been understood.

But why now? Why has the anti-Bowa finally reached the casual Philadelphia sports fan? They usually have sided with him on his style, completely on the basis that Philly is blue collar (as is Bowa's style), he played for a Philly championship team (far and few between), and that he attacks players (rolen) who seem to primadonna in this blue collar area.

What Bowa is being criticised for now, may be a little out of his league however. I concur with the bullpen comment, but not the "embarassing" comment. Everything going on with the Phils is embarrassing as of now. And I think that comment has been taken out of context, and here's why. They are playing the Marlins, and they have been the largest source of frustration for this team for two years, it is an emotionally charged issue. As well as the fact that it once again is in the midst of a multi team race for a playoff position. It's has to be frustrating that they can't turn the corner, personally I think it's all in their heads that they can't get one over on the Marlins.

But I don't know if the "embarrassing" has just to do with the players. He has been hinting at a lot of disconcernment with upper management, which has failed to land any of the players who would actually help this team. His "AAA" bullpen is receiving no outside help, for instance, and he has been forced to use Hernandez as much as he has. Hernandez, really is the number four guy in pen. Telemaco was doing ok, then he got hurt. Geary, Powell, Hancock, Ramierez, and Crowell are the only other pen guys used this year. Geary and Hancock have been horrible in their small showings, Ramirez is probably a little over his head at his inexperience, Powell had bad starts (which in this organization makes him hard to seperate as a decent reliever), and Crowell has only 3 IP. None of these guys are clear cut choices above what Hernandez is, or isn't doing, out there (although I did favor Powell, he was awful the other night). This is just an example of what he is being yelled at for, but he really has his hands tied behind his back on this one.

His starting pitching, which has made a post All-Star break recovery, has largely been underachieving except for the lone Wolf, who had been mostly injured. Paul Abbott, isn't Bowa's fault. Doug Glanville, for that matter can't be his either, I doubt he has much influence on who Wade decideds to keep or not. And I actually see a point to not having Byrd on the team and in AAA, he is young and has a chance to turn himself around. Being a backup probably wouldn't help in that area. But I don't see a point to having Glanville as the backup, there has to be more viable options out there.

The offense can't pull it together all at one time, Burrell was hitting when no one else was, now Rollins and Lieberthal are, Thome has cooled off, and while Abreu is being Abreu his power has fallen off the last couple of weeks.

All these issues, ARE compounded by Bowa however, and always have been. He can't decide when to pull the trigger on Polanco, or if he should. He didn't know how to use Wooten, albiet Wooten ended up being a big non-factor. He didn't know when to use Madson for a long time, and he probably gave up on him too soon in the starter role. That decision is a tricky one though, he probably knows Madson is alot better than his one start, but that moves Hernandez into a more prominent bullpen role.

He also doesn't know when to pull the trigger on slumping players (Byrd) or he sits those who aren't (Lieberthal, was it retribution for slumping two months earlier?).

Bowa is a bad manager, and always has been. But the reason who hear for his head now, is not because of him, but beause of Wade. Bowa with a full-strength team is bad, with a team that has more questions marks popping up than Jeopardy he is disastorous. But you won't see Wade running to his defense any time soon, he's shitting the bed too. And as we all know the first one to get axed is the little guy, so if he can hold off on firing Bowa, it saves him.

So do I think Bowa should be fired right now? And I guess there's a couple of things to consider when deciding that, because the answer seems too easy...yes.

The most important thing is: Will the team do better? I don't know if replacing Bowa with the situation at hand would change things all that drastically. The bullpen is pretty much wrecked, CF has to be resoved still (Ledee: .205/ .367/. 333 in his first full month), and I doubt Burrell will just start hitting again. Of course, the moved worked for Florida last year, 2B probably would be resolved, and maybe a burden would be lifted off the players (although I'm sure they take Bowa with a grain of salt by now). At least, theoretically, in game moves would be more consistently made with some type of reason. Unless, of course it's Trader Jack who moves are often more stiffling than Bowa's but always seem to work out. So marginally the team probably would become better.

Who will replace him? If it's another in house Phillie, I think I will shoot myself. So I would lean towards Charlie Manuel on this one for the best. Charlie isn't anything great, but what he does have going for him is that he isn't Bowa. And I don't know enough about him to say "I want Manuel", I just know I can say "I don't want Milt or Kerrigan".

So indeed firing Bowa now, or ever, would make sense. But that won't be enough, upper management needs to make a move. So much so, that they may have to give up more in a trade for what they will get. I'm obsessed with prospects, but what good do they do for this year? If team X wants Howard and three marginal guys for a player who WILL help the team, and the guy is worth Howard and one marginal...then send the other two. I don't like it, but we are in trouble. Of course, they're isn't anyone out there worth that, unless you pull a rabbit out of the hat, it's just a player worth example.

Another move would to send Floyd to the club, something management probably won't do. Even if he is only in the pen, he is worth something...although he needs to replace Abbott. Floyd, in any form, would help this club now. I am going on record, against my best wishes, to saying that the club needs Gavin Floyd to be called up, now.

This is longer than expected, but this sums it up: Bowa shouldn't be here, but the fact that he is getting the criticism now is mostly Wade's fault. You should replace him with a quality guy, but he will need help to do anything with what he has now.

Something pleasant...

2004-07-28T01:36:00.000-04:00

...for once. Telemaco looks like he'll be back in the pen within the week, and we really need him. He's not one of our frontline guys, but he will be upon his return.

I have noticed that Telemaco has been on the bench in Philly ever since he has been hurt, sitting on the front bench for the better part of two weeks now. I appreciate that, how often do you see other injured players in uniform at all the games? I haven't noticed any others. For that alone I like him, as I like Glanville on a personal level like that. Doug's a great guy, it's just that his time and role in baseball has come to a close.

The Have Not's

2004-07-28T01:03:00.000-04:00

Everything and anything that the Phillies were hoping to pull off the market has inexplicably failed. Here's the word from various sources, as I see it.

Finley is a done deal, he ain't coming. Dude waits until four days before the trade deadline to notify the D'backs he won't waive his no-trade clause to come to a team on the East Coast. wtf?

And then Beltran really isn't back on the market, but he is, and who knows what the Astros are thinking anymore. Kenny Lofton is apparently being used as bait to lure Randy Johnson who has apparently issued a Yankee ultimatium.

Both Kris Benson or Randy Johnson aren't coming to Philly.

Remember that dude Ron Villone? Not on the market, and we missed out on Terry Adams.

Anything at this point so we can say, "there's something". But I am now worried about what that something will be. How bout Ed Wade just quit at the trade deadline? Wade's magical season is falling apart, cut your losses buddy.

Ya know what, he has to come up with something or it's devestating. We had a problem in CF for awhile, it hasn't been addressed. SP has been weak and rattled more with the Padilla being out until August, I hardly think that Paul Abbott has been the answer. You know he wants a reliever, but now he probably won't land anyone of value now, please God no Joe Table. These are three problem area's the team has had for over a month, and we are three days away from the end of the trade deadline...nothing. All the while the team has been meandering around .500 since the All-Star break.

The Red Sox are making moves, albiet small moves, that are least if not improving their team, trying to fill some holes. I'm really just getting tired of this, year in and year out. Our CF hope really are resting upon Lofton and Beltran it seems right now, and Wade is running out of time.

A different view on Finley

2004-07-27T01:03:00.000-04:00

Every now and then I check out our opponents blogs to see if they are laughing as hard at us as much as I suspect some teams do. So I looked up the only viable Marlins blog, The Book of Mike. The blog itself really covers more than just the Marlins, but it covers the Marlins nonetheless.

Maybe I missed it, but are the Marlins really looking to get Finley? Do they need Finley, if only to knock Conine out of the OF? Finley says he wants to stay in CF, but that's besides the point, or is it. If Finley were to go to the Marlins, then we wouldn't have to face Conine anymore, and at this point I would rather face Finley any day of the week. Anyhow, the general consensus is that Phils fans are drooling to get ahold of Finley, whereas Mike is quite concerned over it, if for nothing else than Steve's crotch grabbing:

If the Marlins trade for Diamondbacks’ centerfielder Steve Finley, I may be forced to stop going to Marlins games. If he returns in 2005, I may not renew my seats. Since my tickets are out in right-centerfield, I’ll have a nearly unobstructed (and completely unavoidable) view of Finley’s incessant crotch scratching. Hopefully Mr. Loria will include some sort of a provision in any deal involving Finley that will contractually prevent him from rubbing himself throughout the game. Also, I apologize if you have not noticed this disturbing habit of Mr. Finley’s. I too was not aware of it until this season, when it was pointed out to me. Since then, I have been unable to watch Finley – and even Diamondbacks games in general without becoming acutely aware of the issue. It’s kind of like when you come up to a car accident on the other side of the road when you’ve been waiting in traffic for an hour. You don’t want to look – you just want to get moving and get on with your life and wish the poor injured people well, but you can’t help it, you go slow and you look. Please Mr. Finley, don’t give us anything to look at anymore. Think of the children!

There was a fly in my drinking glass

2004-07-27T00:40:00.000-04:00

..and I drank him. I assume it was a fly, his buddy is still swimming around. Look before you drink my fellow bloggers.

Conine last three years: .289/.346/.450

Conine last three years vs. Phils: .364/ .407/ .727

Well if Marlon Byrd and a few other minor leaguers (of low value) have to go in order for Steve Finley to patrol the OF, then don't let the door hit ya in the ass Marlon. For some reason I just became concerned with the welfare of Micheal Bourn, he better not be involved in any deal or I will say one negative thing about Wade everyday until he is given the boot. Sorta like how Conan O'Brien used to squeeze a "Christina Aguilara is a whore" joke into every monologue for awhile. good stuff

Oh yeah, Terry Adams was traded to the Sox on Saturday. While he is giving up a good number of walks he is a solid arm out of the pen, unlike our potentially three headed monster of Hernandez, Geary, and Powell (who i added to this list tonight). Here's some food for thought: Wagner cost us Duckworth and $9 million, Foulke cost $6 mil and Adams $1.7 mil. I love love love love that the Phils have reached deep into thier wallets, they just have to work on where they spend it. I bring those names up b/c Foulke and Adams were both FA, and we went and got Wagner instead. Nothing against Wagner.

This is worse than swallowing a fly: If something happens to Worrell or Cormier in the next couple of days....Roberto Hernandez will be all over that mound. And I guess he would have to be, Geary anyone? It shouldn't get that bad, Wade more than likely will bring in another arm before the deadline. Say he doesn't though, and the Doomsday scenario comes true: Cormier goes down and Wagner goes to the DL. Do they bring up Floyd? Can they afford not to take that risk.

All my slary info comes from Dugout Dollars, a truly indespensible site.

Ed Wade on the Trading Block

2004-07-26T01:33:00.000-04:00

I went to Retrosheet looking up all the trades that Wade has made since being implanted as GM for the Phillies. Actually, more of that will be coming, I plan on posting them all here, year-by-year with Win Share scores of the trades. So far, and I'm early on, surprisingly he is eeking out "wins" in the trade only if marginally...of course I haven't gotten to Schilling/Rolen yet.

Anyway, before I got sidetracked, everyone speaks of Abreu being the core of Wade's acquistion legacy. That meaning that Abreu really is the only trade that Wade has ever made that truly mean alot to this team. But I was surprised to find this out....

December 9, 1997 Ed Wade was named interim General Manager, and Lee Thomas was subsequently fired.

That's all good and plenty, but Abreu was traded to the Phillies almost a full month before Ed Wade took over, on November 18, 1997. So Abreu isn't under Wade's watch, it was the last transaction made by Lee Thomas.

So a quick glance, without WS, shows that Padilla and, get this, Glanville are the two best players he's landed. Not very confidence inspiring for the following week is it? Who know's, I have faith that Finley will be patrolling CF, and I think it's a mortal lock that we will have another arm in the bullpen. 6 more days, I am excited at the potential moves ahead.

Milton Milton Milton

2004-07-26T01:04:00.000-04:00

What a game! Eric Milton walks the first batter, and my comment was this: Oh geez, here we go.... And away we went indeed, thru 8 innings of hitless ball. It goes without saying that Milton pitched a tremendous game tonight, and I was surprised to find out he had already thrown a no-hitter already in his career. When he's on he's on. When the 8th began, and Glanville was in the game I was relieved because Ledee has had a bad week in the field. Obviously, at this point, Bowa went for the no-hitter, but I was left wondering why he didn't put Michaels in left, it's not like they were needing a strong arm at that point just someone to run a ball down. Like the movie "Signs", there's a reason for everything.

Glanville, like he needed any more blogger venom, misread the play, then stumbled in his attempt to run up to it. But he was moving with a quickness once he was on the run, it dropped..and I think I speak for everyone when I say I was devestated. And then on the ball to the warning track it seems as if he lost his place, and ended up short arming it. Glanville covered alot of ground on that play, and Burrell may have (I'd have to look at it again a few more times) been able to make it.

Now putting Glanville in CF was a no-brainer, and he screwed up. I wouldn't expect Glanville to make the same misread that Ledee did earlier in the week, has anyone else noticed opposing OF's make the same mistake? Maybe it's hard to read the ball off the bat in center, or maybe they are just used to every ball leaving the park who knows. But it certainly was classic when Glanville was booed for his foul bunt. But he got it down regardless, the next pitch.

Burrell had a good game, and came up big with his hit in bottom of the ninth. I spent alot of the game thinking that he really needs to learn how to clear his head, I mean something in his head just clicks over that makes him so screwy at the plate. Maybe he needs a psychologist or something, I dunno. But he was more than excited after that hit, and so was I, I didn't need to sit through an extra inning game that was once a no-hitter in the 9th.

Madson probably got the easiest win of his short career I figure, regardless the guy is simply money.

For a team that is in the pennant race, the Phillies are really on the verge of alot of transition. They need pitching help, all around, although if Millwood and Milton keep pitching well, and Wolf comes around again, starting pitching doesn't become that big of a concern as it has been. So they need bullpen help, you can't hide Hernandez and Geary all year, especially when Powell is apparently not an option. It reminds me of last year when it was Cormier, Cormier, Cormier all the time. 'Cept this year it's Madson (use him more liberally, he's got a starters arm he probably can be utilized alot more than he is), Cormier, and Worrell (Wagner withstanding).

Also, the team is looking for a CF through a trade. As well as increasingly playing Utley to the point that maybe, just maybe, he will take over for Polanco. Also, Burrell had a good game tonight, but he needs to come with his head on straight more often or there could be a possible change there.

Glanville

2004-07-25T16:42:00.000-04:00

blew it

Today

2004-07-25T11:27:00.000-04:00

Hopefully I'll get to see Prior live, if his arm doesn't fall off warming up. Tonight I'll start re-working the site and stuff, and try to put it back together again.

BTW how about Ledee in CF yesterday? He has been making awful reads on the ball as of late and making himself look very foolish. Lucky for us, he gets to bat

Irreconciable Differences

2004-07-24T14:42:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone got to see the screwed up version of my blog. I couldn't figure out what caused it, thus the different format. It came down to me erasing my lost post concerning Bill Conlin. Odd isn't, that he can even screw up blogs. I'll start revamping the site shortly, posts will resume tomorrow. Paul Abbott pitches again in thirty mins, I don't know about you, but I think he is the best to watch...I repeat....watch.

WTF?!?

2004-07-23T14:13:00.000-04:00

your guess is as good as mine

IF/LD% and Milton

2004-07-23T13:07:00.000-04:00

This was posted about a month ago on Hardball Times by Studes, and the short of it is that he checks out which pitchers are inducing the most Infield Flys (IF) in the league. One of the most prevelant IF inducing pitchers is of course Milton. But go about 3/4 of the way down the article, or just choose to read it, and look at his Line Drive (LD) rate, his IF rate, and his G/F rate as well. Actually, look at all the ratios give there, such a mixed bag.

Finally

2004-07-22T00:22:00.000-04:00

we beat the Marlins. It wasn't so hard was it, all it required was another great outing by Millwood and Mr. Ledee being a two run difference.

First the homerun catch, then the homerun. In between an awful awful awful fielding mistake, which lends credence to my proposal not to send him into CF for the proposed shorterm. But he is hitting well, which makes not such a bad left fielder....let's be honest with ourselves, it's time to win, and watching Burrell flounder another season away isn't the way to do it.

Ledee, Michaels (Finley or Beltran please), and Abreu...is my perferred starting OF. Of course Bell would bat fifth and Ledee sixth to break up the left handed triple monster.

And my God, kudos to you Mr. Bowa!!! He used Doug Glanville in the situation he was born to have, PH for the pitcher and playing CF in the ninth...added bonus of sending Michaels to left. I think he may just be catching on.

Benson Update

2004-07-21T16:44:00.000-04:00

Apparently the market for Howard isn't so high, the Pirates rejected an offer to trade Kris Benson for Ryan Howard. Don't the Bucs know that Bill Conlin thinks that he should be starting for the Phillies right now? Geez.

Anyways, they want Chase instead, and I say give it to them. Benson would become the second best pitcher on the Phillies, and if Padilla comes back to good form in a month or so, we can always kick back Myers into the pen or into the minors, perferably he can work out of the pen.

Ron Villone? Who the hell...wait a second...well after having to realize he's not starting again I don't think it's a bad idea. First, he better come cheap, second he is a vast improvment over...hmmm, Geoff Geary. I mean, Geary has actually been worse than Roberto Hernandez at this point, so the old flame thrower gets a stay of execution once again. Is there anyone else luckier than Hernandez at dodging a cut? Villone seems to be, by all accounts and purposes a solid-yet-shaky (the official Wade mold) reliever, and a horrendous starter. Hopefully Ed takes another look around the league before picking up Ron.

