Game chat: Lefties slated as Orioles fly to town

The Phillies hope to put a horrid sweep by the Blue Jays behind them when they open a new series against the 29-37 Orioles. Rich Hill (2-1, 5.81) and Antonio Bastardo (2-1, 5.25) have the ball starting at 7:05.

Best of the press notes: The Phillies have experienced an RISP slip, according to the pre-game notes. Over their last 27 games and after a great start in this category, the Phillies are hitting .190 (47-247) with runners in scoring position. Here’s another interesting figure: The Phillies are 15-8 against left-handed starters, including an 8-4 mark at home, good news as they oppose lefty Rich Hill tonight.

Utley: For whatever reason, I was thinking about Chase Utley today. Beerleaguer’s least discussed player is also the Phils’ best player overall (go figure). The All-Star-bound second basemen is hitting .308/.441/.567 with 15 homers; that .441 OBP is good for third in the league. He’s quietly been on a roll lately, too, hitting .349 (38-109) over his last 28 games.

Ex-Phillies news: Beerleaguer favorite R.J. Swindle has allowed only one earned run in 30 Triple-A games for Nashville, lowering his season ERA to 0.30 and career minor league ERA to 2.16 over 383 2-3 innings. Marlon Anderson is now playing for the Newark Bears.  Pete LaForrest is catching for Quebec les Capitales in the Can-Am league, and he recently caught Eric Gagne's first game.

Lineups are posted: Rollins, Victorino, Utley, Howard, Werth, Feliz, Mayberry, Ruiz, Bastardo.

Comments

[Brian]

Chase Utley YOUUUU ARREE THE MAN!!!

[paco]

Hill should be out of the game by the 5th inning today. He has serious control problems.

[Brian]

and a righty line up that would make any lefty shake

[king myno]

Seems like Swindle dominates in AAA and gets destroyed in the majors. Poor guy, we were really rooting for him.

[Ben Keeler]

I saw yesterday that former great Les walrond is in Japan pitching.

[pb]

Does anyone know if Werth is in LF or RF? I don't get why they are going to bounce Werth back and forth between LF or RF depending on if Dobbs or Mayberry is playing. Just play Mayberry in LF because if you're ever gonna have a defensive replacement for an outfielder it would be for Ibanez (especially with his groin issue) not Vic or Werth so just let him play LF.

[clout]

Lively discussion on Michael Taylor in prior thread.

Taylor, despite what Conlin says, isn't really a "tools" prospect, which is why he wasn't in BA's Top 100. Taylor is more a "skills" prospect and has more appeal to stathead types, which is why Sickels had him ranked as the Phils #2 prospect heading into this year, ahead of Dom Brown, Donald and Marson.

The problem, I think, is that while Taylor has 5 tools, they don't jump out at you. he's got good, not great power. He's got plus speed and a plus arm, but he's a big guy so he doesn't look fast.

The reason I've been high on him is how quickly everything seemed to click after a bad first year in SS ball. Not too many players give you good defense, speed, high average, high OB and decent power.

I don't think he'll turn into Dave Winfield, but he could easily be a .290/.350/.480 kind of guy with 15 HR and 15 SBs and above average D.

[clout]

pb: Mayberry has a better arm than Werth so it makes more sense to put him in RF.

[bay_area_phan]

Speaking of tools prospects, Hewitt makes his season debut tonight at Williamsport.

[EastFallowfield]

First time since May 31*, I think, that we'll be playing a team worse than the one playing the Mets, except when we went head to head and we were playing a second place team...

*May 31 we played the Nats, Mets played Marlins.

[CJ]

Quick note from a few threads back...

Why are people still pushing this idea that the Braves will be some kind of a factor? It's going to be a two-horse race. Phils vs. Mets again. Braves aren't ready. Marlins aren't ready. Nats blow.

[Brian G]

clout: "I don't think he'll turn into Dave Winfield, but he could easily be a .290/.350/.480 kind of guy..."

Ummm, Dave Winfield's career line: .283/.353/.475

[clout]

Brian G: Damn. Who knew you could get into the HOF with stats that weak.

[CJ]

clout: Longevity and 7 years with they Yankees.

[valo]

Been thinking today about how Gillick/Amaro surprised everyone with Lidge, Moyer, Lohse, Blanton, and other acquisitions. I guess I am preparing myself for an under-the-radar deal.

[Brian G]

Yeah, and they generally don't turn away multiple gold glovers with over 3100 hits. And in that time frame that OPS was good for a 130 OPS+.

[pb]

Mayberry is in LF, finally he does the right thing

[Hydrant]

McCarthy: "These young players add a little juice to the clubhouse."

Uhh, not good wording in this post-steroid era. :)

[G-Town Dave]

pb: Agreed. And I hope it stays that way until Raúl returns.

