Friday focus: Power ranking the Top 5 Phillies, Mets

The 8-8 Phillies are riding the hot bat of Pat and cool hand of Cole. Meanwhile, David Wright leads the 8-6 Mets.

1. Pat Burrell – Sorry, Cole. Pat the Bat (.373/.492/.804, 6 HR, 17 RBI) leads the world in gross productive average (.410) and runs created (20).
2. Cole Hamels – Easily, a top five NL starter to begin the season. (2-1, 0.82 ERA, .143 BAA). Devastating change-up has been unhittable.
3. Brett Myers – Dominant, composed in last two outings, surrendering only one walk in two games. Living up to his billing as a solid number two.
4. Chase Utley – Woke up during the Cubs series after a cool week. Poor defense pulls him down; .317/.400/.651, 4 HR raises him up.
5. J.C. Romero – An anchor since joining the bullpen in mid-2007. Eight strikeouts, no runs, in first 6 2-3 innings. No hits, no walks to left-handers.

-- J. Weitzel

1. David Wright - No April struggles this season means bad news for the rest of the league; hitting .400 vs. lefties.
2. Jose Reyes - With a big series against the Nats, he's beginning to turn the corner and show that fire that he lost at the middle of ‘07.
3. Johan Santana - While traditionally a slow-starter, given the state of the rotation, it's imperative that the Mets win his starts.
4. Carlos Beltran - Taking a more prominent leadership role with players like Reyes; 3rd in NL with seven doubles.
5. Joe Smith - Baffling hitters with his unique delivery -- hasn't allowed an earned run in his last five appearances.

-- D.J. Short, Metsblog.com

Comments

[GM-Carson]

I didn't think Romero could keep the success rolling into this season, but I was wrong...thankfully. He's been amazing and should be the 8th inning guy. Brad Lidge didn't make the list, nor should he have, but he's been great so far too, along with Durbin in the 'pen. Seanez yet to allow a hit as a Phillies. Our bullpen is dare I say?....Good!

Once Howard gets going and Rollins returns, this lineup will make opposing staffs wet themselves.

[J. Weitzel]

Pat Burrell's contribution cannot be overstated. Cole is at Burrell's level. Then it's a slight drop to Myers, Utley. Romero is their best reliever and deserves the recognition. Adam Eaton, Jimmy Rollins, Chad Durbin and Ryan Howard would come in after that. Then there's a pretty significant drop. Actually, it's a pretty big drop between the Top 4 and the rest of the team.

[sifl]

If Coste played more often, he'd be right up there. The man has more RBIs than Jenkins.

[J. Weitzel]

They need to start Coste again today. Ruiz is just a little too light for my tastes these days. Too much weak hitting to go with the daily dose of Bruntlett.

[vegas]

I agree, Coste should see more playing time, he's on a emotional high right now especially with his new book. Bruntlett looked like he picked up the bat for the fist time yesterday. Rally killer.

[GM-Carson]

Bruntlett in limited doses = probably okay. Bruntlett starting for a week+ = horrid!

I'm a Chooch supporter, but Coaste-to-Coste gets the nod over Ruiz right now.

[sifl]

Political analogy of the day: Coste = Obama, Ruiz = Clinton. Especially because Coste supporters are so much more vocal than Ruiz supporters.

[J. Weitzel]

So far, kdon has made good on his vow of Beerleaguer silence until he completes his dissertation.

[CW]

political analogy....please don't do that again.

[CJ]

I'm a big Chooch supporter, too, but there's no reason to sit Coste after yesterday's big game.

[Bedrosian's Beard]

maybe some other people should start a dissertation...

[Sophist]

Three Mets position starters:

.296/.316/.444 .01 WPA
.321/.387/.464 .19 WPA
.333/.410/.431 .55 WPA

Which one is #2 on the list, and which ones didn't even make the list? Reyes, really? What were his numbers before the series against the Nats?

JW - Don't forget about Werth: .370/.514/.556

[J. Weitzel]

Sophist: No question.

[Sophist]

Reyes

in the last 7 days (4 games): .444/.444/.778
against the Nats (3 games): .533/.533/.933

[Tim]

Coste getting the nod may depend on Hamels. If Hamels likes throwing to Ruiz, they may not want to mess with that.

[J. Weitzel]

Rivalry aside, hats off to Nelson Figueroa. After the Phils, he's been in Taiwan, Mexico, the indie leagues, now back in the spotlight and pitching well for the Mets.

[GM-Carson]

I heard on Baseball Tonight yesterday that Figueroa has won something like 5 MVP's throughout his travels to different leagues...that's impressive.

[Rico Brogna]

Yeah Figgy has been a pleasant surprise. He's been all over the world in just the last year, and won the Caribbean World Series MVP or something like that.

El Duque who?

And something got into Reyes a few days ago. There was a report that Beltran told him to be himself, don't be so reserved, etc. Then he comes out and torches the ball. Hopefully this isn't just a hot streak.

[Tray]

What's gross productive average?