Link Update

2004-07-21T16:27:00.000-04:00

Berks Phillies Blog has been linked up, way past due. For the past week or two I have been posting on there and have failed to link them on my own site. My apologies.

The Set Up Kid

2004-07-21T15:21:00.000-04:00

Pat "The Bat" is back, so we thought. But really, red flags have to be shooting up all over now, in the last 9 months of play, only in two of them has he hit higher than .240 at the plate. His April and May are holding up everything he has done so far this season, 15 HR's...ten of them in those two months, 60 RBI's...40 of 'em in April and May. We were all worred about Pat in the beginning of the season, now we should start again. He's 27, and we have him signed until 2008 when he will be making $14 million, there's should be some cause for concern.

Pat Burrell

April .289/ .379/ .421

May .333/ .455/ .667

June .220/ .327/.390

July .197/ .329/.288

Bleak Futures

2004-07-21T03:18:00.000-04:00

I'll post this before I hit the sack, and come back tomorrow

This is about Marlon Byrd, Shawn Wooten, Michel Hernandez, Gavin Floyd, Andy Machado, and Ryan Howard; and this isn't going to have any positive spin (well the last sentence will be positive).

Any hopes that Marlon would be re-born CF in the minors before the trade deadline are quickly being dashed as he has floundered since returning to Scranton, .254/.306/.325. I'll be honest with you, I think Marlon will be around Spring Training (at least) next year, but I don't believe he will have any value in the Bigs anymore. If Ed Wade was hoping that Byrd would find his groove, he can stop right now, the Phils need help in CF. I only say help, because I have yet to give up on Michaels..after seeing Ledee's defense, I have completely given up on him.

Another Phillie this year, Shawn Wooten, was signed to allow a steady bat and unprecedented flexibility in the lineup. Two things happened: Shawn Wooten has been anything but steady at the plate in the majors (.185/.245/.245) and now has carried that to the minors (.211/.310/..276), secondly he provided no flexibility and that has three reasons: Bowa didn't know how to use him, Pratt isn't producing like last year so there's no need to PH him, and Wooten has been so bad so need to PH him either. In the beginning of the year he had a great opportunity to have a big role with the early struglles of Bell and Lieberthal, consider that an opportunity missed.

I thought the signing of Michel Hernandez had a potential upside to it, well so far it hasn't. He just was activated off the DL, and he has (to me) been dissapointing .215/.283/.319.

Gavin Floyd, as anyone has read this blog for awhile knows, has always struck a cord with me. He is one of two prized untouchable prospects (the very injured Cole Hamels being the other) that the Phils regard as unmoveable. He is by far, Hamels withstanding injury, the best pitching prospect in the organization, but I feel he has some issues. 2:1 K/BB ratio for one, although his HR is quite excellent. It looks like he may have some control issues, and patient hitters may eat him up. I expected more, and if means saving this season, by all means trade him.

We all had high hopes, although I had my doubts, for Andy Machado after a month in Scranton. We all thought he learned how to hit a little, and add that with his walk rate and we had a good thing going. But reality has set in, and now I think we are seeing something bad developing. First, his superb range was supposed to be the cause of all his errors, and that as he matured they would fall (the errors), well he has now racked up 17 at Scranton. I don't know how he does it, he was rated as having the best range and best arm in the system, and I don't see him enough on TV to explain it. Secondly, he forgot how to hit again and is now resting at this: .221/.334/..364 and his K rate has finally started to sky rocket again. We all raved at his plate discipline and similarily all marvelled by his high walk rate. Could it be that he just takes every pitch, whether it's a strike or not? The last game I saw of him (I've seen five, and he didn't commit an error in any) he collected himself two backward K's. I think the Machado era is coming to a close.

Ryan Howard, on the other hand, is continuing to terrorize AA ball, at an astonishing rate. Not only that, he is probably getting more positive press than anyone associated with the Phils, which doesn't say much for the guys actually playing in Philly. Anyhow, why is he still in our organization, trade him already. Geez, what is Wade waiting for, he finally has someone who does nothing for us, who has trade value, and is getting tons of media hype. And if Wade is compelled to keep him, can we please move him up? Are Rushford (.285/.384/.410 with 5 HR's) and Roberge (.261/.301/.348 with 1 dinger) really worth blocking Howard? The kid is 25 in AA ball, maybe if they sent him AAA and ripped that up...maybe, just maybe we could consider sending Thome packing and using his $11 million on the other positions we need help at. Sides, that homerun record they are keeping him down there for, not too prestigous as to keep him down there to get it. It's held by two guys, one last named Strong who never made it to the majors (maybe he was too busy making into the Pro Football Hall of Fame) and Rick Lancellotti who barely touched the field in three years and was a disastor. It's one thing to nurture two great pitching prospects, but another to hold this kid back when he has done everything he can do in AA.

One final minor league vent, Elizardo Ramirez...wtf dude? I liked you, you had great demeanor on the mound after making a big leap and pitched decently, now you go to Reading and since have been getting lit up. I think our farm system isn't starting to look so hot anymore. We had very good frontline players but were thin, now it seems it's starting to fall apart in AA and AAA.

Now to the positive, there is alot of it in Lakewood. Blalock, Movan, and Bourn for starters, yet after about 3/4 of the year, none of have been moved up. Big Brother Hank is getting a little ticked, which probably means little brother Jake probably is too. The system seems at a stand still, and I think it's time we start pushing some of our potential a little harder and move them up.

The Positive Sentence: At 5'9 170lbs Maximo Reyes is doing something right.

Posting Notes

2004-07-21T03:15:00.000-04:00

Usually Wednesdays have been my big post days, but it looks that will change. My work schedule has changed, so I'm figuring I will be posting reguraly during the weekends (weekends w/o work, who thought of such an idea?) and trailing into Wednesdays. I can almost guarantee no Friday posts past this week. Anyways, thanks, and it looks like we got ourselves a race to the wire. Go Phils

It All Happened So Fast

2004-07-17T11:50:00.000-04:00

Remember a week ago, when everyone was bitching that the Phils starters weren't getting it done? Not only that, but they couldn't even make it to the seventh inning, even though Milton threw 134 pitches one game it only landed him in the sixth. And how about Millwood? That lazy overpaid bum from Atlanta is getting shown up by some backup catcher who is batting like .900 with RISP.

Well, justly so, Millwood changed that all around last night. Sure, they guy has been pounded on and off the field this season, but he stood up, pitched a gem and was the first starter in what seems like a quarter century to make it to the seventh. Job well done.

I admire Millwood, on a personal level, this guy was traded into town to be the "ace" of the staff. We all know he can't do it now, but last year at the end of year, along with Mesa, had almost all the blame on his shoulders. He was mercifully booed in his final start, threw his hat into the stands and stormed off...never to return.

Or so we thought. Not many players return to Philly to face the scorn of the fans if they have the option, most hightail out of town where the can play in peace and quiet in criticism-free towns where they are beloved by all for just being a baseball player (cough, cough Rolen). He has returned, and has endured a season long struggle on the field, but you haven't heard much from him. He hasn't lashed out, ever, even after his final exit...he came back on the field for closing ceremonies (I was actually surprised), he said that he was just tossing the cap up for some kid (believe me, he wasn't).

Kevin Millwood is a Philly guy. He goes out there every five days and pitches, and keeps his mouth shut. And Philly knows it too, remember following the no-hitter, everyone loved him. Tommy Greene didn't get that reception, but Millwood did. Bobby Abreu? People shout him down as being lazy and/or not living up to his potential (apparently at Bondsian levels for Eskin). But people are searching far and wide for Millwood's problems; mechanics, pitch selection, too many donoughts in the offseason. Similar to when McNabb struggled early in the season, every possible nook and cranny was explored to his demise (even explored that him taking a wife was the reason for his troubles, his wife btw is probably never shown on tv for that reason), just like Millwood. Mesa? No one cared for his reason, his problem was summed up in one word, "Bum". So it's up to Millwood to pitch himself into Philly's hearts again, and games like that will put him back on the radar in no time.

Bobby Abreu on the other hand continues his torrid pace. Which makes me think, he is the greasted OF the Phils have ever had. Ashburn? There's nothing that Abreu can't do that Ashburn did, on the other hand there are a few things that Ashburn can't follow of Abreu (power, for one). Go to Baseball Reference, compare the two, and you'll see...Bobby is more than half way on catching Whitey in almost every stat, in less than half the time. Now that I know he's better than Whitey, I just need to hear it from Kalas' mouth. And you never will.

Remembering Jeff Stone...If You Want To

2004-07-15T10:41:00.000-04:00

Article about Phils Phenom Jeff Stone, or at least he was supposed to be.

Kill Bill

2004-07-15T10:08:00.000-04:00

Bill's work with play-by-play wins has gone unnoticed by Baseball Primer, and now Bill has been given his own thread. Very Cool. Check out the thread, and make a comment or two, of course the first post is Bill being very modest...but he shouldn't be, we all know bloggers are in it for the fame, drugs, and sex. So far I am 0 for 3, anyways, congratulations Bill, you made it to Baseball Primer, and it's not a set-up to be skewered.

Bill Conlin Contest

2004-07-15T09:57:00.000-04:00

If anyone understands this article, and it's relevance to anything in the natural world, write an essay explaining how. Don't expect many entries, and your prize is nothing. Good luck.

Reviews galore

2004-07-15T09:51:00.000-04:00

A Citizens Report and Phillies Fan also weighed in on their thoughts for the first half. Bill at PF, seems to believe things aren't as bad as the doomsday report coming from the media in Philadelphia, and I can only hope he is right. If the Phils don't make any moves by the trading deadline, I think there will be alot to answer regardless.

Don't Kid Yourself

2004-07-14T17:27:00.000-04:00

My boy Michael Bourn, yes I said my boy, is tearing it up in A. Time for him to get the call...to AA. I've been on his bandwagon all year, and it's great when someone produces like this and makes you look smart.

Report Card (Pitchers)

2004-07-14T13:33:00.000-04:00

Lazy weekend, and my DM League's minor league draft is upon me, and I hadn't prepped for it, thus the delay in posting.

I took it easy on the offense, not so on the pitching side of things:

Kevin Millwood: Staff Ace turned into Staff Goat. Is he crumbling under the pressure or has his apparent lack of off-season work caught up to him. He has failed to hold up reliable starter expectations, not to mention the accredited ace of the staff title lumped on him last year. HR's and Hits are way up for him this year, everything is else is pretty much in line. 3 years for $30mil looks good now doesnt it? Grade: F

Randy Wolf: Missed a couple of starts, but by far the best the rotation has to offer. Has maintained his nearly 3:1 K/BB ratio that he needs to have to become an above average pitcher (like '01 & '02). Grade: B

Vincente Padilla: His injury, coupled with Wolf's, imploded a solid rotation into a very bad one. Without an ace, any injury to the rotation is a potential disastor (Powell, Abbott anyone) in waiting. Good theory in point, but when your unwilling to bring someone like Floyd to actually provide quality innings in his absence the team suffers, and it has. Grade: C+

Brett Myers: Two starters out, Millwood pitching terrible, and then Myers is on the verge of a collapse. It might be wise to send Myers down to the farm to work some things out, but they can't if they wanted to. There's no lining in his cloud this season. Grade: F

Eric Milton: Then there's this guy. Vastly ordinart, vastly overpaid, and vastly lucky. Milton will let up about 40 HR's this season, and have a winning record to show for it. Hey, he isn't any better or worse than he was in Minnesota, what was Wade thinking? Grade: C

Brian Powell: I was kinda building this guy up a little early in the season, for no other reason than to give him a shot. His starts weren't Prior-esque, but he hasn't been so bad, my candidate for the pending Roberto Hernandez role. Grade: B

Paul Abbott: Considering that Padilla is done for awhile, consider this. Paul Abbot is the Phils best pitcher behind Wolf. Yes, he is. ugh. Scary. I guess he's doing about what is expected. Grade: C-

Josh Hancock: Thanks for stopping by. Grade: F

Ryan Madson: A huge surprise for the Phils this year. Hidden under Hamels and Floyd coverage, Madson came into town and simply has shut down the opposition. Madson has also produced at every level, but I don't think anyone projected this type of season from him. His lone start was probably the worst start this side of Hancock, and I don't think he should have another. The rotation is already in disarray, and moving Madson up won't solve anything, and it would leave Worrell, Wagner, and Cormier left holding the bullpen.

Grade: A+

Tim Worrell: The Cormier of last year: filling bullpen roles when they become available, and is probably getting overworked this year because of it. Heading for most innings since '98. Grade: A-

Rheal Cormier: Fighting through his struggles on the mound, and looks like if things are settling down for him. This doesn't mean a return of last year, ever. It is imperative that Cormier straightens out and not lower himself to Hernandez level production if the team is going to survive it's own rotation. Grade: C-

Roberto Hernandez: Does it amaze anyone else that he is still on the team? It's becoming increasingly harder to hide him with the starters not making it past the 6th anymore. The credibility of Wade is called into question here, because it's a simple move: Release him, or trade him if someone wants him, then acquire a mid-age reliever who will plug along. We don't need an All-Star here, just a replacement level player at least.

Grade: F

Billy Wagner: Simply put, awesome. Remove two outings that each allowed 4 runs, and he has given up just four runs all year. And how bout that 14:1 K/BB ratio. Haven't checked lately, but when was the last time he hit 100?

Grade: A

Amury Telemaco: Had some good outings and some shellings. He's been a let down so far.

Grade: D

Geoff Geary: All ears and no fastball. Slowly our team has become infested with players from the minors who can't cut it on the mound. Grade: F

Elizardo Ramirez: Nice effort considering the big jump he made to the majors. Get an out pitch and he will be welcomed back with open arms. Grade: C

Jim Crowell: Hasn't gotten enough innings yet to be part of the mess above, but I'm sure he'll join the club soon enough.

Grade: N/A

Back Tomorrow

2004-07-12T14:12:00.000-04:00

..sorry everyone. Be back tomorrow, busy weekend relaxing.

As The World Turns

2004-07-08T03:30:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone, I "had" to go out tonight, my friend made it back from Iraq so we had a big get together tonight. In that sense, tomorrow will be when you see the pitcher's report card. Anyways, I'm very happy that Abreu made the All-Star team, through votes nonetheless (?), so I actually predict he will be voted in as a starter next year because so much attention has been focused on him this year. How easy was it a selection? This is the Baseball Primer discussion about it, you'll notice none of it had to do with Abreu. Which in BP world, is a very very good thing. Take it easy everyone.

HE's IN!!!!

2004-07-07T21:04:00.000-04:00

Good Job Abreu, justly deserved.

Report Card (Batters)

2004-07-07T13:31:00.000-04:00

I love reading these types of things, in-season reviews, because I usually completely disagree with alot of what they have to say. So I figured I would turn one in, so that I could be on the receiving end of it for once.

Jimmy Rollins. J-Roll is playing himself right into the best season of his career, mainly by making contact early on in the count. He is looking to knock off 40 K's of his standard season, exactly what he said he wanted to do. He has also been the victim, or successor, of the "Byrd Effect", where you struggle for two months, but once placed in the leadoff role, for no reason at all, begin producing like mad. Grade: A

Placido Polanco. Placido has be churning in his usual, and very consistent, effort. But that has only happened since he was removed from the DL, otherwise his season was going very badly for him. For the second season in a row he has warded off Chase Utley at second, partially due to Utley's ineffectiveness. Grade: C+

Bobby Abreu. Another Phillie hitting stride for a career year, and most likely an MVP year, we could only hope that Rolen trails off and that Bonds gets walked so much his other stats become insignificant in the eyes of voters. The numbers seem staggering, and they are: .301/.443/.567 136 R, 44 2B, 114 RBI, 34 SB. It's time for all his detractors to go stick their heads up their asses, what more could they want. Grade: A

Jim Thome. He's hitting for average this year, and he has jacked his homeruns up. His big season is due, in large part, to his unusually hot April. Sometimes I feel like it's hard to grade people who turn in efforts that are the same every year (isn't C average), oh well....Grade: A

Pat Burrell. Well he should get an A, just for not hitting .200 right? Pat was on fire, than ice cold, now starting to warm up again. The flucuations scare me, he can be great and very bad at times...Chuck Knoblauch anyone? Ha. Really, until a week ago I was very concerned about the power drop-off, he's hit three since then, but unless he jumps over 30 for the season I will have my doubts. May be Preston Wilson in disguise. Grade: B-

David Bell. Pretty much overshadowed by everyone in the lineup, one way or another, Bell is also working himself quitely towards a career year. Consider that after he was coompletely awful last year in an injury shortened season. Eaten up in the beginning of the season at third, but what more can you ask of him? Grade: A

Mike Lieberthal. Has been very disapointing, but the good side to this is that his AVG per month is rising...fast. April: .174 May: .264 June: .292 July: .364. So there looks like Lieberthal will be able to put up another decent season if he continues. The first half, however, wasn't much help. Grade: C

Marlon Byrd. What the hell happened? Grade: D-

Chase Utley. Another season to showcase himself, as someone who doesn't take any walks. Has some pop, and for the second year in a row got worse as he got more at-bats. It was ok, but overall an OBP of under .300 will never ever ever get it done. Grade: D

Doug Glanville. How can you grade someone for doing what they do? Normally, you would go "keeps hitting at his even pace", or "you can rely on him to put up those numbers ever year". Doug deserves those quotes. The crime isn't Doug Glanville, the crime is team management, from top to bottom (my first attempt to levy some blame on Milt Thompson). Who know's, I give everyone a choice. Grade: D- or Grade: C

Ricky Ledee. Has this injury stopped Ledee from taking over CF for good? Is Ledee this good period? I don't know, but I do know he has been an absolute monster off the bench for the Phils this year. Grade: A+

Jason Michaels. Here's a guy who was in-line for an A, until he started playing everyday. I liked him, now I question whether or not he can handle it. Well, his OBP is still above .400, and he's only batting .264. The problem with Michaels isn't that he's in the batting order, but that he isn't leadoff. Grade: B

Tomas Perez. Mr. Walkoff? Mr. Pie? Tomas is pumping another solid season off the bench. There's nothing to say about him that we all don't know already. Grade: C

Todd Pratt. The cool thing about Pratt was that he would be out of his shoes trying to hit a homerun in every at-bat. Well he's not hitting homeruns, or the ball. This will be it for Pratt. Grade: D

Shawn Wooten. Big Daddy is complaining he isn't get any love in Philly. Well sorry baby, in 48 at-bats you have sucked. Grade: D-

Now that Lieberthal has been warmin up for like ten months, he's joined the club with the hit parade. The most recent weeks have shown a considerable increase in runs, something that we have expected all along. I don't know if we need a CF anymore, ours bats 8th and has a .400 OBP, and that's pretty damn good.