[clout]

Brian G: Ummm, so in the context of today's game, he really wouldn't be Dave Winfield.

[RSB]

Rollins starting to swing it much better from the right side.

[Hydrant]

Nice piece of hitting, Jayson Werth. Nice bellyflop, Ryno :)

[G-Town Dave]

Nice job by Werth & Howard. :-)

[G-Town Dave]

Dunno if it's already been mentioned in a previous thread, but RIP Gary Papa. :-(

[GBrettfan]

How I miss the days of being able to hold a lead.

[GBrettfan]

I suppose we'll have to endure the learning curve for Bastardo. Was hoping he'd have "beginner's luck" this year.

[curt]

It begins to feel like our staff will never again hold a lead more than 5 minutes.

[MG]

Again a mental gaffe hurts the Phils in a big way when Utley didn't catch the ball before trying to make the tag at 2B. Bastardo should be out of the inning.

[RSB]

The whole thing about playing lousy at home is really about the pitching. How many times has there been a sequence like that, even on this homestand - the Phillies go ahead and then immediately give it back? Nothing mental about it.

[timr]

"Move close to your world my friend..."

Looks like the Phils haven't moved any closer to getting qualiy starting pitching. The Bastardo experiment may be winding down.

[gm-carson]

Utley is the man, but he cost the Phils a run by not catching the would-be assist from Victorino. This team is finding new ways to lose every game and are playing extremely unfocused. A good Charlie Manuel tongue lashing should be coming.

[MG]

RSB - Agreed to a degree but the defense has been putrid on the homestand. Utley should have had Reimold out by a mile and instead he butchers a sure out because he doesn't hold on to the ball before trying to make the tag.

If an Eagles' WR drops the ball because he starts to run before the catch, he gets severely chastised. Same should go for someone like Utley.

This pitching staff isn't great but this is the worst week of defense the Phils have played easily since last April. No one has played particularly well defensively.

[MG]

Here ad nauseam that Bastardo "needs to use his changeup more." Well, that is obvious and kind of missing the point.

The reality is that Bastardo needs to throw a first pitch strike.

Against SD, he threw first pitch strikes to 13 of the 23 hitters he faced. Against LA, it was only 7 of the 23 hitters he faced. Against Boston, it was a meager 3 out of 9 hitters.

Same thing tonight. Bastardo got throw his fastball for a strike on the first pitch in the 1st inning and had a quick 1-2-3. He didn't do that in the 2nd inning and he quickly got in trouble.

A guy like Bastardo simply has to throw a first-pitch strike to at least half of the batters he faces or he simply won't hack it as a MLB starter. One of the best quotes from Dkystra was the baseball is really all about the first place. Win that battle and you have a pretty good chance of winning that AB.

[RSB]

timr- yeah. Wheeler was narrating the scene of Dubee lecturing Bastardo in the dugout, saying "you can't get by with throwing all fastballs to major league hitters." Perhaps unfortunately, he did just that in his first start and it's taking him longer to learn this the hard way. Part of the problem, though, is that the 94-95 against the Padres is now down to 92-93.

[G-Town Dave]

Viiiiiiiiiiiic!!!!!!!!! :-D

[MG]

Ruiz's suspect pitch calling:

- Marshall is badly behind on two straight fastball at 91 MPH. So what does Ruiz call for, a changeup even though Bastardo had only throw 1 all night so far and obviously doesn't have a feel for it yet. Bastardo hangs the changeup and Marshall drills it in LF for a single and an RBI.

Just plain stupid pitch calling. You have at least 2 pitches to burn there and the obvious one was either a letter-high fastball or a fastball well outside.

[RSB]

MG: are you mistaking Rich Hill for Sean Marshall? I always did that when they were both Cubs.

[TK]

MG: Agreed. You're talking about Hill though right?

[MG]

Mean Hill. My bad.

[bay_area_phan]

MG: Good point. The reason he throws nothing but fastballs is because he's always behind in the count. But, on top of that, his secondary pitches aren't terribly impressive.

[RSB]

Now that was an encouraging f**king inning.

[G-Town Dave]

Franzke just pointed out that it was Lopes who suggested Mayberry move to LF to allow Werth to stay in RF. Incidentally, I wonder how many moves Charlie gets the credit (or the blame) for actually come from one of his coaches?

[G-Town Dave]

Gold Glove 1st Baseman Ryan Howard!!! :-D

[redbeard]

theres some good D. nice play howard.

[bay_area_phan]

Other than that horrific 2nd inning, this is actually the best command Bastardo has shown.

[PhilsGal]

66 pitches through 5. 45 for strikes.

[redbeard]

more nonsense from jroll.

[TK]

Jimmy Rollins pops up and the sky is blue.

[TK]

This team is bad.

[redbeard]

cholly is looking at lopes right now, and he aint smiling.

