Game chat: Phils return home for set with Nats

Joe Blanton (1-0, 4.00) goes for his second win as a Phillie when his new club returns to Citizens Bank Park to face Jason Bergmann (2-9, 4.51) and the Nationals. First pitch is 7:05 ET. The Phils trail the Mets by 1.5 games in the standings, while the 44-81 Nationals have lost 10-straight games. Lineups are posted: Jayson Werth starts in right field and bats second. Shane Victorino slides to the sixth spot, followed by Greg Dobbs and Chris Coste.

Comments

[diggitydave]

I usually hate people who do this, but I'm going to repeat my point from the previous thread:
Billy "the rat" Wagner will stay on the DL a little bit longer, and may miss the rest of the season according to Yahoo. Aaron Heilman will continue closing games for the Mets in the short term..

[CJ]

Want some good news regarding our record right now? Since we're worse than the Mets, we can prevent pitchers like Brian Fuentes from being claimed by NY should they get to us!

[Mick O]

I think the waiver-block-placement was the plan all along.

[JCD]

Just want to voice some support for J-Roll. The guy is as good as they come at short, and I have no doubt that his bat will come alive down the stretch. If not, we're in trouble.

Howard is a different story. He doesn't look like a player who'll age well to me, and I think the phils should think hard about trying to move him in the off season. If they can get a serious offensive prospect and add some pitching depth to the farm system, I'd be all for it.

[PhillR]

Heilman is closing for the Mets? I guess he is their best option. Really not a good situation for them. I am feeling pretty confident in the Phillies post season hopes after hearing that.

[PhillR]

JCD: You are skeptical on Howard's bat coming back, despite the fact that he is way way below career norms; but you are confident in Rollin's bat "coming alive" despite the fact that he has played at career norms all season?

I think you have it wrong. Howard is slumping, but Rollins is playing just like the real Rollins.

Rollins career ops+: 98. Current: 96
Howard career ops+: 140. Curren: 104

If we should expect anyone to "come alive" its Howard.

[vegas]

This whole boo story is getting old. I understand that we have the right to boo since we are paying ticket holders. Booing shows our dissatisfaction for poor play. Booing is a Philly tradition. The more I think about it Rollins is right in what he has expressed about home fans. We should support our players more with some positive energy. I'm not suggesting praising every play whether good or bad, just less booing. These players want to win as much as we want them to win. IMO most fans at home games just boo along because thats what we do here and there is a "toughest fans" reputation to uphold. And you better believe that even the Philly players that you're not booing are saying under thier breath, "boo? fu?k you!"

[Sophist]

Rollins' career OPS+ is distorted a bit by his early (ages 21-24) seasons. Since 2004

04: 102
05: 97
06: 101
07: 118
08: 96

What's more apparent than OPS+ though is his big drop in BA and OPS.

04: .289/.803
05: .290/.770
06: .277/.811
07: .296/.875
08: .266/.764

07 was probably a career year, but 08 is a down year for Rollins regardless.

[Wanks]

It's a tired topic.

[Andy]

In honor of Carson:

Rah rah ree
kick'em in the knee!
Rah rah rass
kick'em in the
um,
other knee!

[CJ]

Blanton's HR rate since joining the Phils is certainly a concern. He's got to get that under control. 1-0 Nats is not a good start... and will make it harder to have those cheers when Rollins comes to the plate.

[diggitydave]

I dunno about you guys but I heard a few boos in the background when Jimmy picked up that ground ball and threw out Zimmerman at first..

[Sophist]

No question, Wank, both booing and Jimmy Rollins are a tired topic. PhillR is a constant distorter of Rollins' record, however. Rollins is having his worst season in the last 5 years. The only one to come close, 2005, his BA was 24 points higher.

[redbeard]

there you go. jimmy booed the second he touched the ball.

[Sophist]

I heard it too, diggity.

[JCD]

Howard will probably lead the NL in homers and steaks at season's end. He has productive years ahead, of course, but at his price, he's not a good long-term bet in my view. He's hit well with runners in scoring position this year, despite all the demoralizing strike outs, but I don't see him figuring out left-handed pitching or improving much in the field over the course of his career, which figures to be relatively brief.

[curt]

Hope this is not an insurmountable lead.

[Wanks]

Evidently, he's going to get killed when he comes to the plate because he just got some on that ground ball. I hope that's the end of it.

[Wanks]

Comcast SportsNet really botched that one. They didn't go to the commercial to get the fan reaction and then they overlap the reaction with audio from another useless interview. Well done.

[JCD]

Ridiculous to boo that swing. Morons.

[CJ]

Yep... Rollins proved right. What a bunch of jackasses.