Grades tomorrow for pitching, I'm gonna go the movies and try to head over to the game tonight.

Linkin' Up

2004-07-06T13:00:00.000-04:00

Here's Aaron Gleeman in a Hardball Times article pretty much going over the Abreu snubbing the last couple of years.

J-Roll All-Star?

2004-07-06T11:58:00.000-04:00

Much has been made in the last couple of days, since the release of the All-Star Rosters, that Abreu was doomed by public voting and probably won't make the final cut. Griffey on the team is a joke, it's amazing how the fans vote in a guy hitting .240 who has played in three years. Oh well, but I was looking around to see if there were any other Phils who were ommitted from the team, who probably could have made a case for being on it. If anyone seriously mentions Milton, I will shoot you.

The All-Star starting SS as voted in by you, the fan, is going to he Edgar Renteria. Actually, a fine choice...I think, this will be his fourth appearence in the game. Backups include Barry Larkin (you got be kidding me, 12 All-Star games) and Jack Wilson. Let's take a look shall we.

Renteria: .283/.333/.393

Larkin: .285/.349/.409

Wilson: .341/.359/.516

Obviously voters, as usual missed the boat, as Jack Wilson is the most deserving of the three. Earlier in the year I mentioned that Jack Wilson was prove to be a "decent enough SS for the Pirates", but noone saw this coming, especially the mind boggling nine walks.

So where does Jimmy Rollins fit into these three?

Rollins: .283/.345/.349

Let's clearify things with OPS

Wilson: .875 OPS

Larkin: .758 OPS

Renteria: .726

Rollins: .694

So easily, Rollins didn't belong to be an All-Star. At any rate, continues to do a phenomenal job at leadoff.

Anyways, the OF situation is a debacle. Partly the fans fault and partly McKewon's fault for putting on Alou and his boy Cabrera ahead of Bobby and even Adam Dunn. And now, Abreu is pitted against Pierre in the vote-off thing, and I'm thinking Pierre goes in because everyone will remember him from the World Series last year. It pisses me off, it really does..get out and Vote for Bobby.

Here was my All-Star Ballot that I submitted when it began for the NL:

C: Johnny Estrada

1B: Jim Thome

2B: Marcus Giles

SS: Edgar Renteria

3B: Mike Lowell

OF: Barry Bonds

OF: Bobby Abreu

OF: Adam Dunn

Giles of course is hurt, Kent I will admit was there for namesake, although it's a pretty safe pick now. 3B? Lowell? What other options are there? Call me another spiteful Philly fan, but there's no way Rolen gets on my ballot, ever. Dunn's on there because he walks and walks and walks.

Reader Mail

2004-07-01T22:54:00.000-04:00

Don't be mislead by the title, it's not like I get alot of email from people, I just thought that this would be a good time to feature this one particular email. Mostly, because it amused me, and that I thought I needed to put something out there before the weekend (I'll be working doubles Fri-Sun). Honestly, I have gotten about a grand total of five emails, the other four related to daily topics I posted, and they responded by emailing rather than in the comment section. This guy, or girl, (he didn't leave his name, but deriving from his email address I think his name is "Jon", which is probably ass wrong but when I was looking at the email address it kinda stuck out as such) wrote asking an open ended question about prior posts, it's not a question where I have to dig up stats for the answer, but here it is anyway:

How do you feel about Doug now? A month ago you were heaping praise on him and saying that he wasn't so bad and that he deserved the roster spot, you should put that as wrong in your column too

Ok, Doug is obviously Glanville and by "as wrong in your column" he was referencing the post I put up two days ago, the same day I received it. Much to my demise, I did have to look stuff up, and for something I planned on having posted in five minutes, I am not happy. Now to my answer:

Ok, "Jon" is reffering to the fact that at the end of April I made numerous (as in more than one) mentions that I was surprised at Glanville's play, and that I supported Bowa in starting him for a few games. I also made note that the Glanville did deserve to be around the team...and guess what, I am happy he still is here right now.

...has the laughter died down yet? Good, let's get on with this. In April, the month we were all shocked to see how much Glanville was actually going to be playing, he posted a line of .267/.353/.467. Those are quite impressive numbers for Glanville, and they dwarfed what Marlon Byrd (.221/.294/.260) managed to squander out of the month. So yes, I was happy that Glanville was on the team, and honestly, I wasn't praising Glanville, it was more or less a pat on the back and expressing how surprised I was.

But all good things come to an end, and since April, our man from Penn has sucinctly put himself back in place as one of the most useless use of a roster spot in the MLB. I was kind of happy he resided back to his old ways, I like knowing that Glanville will give you speed and defense, while batting .220 with his .270 OBP, he's so dead consistent that way. Because at least with Glanville, we didn't have to pretend he was going to hit .300 like Byrd was supposed to. We would have seen this CF problem a mile away, and we wouldn't have to be searching for a CF now, if Glanville started the season there I am sure he would have been long replaced (even with Wade as the GM).

So once April was over, and until three days ago, I hated having Glanville on the team. But now I am back to saying that I am happy he is around. Why? Because if he wasn't there who is going to fill in the OF when both Byrd and Burrell aren't playing. Michaels and....not Ledee he's on the DL. Tomas? sure, but when the sun sets at the end of the day, Glanville's defense compared with Perez's offense probably equal each other out. So yes I am happy he's here now, but that doesn't mean I don't want another CF'er brought in via trade. That way they can pack Glanville up, and bring back Byrd (might as well go with the younger .220 batting fast defensive CF'er) and we can move on with this.

And honestly, "Jon" it's not my fault that I get excited that we have a very itty bitty small safety net in Glanville playing CF, and sometimes reveals some offense to us. I like knowing what I will get from a player, and I really like knowing Burrell will presumably resume his duties back in the lineup ASAP. Glanville has a use, speed and defense, and he barely ever fails with those two. It's when he's asked to play everyday that his uneffectiveness shouts out to everyone. But there's only one person to blame for why we are stuck with Glanville in the outfield, especially with Byrd's demotion and Ledee on the DL....

Ed Wade, I would love to see any plausible notions blaming Bowa here. Simply, Bowa's hands are tied behind his back when Burrell is injured.

Howard in the News

2004-06-30T13:25:00.000-04:00

Conlin talks about Howard again, this time laying off his Burrell to third preposition a little

I think theres an underlying theme in his columns concerning Howard, that he wont say forthright. Conlin wants Bobby Abreu out of town. The other day it wasn't mentioned, but give me a chance to see where I am going with this...

Conlin despises this lineup, and all it's strikeouts, yet he wants Howard in the lineup any ay possible. So you would think he would mean replacing one "hacker" with anotherr, but he talks about moving essentially Bell out of the lineup, who doesn't K all that much. So...

Twice he rambled on about the selfless Burrell who once said when he was 10 years old he would do anything to help the team win. Arbuckle rebukes both the idea of Burrell at third and Howard in the OF, this of course has no effect on Conlin pounding on...

Slight mention that Thome used to play third, he gets that rebuttal too...just what he needed.

So far Burrell, can't be moved and neither will Thome. It was established early on that Howard is way too slow, and OF would be his only option besides 1B, and we know that Conlin's fat head would explode if he added a signifcant amount of K's to the lineup. CF? No, Howard would get run out of the league there. That leaves us with RF.

Amazingly enough, Conlin goes on and on about how Manny Ramirez is lazy in the outfield and plays like he should be in a beer league. Remind us of anyone on our team? A good hitter but to the naked eye seems to loaf around (I'm convinced Abreu has some super decpetive run in the OF that makes him look like he jogs, really) and muff balls in the OF? Yeah, Abreu, I thought so. Makes for an easy target, Conlin routinely attacks those in the Philly sports who aren't exactly on good standing.

Of course Conlin brings up Ramirez's Cooperstown bound batting stats, and there aren't alot of causual fans that think Abreu stats are worth keeping around town, coupled with his "laziness".

I look into things way to much, but my guess is Conlin is willing to replace Abreu with Howard, figuring they at least have the same bat. Conlin does orchestrate city ousters (see Rolen) and he hardly ever talks glowingly about Abreu, just thoughts.

Stealing Ideas

2004-06-30T11:19:00.000-04:00

Aaron Gleeman, blogger supreme, went and checked out P/PA (Pitches/Plate Appearence) for the Twins the other day and gave an overall general discussion. Well, I pointed that out for the reason if you read his blog, then you read this, you won't even have to bother trying to figure out if I stole the idea from him, because I did. Also, I will use his format in only considering players with at least 50 at-bats to thier credit.

P/PA

4.36 Jason Michaels

4.26 Bobby Abreu

4.12 Pat Burrell

4.06 Todd Pratt

3.88 Jim Thome

3.80 David Bell

3.73 Tomas Perez

3.64 Ricky Ledee

3.62 Chase Utley

3.59 Placido Polanco

3.57 Doug Glanville

3.57 Marlon Byrd

3.48 Mike Lieberthal

3.40 Jimmy Rollins

I am pretty surprised that Thome isn't sitting above 4 P/PA, that Jimmy Rollins' P/PA is so low considering his K-less ways, and I also thought that Utley's would be lower than it is.

I don't know why, but I have never given Jason Michael's much thought, I guess he just seemed to be another bench dawg in the form of Tomas Perez. And for the first time, I have really taken a look at his numbers. His P/PA is just slightly higher than his last two years, that said, he needs to be starting in CF until that position is figured out one way or the other. He is working on his second season with a .400+ OBP, exactly what the Phils would need, well from anyone really. This next month will be a crucial, and I believe rewarding, time in his career in whether he will be able to hit on some team everyday or remain bench dawg mainstay.

Thome has had a significant drop off in his P/PA this year:

'03 4.11

'04 3.88

The reason for the drop off is that he is finding pitches earlier in the count to send out to Ashburn Alley, really. 2002 was the only other year since '92 in which Thome failed to post a P/PA above 4.1, that year he hit a career high 52 homeruns. Of course, if Thome continues his streak he will be continued to be walked more and more come the conclusion of the season.

Ledee's dropoff, almost exactly the same as Thome's can also be inherently related to the fact he has been hitting for average better this year, and his power has gone up.

A model of inconsitency? Placido Polanco's career P/PA.

'98 2.80

'99 3.25

'00 3.43

'01 3.21

'02 3.12

'03 3.43

'04 3.59

The good news is that he has been on a gradual improvement since joining the Phillies, but it just seems odd to me that someone who can be counted on to hit consistenly through the years have such a varied plate approach.

Liberthal a guy who just makes constant contact, and strikes out very litte, is also in a slight declin in his P/PA, and I do mean slight. He has split his profiessional career into having either P/PA in the low 3.6 range or as this season in the high 3.4 range. The only difference between this season and the last is that his walk rate is down slightly, and amazingly his K total should land right below 70 four the fifth year in a row.

Finally, we get to J-Roll who is less patient at the plate than he ever was, and yet is striking out less than he ever was. Hmmm, that can mean alot of things good or bad, but of course we will focus on the good.

'00 3.56

'01 3.63

'02 3.85

'03 3.74

'04 3.40

Can we credit Bowa on this one? Tony Gwynn? Juan Pierre even? Or maybe Jimmy himself finally realised that the way to success isn't in his power, although their is a school of thought that Rollins is a more useful SS with his 10-15 HR's a year as opposed to not hitting them (referring to the Baseball Prospectus annual). I don't know how his P/PA is down, his K rate is down, his AB/HR (98.7) is the highest it's ever been...Regardless, Rollins has found a whole new philosophy on hitting this season and is sticking to it, quite simple actually: attacking the early fastball. Well, whatever works, if all goes smoothly Jimmy will have his best season since entering the majors.

See what I mean...

2004-06-29T23:51:00.000-04:00

I'm 100% for the Phils winning, but how does all the ridiculously good stuff happen when Milton pitches? He bailed after the 5th, letting up seven runs in the process. Phils scored 17 runs, Glanville goes 2 for 2, and even Hernandez had a decent outing. Come playoff time, I want Milton to be the number one if he has over 18 wins, because he some kind of lucky charm.

Burrell looks to be down, hopefully not for long. It's one thing if you throw Glanville in the outfield when you don't have a true centerfielder and say he's out there for defense and speed. It's another when he has to start, and Micheals has to play left. If this becomes nagging for Burrell, Wade will have to pull the trigger on an outfielder. Because while Michaels isnt bad, and Glanville is; no Ledee to back them up, the outfield is in a state of emergency if it continues.

All Said and Done

2004-06-29T00:04:00.000-04:00

A look at things I have said, stupid or smart over the past few months, arguably couldn't get to them all, but here's a glace.

March 2. I guess I wasn't making a stretch here, or many times thereafter that Roberto Hernandez was a big mistake, actually everyone saw it coming except for two people.

March 8. "..some things never change" in reference to Rollings. WRONG. They have for the better. I'll give myself a 'lil credit by saying that Madson was looking impressive in Spring Training...hmmm, rather that just means my eyes haven't deceived me.

The rest of March. No linkage possible, too many entries of me begging for the Phils not take Glanville. Another easy call.

March 23. Me saying that Bell would provide little at the plate this year. WRONG. He has, I also say Utley would be more productive, eh, probably wrong there too, but it's hard to say since he doesn't have a full season in him thus far. But, two lumps on the head in one post.

March 31. Somewhere buried in the post I say that PECOTA would be wrong in the assesment that the Phils would beat the Braves by 12 games in the division. Well, they may beat the Braves by 12 games, but they won't take the division by twelve. I'll say I'm right, I need to be so far at least once.

First week of April. Spent it laying into RISP and Bell, sorry Bell, not so sorry about RISP. Actually I gave up on the whole RISP, I have kind of accepted it, for the worse, as a Phillies trait.

End of second week of April. Begin to priase Bell's play, never realised how flaky I am.

May 1. Predict I see a huge year in Abreu's future. That has yet to be seen, but at least I didn't say it would be Lieberthal.

April 28. Mention how I will spend more time ripping Rollins and Bell amongst others, while leaving Burrell alone. Burrell the last two games has started to stir again, and Rollins and Bell seemingly are doing just fine. This once again show my flakiness concerning Bell.

May 6. Congratulate Byrd on his game somwhere in that mess, saying it will hold of Glanville's takeover in center. WRONG and RIGHT, it did delay a takeover at CF, mostly Micheals at the time being. Thankfully, Bowa has kept Glanville out of it...so far.

May 25. I realised something, and it may look bad. I have been dissing Floyd all year inadvertantly. It seems to me I don't give him enough credit, so here goes...he's damn good. But I always compare him to Hamels, who I think is an elite pitcher. Sorry Gavin.

May 26. Try and knock down any true usefulness of Andy Machdado. I've seen on TV a couple of Scranton games, unimpressed in those games. But he has impressed me otherwise, again WRONG

June 7. Haha, this is just plain stupid speculation and hope. Compare Geary's beginning to Madson's. I don't exactly say Geary is as good as Madson, but I do try make myself believe it. He's ok I guess.

One last thing: I mentioned, I forgot where in Spring Training, that we should only hope to see Ryan Howard if disastor has struck before the September call-up. And ya know what, I wouldn't mind seeing him now, if they moved say Wooten out really.

Apologies to Rollins, Bell, Floyd, and for keeping with Byrd longer than I should have. I really want to like Byrd, but now I have no idea what's in store for him

Farm system All-Stars

2004-06-28T12:54:00.000-04:00

List of guys and runner-ups at each position. Alot of the position players are thin, but really our "front-line" guys all look pretty decent at worst, except catcher. A little more depth would be nice, but things take time, and the Phils have been very good at using their minors to fill needs over the past four years. Tried to lay off the Lakewood guys on this, because it's A ball, but most of them are doing well. Baseball America has all the organizational stats here.

Catcher: Carlos Ruiz. Reading. .272/ .310/ .469. Has some pop.

Runner up: Chico Cortez. Lakewood. .281/ .357/ .481.

First Base: Ryan Howard. Reading. .305/ .389/ .669. Hitting out of his mind.

Runner up: Ryan Barthelemy. Clearwater. .285/ .361/ .414

Second Base: Carlos Leon. Clearwater. .276/ .345/ .386.

Runner up: None worthy with significant playing time. Tim Moss is dead in the water.

Third Base: Lou Collier. Scranton. .304/.368/ .507.

Runner Up: Marc Tugwell. Lakewood. .291/ .343/ .487.

Shortstop: Anderson Machado. Scranton. .256/ .389/ .448. Impressive at AAA

Runner Up: Danny Gonzalez. Reading. .248/ .335/ .339.

