The 2007 season is getting close, Phillies fans. While I write this, the players are en route to Philadelphia to embark on a 162-game mission with one goal: to make the post-season and win a world title. Let's rock!
Up first, a two-game exhibition series with American League powerhouse Boston, one final challenge before balls and strikes count for real. Today in Bradenton, Fla. the Phillies wrapped up Grapefruit League play in a 5-5 draw with Pittsburgh. They say not to pay attention to spring training numbers. Gladly. The Phightins finished 11-16-3 with few individual pluses, aside from beating the Florida State Seminoles. However, over the last few games, there were encouraging signs, including a pair of homers from Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell today. Both sluggers have struggled in March. It's a good thing the calendar will shortly turn over to April.
Tomorrow, the Phils test the turf at Citizens Bank Park when they host the Red Sox for two games. Cole Hamels gets the ball for a fifth time this spring and faces Sox fifth starter Julian Tavarez. Then in the pre-season main event, the Phillies face Daisuke Matsuzaka!, who's already making teams that didn't bid on him look stupid.
Before we rock, I have a complaint to register. (I know, stop the presses.)
Why do the Phillies, every year now, have two games at CBP before the regular season begins? Doesn't that take more than a little luster away from Opening Day?
Posted by: RickSchuBlues | Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 06:22 PM
I agree. And it's been with Boston the past two years. So before we get all pumped up for opening day and the beginning of Phillies baseball, we have to deal with the idiotic Red Sox Nation's attempt to take over our ballpark.
...Very frustrating
Posted by: skeeter | Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 06:35 PM
RSB: Why?
$
.. and why Red Sox?
$$
Posted by: J. Weitzel | Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 06:42 PM
regarding Rincon...maybe I'm missing something here, but aside from his leftiness, how is he any better than Alfonseca? I'd rather take my chances with Matt Smith being a semi-competent LOOGY than trade for a 37 (!!) year old coming off labrum and rotator cuff surgery (!!!).
Posted by: ae | Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 06:45 PM
Oh, yeah. That.
Posted by: RickSchuBlues | Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 06:52 PM
I was actually busy at work today and did not get a chance to do my normal chime in.
Ricardo Rincon is ok, and would be useful against lefties, but to trade Carlos Ruiz for him is a HUGE mistake. Look at Ruiz's minor league numbers and you'll see he can hit and run for a catcher. I want him to stick around Philly and see if he can produce. Chris Coste is a nice story and all, but with Jayson Werth showing he can do spot duty behind the plate, that makes Coste expendable. I'm hesitant to deal him though too as we might just be able to catch lightning in a bottle with him again this season. As a GM, I say trade No-Hit Nunez instead!!!
Posted by: GM-Carson | Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 06:58 PM
the pen has been great for about a week straight now. eureka
Posted by: EK | Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 07:11 PM
Is it me or does anyone else think the idea of Werth playing catcher seems pretty ridiculous in general?
Posted by: MG | Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 07:21 PM
good point with the $$$ Jason.
MG, it seems very ridiculous to me. We have little depth in the outfield. Relying on Werth to fill in at catcher doesn't make much sense. He is fine as an emergency catcher, but I wouldn't want to see him there as anything more.
Posted by: skeeter | Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 07:30 PM
Jason, you forgot one other reason:
- broadcast rights to Japan
$$$
Posted by: AWH | Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 07:35 PM
Willie Randolph announced the muts rotation for the first several games. The Phils first taste of the mutss is to face John Maine in the Mets home opener. Let's hope they've figured him out.
Posted by: AWH | Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 08:01 PM
looking at the boxscore on yahoo,
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=270329123
I see the following stats for pitches/strikes:
Pitches-strikes - J Happ 30-17; G Geary 6-6; M Smith 5-5; A Alfonseca 3-3; T Gordon 5-5; R Cameron 15-7; S Chacon 19-18; D Kolb 14-5; J Perez 7-7; J Bayliss 17-7; F Osoria 1-1; M Capps 3-3; M Peterson 7-7.
Is it safe to assume that they're just making up the pitch counts for Geary, Smith, Alfonseca and Gordon?
