Liberty Ball

The Phillies lost to the Washington Nationals today 11-6.  Jimmy Rollins tied the game at 6 in the bottom of the seventh with a 2-run homerun, but Tom Gordon gave up 4 runs in the top of the 9th while only getting one out.  Clay Condrey came in to give up another run.  The Phillies then went 1,2,3 in the bottom of the inning to end the game.  Gordon, who was pitching in the role that Brad Lidge will take when he comes back, got the loss.

Brett Myers lasted only 5 innings and gave up 4 runs, 3 earned.  He gave up all his runs in the 5th inning.  He ran into trouble when he gave up back to back singles then hit Lastings Milledge.  An error by Jimmy Rollins allowed the inning to continue and also gave up another run.

Rollins shook off his shaky spring and finished the day 2-4 with a double and a home run.  He scored 2 runs, and had 2 RBIs.  Chase Utley also chipped in big with a sacrifice fly that drove in Rollins in the first, a single in the 4th that he came around to score on Pat Burrell’s single, and a solo home run in the 6th.

Pedro Feliz was a dissapointing 0-4 with 2 strikeouts, and he grounded into a double play his first time at bat.  The 9-spot ended up 0-4 with 3 strikeouts.  Brett Myers, So Taguchi, Geoff Jenkins, and Greg Dobbs all contributed to those numbers.

I was keeping score at home while watching the game, and these are the numbers I came up with.

Batting:

Jimmy Rollins: 2-4 (2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 runs)

Shane Victorino: 0-3 (SAC bunt)

Chase Utley: 2-3 (1B, HR, 2 runs, SAC fly)

Ryan Howard: 1-4 (1K)

Pat Burrell: 1-3 (1K, 1BB)

Pedro Feliz: 0-4 (2K)

Carlos Ruiz: 1-4 (2B, 1 run, 1RBI)

Myers: 0-1 (1K)

Taguchi: 0-1

Jenkins: 0-1 (K)

Dobbs: 0-1 (K)

Tomorrow is an off day, and Wednesday, Cole Hamels takes on Tim Redding at 7:05 at home.

Well the first pitch of the 2008 season is about an hour and a half away, and the Phillies look poised to challenge for the NL East crown once again. 

Today the Phillies go up against the Washington Nationals 24 year old lefthander Matt Chico.  Chico is in his second season out of USC.  Last year he was 7-9 with a 4.63 ERA.  Last night the Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves on a walk off home run by Ryan Zimmerman.

Brett Myers will throw the first pitch for the Phillies.  This is his second straight Opening Day start.  Although this season is beginning like last season for him, it hopefully won’t end the same way.  Last year, Myers moved to the bullpen where he took over the role of closer.  Over the off-season, the Phillies signed closer Brad Lidge from the Houston Astros.  Lidge is currently on the Disabled List, but should make his return within the week.

The weather forecast for the first pitch is 50 degrees with a 30% chance of rain.  Rain will threaten throughout the entire game today, but hopefully shouldn’t cause any stoppages in play.

I’m looking for newly acquired third baseman, Pedro Feliz to have a big day against the lefty starter for the Nationals.  Look for Ryan Howard to go deep and ring the bell in the 6th inning or later, once the Nats go to their bullpen.  Brett Myers had a very good spring, and hopefully will continue his good work today.  I expect him to go 6 innings allowing 3 runs and leaving it to the bullpen to close out his victory.

Final Score Prediction:

Phillies 6- Nationals 4

The Phillies announced their finalized 25 man roster this afternoon. J.D. Durbin, Ray Olmedo, and Chris Snelling were the last players who did not make the major league team. All three were reassigned to AAA Lehigh. Durbin was auditioning for the final spot in the starting rotation but pitched poorly and ended up pitching himself out of the bullpen as well. Both Olmedo and Snelling were trying to make it as back ups in the infield and outfield respectively. Both needed to have an amazing spring to be able to take a spot away from a deep pool of players in each situation.  Olmedo became a free agent instead of going to the minors.

In addition to sending Durbin to the minors, the Phillies signed pitcher Tim Lahey. Brad Lidge does not appear on the roster because he is still on the 15 day DL. He will take a roster spot when he returns from his knee injury, which should be sometime in the next week or two.