OF: Tim Deschaine. Reading. .320/ .387/ .485

OF: Chris Roberson. Clearwater. .303/ .371/ .480

OF: Mike Bourn. Lakewood. .306/ .418/ .414

Runner Up: Jake Blalock. Lakewood. .299/ .385/ .535. His K rate needs to come down.

Pitching is a little harder to rate, there aren't many constant starters, since they work everyone around. I didn't want to dig through all the relievers today, so I'll save it for later this week. But there are four starters who are consistenly above the rest and I'll just list them: Floyd (Reading), Alfredo Simon (Clearwater), Keith Bucktrot (Reading), and Nate Cabrera (Lakewood).

That's it for today, I think. Tomorrow I'll go through all my posts and show all the stupid or smart things I have said. Whether I was right or wrong, and apologize for the bashings I gave out early on (Bell) and those that I didn't give out (Millwood).

King of the World

2004-06-28T11:49:00.000-04:00

Ok, Conlin wants the Phils to jam Ryan Howard into the lineup. Let's disect the big man's column:

He starts off with his lame descriptions that are supposed to bring you to feel the game. It usually fails miserably. Then halfway through the article he makes a point.

Now, the tough part...What are Ed Wade, Mike Arbuckle and the Phillies' college of applied sockology planning to do about what is certain to become a huge dilemma? Suddenly, they have the hottest slugging prospect in major league baseball on their hands.

Is he the hottest hitting prospect in baseball? Well, you could make a very good case that he is, I think he is neck and neck with Ian Kinsler. Who is Ian Kinsler? Baseball America just did an article on him, and boy is he just ripping it up.

. I don't think a guy on pace to hit 53 homers with an insane RBI total can be dismissed any longer as the pot-sweetener in whatever deal - if any - Wade makes to fill his club's aching needs - all of which were on painful display in Fenway yesterday. Nor is there a lot of patience time to park Howard in the minors.

No, I think Conlin is right here, for the wrong reason. Howard is an older AA guy, so his maturity may be leading to alot of theses stats, but still they are getting insane. But Howard shouldn't be the pot sweetner in a deal, he may just be the whole pot. Are the Phillies really developing someone else who would land Floyd/Hamels players without actually being Floyd/Hamels players? Finally, leverage.

A power bat is a terrible thing to waste and this organization has signed and developed only four hitters with realized 35-to-40 home-run potential in the past half century.

Yeah power is a terrible thing to waste, but Bill aren't you forgetting something? You, thy who scorns the strikeout as a terrible waste are willing to put Howard into your K riddner lineup? He's on pace for 180 K's in AA ball, wait till he sees a real pitcher.

Good, let's use our blue-chip catching prospect to get him.

Mr. Bluechip's stats at the age of 27 (following the 2003 season) with over 350 AB's: .231/.279/.306. He is 28 and smoking the ball, he's also a catcher, so what his shelf life is another three years, that's if he can keep it up til then. Estrada was never a "bluechip" guy, Bill just thinks so because he is doing so well.

I hope somebody from the old regime -Dallas Green is the last man standing

Digest that one. This club is "old regime" enough, and he wants more influence from the 70's placed on this team?

Somebody has to start work on a game plan to make Ryan Howard happen here when it is his time. His minor league plate appearances stir the same buzz and heightened sense of anticipation as those of Jim Thome.

Of course they create anticipation, but has Conlin been to Reading lately? And who does Conlin want to get rid of? My guess is Abreu. Because Abreu is still extremely useful, but Conlin will sight his fielding as a reason to make space for Howard who has only "decent range" for a first baseman. Magine how that translate over as any other position. That said, Howard can only play OF at this point, and it's not going to be with the Phils. Although, if Thome went down for the season tomorrow, I could see his call-up immenently.

Here we go again...

2004-06-27T19:49:00.000-04:00

All thoughts off another interesting Notes column. And it's not all that good.

Pat Burrell is back to his old ways, as in last years old ways. At least for June, hitting a disturbing .194 in June. The only thing truly bothers me so far, is that his power has dropped off as well. If his power numbers don't jump, and his average really doesn't get up there in the coming months, it might be time to flag Burrell.

And Lieberthal wasn't happy he was sat for the second consecutive day. And I don't know why, save a few homeruns Pratt has been the better batter in limited play. Although Lieberthal has begun to show life lately. How unhappy is Lieby about sitting two days in a row? He referenced the Burrell/Bowa situation from last year, amongst other disgruntled quotes. That's not a good sign for Bowa, Lieberthal, or this team. Personally, I thought Bowa might make it through the season without repeating last year, in fact, it looks like it's just about to begin all over again.

Listen, I can't stand it when a player has a problem with sitting two days in a row. It's only two days, and by now he has to know how Bowa likes to stick with lineups that win (even a game). I have an idea..let me complain and bitch when the team is one game back from the division lead with a big homestand ahead of you, knowing that your manager is slightly unstable. That way, the team can have a huge rift and fight amongst itself and fall out of the race. Liberthal...Everyone knows Bowa is slightly crazy, let's not make it worse; take one for the team.

If Bowa doesn't get into a public shouting match like he did last year with Tyler Houston I will give him credit, alot of it. I'm sure Bell well get involved and try to mend fences, being that he is Bowa's clubhouse guy.

Positions I wouldn't mind trading for

1. Centerfield

2. Starter (like top notch)

4. Catcher (or just shut up Lieberthal

Weekend Reading

2004-06-26T21:08:00.000-04:00

Ken Mandel is MLB.com's Philly beat writer, and usually alot of the stuff that he write's is pretty bland or otherwise just run-of-the-mill type of stuff, and when your writing about baseball everyday it will happen. There's only so often that good stories happen that create some interest. His recent Notes column does just that for me.

The first part is about the whole Schilling trade, and runs lightly over the much explored topic. What disturbs me, and ironically it's something I just posted about this morning, was at the end where Wade goes:

"Curt would have been a good fit for our club," said Wade. "Obviously, he expressed an interest in coming back to us, but there were a lot of moving parts to this. So we went somewhere else and used different components and got Eric Milton, and he's 9-2."

Hopefully, Wade is putting a spin on the non-move. Like I said Milton is being Milton, which isnt such a bad thing, he's just not worth his money.

The second piece covers Elizardo Ramirez, and his experiences traveling around with the ball club. I mean, he didnt even know about Fenway Park!!! EZ is a nice young pitcher, I've commented on him before here, who hopefully one day will get another shot.

Boy, Billy Wagner still is bitter isn't he. He calls the Astros a desperate team, and praises heavily both Dotel and the minor leaguer they traded away.

The Luckiest "Ace"

2004-06-26T17:23:00.000-04:00

Eric Milton is amongst eight pitchers with nine wins or better. The list includes the likes of Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Jason Schmidt, Curt Schilling, and Mark Moulder; also on the short-list are surprises like Kenny Rogers and Brian Lawerence, Milton likewise is also a surprise.

Of those eight Milton compares with Lawerence quite well, except Milton sports a eye catching 9-2 record while Lawerence's record is a respectable 9-5. Records are deceiving, of course, and the case is overally apparent for Milton..

Clemens, Johnson, Schmidt, Schilling, Moulder, and Rogers all have ERA's at, or below, 3.22 (with the constant exception being Lawerence who has a 3.87), Milton is the obvious albatross with a 4.22 ERA.

What is even more improbable, all things considered is that Milton has had only four no-decisions; one of which was a rain-shortened start agaisnt the Reds (3 IP, Phils down 4-3) in which the Phils won, another in which the Phils came back to win, and the other two the bullpen blew the leads. So if the bullpen doesn't blow those leads, Milton is now 11-2.

His ERA is over four, he has allowed 16 HR's (roughly on pace for 34), allowed more hits than innings, and his K/BB ratio is less than 2:1. As you can probably imagine, his record is supported by alot of "luck" on the field. When I say "luck" I don't mean that in relative performances of the others on the team, but that they all so happen on the days that Milton pitches.

Run Support? Well, he's gotten his fair share of it, let's just say that. In his two loses, the Phils scored exactly two runs. Next, in his four no-decisions the Phils scored an average of 5.75 RPG, that jumps astronomically to 7.1 RPG in his nine wins. Heck, with run support like that, Kevin Millwood would be the talk of the town at this point (In his five losses the Phils have scored a combined 8 runs).

Run support can't be everything, especially since Milton has pitched through the seventh inning a whopping 3 times, and never past it. Four of his wins actually come from games in which he did not pitch past the 5th inning, so it's safe to assume that Milton is getting alot of bullpen help. And boy is he...In his two loses the bullpen has let up three runs, his four no-decisions yeilded an average of 3.25 RPG, and in his nine wins? How about a sporty 9 runs allowed, four of them by Billy Wagner on his return from the DL.

So Milton's wins translate as this: The Phils average 7.1 RPG, Milton has allowed 2.7 RPG, and the bullpen has let up 1 RPG. Pretty good stuff for Eric, all this while lowering his K/BB ratio to the lowest of his career since his rookie season. Actually, case in point, Milton's perifreials are pretty close to his rookie season, the one in which he went 8-14 and had an ERA of over five.

Obviously Milton isn't worth close to $9 million dollars that the Phils are paying him, but I think it's far worse than that. What happens if he finishes, say, 18-4 (speculation of course)? That's a pretty gaudy record, one in which I wonder Wade will be able to see through come the off-season. Milton isn't an ace of course, but he will demand that money I'm sure (he already is getting ace money, thus the title) come the offseason, and Wade isn't exactly your most profecient in seeing through to core stats. He often favors past performances (Williams, Wendell, Hernandez) as his requidum for signing pitchers; not that Milton would be a bad pitcher in the future (he's not) just a highly overpaid one.

New Phils blogger inbound

2004-06-25T11:56:00.000-04:00

Eric over at "Philling Station" has officially been replace by Brian Peoples. I guess we should be looking for some work within a week or so from the new member of the Phils bloggers. "...we finalized the deal this morning." I hope Brian took him to the cleaners with the signing bonus and put a clause in his contract for extra years to kick in when he reaches a certain amount of entries.

Pedro..and the unlike

2004-06-25T11:17:00.000-04:00

Pedro pitching tonight against the Phils is a TiVo must. I will confess during some games I will TiVo something off the History Channel, and try to catch the Comcast re-plays at 3am.

If it wasn't difficult enough of a task for the Phils to score runs on Pedro, they now have to compete with the fact that the offenseive Red Sox get to tee off on Paul Abbott. Talk about a complete mismatch of pitchers, stats not-including this year:

Pedro 32 yrs old. (166-67): 2079 IP, 1553 H, 554 BB, 2426 K, 149 HR, 2.58 ERA

Abbott 35 yrs old. (40-26): 624 IP, 576 H, 335 BB, 450 K, 79 HR, 4.68 ERA

Pedro's numbers are absolutely off the wall, so he would make anyone look bad, but Abbott has the worst career numbers of any Phils starter so it really looks bad.

I don't see the Phils pulling this one out, just too much of a disparity between pitchers, although Pedor's record against the Phils the last three years is 0-1 in two starts, something has to be said about that I guess. Either way, it could be a rough weekend for the Phils.

Forget that...

2004-06-25T01:37:00.000-04:00

Ok everyone forget about Beltran, he is in Houston. I don't even know if they were mentioned as a bidder, but apparently they were. I think alot of teams have to be surprised (Yankees) that Houston was able to jump them.

That was the most obvious big name out there Wade could have landed, to much praise. I think it's kinda a hex to the Phils to have Hamels and Floyd, because the Phils seem them as untradeable and I am sure that's who everyone wants.

Once again, Billy Beane manages to squeeze himself into a deal, it's amazing anyone still deals with the guy. If Wade was smart he'd stay away from him, I question Wade's intellect concerning Beane's acquistions and if he were to deal with him may get taken to the cleaners.

So now..Steve Finley anyone?

The good and bad

2004-06-23T02:08:00.000-04:00

Good being that the Phils finally moved Byrd, the bad being he wasn't traded, and the worse of it all being that it will probably deteroriate into a Michaels/Glanville split instead of a Abreu/Ledee/Micheals rotation, that worked out well last year. I gotta give Bowa credit with starting Ledee last night however.

Some more bad is Roberto Hernandez is about to go 1:1 K/BB within the next few starts. The most credit I have givin him is ability to climb above last years decline, but the last few appearences have shown him falling back down the hole. It's amazing how we stick with the veterans longer than the younger guys, especially since this certain veteran has been in a decline for years.

On that note..don't look now but Seung Lee is pitching very well in Scranton. One of two S. Korean pitchers the Phils signed a couple of years ago for big money (as in signing bonus) looks like he may finally be ready. This is whats lookin good, 44Ip/ 39K/9BB. Boasting a 3.22 ERA for whatever ERA's are worth. I bet you my life savings, he can be as good as Hernandez, and since the whole 25 man roster has seemingly been juggled as of late, why not.

Machado continues to impress me, but at the same time has seen a dropoff at the plate as of late, and his errors are still up there. I know it's supposedly due to his wide range and his youth, but it gets old, and the way Rollins is playing he looks to be a mainstay in Scranton.

Lou Collier has played very well offensively, and if you double Utleys stats, they are neck and neck. But Colliers walk rate is significantly lower than Utley's, and if Utley is any sign, the Collier would never take one in the majors. That aside, Collier has nowhere to play with the Phils, it's just nice to see he stuck with the organization and is playing well.

Tomorrow Reading is having some sort of Negro League celebration, the gate give-a-way is 2,000 Marlon Byrd bobbleheads. I'm sure little did they know how close Marlon would actually be to AA at this point in the season.

Speaking of Marlon, looks like he will beat up on AAA pitching until his call-up in two weeks. I guess at this point and time, Byrd and Utley have been very disapointing with their stints up with the Phils. These two kill all minor league pitching, and struggle when up, it's a leap, but one we all hoped they could overcome. They both have futures potentially, and you have to think that Byrd is more likely to become an everyday player considering last season. Utley will have his shot next year, but besides initial spurts, has trailed off as the at-bats worn on.

Big two weeks ahead of us, we can either keep the NL East in it, or we can seperate from the back. If history serves us correct, the standings will be probably the same come two weeks, with the Fish up one or two.

Checking...one...two...three...

2004-06-19T11:27:00.000-04:00

My last three posts havent posted, so I'm just checking this thing out...

Saturday morning

2004-06-19T10:27:00.000-04:00

This is rare, a Saturday post, but what the hell...Last night's game was about as ugly as it could have gotten on the mound for the Phils. Abbott, Geary, and Ramirez all not part of the team last month are displaying exactly the type of pitching that will make them not part of the team next month. The three of them combined failed to earn one single strikeout, nor did either of the three stop the "potent" Royal offense.

Ramirez has been a minor disappointment to me, although he is young and coming up from A-ball, I expected a little bit more than what he has shown. His five walks are a bit more than I had expected at this point, especially since he has a reputation of being a strike thrower. He needs desperately to develop an out pitch, or learn to hit the corners with precision to last in the league at this point. I do not expect this to be the last of Ramirez, he has an excellent demeanor on the mound, and it is most likely that he will return sometime next year in the best case scenario.

Zack Grienke takes the mound today against the Phils, all the more reason to watch the game.

And I think this is the first time all year, but I would like to congratulate J-Roll on his amazing job at leadoff lately, wow, he hasn't stopped in what? two weeks?

Quick Ones...

2004-06-17T11:00:00.000-04:00

Ok, 17th rd draft pick out of the University of Washington, Greg Isaacson played in Lakewood last night and went 0 for 2, but the OBP is .333...gotta love it already. Well he started it at second base, and while it's only one start, one has to think about the role of Tim Moss in the organization thus far, total disappointment.

I totally for got this, but I have been meaning to post this about the draft. The Phillies picked through 50 rounds, but it was the 49th rounder who may have the greatest impact; from Lexington, Kentucky out of Bryan Station High School the Phils drafted Willie Mays. hmmmmm.

Rain

2004-06-16T22:08:00.000-04:00

Well the Phils game was rained out tonight, looks like they may be hard pressed to fit a normal regulation game in this week. It also is 100 games until the end of the season, and if you listen to WIP or 950am, everyone is clamoring for trade rumors. While I'll anticipate any word from the Phillies camp, I also won't be holding my breath.

Someone called 950 from the Lakewood game tonite, apparently a draft pick or two have already made their debuts, when the site posts the boxscores I will post something here.

The pitching mix-ups seem to be coming to a close in about ten days when Padilla and Wolf are expected to return. I think this will be a huge week in the life of Hernandez, I know I target him alot, but I am putting this out there objectively. We have seen our fair share of pitchers the last month, and pretty much all seemed about as capable as he was out on the mound, and that doesn't bode well for him.

I don't know if they are victims of circumstance but Byrd, Lieberthal, Hernandez, Millwood, and Cormier have all been immensly disappointing thus far. Actually, Hernandez is right on par, I knew Cormier's effectiveness would drop this year but not by this much. IF Byrd rebounds, then the Phils will have to find a platoon for him...one that plays the the first three months. Lieberthal's offense has shrunk enough to pretty much make him a completely uneffective catcher. Millwood has been the biggest disappointment for me, I don't think he's an ace, but I think he can take control of the games better than he has this year...his walk rate projects to be his highest in his career and everything else is projecting to land just a bit worse than his '00 season. Of them all, Millwood is the one I am least concerned about.

When games just don't matter....

2004-06-15T03:05:00.000-04:00

First off..Congratulations on #400 Jim Thome. A man who is most likely three years away from sealing his Hall of Fame fate. For awhile there, it didn't look like it was going to count.

Oh yeah, its 3:07am, I got back home from the Phils game about ten minutes ago, what a trip. Lengthy rain delays actually turned it into one of the most interesting games I have seen in awhile. Wait, did I say game...I meant, one of the most interesting crowds.