[CJ]

It's like they revel in this assinine reputation Philly fans have. While the rest of the country laughs at us, we're proud that we boo for stupid reasons.

[Wanks]

The bigger concern, in my view, is- can we score a run tonight?

[Sophist]

That was as representative of Rollins' season as a GB to the right-side. His LD% is over 3% higher than last year although his BABIP is 20 points lower.

[Ribbies]

Franske and LA just had a nice laugh at Carson's expense- "Where did Jimmy find these guys?"

[CJ]

Sophist: That is the strange part. Can it really be just bad luck?

[redbeard]

Wanks, yep. complete idiots

[diggitydave]

CJ: Rollins doesn't "prove right". If he doesn't say anything last week about Phillie fans, the fans at the ballpark either don't say anything positive or negative, or they might even cheer for a hard-hit ball and good swing.

But like Wanks said, can the Phillies finally hit this amateur bergmann who they can never seem to solve??

[Wanks]

I have a hard time saying that Rollins struggles are predicated on bad luck. Those are interesting numbers, but when you watch this team day in and day out you get the feeling that he isn't "just missing."

Blanton looks great, too.

[CJ]

diggitydave: Sorry... if you disagree, but the actions of the fans speak for themselves. Especially after he ripped that ball.

[Sophist]

CJ - I don't know but I don't think so. For one, I'm not sure what a normal BABIP is for his LD% (Dave X usually know this). Also, his GB% is way up. 10% from last year and easily the highest of his career. His infield fly rate is also way up so his FB are way down. And then his HR/FB is his lowest since 2005. Not pretty. The only thing sustaining his OBP is his BB% -- easily a career high.

[Ribbies]

Oh, Joey Bland

[redbeard]

so far it sounds pretty quite there, besides jimmy getting booed.

[CJ]

Sophist: Thanks. It's just strange for a LD% to go up but a BABIP to go down since your line drives have the greatest chance of being hits. Although infield flies don't generally result in hits!

[diggitydave]

CJ:
Of course, the hypothetical situation "if he never said what he said" is irrelevant now.
The only thing that matters is the here and now, and that it was ridiculous to boo a solid effort and a well-hit ball by Jimmy.

[TK]

I hate the Nats announcers. Though I did get a chuckle when they just said "The Bermann shift pays off again."

[CJ]

Blanton lucky to get out of that one unscathed. He better start pitching better or this will be a long game!

[Wanks]

It's frustrating to see them 1.5 back. And it's frustrating that they are 5 games under .500 since June 13th. I think what's really frustrating, however, is that if they fall behind to the Nationals by a couple of runs early, you seriously question their ability to come back. A loss is a loss, but the way they have lost the last 2 months almost numbs you a little bit.

Hopefully the start of this homestand turns that around. I think we can all agree that we just want these last 6 weeks to be fun. Right now, nobody is having fun. I'm sure not.

[loctastic]

wow, could not believe rollins got booed on the first ground ball he got. at least the fans didnt boo him on that second one.

the radio broadcast also came in late and missed the crowd reaction to rollins. that had to have been on purpose..

[TK]

Bergmann that is.

[mvptommyd]

Glad they booed. Jimmy is a diva jackass and has let the mvp get to his head when holliday deserved it more than him.

If he wants the booing to stop tell his teammates to play better, if not go to st louis or oakland where they don't give a damn.

While I am on st louis that team is loaded with talent including 3 yes 3 number one pitchers and look what the cheering has given them nothing but a sinking ship.

[Sophist]

CJ - one thing is clear. This year is *not* typical Rollins as some argue. The only way that can be argued is by taking seasons before he turned 24 into account and using solely OPS+.

Blanton saved by the pitcher. Good work jamming the prior batter, however.

[Ghost of Luis Aguayo]

CJ- while I don't disagree the booing there was ridiculous, it does not PROVE anything; they are booing because of what JRoll said, not because they are "frontrunning fans"

[loctastic]

also, i think i saw Carson on Sportsnite. he was pumping up Campaign Cheer.

so much for that. :)

[CJ]

Ghost: Look at it any way that makes you feel better about Phils fans booing like idiots. Exhibit A: mvptommyd

[TK]

There is the plus side of Victorino at the bottom of the lineup.

[Tightlines]

Dear T-Mac:

SHUT UP

[Ribbies]

Vic is easy to cheer for. Let's go Dobbs!

[CJ]

Pretty big at bat early in the game for Dobbs.

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

Hibachi is absolutely right. The perception that the Phillies fans boo their own and the Red Sox and Yankee's don't is a complete fallacy, based completely on stereotype and speculation.

Bostonians have many stereotypes (I'm not lending any credibility to them, merely using as an example) and much of them are a lot worse than a reputation for booing.