The final 25 man roster is as follows:

Pitchers:

Clay Condrey, Chad Durbin, Adam Eaton, Tom Gordon, Cole Hamels, Kyle Kendrick, Tim Lahey, Ryan Madsen, Jaime Moyer, Brett Myers, and JC Romero

Infielders:

Eric Bruntlett, Greg Dobbs, Pedro Feliz, Wes Helms, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, and Chase Utley

Outfielders:

Pat Burrell, Geoff Jenkins, So Taguchi, Shane Victorino, and Jayson Werth

Catchers:

Chris Coste, and Carlos Ruiz

Adam Eaton started yesterday against the Detroit Tigers and gave up 7 runs on 11 hits in 4 and 2/3 innings. This was his last start before the regular season starts and it certainly did not build any confidence. With Chad Durbin only pitching 3 innings at a time, it is likely that he will begin the season in the bullpen and Eaton will be the 5th starter in the rotation. Kris Benson was reassigned to minor league camp so it is still hopeful that he will be able to join the Phillies later on in the season. Eaton was not the only pitcher who had a rough outing. Stand-in closer, Tom Gordon, lasted 1/3 of an inning last night and gave up 6 runs. He gave 3 walks, 3 hits, and a homerun. This was the last spring training game before the team moves up to Citizens Park to play 2 exhibition games against the Blue Jays and one against Lehigh Valley.

Brett Myers used his last start of the spring to fine tune his stuff to get ready for his job as Opening Day starter. Against the Yankees, he threw 5 scoreless innings. He has pitched very well this spring and has proved worthy of the Opening Day start.

The Phillies placed newly acquired closer Brad Lidge on the 15 day DL yesterday.  Lidge suffered a slight tear in his right knee upon his first pitch of the spring.  Both he and the team had been optimistic hoping that he could return in time for opening day.  Lidge had yet to pitch in a Major League spring training game and had only thrown two minor league intrasquad outtings when the team decided to put him on the DL.  He is scheduled to return April 5th.

In the mean time, Tom Gordon will once again begin the season as the Phillies closer.  Even though he is 40, he says that he feels better now than in seasons past.  In his last 4 games, Gordon has not allowed a single run.

Sunday

I’m watching the archive of the Phillies-Bluejays game from yesterday right now since I couldn’t watch it live due to it being Easter Sunday.  Cole Hamels looked good through 4 innings.  He ended up giving up 2 runs in the bottom of the 5th and then was responsible for the three runs that scored in the 6th.  Hamels ended up pitching 5 1/3 giving up 5 earned runs on 9 hits.  He was able to work his way out of a 1 out triple by Shannon Stewart in the 4th inning by striking out the Frank Thomas and getting a groundout.

Chase Utley homered over the right field wall in the top of the first inning then added 2 more runs in both the 4th and 5th innings.  In the fifth, Ryan Howard drove in a run in a different style than he normally does.  He drew a bases loaded walk.  Shane Victorino was able to score on the next at bat by showcasing his speed tagging up from third on a shallow fly ball to left.

The Phillies were able to add 5 runs in both the 6th and 8th innings.  All in all, the Phillies won 15-7 while getting 16 hits.  I said last week that the pitchers need to step it up, and they did.  I said Saturday that the hitters need to pick it up, and they did.  I’m going to go ahead and take credit for what’s going on.

In total, they tagged Jays starter, AJ Burnett, for 7 runs on 8 hits.  It took them a little while to catch on to the fact that all Burnett was throwing was his fastball and changeup because his curveball hurts his torn fingernail.

Scott Rolen, the Blue Jays new 3rd basemen, did not play in the game because he is injured yet again.  I said as soon as he was traded for Troy Glaus that the Cardinals got the best part of that deal because Rolen cannot stay of the DL.  He broke his finger during fielding practice before the game.

Jimmy Rollins is beginning to look good at the plate.  He has been hitting the ball hard in all his at bats.  They aren’t all going for hits, but he is making solid contact when he is up to bat.  Jason Donald came in for Chase Utley in the 6th inning and ended up hitting 2 HRs and driving in 6!

