Liberty Ball

Hurricane Irene shutdown 4 of National League East’s 5 teams over the weekend and your 4 time defending division champion Philadelphia Phillies are one of the lucky ones. Due to the awful storm, the games on Saturday and Sunday August 27-28 vs the Florida Marlins at Citizens Bank Park were postponed until September 15th. Although the greater Philadelphia area was hit hard with rain and wind, the baseball club welcomed 2 unscheduled off days and with September 1st(Rosters can expand to 40) approaching, this will help the veteran team more than it will hurt. However, the Phillies do not have another off day for the remainder of the regular season which ends on Wednesday September 28th.  

MEDICAL UPDATES ON HAMELS,BLANTON:  LHSP Cole Hamels(13-7,2.62 in 25 starts) is good to go in his start Monday August 29th at the Cincinnati Reds  after leaving his last start August 12th with a dead arm,according to Pitching coach Rich Dubee . Meanwhile veteran RHSP Joe Blanton(Elbow inflammation) continued his long trek back  from his May DL stint with a 30 pitch throwing session August 26th. Blanton threw 15 to the catcher on the plate then 15 full distance. “I felt good today,” he said. “I was really encouraged.” 

MASH-BERRY: When you have had the type of success the Phillies have  had in recent seasons, you need youngsters to step in and provide an occasional  lift. In 2011, big OF John Mayberry Jr. has done just that. Over the last two months, he has hit over .300 while adding 9 home runs and 29 rbi in 97 at bats. With veteran LF Raul Ibanez slumping in August(.175 with no homers and 6 rbi in 57 at bats) and also battling a groin injury, Mayberry Jr. has to be considered for more playing time. 

The Philadelphia Phillies(82-44 as of August 23rd) continue to play great ball led by their incredible pitching staff. The arms have carried the club thru injuries in all parts of the club- everyday players as well as pitchers. The Phils pitchers top the 30 MLB team in 3 of the 4 team stats: ERA, WHIP and Quality starts while dropping(!) to 4th in batting average against. Talent and payroll aside, to put up those type of numbers pitching in that ball park in this division is incredible. This team and leadership group of manager Charlie Manuel and GM-Sr VP Rueben Amaro ,Jr. does not get the credit they deserve. Just a great group from top to bottom.  I run out of things to say about this team because they are that good. Think of the great 90s Atlanta Braves teams or the early Joe Torre late 90s Yankees teams. They are machine, you just insert the parts and the results happen. 

PHILLIES NOTES: Tonight, August 22nd the team welcomed back 3B Placido Polanco(Sport hernia) while placing former NL MVP Jimmy Rollins on the DL with a minor groin strain. Polanco looked good and was 2 for 4 in his return. Rollins, who is a free agent after the season, does not think the injury will linger and should be fine when he is eligible to come of the DL September 6th…. Have to write something about how great Roy Halladay has been at home this season. He is 8-2 with a 2.32 ERA in  14 starts at Citizens Bank Park. He has an incredible 102-8 K to walk ratio as well! One of his losses occurred last week although he K-ed 14 Diamondbacks August 16th in the 3-2 defeat. Halladay gave up 8 hits and the 3 runs while completing his 7th game. 

The Philadelphia Phillies continue to play dominant ball(78-41 as of August 15th) and with the recent addition of all star RF Hunter Pence from the Houston Astros, the team’s once dormant offense has  noticeably picked up. The Phils have scored an NL high 199 runs since July 1st  and are 12-2 with Pence in the starting lineup. The return of all star 2B Chase Utley(missed all of spring training and the first 7 weeks of the season with a knee injury) to full health has also helped tremendously. The pitching has been incredible all season while dealing with injuries from day 1 of spring training. Among the 30 major league teams, Phillies rank #1 in ERA, quality starts and WHIP while “dropping” to 4th in batting average against.  This is an incredible team that is both deep and balanced. Good luck to any team that plays them in a best of 7 series. 

POLANCO PAIN:  All star 3B Placido Polanco continues to battle a painful sports hernia and remains out. The veteran received a cortisone shot last week and is trying to avoid surgery that would put him out 3-6 weeks. Polanco improved enough to field some ground balls during batting practice  in the rain before the August 13th game at Citizens Bank Park. 