[Andy]

"maybe some other people should start a dissertation..."

Bed's Beard: Not too many. We wouldn't want to decrease Jason's income stream through the pursuit of higher education...

besides do we really want to see a moniker like: "dr. clout"?

[J. Weitzel]

Gross Production Average, a variation of OPS, but more accurate and easier to interpret. The exact formula is (OBP*1.8+SLG)/4, adjusted for ballpark factor. The scale of GPA is similar to BA: .200 is lousy, .265 is around average and .300 is a star. A simple formula for converting GPA to runs is PA*1.356*(GPA^1.77).

[CJ]

Jason: It's... um... so simple whwn you put it that way...

[Bob]

Wish I had tickets because CBP will be rocking tonight like it was last september. But catching it on TV is just fine also. I have a little bit of that same nervous feeling in the pit of the stomach that was present late last season when every game counted.

Hoping for a nice welcome to the NL (i.e. a good shelling) of Santana tonight and another quality Cole Hamels start. With Howard having a slow start and J-Roll out of the lineup, that could be a real nice boost to the Phils mindset, not to mention the Phans.

BTW, I appreciate the civil tone of Rico Brogna's posts. A couple of alternative points of view aren't a bad thing at all. Jason seems to have caught all the junk posts so far.

[Andy]

So let's see
(.222*1.8+.265)/4 * (100/104)= .160

Bruntlett's GPA is .160.

Jason you said .200 was lousy; what's Bruntlett?

(Oh, I forgot the Garden Gnome factor; .160 is GREAT for a gnome!)

[Rico Brogna]

Bob:

Much appreciated

[CJ]

OT:
Anyone else awakened by Mother Nature's alarm clock this morning? I'm now in Evansville, IN and we had a 5.2 M quake at about 4:30am. Craaaaaazy...

[Andy]

CJ - Actually, it was not an earthquake...the local donut place was out of "sprinklicious" and Leiber got "hoppin' mad." Literally.

[Andy]

Imagine how it was shakin' in Chicago.

[The Doctor]

I know it's off topic and not regarding the Phils, but has anybody seen the deal Longoria just signed with the Rays? I guess we don't know all the particulars, but on the surface it appears he might have shortchanged himself a bit. Good move by the Rays based on what the kid is projected to be.

[Dave X]

Also with a .161 GPA... Carlos Ruiz

Ladies and Gentlemen, the 2-hole hitters

[Rico Brogna]

Doctor:

It was a head scratcher at first, but it makes perfect sense. If the kid flames out, the Rays only waste $17mil spread out over 6 years, which really isn't that much.

However, if he pans out... my god... What a steal. With the options, the deal could turn out to be $44mil over 9 years, which covers 2 years of free agency.

Incredible signing by the Rays.

[Tray]

Ah, so it's a formula that rates OBP 80% higher than slugging percentage, instead of just adding the two. That seems useful.

[Steve Jeltz]

The Doctor:

Supposedly there are incentives that can up his guaranteed money, but locking him up for 6 years at $18 million looks like a steal for the Rays. If he lives up to even half the hype, he'd be a steal at $5 million/year.

[TC]

The Doctor - I'm not sure he shortchanged himself. Sure, if he's everything he's projected to be, then he would've made more money for waiting. On the other hand, if he gets hurt, he's now set for life. It's hard to turn down that kind of security. Plus, he's 20. If he fulfills the contract--all options, all nine years, he makes 44 million. How many ballplayers make that much before they turn 30? He could be a free agent coming off his season age 29 year, and, assuming he's as good as advertised, he'll set his price in the free agent market.

[DOB]

If I'm a 20 year-old kid getting offered 18 million to play Major League Baseball in Florida and be basically set up for life, I take it.

[DOB]

Being a pessimistic Philly fan, I have a bad feeling about tonight. I think Hamels will do well, but I can't see the Phils getting more than a run or two off of Santana. I think Burrell has a chance to hit a home run, but Howard will go 0-4 with 3 strikeouts.

I call 2-1 Mets. The Phils usually go cold after an outburst, and it doesn't help that the Mets have one of the best pitchers in the league, who also happens to be a lefty.

[Richard]

Mets fan here, but with no intention to start any nonsense.

Looking at the Mets' top 5, I would assume to see either Church or Figueroa be up there, considering Reyes struggled up until the Nats series. Beltran has been decent, but Church has, so far at least, been outstanding, especially against lefties, which comes as a surprise to even me. Figureoa has been a very pleasant surprise. Hopefully those two can keep it up.

[Richard]

As far as the Phils go, it's surprising for me to see Utley be somewhat of a disappointment, at least on the field. That threw me off greatly. I think Romero should've been ranked over Utley, given Utley's fielding problems. Hell, I think Romero should've been ranked over Myers, given his early struggles in the season. But the biggest surprise is to see Burrell continue his late '07 run into the new year. We'll see if he keeps it up.

[Joe]

Given the state of the Mets' rotation?? HAVE YOU SEEN YOUR OWN TEAMS" PITCHING STAFF?