Since Sunday, the Phillies starting pitchers have been on fire. They have given up 8 runs in the last 7 games. They all seem to be getting into the groove just in time to roll into the season. The only starter to not pitch in the last 6 games (including today’s canceled game against the Tigers) was Brett Myers. Chad Durbin looked very good to start the game this afternoon against his old team. I was watching until the 4th inning when I left to go get lunch and came back to see that the game was canceled. The Tigers’ power hitters could not get to Durbin’s sinker. In his three innings that he pitched, Durbin did not allow a single baserunner.

On Monday, Durbin pitched 5 innings giving up 3 runs.

Tuesday, Cole Hamels pitched 6 innings giving up 1 earned run while striking out 3 and walking 3.

Wednesday, Jamie Moyer pitched 5 2/3 innings giving up 3 runs (1 earned) while fanning 4 and walking 3.

Thursday, Kyle Kendrick got it going giving up 2 hits and 0 runs in 5 innings. JD. Durbin came in to pitch 2 innings of relief and continued the trend of not giving up hits and struck out 3.

Friday, Adam Eaton struck out 4 batters in 5 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball.

Not only have the starters been pitching much better, but the guys in the bullpen have been pulling their weight as well. They have given up 6 earned runs in the last 18 innings pitched.

In today’s game, pitching coach Rich Dubee said that he likes what he has been seeing in the last week, and that it seems like a lot of the guys are getting both their control and confidence back. He also said that he doesn’t ever expect guys to be throwing full strength until May because it takes that long to get back into the feel of throwing 100 pitches every 5 days. Perhaps the best news came about closer Brad Lidge. His knee is doing very well, and he has been pitching in minor league games. He is scheduled to pitch in the game tomorrow against the Bluejays.

With only a week left until opening day, it is time for the hitters to follow the example of the pitching staff and to turn on the gas.

Mlb.com dispatched a survey to Major League scouts asking about who they thought were the best players in different categories.  The whole results are very interesting, but the best news is that Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins were voted as the best 2nd baseman and shortstop respectively.  Ryan Howard was also voted as the best power hitter.  Ichiro got a lot of love in the fielding, batting, and baserunning categories.  It makes sense considering he is one of the most fundamentally skilled players of all time.  Take a look at the survey, it’s very interesting.

On Friday, the Phillies lost 9-1 against the Atlanta Braves.  Francisco Rosario got the start and only lasted 2 innings while giving up 6 runs.  He said that he wasn’t able to throw his slider because of the wet weather.  Regardless of the weather, he had no control.  He hit a couple of batters and also gave up a grand slam.  Following the game the Phillies sent Carlos Carrasco, Josh Outman, Brandon Watson, and Greg Golson to their minor league camp.

On Saturday the Phillies lost to the Minnesota Twins 11-2.  Adam Eaton put in his bid to remain the fifth starter in the Phillies rotation.  He pitched 3 scoreless innings in his first appearance since being diagnosed with a slight herniated disc in his back.  After Eaton left the game, the pitching fell apart.  In the last 6 innings, the bullpen gave up 11 runs on 13 hits.  It seems a little repetitive to say, but Ryan Howard was the bright spot of the game offensively with another home run.  The team sent John Ennis and Shane Youman to the minors before the game.

Earlier today the Phillies defeated the Cincinatti Reds 6-2, running their record this spring to 6-12-1.  Brett Myers proved why he is a good choice for the opening day start by throwing 7 strong innings allowing 2 runs.  Madson and Blackley completed the last two scoreless innings from the bullpen.  Madson allowed one hit while also striking out a batter.  Blackley did not allow any hits but put a man on base with a walk.  Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Geoff Jenkins each went without a hit.  With todays game included, 5 regular players are hitting under .236.  Hopefully this is just a case of guys working on mechanics with their swings or trying new things.  That is really what the spring is for, getting better and improving an area of one’s game.  Still, it is disturbing to see that Rollins, Utley, Burrell, Jenkins, and Victorino are all batting under .236 this spring.

Hopefully things will start to turn around as we see regular starters playing later into games.  It is difficult to get a feel for the game when you know that you will only get two at bats and probably get subbed out in the 4th or 5th innings.  Now we should see the roster start to resemble the regular season as the team is continuing to cut players back to the minors. 