HAMELS MRI:   Phillies LH SP Cole Hamels(13-7,2.62 in 25 starts) has complained of a dead arm over the last week or so and the team had an MRI taken of his sore left shoulder Monday. The results are expected back sometime Tuesday. “Right now [a dead arm is] what we think it is, yeah,” Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee said Saturday. “The funny thing is, he warmed up in San Francisco and he said, ‘Boy, my arm is heavy.’ So we just talked about angling the ball, and he goes out and he pitches a gem. Then his side session in between then and now was fabulous. His arm rebounded, felt great. So it’s a combination of workload, combination of east-west. Or west-east, whatever you want to call it. Just everything building up.”

PHILLIES NOTES:  Former Phillies 1B Jim Thome(2003-2005) became only the 8th player in major league history to hit 600 home runs when he clubbed 2 in consecutive innings on August 15th. Great to see one of the good people in the game reach such a marvelous number…The club signed their #1 pick(#39 overall) in the 2011 draft late in the evening August 14th, high school  OF Larry Greene. At Berrien County HS in Georgia, he hit .562 with 11 doubles, a triple, 19 home runs, 52 rbi, 58 runs and 13 stolen bases. The 6’1 225 pounder also earned a football scholarship from the Alabama Crimson Tide before signing with the Phillies.  

The Philadelphia Phillies continue to play incredible ball(74-40 as of August 7th) despite injuries throughout both the lineup and pitching staff. Even after losing Sunday July 7th to the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants, the team has won 9 out of 10 games and leads the NL East by 8.5 games. The constant? Without question, the Phillies pitching staff. The team ranks 1st(Among 30 ML teams) in ERA, quality starts and WHIP. They really drop off hard to 4th overall in batting average against… LOL. This group features 3 named aces- LHs Cliff Lee(11-7,2.96 ERA in 23 starts) and Cole Hamels(13-6,2.53,24 starts) as well as RH Roy Halladay(14-4,2.55, 23) – however, 1st year starter RH  Vance Worley(8-1,2.35 in 13 starts) might be having the best season.  The depth of arms continues into the bullpen where they are down to closer #4: 2nd yr LH Antonio Bastardo(5-0,1.49, 8 saves and 9 holds). Think about that. Closer number 4 and he is lights out!!!!! Quickly, ask any, ANY fan of a big market team who their 4th best reliever is. Would they fell remotely confident with that guy pitching the 9th inning? Tremendous job by pitching coach Rich Dubee and manager Charlie Manuel. 

POLANCO PAIN: All star 3B Placido Polanco is battling a sore left hip and has returned to Philadelphia to undergo an MRI on Monday August 8th. He has been dealing with the pain for almost a month and seems unlikely to play in the early week series in Los Angeles vs the Dodgers. The injury is unrelated to the back ailment that had him on the DL until his return July 30th,causing him to miss almost 3 weeks.

ROY RETURNS: The 4th ace of the staff, RH Roy Oswalt(Lower back strain) made his first start  since June 23rd in the 3-1 defeat to the Giants August 7th. He allowed 12 hits and 3 runs while striking out 4, hurling 93 pitches in 6 frames(60 strikes). San Francisco hitters had some luck in this game as some bloopers found holes, overall, an encouraging start for the veteran Oswalt(4-7,3.84,14 starts). 

BENCH BRAWL: The Phillies and Giants clearly do not like each other after playing in the NLCS in 2010 and the bad feelings spilled over into a full fledged fight Friday night August 5th. Giants reliever Ramon Ramirez hit Phillies CF Shane Victorino, one of the club’s leaders, in the back with a first pitch fast ball and started to walk to the mound. SF catcher Eli Whiteside blocked him and then tackled Polanco as the benches emptied. A lot of pushing and wrestling but not much damage. Victorino was pulled out of the pile a couple of times and even went after Giants hitting coach Hensley Meulens. Ramirez, Whiteside and Victorino were all ejected and the teams did not have any other issues throughout the weekend.