I think tonight's game can be considered a wash, pardon the pun, there were too many rain delays, that led to too many pitching changes, that the game itself just needed to end, regardless of the outcome. Fortunately, for the Phils, it became a positive.

Everyone knew the rain was coming, so during the first rain delay the crowd let a little loose. Two guys (kids? couldn't see that well) ran onto the field ten minutes into the rain dealy. One broke about ten tackles before being cornered in center, the other stripped naked and slid on the tarp. It was a rain delay, it was very ammusing, if anyone says something bad about it, then they had small girls at the game.

The park itself benefits from long rain delays, or at least McFadden's does. That's where I, and a good population spent the rain delay. I'm not going to lie, everyone got liqoured up. I assumed this game was some sorta nasty Red karma, that every two months on a Monday they would have to travel to Philly to only be rained out.

Following the rain delay, the first one, I now saw myself seated about row 20 behind the dugout. A couple of innings later, and not surprisingly, another brutal outing by Roberto Hernandez, we were lead into another rain dealy. We were all lead to belive that Worrell was getting the last out...we were so wrong.

You'd be surprised at the number of people who gave up their tickets to the McFadden's patrons during the first delay. It only got worse immediately following the beginning of play (the second time, pre Hernandez), once people realised that the vendors weren't serving beer, the majority of what was left went back into McFadden's. This of course works out for some people, like my friend Dave, who expected to be able to pick up tiks at the game, only unsucessfully. He got his 11th row tiks from someone who was happier drinking and watching it in the bar, then to go back out and face the reality of no beer.

On the field for the third time, found a crowd of about a thousand I guess (paid attendence was 44 thousand plus). Now I am four rows behind the dugout. I was astonished to see Bowa send fresh of the DL Wagner to the mound in the rain. He never pitched.

Instead someone slid across the dugout (thrown out) and everyone was pushed out of the stands and into cover by the Phils employees. They blocked every attempt of people running down the stands. This was uneffective, four kids ran by one patron to stand under the runoff spouts form the upper deck. Every attempt at any form of entertainment was applauded.

2:05. We were allowed back to our seats behind the dugout for the top of the ninth. Then it downpoured. Game called. Upon leaving the stadium the rain essentially stopped for ten minutes. Can't help but think the Reds were slighted. But then again, so were the fans...Thanks for not playing Griffey.

Beltran is up

2004-06-14T11:33:00.000-04:00

Last week came official word that Carlos Beltran was now on the trading block. And then suddenly, the Phils, like a cat pouncing on it's prey signed Paul Abbott, wow talk about your big signing. Paul pitched nicely however against the Twins, but we shouldn't honestly expect any repeat performances, although it would be nice.

Considering Beltran, I have settled on trading Marlon Byrd and Ryan Madson for him. Byrd because well he's not hitting, and this is two years in a row that for half a season he can't hit the ball, and that has to be worrisome to the organization. Besides that, when Beltran leaves, it looks like it may only take a year or two to find an adequate in-house replacement. Movan and Bourn are both playing nicely, especially Bourn.

As for Madson, I think you can find a bunch of relievers who can pretty much fill the gap, look at what the call-ups have been doing. And Bowa has floundered on what situations to use him in. Sending him the AL relieves yourself of shooting yourself in the foot.

Anyway, those two are a good starting point, I would be hesistant to give much more up, but they may have to. In that case, you can throw in any number of various arms we have in the organization. Hell, I would honestly do: Byrd, Madson, Hancock, and Moss for Beltran and a PTBNL. Hancock probably won't make it to the majors unless he's on the Royals, Moss I think at this point is in a crisis mode, and the other two I discussed.

I don't think the Phils are in the running, regardless, but it would be nice to see Wade make a trade that consisted of someone besides old relievers....

Wow

2004-06-09T23:51:00.000-04:00

Another high scoring game, theyre not fun for me to watch, to loose. I like tighter played games then we have been seeing, but it is nice to see we can hit the ball. Bobby Abreu was simply awesome, and Roberto Hernandez pitched better than Billy Wagner...repeat the last seven words in your head again.

Conlin Does It Again

2004-06-09T17:13:00.000-04:00

Thank's for penning and article pretty much advising us to shut up about our distaste for Bowa. Sure it won't get Bowa fired, but it's the whole point of the matter. Anyway's Conlin is a big Bowa supporter, ever since he started the publicity for getting Rolen outta town.

Conlin has the arcane ability to make me hate people, but not how you think. Last night on Comcast Sportsnet, or something like that, he said this about Jared Weaver: "...is the reincarnation of Mark Prior. This kid, he could go straight into the majors and be a very good number 3, right now...". Well, I loved looking at Weaver's stats and I thought he was very good, now I hope he utterly fails so that I can send that quote back to Bill and wait for his response (which is about an hour). I'm in constant contact with the guy.

We Want Mesa!!! And some other scrubs we could use....but not neccessarily afford

2004-06-08T00:35:00.000-04:00

Oh boy, it's June 7 and the Phils are in second place, two games out of first place, and only 1.5 games ahead of both Atlanta and the F'n Mets. Things were not supposed to go this way, and they certainly can't continue, heads will roll down down Broad Street if the Phillies fail to make the playoffs...again. This means Ed Wade is feeling the pressure, and he certainly should, after all, "The Time is Now". And if it isn't? Goodbye Wade and Bowa.

We all know Wade can't make a trade to save his life unless it falls into his lap like Giambi and Millwood, I still question the usefulness of trading for the $9 million dollar man Eric Milton. Bobby Abreu? C'mon, you know and I know Ed Wade had no idea who Bobby Abreu was, after all there was barely and Latin scouting program up until that point in the organization, but that's a story for another day.

But Wade will have to make a trade, if for nothing else, just to show he did, in order to save his job. So the Phils have some problem area's that could be addressed through some trades, and while all the trade bait hasn't been sorted out so early, I think there are some guys out there who could be available now and certainly towards the trade deadline. As of now, I only see eight teams who can, or are willing to call the season a wash thus far: Montreal, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Arizona, Colorado, Tampa Bay, Detroit, and Kansas City. I think that Seattle could be on the list too, but I believe they will have to wait a month before they officially declare themselves dead. Anyways, further in the season more teams will be on the list, thus more free agent available players and just plain old veterans will become available. Here are some guys I just randomly think about, who may or may not be realistic options, but they all are most likely attainable and would help, considering the Phils current lineup.

Jason Kendall- I know what your thinking already, but hear me out. Unless Lieberthal wakes up and decides to join the program, Kendall becomes a valuable asset. He he becomes the solution to two problems at once, a catcher who can hit and hit at leadoff. Right now we need both, and it would nice to get Jason. But God help us, he will make a ton of money in '06 & '07; '04 & '05 pretty much break even with Lieby, but there's no way Kendall plays catcher until '07. And unless the Phils decide to jump to Yankee salary territory in a couple of years, the Phils just can't afford Kendall. Abreu, Thome, Burrell, and Wolf will all be earing about $10 mil each in '05. Kendall would be nice, but it seems he just not an option...unless Pittsburgh is so desperate to relieve themselves of him (and they really aren't) that they pick up alot of salary (which they haven't done so far). I love Kendall, I hate his salary.

Orlando Cabrera- I put him up here only if J-Roll goes into the tank. Not to say Cabrera is already in the tank batting a stellar .220, but he's in the worst situation possible in Montreal and it's been taking it's toll on everyone up there. He is a FA after this year anyway, but come playoffs I would rather have Cabrera over J-Roll any day of the week.

Alex Sanchez- Essentially is what Bowa covets, Juan Pierre. Sanchez is small ball. Doesn't take walks, but hey neither does Byrd and this guy can hit..or rather bunt himself on base. Bowa would wet himself if the Phils got him, but they won't..he's too young. but then again, it is the Tigers, and everyone has their price.

Carlos Guillen and Ivan Rodriguez- two more Tiggers, and I would only take Carlos if he keeps hitting, otherwise he is Jimmy Rollins, but if he's batting .325 come the deadline why not, he contract ends this year. IRod for all intents and purposes really isn't an option, but I'm sure Detroit wouldn't mind trading him, it was and remains a bad signing. There's alot of years and money on the contract, similar to Kendall, he's cheaper and he would be a huge upgrade over Lieberthal. The $13 million option scares me to death.

Matt Lawton- All these guys have their drawbacks, and Lawton has his biggest. He has pretty much sucked it up the last two years, but then again he hasn't played much either, alot of injuries for a guy who was pretty good. He does take a decent amount of walks, and he is hitting this year. I use Dugout Dollars as my salary guide, and his salary is in yellow for some reason (clue me in someone), and he is due alot $6.75 next year. He has played CF, but not for a long time, but he does provide a good glove. So here's my thinking on this one: first, find out what the hell the yellow means, second if he keeps hitting coupled with his walk rate he can be a leadoff guy, and if he can play a solid centerfield he has value. With Grady Sizemore waiting in the wings, I think Clevland would take some of the salary if we could ship 'em someone decent.

Carl Crawford-There isn't enough that could be said about this guy if he improves his plate discipline. And following this season will probably try and land a large contract, one which I don't know he'll be worth in the long run. That said, if the Phils can, get him, he hacks at the ball alot, but aren't we used to that by now? Send him Michael Bourn (I love him, and don't want to see him go), he is pretty much his equal in the minors.

Randy Johnson- Everything points to him wanting to be a Diamondback when he retires, and the Diamondbacks want him to go in the HOF wearing their cap. Then why is his name being floated around, not just the Phils, because it barely has, but the arms race in the AL East will try and grab him come deadline time. So he is available. And he would cost us something, and I would be willing to give up Floyd for him. Not Hamels, but Floyd. Floyd can't carry Hamels jockstrap in my opinoin, and Floyd would be enough to silence the Yankees who have nothing left in their system and probably trump all Bo Sox offers. If they can get it done without Floyd, which is perferrable, than do it of course. Yoda is convinced Wolf is an ace, I am not. We need one or we die in the playoffs, if we get there. And if it comes down to Floyd for The Mad Stork, Wade better do it, or he won't be around to ever see Floyd pitch.

Carlos Beltran- If we trade for Beltran, the Yanks will sign him next year regardless, so you do have to take in account how much you give up for him. The bidding should be fast and furious, which is a bad sign for Wade (no punto and silva type players won't land him Eddie). Trading for Beltran would probably demand alot of personal, and I can't stress how much that he won't be around next year in Philadelphia. And if the Phils did shell out the cash, I would be floored. I would rename this site "ED WADE IS GOD", and just put up nice things about Ed Wade everyday until I die. Regardless, Beltran would fit this team like a glove, because he would fit every team like a glove. But there is a knock on Beltran, and Philadelphians are already burning Abreu in effigy over the same thing, all his production comes early in the games. It's said he becomes to aggressive as the games go on, and he "burns" out past the sixth. At least Bobby would have company on the cross.

Jose Mesa- the best for last. This kinda a joke, well its not kinda, it is. I am so amused about how well he has been doing in Pittsburgh that I like to keep bringing his name up. But in the crazy world of sports, anything can happen. Wagner shut down for the year? Could happen, this is philly after all. Having Worrell as the closer has already produced cracks in the pen, and it already reaks eerily like last year when Cormier was called in to do everything, and ultimately the pen fell apart. Well Cormier is back to being Cormier, and if Wagner does go down we would need someone else. Why Mesa of all people? Because you could probably give Pittsburgh two cheesesteaks in order to acquire him, he means absolutely nothing to them. NOTHING. I'm sure Mesa would wants nothing more than to come back to Philly and play a hand in sending them to the playoffs, what a story that would make. Wade is too scared to bring him back, although there is small logic in it if he keeps it up (and even skeptics would have to acknowledge that if the scenario I mentioned above did indeed happened)...I would actually applaud Wade if he did it. Because any man who has the biggest balls on the East Coast should be applauded.

Alot of this is speculative, but so was Arod going to the Yankees at one point. Each guy would help now, and of course things change. It's early, but Wade is under alot of pressure already, so I thought it would be interesting to throw something up now. When the deadline nears, and the "list" of guys available is known, there will be a much more introspective look at it.

Final Innings: Roberto Hernandez

2004-06-08T00:21:00.000-04:00

I really, truly, honestly belive the Roberto Hernandez era is about to come to a close in Philadelphia. It seems that half the team has jumped back and forth on the DL the last couple of weeks, including Roberto himself, so we have been able to catch alot of AAA guys, and one A guy, in action with the Phils. And guess what, they haven't been awful, which is to say Roberto has been. Last five outings:

5.2 IP, 7 H, 4 BB, 3 K, 8 R

The one thing that has surprised me is that Roberto's walk rate isn't so bad, and considering what it was last year, he is actually doing well getting the ball over. The really really bad news is that apparently his pitches have absolutely nothing left, altough last Wednesday he hit 98mph on the radar (I was at the game) and I hadn't seen him go over, or even under for that matter, 96mph.

But there's alot of things working against Roberto currently: primarily his disastorous pitching, alot of the "young" guys are having good showings, and Ed Wade is being pressured by local media and fans alike to make a move. Releasing Roberto would be a good start, hell if someone was dumb enough to trade for him I will officially absolve myself from any Ed Wade criticism for an entire month. I actually let Ed off pretty easy here, but that's primarily beacause he's not always out and about talking to the media ala Billy Beane and Brian Cashman. Anyhow, when all the guys start coming back from the DL there will be some crucial moves to make, the easiest of them all would to release Roberto.

Roberto has 19 days to beat my prediction, buried at the bottom of this post, and it looks like it will be close.

The Next Madson?

2004-06-07T03:51:00.000-04:00

Is there something in the water over at Scranton this year? First Madson wows us all with twenty odd scoreless innings, Robert Ellis just threw a no hitter, and now there is Geoff Geary. Actually, Hancock being the exception, all the call-ups have pitched extruciatingly well. If Ramirez can learn a ++ pitch, we could have something very good there.

Since being called up he has pitched seven innings, allowed three hits while striking out eight. Of course, Geary didn't get any hype, except transaction blurbs, unlike Madson who had yeilded to some degree of discussion prior to landing his roster spot.

Geary doesn't really have a pitch, like Madson's change, but he certainly has pitched extremely well in his limited opportunites. There's a guy in the pen with the initials R.H. who shouldn't be seing much work, and with Madson most likely to start on Thursday, we should see a little more of what Geary is made of.

I didn't like the decision for Geary to be brought up, I favored others. Make me eat my words Geoff.

Also, Madson will really get to show what he's made of on Thursday. I think he will have a great outing, just a hunch, I say that because the American League has yet to see his change coupled with his fearless pitch selection. Although, just for safety's sake, I would advise throwing that change to Frank Thomas. A fan in the outfield could get seriously injured.

Ellis pitches No Hitter for Red Barons

2004-06-07T03:44:00.000-04:00

Robert Ellis? The same 33-yr old pitcher the Red Barons acquired from the Buffalo Bisons four days ago? Yup, normally no-no's in the minors are a cause for some sort of celebration. I would be overly excited if Hamels and Floyd, or any other young pitcher pitched one, but the excitement lasts only as long as the game was for this one.

This means nothing, except to Ellis, who should be applauded for his seven innings of no-hit ball. I'll bet you he's not on a bus to Philly anytime soon, however. Nor is there any real future for him, so while it was a good outing, it's not one you can get optomistic about. But there's no better way to join a team than to throw a no hitter in your first outing. The stat I am most amazed by? 2 K's, thats it. Whatever, Congratulations.

Irritation setting in

2004-06-07T03:43:00.000-04:00

Ive just gone through everyone's blogs the past week, and I must say the tone has become very aggitated, rightly so. There are no more excuses in June...so let the gloves come off...

The Return of Citizens Report

2004-06-04T13:02:00.000-04:00

I mentioned awhile back I had a lot of things going on, coupled with working 60hrs a week, and sprinkle two weekends away from home and you get a whole lot of no blogging. Everything has calmed down and on Monday morning, normal, and increased blogging will resume. I have typed up a bunch of stuff, I have mentioned this also, but just haven't published yet. That will change on Monday, articles that will be appearing include:

A quick look at the draft

How I plan on bringing Beltran, Kendall, & Mesa to town

Bobby Abreu Super-anaylsis

Another review of the Farm System

A look to see how Ed Wade is leading us down the wrong path

Anderson Machado Revisited

2004-05-26T11:42:00.000-04:00

Q: Snapper Bean from Greater Kensington asks:

What are the Phillies saying about Anderson Machado? He had a bizarre stat line last year with a sub-Mendoza average but .400 OBP.

A: Will Kimmey: He's always been a great defender and has shown the ability to walk. He had a rough year with personal problems that took him out of the country for a week. He goes to Triple-A in 04 with a reworked swing that will emphasize keeping the ball on the ground more to use his speed. He still has a chance as a major league regular, but a utility slot might be more likely at this point unless he really improves his offense.

Bill over at Phillies-Fan recently posted concerning the future of Andy Machado as the replacement for Jimmy Rollins, and possible leadoff hitter in '05. Often I agree with Bill, but this time I will have to go against him on this one. I would, and have, posted a couple or responses to his article but they don't do it justice. The question/answer above was taken from a Baseball America chat in the beginning of the season, and it sums up everything you will see about Machado in this post. Alot of it, is on the basis of second hand accounts, although extremely reliable, c'mon you doubt BA?

Machado, who is 23, was signed out of Venezuela by the Phillies in 1998. Since then, he has hung out in the Phillies farm system with a myraid of success'/failures, spending the better part of the last five years at Reading. Honestly, the only time it's acceptable to spend five years in a town without advancement is when your in college, sucking and extra year's worth of beer bongs.