The Phillies lost today to the Reds while managing only 1 run.  The bad part is that Shane Victorino was the only regular starter left out of the lineup, and Rollins, Utley, and Howard played the whole game.

The pitching woes continued with Phillies pitchers giving up 3 more home runs.  Travis Blackley is still fighting for a spot in the rotation.  While he did strike out 5 in 3 innings, he gave up a 2-run home run, and walked 2 batters.  What we really need to have happen is have some guys string together a few good innings without letting one get away from them.

J.D. Durbin got knocked around again today.  He gave up 5 runs on 8 hits in 3 1/3 innings pushing his ERA for the spring to 9.64.  Jamie Moyer and Brett Myers are the only starters who have pitched one game, and both of them did not give up any runs in their outings.  The rotation is still up in the air.  There is not one leading candidate for the 5th spot.  Here are the ERAs of all the pitchers who have made at least one start this spring:

Cole Hamels- 12.60 in 5 innings

Brett Myers- 0.00 in 4 innings

Kyle Kendrick- 16.43 in 7 2/3 innings

Jamie Moyer- 0.00 in 3 innings

Adam Eaton- 15.75 in 4 innings

JD Durbin- 9.64 in 9. 1/3 innings

Travis Blackley- 9.64 in 4 2/3 innings

J Savery- 10.80 in 5 innings

The Phillies are now 4-9-1 and have only held 4 teams under 6 runs in a game.  Luckily for the pitching staff, Ryan Howard is doing everything he can to insure that the team scores runs.

One of the best things about spring training is the split squad games.  This allows for managers to get everyone in the game for evaluation in a game situation.  The only problem is that it is slightly dissapointing to get to the ballpark and realize that Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and the starting pitching staff is playing against the Blue Jays when you’re watching the squad that is playing the Tigers.  Needless to say, I got to watch quite of few of the Phillies non-roster invitees play today.  The game was very slow offensively for the Phillies.  They only scored two runs off of Jason Grilli in the 7th inning.  They should have scored more if it were not for some untimely double plays that ended innings or rallies.  I was most impressed with Brandon Watson who was playing right field today.  He was able to show discipline at the plate, and man was he fast.  He was able to execute a perfect slap bunt in the eighth inning that advanced the runner, and also allowed him to be safe at first.  That was followed by a double play.  Pat Burrell was the most dissapointing player.  He was one of the few everyday players in the game and he did not play like it.  He chased pitches, and didn’t come through when he needed to.

J.D. Durbin got the start, and pitched well except for the three monstrous home runs he gave up.  Two to Carlos Guillen and one to Magglio Ordonez.  And when I say monsters I mean HUGE.  Other than that he only gave up one hit, with 3 strikeouts and 2 walks.  The most impressive contest he had was against Miguel Cabrera.  He was able to challenge him with a high fastball and got him swinging.  I was commenting on how impressive he was when the next batter, Guillen, hit one over the palm trees in right.

I liked seeing the guys that usually don’t get a chance play because I know that they gave it everything they had.  They didn’t wait long in counts to get a pitch that they wanted because they knew that their opportunities would be limited.  There were, however, some plays that certainly showed why some of them would still be playing in the minors this season.

Also I was able to catch a home run hit in batting practice by one of the Phillies.  I couldn’t see the number well but I think it was in the 70s so it was definitely a non roster guy.  And when I say caught I actually mean caught, not grabbed off the bounce.  I still got it from my days in left.

The Phillies got smacked around by the Braves today.  The final score was 10-1.  I never worry about teams in spring training games because managers are experimenting with lineups, and seeing who may make the team.  Also, pitchers usually aren’t giving it their all.  Normally they try to add a new pitch or get a different look in spring games.  Tim Hudson was doing exactly that and doing it well.  He said he has been trying to add a backdoor slider, and it worked well today.  He only gave up 1 run in the first.

Kyle Kendrick on the other hand was not sharp at all.  He gave up 9 hits and 7 runs in 2 2/3 innings.  The other troubling thing was the fact that potential closer Tom Gordon came in for the 9th inning and gave up three hits and one run.  I am down in Kissimmee, FL. right now and I’m going to the Phillies-Tigers game tomorrow and will have a full write up following.