Posted by: journalgod | Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 08:51 PM
I'll be down there on Saturday to help drown out the Red Sox fan invasion. Can't wait for the big Opener on Monday, I'll be there for that one also.
I like the way our boys are coming around and very glad to see that the Howitzer is getting his groove back.
No way do I trade Ruiz right now. And I think we made a smart move in picking up Barajas, throws laser beams to 2b and is very chatty with the pitchers--something we did not have with the prior regular Mr. Lieberthal.
Posted by: theragtopguy | Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 09:06 PM
Someone made reference to Jason Jaramillo in the previous thread as having slipped a bit as a prospect and that's exactly right.
There's any number of good athletes who can smoke single-A pitching, but AA is the true test. Jaramillo got a C- on that test. His defense is very sound, and the 25 doubles in 322 ABs suggest he has modest pop. His K/BB ratio is not awful either. But .248/.320/.388 translates to about .210 at the big league level.
I'd like to see him repeat AA for at least a half season. He turns 25 this season, so he's not young. If there's not sharp improvement at Reading this season, then my guess is he becomes a Sal Fasano type guy, with a better glove and less HR power.
Posted by: clout | Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 10:16 PM
clout, so what you are saying then, is that it's a make-or-break year for Jason J?
Posted by: AWH | Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 10:53 PM
Boone logan, a Left Handed Reliever from the White Sox, is being assinged to AAA... Sisco another lefty, made the club over him. Logan did not allow a single run over 11 innings of ST. I'm ready for a Mackowiak/Logan for Rowand trade, how bout y'all?
Posted by: mm | Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 10:55 PM
I understand that we may be reticent to dismantle what little OF we have, but i say, thats all the better reason to do so. No matter what, Rowand is walking at the end of this year...we might as well let him go back to chicago now, cus thats where he's gonna be in 08 regardless.
Posted by: mm | Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 11:00 PM
Is all that Rios stuff dead? Do we have any shot at getting him? What do you think it would take? Is he worth it?
Posted by: Dukes | Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 11:13 PM
Logan is alright but the outfield would be very spotty without Rowand...
Posted by: Tray | Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 11:26 PM
unless Gillick slips Ricciardi some roofies (think about it, Pat!), we don't have a shot at Rios.
Rowand for Logan/Mackowiak is a bad trade. I doubt he's ready for an ML bullpen (and the White Sox obviously do too), and 11 spring innings aren't worth much in proving otherwise. last year he had a 0.69 ERA in 13 spring innings. go look at his 2006 regular season stats.
(although I actually wouldn't mind getting Mackowiak - with him, Werth, and Dobbs I bet we could stitch together a decent corner OF platoon, starting whoever's hot with decent PH options on the bench.)
Posted by: ae | Friday, March 30, 2007 at 12:12 AM
my only point is that the outfield is going to be spotty regardless of what we do. We always have lieber to trade eventually and we might as well get what we can get for a guy whose not going to be here another season
Posted by: mm | Friday, March 30, 2007 at 12:14 AM
I'd do a Rowand for McDougal/Mackowiak deal, but not Logan. The guy just isn't enough of a likely upgrade over what we have now.
The rumored Coste for Rincon deal would be okay, if (big if) the Phils have done their homework on Rincon's health and he's ready to go.
Posted by: dajafi | Friday, March 30, 2007 at 12:20 AM
I still like the Rincon for Ruiz deal. Just have no idea though at how far Rincon is back from TJ surgery though. Might struggle a bit early on but I bet Rincon comes on as the season progresses.
I hate to trade a minor league prospect for Rincon but if the Phils can pry Rincon loose from the Cards for that I make the deal.
Posted by: MG | Friday, March 30, 2007 at 12:38 AM
Rowand for those two losers would be a horrible trade. I live in Tucson and have seen PLENTY of Chisox action this spring. Rowand brings plenty more to the table than shows up in the boxscore.
Posted by: markgoldentyer | Friday, March 30, 2007 at 12:41 AM
I don't like either trade (White Sox and Cardinals) at this point, however I would like to get Makowiak somehow. He would definitely be a quality stick off the bench, as well as a middle infield upgrade over Nunez.