Much of Machado's value as an offensive player is in his ability to draw walks. Did I say much? I meant to say all, he has to stroke the ball in the minors consistently.

He has a career .337 OBP in the minors (discounting '04) and a career .230 AVG. Career OPS? Try .673, compared to Jimmy Rollins' career .706 OBP in the majors. (By the way, Rollins has played in 41 games so far, on pace for 68 K's, 35 less than last year)

He has accumulated a fair share of doubles in the minors, a fair share as compared to a guy who doesn't bat over .230, but the doubles are almost a result of his good speed and not of any power. Sure, he hit 12 HR! in '02, last year he hit only five, which is what could be expected. Also on a sour note, the Phils dont want him hitting the homeruns as they are working on making him have a more compact swing in order to increase his groundball rate.

K's? And you thought Rollins was bad? He averages slightly less than a K a game over the last two years, how about 539 K's in 614 G. In relation, he has "only" 329 BB's in his career, he'll probably need to double that in order to outweigh the negatives.

Machado does have speed, lots of it, and has shown a tendencacy to run whenever he can with a decent enough success rate. But his value is in his defense where, as you'll see the quotes in a second, is really his value to the team. His high rate of errors has been justified by his huge range and youth, which should all come together with time.

Machado is getting a nice push through the system, but I would rather have Danny Gonzalez up before him. '03 he had an .692 OPS at Clearwater, as compared to Machado's .661 OPS at Clearwater in 2000.

Hitters Park?

2004-05-25T12:11:00.000-04:00

The Hardball Times explores what type of the park CBP is. I'll jump the gun and say it's park factor is a 106, which isn't so bad, and it's still early. My season ending prediction is 102.

The Big Easy

2004-05-25T11:47:00.000-04:00

There is nothing saying that Elizardo Ramirez was ready for the majors when he was called up this weekend, was there? Nickamed "Easy" he was called up from Clearwater at the age of 21 to join the club when yet another injury (this time Padilla's elbow) has stricken the club.

Ramirez has exceptional control and hardly walks anyone 4.1/1 K/BB, but the fact is his stuff is hardly above average. He isn't a strikeout pitcher at all, just simply a pitcher who won't walk anyone. So maybe he is ready for the majors after, but most likely not. He'll be down in Clearwater shortly, hypothetically.

This doesn't say alot for the pitchers in the system, if a kid from Clearwater who is pitching very solid is called up over anyone in AA or AAA. Ok, so they protect Gavin Floyd alot, and they need to. But who else is out there? Condrey was pitching very well in Scranton but has since collapsed, Junge a call-up favorite of the Phils has just begun pitching again and does not start, Alfredo Simon has been pretty bad thus far but seems to have turned the corner. Simply there really isn't an option other than Ramirez that looks better on paper.

The depth of pitching in our system? We don't have any right now, or at least any that Wade would be willing to gamble on.

Cole Hamels

2004-05-25T11:25:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I mentioned that Hamels was getting his first start last night, I was wrong. He had it a couple of days ago, good job on the Clearwater Threshers on not updating thier site. Anyways, three innings, no hits, and six strikeouts.

I'll say it now, Hamels is head and shoulders above Floyd as a pitcher. I wouldn't be to distressed if we traded Floyd actually, I've seen a decent amount of him this year and he doesn't impress me the least bit. On the other hand, Hamels simply takes control of the game and shuts everything down.

Final Innings: Roberto Hernandez

2004-05-24T11:17:00.000-04:00

.....

That was my reaction when Roberto strolled into the game Saturday, nothing. I hadn't even known he was activated. Roberto showed no ill-effect from the injury.

He blew his first game back

1 IP, 0 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 1 K

Managed to get out of the game unscathed on Sunday

1 IP, 1 H, 0 R-ER, 0 BB-K

Does anyone think I'm too harsh on this guy? Because I've been taking it easy. He has the most deceiving 3.60 ERA possibly in the history of baseball. 5 outta 9 of his inherited runners have scored, and thats awful. Also, and more mysterious is that Roberto has been credited with only 6 ER, yet there have been 11 R credited to him. For some guy who has pitched only 15 innings, and has seen 16 R cross the plate, that's astounding.

All those unearned runs make me think two things: he's awful, and even if you don't blame him for all those unearned runs (and how could you not) then why pitch someone who apparently has the worst luck of anyone on this staff.

Phillies Weekly Review

2004-05-24T10:38:00.000-04:00

Everything is coming together for the Phillies, it could only be better if Thome and Wags played. I don't mind giving Thome all the time he needs at this point, they don't need him now, so it's better to err on the side of safety. Utley in my mind was a solid player, and after seeing him last year tended to believe he may struggle a bit more than people anticipated. If a week means anything, I was dead wrong.

Very Big News: Cole Hamels will take the mound in his first start of the season at Clearwater. Let's hope it all goes well.

Pitcher of the Week: Brett Myers. This week is pretty much easy as far as picking who fits where, and with performances like this I don't have to second guess myself. Myers has been pitching dramatically better over his last three to four starts, and hopefully he continues the trend. He finished off the LA sweep with this line: 9.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R-ER, 2 BB, 5 K

Batter of the Week: Chase Utley. Luckily for the Phillies, a rash of injuries may just put off the Utley dilemna another few days. Unfortunately, someone will have to go, and it will be a crying shame if it's Chase. There's alot of potential here, and he's rolling along. The line: 10 for 23, 4 R, 11 RBI, 3 2B, 3 HR, 1 3B, and 1 BB (he needs to get some more walks)

Farm System Pitcher of the Week: Gavin Floyd. Alfredo Simon is a very close second here, he pitched a 5 hit shutout, but there's a difference between five hits and none. Excellent game, I know he works on pitch counts alone, but what would one extra inning hurt? 8.0 IP, 0 H, R-ER, 3 BB, 5 K...they lost.

Farm System Batter of the Week: Javon Moran (Lakewood). As much as I pull for Michael Bourn on this site, there is one guy at Lakewood giving him a run for his money. Moran's another burner drafted last year, apparently they all are, who is playing CF for Lakewood. As good as Bourn has been, Moran has been better; he is only six steals behing Bourns freakish 23 at this point. Lou Collier might also deserve to be here, but I can't bring up the stats for Scranton. The Line: 13 for 29, 8 R, 7 RBI, 3 2B, 1 3B,1 HR, 1 SB, 0 BB!

What the Hell? Phillies Line of the Week: Tim Worrell. Actually, someone else was going to get this, but he get's his own column this week, so Tim is the new owner of the stupidest thing I have seen all week. YOU WALKED ADAM EATON!!!! I can't explain my feelings on this one, but I'm sure we all couldn't believe it when we saw it. Just throw the damn ball down the middle Tim.

Lookin' Better?

2004-05-24T10:25:00.000-04:00

Is anyone else just speechless about last night's Soprano's as I am? What an episdoe, the best show on the TV.

Anyway, a week ago I posted something short about how the numbers for the Phils' lineup was exactly enticing, but noted they were playing better. That was a little over ten days ago, and things have changed. This is just a simple rundown of the lineup, as if you couldn't find the AVG/OBP/OPS stats yourself. The point being made is that things really are looking good. I dump Thome in there this time.

Byrd .242/ .326/ .340

Rollins .242/ .302/ .331

Abreu .302/ .422/ .604

Thome .318/ .416/ .644

Burrell .324/ .416/ .559

Bell .280/ .360/ .462

Liberthal .239/ .306/ .418

Utley .304/ .319/ .696

Byrd and Lieberthal have yet to really get on track, neither made improvements over the last two weeks, which doesn't mean much for their future performance. Yet to be seen what Bowa will do with Chase once Polanco comes back, but I would leave him there until he slumps and then put Polanco back in, at the very least.

Phils

2004-05-23T11:29:00.000-04:00

This site will officially begin posting again tomorrow. I have alot of stuff this week to put out because of the delays, and the publishing will begin early Monday morning.

Phillies Weekly Preview Pt. 1

2004-05-19T15:07:00.000-04:00

This is the Phillies portion of the whole deal, I wanted to put something out there so everyone knows I'm still alive. Digging through the minors takes a little while, and that will be posted within an hour or two, so this will be revised. Also, this is an update of games Mon-Sun, not including the last two games.

Pitcher of the Week: Ryan Madson. The starters this week weren't too spectacular, and they really didn't have to be with the way the offense has been going, so it was a tug of war between Madson and Worrell. I dump here it on Madson because he hasn't shown any signs of slowing down out on the mound, you have to wonder how effective he would be as a starter. The Line: 4.2 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K.

Batter of the Week: Bobby Abreu. Monster week, and the middle of the lineup is starting to turn into what we have all been waiting for for two years. Actually, that's not right, almost the entire lineup is what we have been waiting for...Bell and Burrell have returned, and Rollins is starting to just hit the ball; paging Mr. Byrd. The Line: 9 for 19, 10 R, 9 RBI, 5 BB, 4 SB, 3 HR, 2 2B.

Sorry

2004-05-18T11:54:00.000-04:00

I've had some personal things come up as of late, so that is why posting is stopped. I will be back tomorrow.

Road Trip

2004-05-14T01:56:00.000-04:00

No, I'm not talking about the one the Phils are currently on, I'm referencing one I will be on this weekend. I'm headed to Baltimore, and I will catch a game at Camden Yards. Embarissingly enough, this is my first game I will attend there. Not only do I live a scant two hours from one of the jewels of baseball, I went to college in DC up until last year...ah a good 4.5 years it was. And I never have gone.

I have a good number of friends who have relocated there since college that I will be visiting, who live five blocks away from the stadium. It's pretty bad I haven't visited them for a year, nonetheless not catching a game. Anyways, I'm excited at the venture. Really, I have been to only one out of town park, Yankee Stadium. This year I will hit Camden Yards and in June, Shea. There's an outside chance I will make it to a Cubs or White Sox game too, the Eagles will be playing in Chicago in October and I was planning to go. That has yet to be determined.

Anyways, good luck to the Phils, and please check out all the other Phils related blogs that I have linked to the side if you don't already(if I have forgotten you, let me hear about it, please). Only a few months ago the Phils had little, to nothing, to offer on the WEB, and now I have to believe we have one of the better blogging communities offered. That is really an testament of the good work people like Bill, Mark, Tom, Yuda, Eric, Mike, and everyone putting up their own blogs. I most likely would have not started this blog if all those guys had their blogs up and running around Christmas, I'm not a writer (could you tell yet?), just a fan who thought the Phils needed some kind of voice.

I initally believed I would be writing to thin air for the existence of this blog, and I didn't care. So thanks to everyone who checks this thing out as well, and making it that much more enjoyable to know someone is at least the slight bit interested. Have a good weekend.

Milton vs. Kennedy

2004-05-14T01:21:00.000-04:00

Milton (3-0, 4.36) struggled against the D'backs in his two starts, let's hope things get turned around at Coors. Once again, there is essentially nothing to predict a performance on here. So far, he has pitched 33 innings, and we have recieved exactly what we can expect from Milton. If you project his numbers to 200 IP, the only thing out of line would be his walks by only 10 or so, so this is it, this is what we should expect. Everything else is pretty much exactly what he has pitched in Minnesota for five years prior to his injury. Is this worth $9 million, Nick Punto, and Carlos Silva? No, but it sure as hell looks good that your a willing to acquire a pitcher earning that much just sure up your starting five, but it could have come alot cheaper; Madson and Telemaco are the two obvious who probably wouldn't bring the K's like Milton, but more or less could probably pitch as well for about $8 million cheaper. Hell, there's alot more cheaper pitchers in the league at very low costs who would have been just as effective. It's not Milton's fault he makes this money, more power to him, especially coming from the Twins. It's just Wade's fault, for not looking outside the box for once, and keeping with his recent strategy of picking up salary dumps. Milton vs. Johnson, Castilla, Greene, and Clayton in 43 at-bats: .186/ .217/ .279

Joe Kennedy (4-0, 2.40) had long been a favorite of mine in Tampa Bay, then suddenly wasn't. Mainly, trying to get your career on track in Colorado really isn't the way to go, but he didn't have much of a choice. His numbers aren't deceiving, he has pitched four times at Coors, and has only let up 6 runs. He throws an ok fastball, if I'm remember correctly, but a devasting curveball that deserted him apparently last year. Pitches like those aren't going to stop the ball from flying out of Coors, but then again no pitcher has been able to master the place. I'll be surprised if his ERA is under 4.00 by July, and if it is, he's pitching better than that, and that's scary. Not much to look at against the Phillies coming from the AL, but there are some numbers; Rollins is 4 for 8. Versus the Fightin's: .274/ .343/ .387 in 62 AB's.

I Love This...

2004-05-13T11:02:00.000-04:00

It is 11:03 in the morning, and Reading is beating Harrisburg 2-1. It's not noon yet, and they are in the fifth inning.

I think this idea is great, the third annual morning game, which starts at 9:35 AM. I think they should do this at CBP, with the right type of advertising you could have one of the more wildest crowds there. Go Reading.

Lookin Good?

2004-05-13T02:42:00.000-04:00

The Phillies have been playing much better of late, but if you look at the lineup without Thome, things look pretty bleak. And everyone's numbers have been going up for the most part the last two weeks so they don't really play much justice to the present situation, but still they look bad.

Byrd .231/ .325/ .341

Rollins .218/ .275/ .300

Abreu .243/ .355/ .522

Burrell .292/ .402/ .481

Bell .262/ .336/ .439

Lieberthal .238/ .300/ .396

Utley .333/ .444/ .333

Wooten .216/ .318/ .316

OPS

1. .666 hmmmm

2. .575

3. .877

4. .883

5. .775

6. .696

7. .777

8. .634

Positive thought of the day: David Bell has been playing nicely, it is very surprising, and I may begin to think about taking back all the bad things I have said about him.

We own Barry Bonds: 1 for 7, 5 K's.

Padilla vs. Rueter

2004-05-13T02:21:00.000-04:00

Thank God for our pitching, our lineup is getting uglier by the day. If Burrell goes down, so does the ship. Padilla (1-4, 3.86) is 1-1, 3.21 against the Giants in his last three starts, but the chips looked stacked against him in picking up another win. If Thome doesn't play tomorrow, expect some weird lineup, I think it will be like the 20th of the young season. Maybe Utley at first? Who knows. Bowa blows my mind sometimes, and I am trying to look on the brighter side of things this week, which is why you wont see many editorials, I am having a hard time doing it. Anyway, back to Padilla, who has been ransacked by everyone in the Giants lineup except for the greatest living baseball, at least who is "only" 2 for 9 off him. Giants vs. Padilla: .394/ .444/ .662 in 71 at-bats. Beware Alfonso: 7 for 18 with 2 HR.

Kirk Rueter (1-3, 5.54) has been down his luck in the crafty department this year. I kinda check out Rueter from time to time, I have a thing for pitchers who lack a good fastball and hit thier spots. Kirk has been pretty damn bad this year, with the exception of his last start which was vintage Rueter (8 IP, 3 H, O R, 4 K). Other than that he has taken a big beating by not making out of the fifth in three of his seven starts. Millwood, Myers, and Wolf hit the best of him, 5 for 10. But I have a feeling you won't be seeing them, other than that the Phils have mediocre success against him.

Byrd has never faced him

Rollins 1/5

Abreu 5/18

Burrell 3/8 with 2 HR

Bell (?) 6/13 and if playable Thome who has never faced him

Lieberthal 6/22

Utley has never faced him

Wooten 2/2 and Perez is 1/2

Wolf vs. Schmidt

2004-05-12T16:14:00.000-04:00

Wolf (2-2, 2.77) again takes this mound, this time against the Giants. He has had three starts against the Giants and holds a 2-1, 3.32 record against them. The Phils have won four straight, the offense seems to have come to life, and we finally have Chase Utley on the team, but being a Phillies blogger I will come up with something to complain about in the immediate four days. Of course Bill Conlin just put out another piece, that's always something. I don't think there will be much to complain about tonight, Marquis Grissom (7 for 18) has had success against Wolf, but no one else has. Bonds has a long history of murdering the Phillies, but now this is two pitcher's on this staff he has had little success, hitting Wolf only twice in eleven at-bats while striking out eight times. Giants vs. Wolf: .227/ .327/ .474 in 97 at-bats.

Jason Schmidt (2-2, 3.90) has pitched extremely will since his first outing which was a lost cause in itself. He has a excellent fastball with a very good slider which he has used to shut down the opposition the last three years. Schmidt, 31, seems ready to take the next step up and be one of the top five pitchers in the NL. That said in the last three years he is 0-1, 8.31 in two starts, both ending after four innings. Doug Glanville (who oddly enough shows up alot in these write ups) is 7 for 16, while Bobby Abreu is 6 for 15 against Schmidt to lead the Phils. Collectively: .353/ .402/ .494

Last night's game I predicted the score to be 9-4, not bad huh? Well here's my last prediction for May..Phils 6-2. I'm 2-2 with predictions this year, picking the score only once.

Phillies Top Ten Seasons: Second Base

2004-05-11T12:26:00.001-04:00

I went through the seasons and picked eleven, eleven!, seaons which were better than average from a second baseman in the history of Phillies baseball. Well, all I had to do was elminate one person, so as you can expect this list will be pretty lackluster.

The Phillies have had three HOF'ers play second for them, and none of them built their HOF career with the Phils. Nap LaJoie played for the Phils for five years, until 1900, where cross-town rival Connie Mack signed him. In 1959, the second HOF'er at second appeared in the organization, to play his only year of baseball: Sparky Anderson. Sparky was 25, only played that year with the Phils, and finished with a .218/ .282/ .249 line. Finally, in 1983, Joe Morgan graced us with his presence at the age of 39, and also only played one year with the Fightins', .230/ .370/ .403.