Posted by: Jon | Friday, March 30, 2007 at 06:18 AM
Ricardo Rincon is a left-handed specialist that isn't all that special. I'd hate to see Ruiz or Coste dealt in haste for waste.
Posted by: GM-Carson | Friday, March 30, 2007 at 07:23 AM
Go to www.espn.go.com/mlb and vote for the Phils.
Posted by: GM-Carson | Friday, March 30, 2007 at 07:45 AM
I'm with you Carson. I really don't think a LOOGY is the one thing our bullpen really needs - let alone one who's 37 years old and coming off major surgery. I don't see how a guy who'll pitch maybe 25-30 innings is more valuable than Ruiz.
Posted by: ae | Friday, March 30, 2007 at 07:51 AM
To the newbie who asked about the pitch counts: What they showed me was an umpiring crew with an early flight out of Florida. Those who track such things will tell you that pitchers' control must be assessed over many appearances (there, I avoided writing "small sample size" this early in the morning) because umpires' strike zones vary so much. If and when I retire I'd like to do a study on how much umpires' travel schedules impact control over the course of a season.
Posted by: Alby | Friday, March 30, 2007 at 08:17 AM
Wasn't Jamarillo's defense questioned this year -- particularly after his play in the Arizona Fall League ? I recall this being a reason he slipped as a prospect.
Posted by: Billy Mac | Friday, March 30, 2007 at 08:40 AM
Scouts did an odd flip on Jaramillo's defensive skills. Last year, he was a plus defender. This season in Arizona, scouts rated him as average at best. Strange.
Posted by: J. Weitzel | Friday, March 30, 2007 at 08:50 AM
Billy: I haven't seen anything questioning his defense. Just his bat.
ae: I don't like Rincon either but when you say we don't need a LOOGY that means you think Matt Smith can do the job.
Jon: Mackowiak does not play SS, so he's not comparable to Nunez.
Posted by: clout | Friday, March 30, 2007 at 09:02 AM
Phillies favored to win the east, and have the highest % to get in the playoffs in the NL according to the people at BP. Take it for what it's worth.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/ps_odds.php
Posted by: Tony | Friday, March 30, 2007 at 09:31 AM
Thanks for the link, Tony! Interesting.
BP has the Cubbies taking NL Central, Dodgers finishing 3rd at less than .500, and the Chisox finishing with only 72.2 wins. I suspect those percentages will change significantly over the next 2 to 3 weeks.
Posted by: voice of reason | Friday, March 30, 2007 at 09:55 AM
Interesting to see they have the Snakes picked to win the West. I love what Byrnes is doing with that team. I know he hasn't won anything yet but from what I read he perfectly balances the sabermetric stuff with old school see-for-yourself scouting. That's how I would love to see the Phils ran.
Posted by: Tony | Friday, March 30, 2007 at 10:10 AM
I've been back and forth and back and forth all spring about this team.
But five things happened recently that have me kind of pumped. For now.
1. Howard's bomb yesterday.
2. Matt Smith's lines in his last two games.
3. Myers' line in his last start.
4. Karim who?
5. "We're ready to start winning," Manuel said yesterday.
I really hope so.
Posted by: JZ | Friday, March 30, 2007 at 10:31 AM
My boss just gave me 4 tickets to tonights game!!! Woohoo!!
Posted by: Tony | Friday, March 30, 2007 at 10:42 AM
tony - i also love what the dbacks have done. the way they've built the rotation is especially impressive.
they are a team that, if they wanted to, could easily get a guy like alfonso soriano at the break and compete for a world series.
Posted by: Tim | Friday, March 30, 2007 at 10:46 AM
clarification -
obviously i meant soriano if it was last year. it'd be more like andruw jones or jermain dye or tori hunter this year.
Posted by: Tim | Friday, March 30, 2007 at 10:52 AM
WHY DO YOU SAY TEST THE TURF? THERE IS NO TURF AT CBP, IT'S ALL GRASS IDIOT. ONCE AGAIN YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT BASEBALL. STICK WITH COVERING SOUL FOOTBALL.
Posted by: THE MAN | Friday, March 30, 2007 at 12:35 PM