Almost everyone should be able to name the person who will appear the most on this list off the top of their head. I knew who it would be before I began this list, I was just amazed how noone even came close to him.

10. Frank Parkinson, 1922

Frank only played four years of baseball, this being his only full season. Link to his his name and note one of his similar batters: Tomas Perez.

.275/ .344/ .413 with 86 R, 18 2B, 6 3B, 15 HR, 70 RBI, 3 SB, and 55 BB in 545 AB (141 G)

9. Cotton Tierney, 1923

Acquired from Pittsurgh, Cotton replaced Parkinson at second and was an improvement. Following this season he left for Boston never to return. He only had two good years at the plate, this one is the lesser.

.312/ .343/ .447 with 90 R, 36 2B, 3 3B, 13 HR, 88 RBI, 5 SB, and 26 BB in 600 AB(150 G)

8. Nap Lajoie, 1900

I guess you can slide Nap wherever you want, upon your feelings of baseball at the turn of the 20th Century. I don't think too highly of it, so I normally won't rank them high. Nap left following this year, he would play 15 more finishing with a career .338/ .380/ .467.

.337/ .362/ .510 with 95 R, 33 2B, 12 3B, 7 HR, 92 RBI, 22 SB and 10 BB in 451 AB (102 G)

7. Placido Polanco, 2003

Too bad he missed forty games, or his numbers would have looked real good on paper. He probably would have 100 R and close to 100 RBI's too. A consistent hitter his entire career.

.289/ .352/ .447 with 87 R, 30 2B, 3 3B, 14 HR, 63 RBI, 14 SB, and 42 BB in 492 AB (122 G)

6. Granny Hamner, 1954

Granny played for the Phils for 15 years, ending it at the age of 32. The Phillies really wanted this marriage to work, but in the end it was Hamner who rarely posted any numbers worth getting excited about, actually these were the only ones.

.299/ .351/ .466 with 83 R, 39 2B, 11 3B, 13 HR, 89 RBI, 1 SB, and 53 BB in 596 AB (152 G)

5. Juan Samuel, 1985

For four years Juan Samuel had made a case for the HOF, and was on his way to being the best second baseman that ever lived. At age 26, however, Samuel came back to planet earth and returned to normalcy.

.264/ .303/ .436 with 101 R, 31 2B, 13 3B, 19 HR, 74 RBI, 53 SB, and 33 BB in 663 AB (161 G)

4. Dave Cash, 1975

If there wasn't Samuel, who would have the best season? Cash lands at number four, even though his numbers probably don't matchup so well against Samuel's.

.305/ .356/ .388 with 111 R, 40 2B, 3 3B, 4 HR, 57 RBI, 13 SB, and 56 BB in 699 AB (162 G)

3. Juan Samuel, 1986

If he could only take a walk.

.266/ .302/ .448 with 90 R, 36 2B, 12 3B, 16 HR, 78 RBI, 42 SB, and 26 BB in 591 AB (145 G)

2. Juan Samuel, 1984

All the triples boggle my mind. This is Juan's first full year.

.272/ .307/ .436 with 105 R, 36 2B, 19 3B, 15 HR, 69 RBI, 72 SB, and 28 BB in 701 AB (160 G)

1. Juan Samuel, 1987

The numbers on this list would be bleak by any standards without Samuel's. His best year, the decline would follow immenently.

.272/ .335/ .502 with 113 R, 37 2B, 15 3B, 28 HR, 100 RBI, 35 SB, and 60 BB in 655 AB (160 G)

Gavin Floyd

2004-05-11T01:44:00.000-04:00

Baseball America feature's him, or rather his sense of humor, in thier Daily Dish.

Sunday they played the Reading game on one of the Comcast channels, and I got to see Floyd pitch. Overall, I wasn't too impressed. I have long said that Floyd seems to me to be out of Hamels' league in terms of readiness, and I guess his outing supported it. It wasn't a bad outing, mind you, just the fastballs searing everywhere around the plate and the limited use of his very good curve bugged me. He wasn't blowing guys over like I had hoped, and never really looked in control of the outing.

He is still a very good pitcher, but I would really like, and I mean really really really like his strikeout rate to increase. For some reason I can't access the Reading Phils website, so I can't give you the exact numbers.

Millwood vs. Bonds and a pitcher named Williams

2004-05-11T01:30:00.000-04:00

I'll give the Phillies credit for starting the whole Bonds walk-a-thon back in '93. I remember distinctly Fergosi walking him at every opportunity, and at the All-Star game Bonds made a funny remark about how he was happy to have Fergosi in the dugout, at least he knew he wouldn't be walked. Apparently, there are 30 Fergosi clones in the majors, and Bowa would be wise to follow along giving Bonds free passes (it is free pass week after all!) all the way past 200 walks.

Mr. Millwood (3-2, 3.46) takes his arm on the road against Bonds and eight other guys. Let's just get it out of the way first, Bonds is 3 for 13 with one moonshot against Millwood. Hell with numbers like those I wouldn't mind pitching him four straight balls. Against the rest of the Giants Millwood is lights out, put it this way, Nefi Perez hits him the best. Oh joy, I see another win. Millwood vs. Giants:.171/.214/.304 in 158 at-bats.

Jerome Williams (3-1, 3.66)has had a mixture of good/bad outings, but they are leaning toward the good over his last three starts. He is 0-1, 11.25 against the Phils, where they chased him out of the game in four innings. He had a very good rookie year last year, obviously overshadwed by his teamate as well as Willis & Webb. He doesn't throw hard, but is able to throw a multitude of pitches. Four innings isn't really something you can base a game on, but I will, Phils 9-4. The line: .267/ .450/ .267 in woefully small 15 at-bats.

Phillies Weekly Review

2004-05-11T00:28:00.001-04:00

After watching Sopranos Sunday, I was inspired to take the Janice Soprano view of things for this week on Citizens Report, and tone down the criticisms and look at the bright side. Hopefully the Phils won't ruin it at the dinner table for me. So this weekly review, players will get some free passes.

Pitcher of the Week: Brett Myers. Forget everything we have seen from him before Sunday, because it was Sunday alone that lands him here this week. This was a start that he needed to have, especially with Ryan Madson breathing down his neck from the bullpen. He had two starts this week, one bad and one good. Myers is this week's first winner of a free pass. Another good to solid performance this week, and hopefully we can let the past be history and move on with ourselves. The Line, his free pass allows us to forget one of his starts: 7 IP, 7 H, 1 R-ER, 0 BB, 5 K.

Batter of the Week: Mike Lieberthal. Normally his free pass would allow him not earn the dubious honor of the week, but he really was the best hitter in the lineup this week. He, like Myers, needed to play well, even though no one is remotely near breathing down the back of his neck. We have no other options, so Lieberthal batting .270 is a near must. He took a step in the right direction. It's not a monster line at all, just a week that says "I can still hit". The line: 9 for 20, 3 R, 1 BB.

Farm System Pitcher of the Week: Brian Powell, Reading. What's this guy's deal, anyone know? He has been pitching lights out all year, and he continued with two good starts this week, one a winner and one a loser. I joked about naming this after Floyd, maybe it needs to be named after Powell. I will begin to lobby for his call-up in the immediate future. The line: 14 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 10 K

Farm System Batter of the Week: Mark Budzinski, Reading. There were a couple of guys this week who were in the running, but Mark had a good week. One day he went 5 for 5, and another he had two hits, those two hits were the only thing saving them from being no-hit. The Line: 10 for 25, 4 R, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB

What the Hell? Phillies Line of the Week: The Visitor Bullpen. I said I was going to be all rosy this week, so I didn't want to ruin it by putting a player here. When I went to Wednesday's game I noticed that they already block off the side of the visitor bullpen to fans. This includes part of the plaques of the Phillies greatest players, still waiting to get my pitcher with me and Dick Allen's. I guess traffic can flow before the game, but seemingly not during or after. So already we have one of the unique parts of the stadium already blocked off. I figure it won't be long before you can't stand over the bullpen either. What a shame.

The Utley Situation, amongst others

2004-05-10T02:10:00.000-04:00

Damn, I wrote this really long post about Utley/Perez at second, then scratched it. The short of it is this:

Perez or Utley? I don't see a need to force Utley into the lineup just because he is Chase Utley. I mean who is Chase Utley? He's not Alexis Rios, Joe Mauer, Richie Weeks, or John Maine, prospects who need to be pushed into the starting lineup to see what they can do. He's just the best option to second base we have in the organization, he's good, but he's not supposed to be a top teir guy who the organization is depending on.

What were Perez's and Utley's OPS last year? If you know off-hand your a better man than I, for sure. I looked it up, they were the same: .699. The same? Yup, I was hoping a little more from Utley actually, I have my reserves about marching Perez out there at second base everyday.

Surely, Utley will improve on that, and you can count on it from Perez too, he posted his lowest OPS in the last three years. So the question still is, who should be out there.

We all pretty much know what we will get from Perez, and it's decent, if unspectacular baseball. Utley, however, has more potential then Perez, and it's a safe bet he will have a starting position with the Phils within two years, if not next year.

Then again, Perez has played quite well the last two games (it's only two games) so I don't see a need to put Utley in there right away. I'd play Perez out for the time being, assuming he doesn't fall on his ass, with Utley getting the start against a couple of righties. That's just me, and this really is a shortened version of my original post. Hopefully, when Utley does play he outplays Perez. If Utley looks horrible in the next two weeks I will begin to have my doubts about his effectiveness.

I don't think either one of them can play worse than Polanco has been lately, but I also don't think either one of them will make it hard for Polanco to regain his starting job coming off the DL. And if either one of them was to do that, please let it be Utley.

Once again, alot of overtime, I'll be back tomorrow night with some other stuff, and probably a better thought out idea of what I quickly typed up here. It's late and a I have work in five hours, I just wanted to throw down a rant real fast. Good night by Myers, Byrd & Rollins (a new 1,2?, nah), and Perez. After the first six games, 1-5, since 14-9. Things really haven't been that bad, but you probably wouldn't know that from reading this blog. So in honor of Janice Soprano, this week on The Citizens Report will be dubbed, "The Brighter Side of Things Week". Hopefully, the Phils don't ruin it for me at the dinner table, if ya know what I mean.

He's here...

2004-05-09T01:25:00.000-04:00

Chase Utley has arrived, albeit under ominous circumstances. Polanco is headed for the DL, and Utley has been called up expecting to take the 2B position until his return, so far he is 0-1. If Utely plays really well we can probably expect some whacky roster move to accomadate him, this is not how we all envisioned this.

.500 how sweet it is

Madson's stretch of 20 IP without a run ended tonight, in part by a shaky inning by Madson, and finished off by Worrell's ability to allow everyinherited runner to score.

Anderson Machado was promoted to AAA Scranton/WB from Clearwater, having recently arrive off the DL. His 28 at-bats produced a .227 AVG, which is hitting well, for him. Went 0-3 in his first start.

Welcome back Mike Lieberthal and David Bell.

Tom from Shallow Center shakes down the Phillies slow starting offense.

Taking off for the Weekend

2004-05-07T01:27:00.000-04:00

I TiVo'd today's game, but have yet to watch it. I'll be busy until at least Saturday, so don't check out the site for anything original. I'll just reference all Phils/D'back blogs if they have anything to say.

3-0

2004-05-06T03:42:00.000-04:00

That's my record while in attendence.

Also the number of homeruns David Bell has hit when I am in attendence, as opposed to when I'm not. So if not the Phils, can at least Bell throw me free tiks until we see how this plays out, it could be worth it.

I love CBP, the Cit, or Scotland Yard, whatever you tend to call it. By the way, Scotland Yard is my personal favorite, and there hasn't been a favored nickname as of yet; what I do hear people referring to it is the "new park" and The Vet, only to go into deeper detail as if you didn't know what they were talking about. I think Citizens Financial isn't too happy about it either.

Ah, the point I wanted to make, before I got into the "name calling", was that my game ritual has been pretty much ironed out: Head to McFadden's (in-stadium) about three hours beforehand for a beer and fries, head into the stadium once it opens for some BP, then head to McFadden's (Callowhill) post-game. This is what I call a pointless comment, but it's my blog and I can make it.

Thank you, Marlon Byrd. Tonight's game should stall Glanville's takeover of CF, which Hernandez also offset by heading to the DL. His homerun dropped about ten seats away from me, thank God, I couldn't find the ball in flight and would have gotten smacked by it otherwise. I have glasses, and just don't wear them, that was one of those rare times that I lost the ball at a game and almost paid for it.

Bulls BBQ is easily my favorite place to eat. I only go after the sixth inning when there's no line and try to grab a pork sandwhich and some ribs, I hold off and am usually starving by this point. Tonight there was no pork (rumor has it that this happens often), so I settled for a beef sandwich and some ribs. The ribs were much more tender than last game, where I had to give a good tug to seperate them, but I didn't enjoy the beef at all. The pork has been excellent.

Lieberthal coming alive? Let's hope so.

Why in God's name did Millwood bat in the 7th if Bowa was only going to yank him on the slightest bit of trouble? He should have hitted for him. And Pujols getting a double isn't really a concern, I hear that guy can hit the ball just a little bit. Classic Bowa blunder if you ask me, he isn't sure of what to do, than hangs with it until it becomes too obvious. It reminded me very much of pinch running for Bell after he reached third on a sacrafice.

I also wasn't very far, about ten rows, away from the dude who jumped on the field. It was incredibally stupid, only because the ball was in play. The guy literally ran right by Burrell as he was running back for the ball, and his throw into second almost hit him. Is this a ground rule double? What happens if the guy, upon noticing the ball coming right for him, tried his hand at fielding? I'm sure if he distracted Burrell enough for him to miss the ball (Burrell had no clue by the way, but was giving the crowd a good lookover afterwards) about ten people would have jumped on the field to beat him down. The reason I say it was incredibally stupid because the ball was in play, is because most of the running on the field occurs during the middle of innings, where it's only stupid. Next time, Bill, wait for the seventh inning stretch or something to do that again:)

It may be too early to tell, but the last time I remember Wagner hitting 100mph was the first homestand, where he had only one prior appearence. Wear and tear, or just luck of the draw?

Wolf vs. Suppan

2004-05-06T03:28:00.000-04:00

Randy Wolf (2-1, 2.78) tries to extend his scorless streak today, and if he manages seven or so scorless innings I think everyone should get ready for a historic run. But it seems pretty improbable at this point, he pretty much as to double his efforts as of now, and if pitchers like Pedro, Johnson, Brown, and Clemens can't do it we shouldn't get so worked up as of now. All that B.S. aside, this is the team Wolf can bring it up to 30+ innings if he has control, the Cards just can't hit him. Their best are Rolen (2-4) and Woody Williams (2-4), and I don't think the Woodster is going to pinch hitting anytime soon. Here they are agaisnt the Pack: .162/ .219/ 267

Jeff Suppan (2-3, 3.58) comes rolling into town, or was he already there, with his 1-0, 4.50 record against the Phils. His first start of the season wasn't that good, but since then he has been great. His allowed four earned runs over 23+ innings, so he makes an excellent matchup for the Wolf Pack's icon. Thome hits him well (10-37), as he hits every Cardinal pitcher well, and, wow, David Bell hits him very well (7-17), his first mention in a matchup writeup. Everyone else in the lineup has only faced him about seven times with one or two hits, take that as you will. Suppan vs. Phils: .295/ .360/ .482.

Conlin is back...

2004-05-05T01:59:00.000-04:00

While I am sitting here waiting for the Phils website to be updated with Roberto Hernandez's condition (it's a major event for this blogger), I remembered seeing Conlin on SportsNet tonite. I have no idea if he has been appearing on the show during his haitus from writing, but the first words out of his mouth made me cringe (as usual): "(Rolen) is the greatest third baseman to play the game..."

We know what city Bill's from, so we need not mention who he obviously is comparing him to, he cited his defense as his edge over "him" if his numbers hold up for a few more seasons. Instantly I was reminded of two things I haven't really thought of for awhile: I hate Bill Conlin and I hate Scott Rolen.

Yesterday he wrote an article, you can see it here. It really blows my mind he made this comment after spending time, apparently, with the man most regarded as the greatest third baseman of all time.

Final Innings: Roberto Hernandez? (Special Report)

2004-05-05T01:35:00.000-04:00

It's 1:36 AM and the Phillies site has the posting "Hernandez placed on DL", but it goes over the game notes (since changed). If you check out the discussion section of one of my more recent posts, you'll see me and Bill Liming call for Roberto to head for the DL to stop Byrd or Michaels from being sent down. Our prayers have been answered apparently. I'll update this as soon as more information is provided.

Can't wait to see who our new bullpen mate is...

2:26 AM, patience finally pays off. Roberto is headed for the 15 Day DL, not the realeased from the team DL like I hoped, and his replacement will be Jim Crowell. My guess is Ed Wade just picked the guy with the lowest ERA at Scranton. Crowell has been pitching nicely, and he fits Hernandez's role of an inning a game, or as I like to call it the "WTF, not again inning". Can't find much on the type of pitch Crowell is, but I'm sure we will all find out very soon.

Phillies bloggers everywhere, including me, should be dissapointed because if Michaels, or Byrd, were to be sent down, we would have at least two weeks worth of hate material directed towards Wade. Now all we can say is that it worked out, Hernandez is gone (temporarily), and someone else gets a shot. Personally, I have just started baking a cake and blowing up balloons for Roberto's return.

A bad trend

2004-05-05T01:34:00.000-04:00

I think Brett needs two more starts before you can pull the plug on him for awhile and give Madson a try. Of course, I tend to favor letting him ride it out awhile, but I don't want the Phils to fall behind to far in the early going, before the expected round of injuries (which are starting to appear) that afflict a team occur. This is short and sweet, Myers by month over the past year, maybe I should have seen this coming:

Month	IP	Hits	BB	K	AVG	W-L	ERA
April '03	32.2	28	12	31	.228	2-2	2.20
May '03	33.0	21	14	21	.183	2-2	3.55
June '03	36.1	37	13	18	.257	3-2	4.95
July '03	37.0	44	5	33	.297	3-0	3.65
August '03	28.0	41	16	19	.345	2-1	6.11
Sept '03	26.0	34	16	21	.324	2-2	6.92
Spring Training '04	23.2	37	5	14	---	1-5	8.75
April '04	14.2	25	4	10	.379	0-1	7.36

ESPN.com loves the Phils!

2004-05-05T00:50:00.000-04:00

At least by throwing two good articles our way. We should get a good share of coverage this year by ESPN, mostly by Jayson Stark (a Philly boy) and the rest mostly bashing Bowa, so it was nice to see two pieces that were devoid of Bowa and/or team related issues.

Mr. Stark analyzes the effect Billy Wagner has had on the local crowd this year with his 100mph+ fastballs as opposed to his sub-100 mph fastballs. What is a Stark/Phillies column without the useful insight (and maybe the only thing useful he provides) of Doug Glanville. To me, Doug is relatively funny, and the idea's he comes up with are almost always intelligent and original; he pares in comparison to Yoggisms (I think that's what they are called) sort of how he pares in comparison to the average CF. But it doesn't stop him from being quoted and played, so he has to be doing something right.

Also, on the grey box to the side of the article you will notice how not funny Juan Pierre is, he had a good opportunity to land a quote concerning leaning into one of Wagner's pitches this year, but he stuck to the usual "blah blah blah" answer. I thought someone who wears his hat the way he does would have to have a great sense of humor, I guess it just doesn't show up in the press.

The second article is from John Sickles who gives his scouting report of Gavin Floyd. Obviously, Sickles has been impressed with Floyd's work this year, who notes that maybe Floyd's projected debut of 2006 may be pushed up. I hope so, the way Myers is pitching recently, there may be up to three openings in the starting rotation next year. Floyd had another start, easily his worst by far: 5 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K.

Millwood vs. Williams

2004-05-05T00:19:00.000-04:00

Kevin Millwood (2-2, 3.38) shut down St. Louis for the most part last week, and he still didn't win. Seven strong innings which allowed only one run, but hopes of a Phils win were dashed by the bullpen in a 5-4 loss. We saw another bad outing by Myers, and we'll probably see another strong outing by Millwood, or at least I hope so. Renteria (12 for 27) hits Millwood very well, but the amusing thing is that the next two best hitters versus Millwood are Rolen and Marlon Anderson who are a combined 26 for 80 with 9 2B and 7BB. An added edge for Millwood is that the Phils are undefeated when I am present at CBP in the regular season, 2-0 with a rainout. Cards vs. Millwood: .255/ .303/ .410.

Woody Williams (0-2, 6.00) is the Cardinals' version of Brett Myers this season, although his last two starts haven't been too bad. But guess what, the Phillies have rocked Williams in his last two starts (0-2, 11.00) and the current lineup posts excellent numbers as well. Whats that smell in the air? I think it just may be another Glanville start, and he may deserve it because of his splits against Williams (by posting these, it seems to me Glanville is getting starts over Byrd when he has "decent to good" split versus pitchers coupled with Byrd having never faced the pithcer, does Bowa think that much or just coincedence). Here comes some good numbers, and I think I am going 3-0 (If I do, the Phils should drop me off free tiks until my percentage drops below .750). Phils vs. Williams: .363/ .438/ .673! in 113 at-bats. Projecting a lineup nowadays is akin to projecting Jessica Simpsons' thought process, but I'll give it a try.

Byrd has never faced him, but our boy Glanville has...8/18 1 HR

Polanco 1/3

Abreu 8/19 1 HR

Thome 4/13 3 HR

Burrell 4/11 1 HR

Lieberthal 7/12 1 HR

Bell 2/14

Rollins 3/6

Additionally, Phat Albert Pujols may be the greatest 24 yr old to ever play the game (and that line has been used alot), or he could just be one of the greatest 26, 27, 28? yr old to ever play the game, depending on who you ask. He may be older, and the Cards may know about it and not telling anyone...hell, noone knew Soriano's real age until he was traded, after all.

Final Innings: Roberto Hernandez

2004-05-04T02:18:00.000-04:00

Not a good week for our man....Normally, I would wait until he at least makes a third appearence. He has a calf strain or something, so I would be surprised if makes many appearences the next week, and I needed some quick filler since I will be working overtime again and won't be able to post during the day. I write Roberto's post's as he appears, so it was pretty much prewritten.

The Phillies were winning 2-1 in the 8th inning, with two outs, and Rheal Cormier just intentionally walked Scott Rolen to load the bases. Reggie Sanders would pinch-hit for Colin Porter, and Bowa would bring in Hernandez, which would result in instant disastor. Reggie cleared the bases with a triple. Phils lose 5-4 in thirteen innings.

.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R-ER, 3 IHR, 1 K

Against the D'backs Roberto came in during a 6th inning that Milton would like to forget, and he recorded the third out with no problem. Following that inning the Phils were trailing 4-3. The seventh inning was a problem, however, and Roberto was right in the middle of it, another disaster. In the end, Phils lose 6-4.

1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R-ER, 2 BB, 2 K, he also picked up his first wild pitch of the year

Save yourself buddy, go on the DL

Myers vs. Carpenter

2004-05-04T02:17:00.000-04:00

Brett Myers (0-1, 7.36) gives it another go against the Cardinals today. Last week he allowed three runs on eight hits, in only four innings of work. If Myers has two more starts like the one's he been posting lately, he may be looking at a trip down to AAA to have things looked at while Madson gets a few starts. The Cardinals aren't exactly the team you want to play when your trying to find your groove, but right now Myers doesn't have that choice. He is throwing strikes, but hitters are just getting around on him, so most likely we are seeing a mechanics flaw that Kerrigan hasn't found yet. Against the Cards: .348/ .450/ .515...I'd like to say he can turn around tonight, but I don't see any reason he will.

Carpenter (1-1, 4.50) was in a similar situation to that of Myers last week when he ultimately shut down the Phillies. Carpenter has now had two really strong outings in a row and looks to extend that streak to three. In those two games he has pitched 6 and 7 innings respectively, in neither of those two starts has he reached 90 pitches. He's not overused, playing well, and the Phils don't hit him well; I have a feeling the Phils win this one, but everything else says it's gonna be something like 7-4 Cards. Phils vs. Carpenter: .253/ .351/ .384 in 99 at-bats where no one hits Carpenter extremely well.

Extra Reliever?

2004-05-03T12:43:00.000-04:00

With all the extended inning games lately, the Phils are mulling the possibility of bringing up a reliever to spell the bullpen for a week or two. This immediately presents two questions: Who are they going to bring up?, and who are they going to send down?

This means the Chase Utley fan club will have to go into remission for awhile, and all the Glanville haters may as well start a riot because he may even get more playing time following this move. First, I will look at who the Phils may be considering, and who I believe should, be brought up as the extra reliever.

First glance around Scranton's pitching staff shows many viable canidates, but you really have to start with David Coggin. Not because Coggin is the best pitcher at Scranton, he's not, but because he was competing for a bullpen job earlier this spring. He most likely would have landed it had their not been a decision to bring on a sixth bench player, or a surprising, and so far correct, move to have Madson on the team. Coggin (1-1, 4.76) has been starting for Scranton, where he has gotten better over his last two starts.

There's also Brian Powell (3-0, 1.78)who has gotten a lot of pub on this site, and I would like to see him get a shot, considering he is not part of the future (31 yrs.). Also, some other considerations would be Clay Condrey (2-1, 1.23) and Josh Hancock (3-2, 2.70), they are two other pitches with good K/BB ratios who have been getting their work in, although they are younger (28 & 26 respectively) and somehow that probably won't work in their favor with Bowa. Another guy I would have liked is Eric Junge, who has pitched well in his call-ups but he is currently on the DL. There are a couple of other guys who could be considered at this point, but without the work.

The Phils will probably bring up David Coggin, and I don't see anything terribly wrong with that, but I am hoping for Condrey. All of them are righties, there really isn't much going in the lefty department at Scranton, and any call-ups from Reading would surprise me. Regardless of who they bring up, they are presented with a great opportunity here. I've been predicting the demise of Roberto Hernandez, and one or two relievers will most likely go down with injuries this year, so it's important for the call-up to pitch well if he wants to stick around for the remainder of the year, or to be called up at a later point.

Of course one person to watch out for is Ed Yarnell, recently acquired from the Red Sox, he would be the worst they could do. He's not expected to provide anything but as a roster filler in Scranton, but Wade never ceases to surprise me. Although I'm confident Arbuckle has a lot more to do with the decision making here, and I believe their call-ups over the last couple of years haven't been so bad.

Now we get to the portion of the debate which is actually an old debate for many of us. Who to get rid of off the bench? Ah, Doug Glanville is the easy answer, but it's probably not the correct one. They haven't decided on a working plan concerning Wooten/Pratt usage as of now, and it looks like they won't have one in the foreseeable future, but I doubt Wooten will be moved with a pending Pratt suspension around the corner. Ledee is going nowhere, and if he does, it better be in a trade, but I still don't want that. Tomas Perez? No way. It all comes down to Michaels and Glanville, and it really becomes difficult. Bowa is really favoring Glanville at this point, but I really believe the front office likes Michaels a lot here. Of course, Glanville has the same "advantage" that gave him the roster spot in the first place, speed and the ability to play CF everyday without a defensive drop-off. Michaels can easily be forgotten with Glanville, Ledee, and some days even Perez.

To me it seems as if Michaels will be sent down, but I would be very amused/excited if Glanville were the one to be released. That said, I think the right move would be for Wooten to go, and when Pratt gets suspended bring up Michel Hernandez or AJ Hinch for a couple of days. So far the Phillies like having Wooten, and they should, but he's playing in all the wrong situations. What's the point of having someone when you don't have a set plan when to use him (as in when to use Pratt pinch-hitting more or even playing first on Thome off days) or when it seems Bowa doesn't like to play him that much anyway. Perez can easily fill his void, even at catcher, while providing no drop-off at the plate.

This is how I see it: Wooten should be traded for a couple of lollipops and the extra reliever should be kept in the pen for the long haul. Michaels and Ledee would probably snag a couple of extra at-bats, and it would also mean that Utley gets that much closer to seeing playing time with the Phils. Without the extra bench player, there would be less lineup options for Bowa to screw up, and he can keep Glanville on the team so he can feel warm and cozy in the dugout. See, everyone's happy.

Phillies Weekly Review

2004-05-03T00:54:00.000-04:00

Alot of winners this week and only two losers.

Pitcher of the Week: Ryan Madson, Randy Wolf, & Billy Wagner. These three guys provided us with 19 innings of scoreless baseball the past week. Ryan Madson has yet to let up a run (a running theme in today's edition), and pitched marvelously in two extra inning games in which he netted wins. Randy Wolf (21 scoreless innings) not only pitched seven more scoreless innings, but apparently can run in a pinch, scoring the Phillies winning run yesterday. Billy Wagner came back to form, providing four more innings of heat; I tend to worry about his arm at the end of the season at this rate however. It was a good week for pitching overall.

Madson line: 8 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

Wolf line: 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R-ER, 1 BB, 5 K; 1 for 2 with 2 R

Wagner: 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R-ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 1 Save

Batter of the Week: Jim Thome. Continues his uncharacteristically hot hitting in the early going, one can only hope he can continue to improve (as his trend goes) over the course of the season. If so, watch out. By now half his fingers have been rendered useless, but it hasn't stopped him so far. The Line: 8 for 22, 4 R, 6 RBI, 5 BB, 2 HR, 6 K

Farm System Pitcher of the Week: Brian Powell (Scranton) & Gavin Floyd (Reading). Brain Powell's first start of the year yielded four runs, since then he has only allowed one in 20 IP. Gavin Floyd is only really here because he continued his season without letting up a run, marking 17 IP over the course of the year, I believe his next start is today or tomorrow...keep tuned.

Powell: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R-ER, 1 BB, 4 K

Floyd: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R-ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Note: I almost gave the Farm System Pitcher of the Week to the entire Scranton starting staff, they simply shut down the opposition this week. A number of pitchers had similar outings to Powell & Floyd but their scoreless inning streaks give them the nod. How good were the starters at Scranton this week?

Scranton Starters: 37 IP, 21 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 16 BB, 27 K; 4-1 in seven games, the loss was given to Condrey who didn't let up an earned run, and only three of the the seven starts gave up runs.

Farm System Batter of the Week: Ryan Howard (Reading). Earlier in the week I mentioned how many of the Phillies "top prospects" were just starting to come around, and Howard is the prime example. He was hitting only .210, 9 RBI, and 4 HR before this week; and he needed to be alot better if he was ever going to get to see time in the Bigs at his age. And he did, doubling his RBI's and HR this week. The Line: 9 for 24, 4 R, 1 2B, 4 HR, 9 RBI, $ BB, 6 K.

Note: Recently I have been paying extra attention to the catchers in the farm system, mainly hoping that one looks playable in the near future. I consider catching the weakest of any position in the system right now, and none of them were hitting before this week. Trent Pratt (Clearwater) had a good week, raising his sixty points to .270, and the duo (Hinch & Hernandez) at Scranton came alive (9 for 21 with 7 runs combined). Their averages prior to this week? Hinch was hitting .172 and Hernandez was .208 (which was tops coming into the week). It's almost unwatchable at Reading, where Jacobson (.063) and Ruiz (.208) haven't had any success. Michel Hernandez is the organization's best bet right now, and he is primarily defense. I will write about this more in-depth in the near future.

What the Hell? Phillies Line of the Week: Larry Bowa, Marlon Byrd & Doug Glanville. What the Hell? Doesn't neccesarily mean bad, or good for that matter, it's just the surprising player/moves of the week. Larry, what are you doing man? I stuck up for you with the first Glanville start, but two? No, no, no, no, you need to stop it. It has been commonly accepted that Bowa doesn't think like the rest of us on planet Earth, but now he is pushing it. A good number of his moves this week were extremely suspect or just plaing wrong. Byrd pinch-running for Bell so late, two Glanville starts, Wagner batting yesterday, and no strategy concerning Wooten/Pratt are amongst the highlights.

Marlon (3 for 18 on the week) isn't helping matters by not getting on base enough to stop Bowa from thinking so hard. This lineup should be fool (Bowa) proof, but not when there are holes in the lineup. Maybe we are witnessing that Byrd is a really slow starter, and if he heats up again this year we probably won't have to worry about a shuffle in CF next season. But Bowa is seeing a second year player who has had one good half of a year, and won't let him work out of whatever is going wrong. It's Bowa's stupid belief in the "veteran" presence. Being from the Philadelphia area, I am used to it. Larry Brown anyone? Pick it up Marlon.

Doug Glanville will not be critized here. "Don't hate the playa, hate the game" It's not his fault he is playing so much, it's a combination of Byrd and mostly Bowa. The reason Glanville is here, is because he hasn't been so awful in his extended play lately. And if you think I am jumping on the Glanville bandwagon forget it, I'm not. Doug is actually playing well enough to keep this fiasco ongoing. I was a little concerned about Glanville making the team, the last bench spot mind you, would be a problem. Just not this problem. I thought he would be useless off the bench taking at-bats away from Ledde and Michaels. While we are seeing that, we are experienceing something different altogether. Glanville is hedging his way in to being a heavily used platoon player, or even a starter! What the %#$! is going on here?!? I may be overreacting a little, but you can see my concern. Hoepfully the situation simmers down this week, but I am really worried. You know what Glanville is really good for? He probably would have a funny quote to sum this whole thing up. By the way Doug, you had a decent week. Doug: 3 for 10, 3 R, 2 BB, 4 K.

The Citizens Report

Old Conlin Stuff

Lidle and Collier

Apology

Synopsis

Next Post

Trading Places

Pick your head up

On Bowa

Something pleasant...

The Have Not's

A different view on Finley

There was a fly in my drinking glass

Ed Wade on the Trading Block

Milton Milton Milton

Glanville

Today

Irreconciable Differences

WTF?!?

IF/LD% and Milton

Finally

Benson Update

Link Update

The Set Up Kid

Bleak Futures

Posting Notes

It All Happened So Fast

Remembering Jeff Stone...If You Want To

Kill Bill

Bill Conlin Contest

Reviews galore

Don't Kid Yourself

Report Card (Pitchers)

Back Tomorrow

As The World Turns

HE's IN!!!!

Report Card (Batters)

Linkin' Up

J-Roll All-Star?

Reader Mail

Howard in the News

Stealing Ideas

See what I mean...

All Said and Done

Farm system All-Stars

King of the World

Here we go again...

Weekend Reading

The Luckiest "Ace"

New Phils blogger inbound

Pedro..and the unlike

Forget that...

The good and bad

Checking...one...two...three...

Saturday morning

Quick Ones...

Rain

When games just don't matter....

Beltran is up

Wow

Conlin Does It Again

We Want Mesa!!! And some other scrubs we could use....but not neccessarily afford

Final Innings: Roberto Hernandez

The Next Madson?

Ellis pitches No Hitter for Red Barons

Irritation setting in

The Return of Citizens Report

Anderson Machado Revisited

Hitters Park?

The Big Easy

Cole Hamels

Final Innings: Roberto Hernandez

Phillies Weekly Review

Lookin' Better?

Phils

Phillies Weekly Preview Pt. 1

Sorry

Road Trip

Milton vs. Kennedy

I Love This...