[MG]

Lousy defense continues. Mayberry turns the wrong way and fails to catch what should have been the 3rd out and JRoll with a weak relay throw.

[Andy]

Bastardo will be a very good middle relievr one day, maybe even a set up guy.

[MG]

Tough call on Bastardo - do you bring him out to try and get him through the 7th?

[MG]

People will look and see (6 IP and 4 runs) when the reality is that both Utley made a mistake and Mayberry made mistakes that lead directly to runs tonight. Bastardo deserved better with the way he has pitched including no BBs, no HRs, and a solid very solid strike/ball ratio.

[TK]

Yea will not much you can do when you're going up against the immortal Rich Hill.

[MG]

Sarge going on and on about how Bastardo needs to use his changeup more like a broken record almost every inning. Are you even watching the damn game Sarge? Useless. Completely useless as a color man/analyst. Problem is that he is with McCarthy who also doesn't bring much to the table and had made several mistakes again tonight in the broadcast including saying WABC for Papa tonight.

[RSB]

Phils not playing well in any facet of the game right now.

[bay_area_phan]

Yet another pitiful offensive performance tonight against an extraordinarily mediocre pitcher.

[MG]

Its tough to listen to a game when your team is losing against a team they probably should beat. It is that much more difficult listening to Sarge & McCarthy yammer on with mistake after mistake and Sarge rehashing the same points over and over again. Franske and LA from here on out.

[TK]

Not sure why Boston would want to deal Penny at this point with Dice K pitching so dreadfully.

[G-Town Dave]

MG: Bastardo deserved better, but it doesn't matter any when the offense continues to make AL nobodies like Hill look like Sandy Koufax.

[MG]

It won't last but this team just can't buy a hit with RISP tonight either.

[MG]

Dave - Agreed. Hill isn't an "AL nobody" and had a pretty good curve working tonight but he wasn't dominant either nor is he a guy who should largely shut down.

[Tray]

"I don't think he'll turn into Dave Winfield, but he could easily be a .290/.350/.480 kind of guy with 15 HR and 15 SBs and above average D."

This seems like a sober assessment. Supposing that's right, I'd trade such a prospect for Bedard or Peavy.

[redbeard]

listening to mccarthy while losing makes me too angry. way too jolly and chatty. franzke nad l.a. keep the perfect temp in regards to how this team is playing at any given time.

[Claude Harring]

Wheel's term of thys week must be "cheating up the middle." Had to mention it in the 7th even though no O reached 1st base.

[Hydrant]

Would be nice to get a couple here and at least get Bastardo off the hook for the loss.

[MG]

Odd thing tonight - is how bad Feliz looked tonight against a lefty (Hill) on the mound. Then again, he is hitting just .242 against LHP coming into tonight and .333 against RHP. Coming into this season - he was a career .267 vs LHP and just .250 vs RHP.

[gm-carson]

Bastardo's line may read 4 earned runs over 7, but it should have easily only been 1 earned. Utley's misplay cost the Phils 2 runs and Mayberry's misplay cost them 1. Bastardo actually pitched pretty damn good if you watch the game.

[Brian G]

Bruntlett. Mind boggling.

[MG]

Why does Cholly continue to use Bruntlett as the primary right-handed PH off the bench? I thought Bako (who is stealing money every day he is on the MLB roster) was here so that Coste could fill that role?

[Claude Harring]

If if's and but's were candy and nuts we'd all have a very Merry Christmas.

[Claude Harring]

Bruntlett picked up Cholly's dry cleaning for him today.

[bay_area_phan]

I literally become enraged every time Bruntlett appears in a major league game. He is the single worst player in the major leagues -- or at least the second worst behind Paul Bako. It is infuriating that he is even on the team. It is even more infuriating that Cholly is still using him as the first right-handed option off the bench, when there is no plausible justification for Bako's presence on the team, except to free up Coste for that very job.

Continuing to use Bruntlett, even with Bako on the team, is the most incomprehensibly stupid thing that Cholly has ever done -- and that's no small feat.

[gm-carson]

I understand that Bruntlett plays multiple positions, but he's actually more worthless than No-Hit Nunez was, and that's saying something (bad that is). He f'n sucks! The fact that both he and Bako are bench options is sickening. Amaro did a piss poor job blowing money on 2 years of Moyer and a year of Park, but didn't address the bench at all.

[gm-carson]

Cholly is looking really stupid again lately. Losing has that effect.

[EastFallowfield]

Pat Burrell pinch hitting as the tying run at Citifield.

[Andy]

Why use Bruntlett early in a game if he's your primary position substitute in case of an injury?

[gm-carson]

The O's are the worst road team in the majors, yet here they are dominating us. This is infuriating.

[Claude Harring]

Cholly is the same as he always was. His luck has run out and the rose-colored glasses have fallen off most of your noses.

[MG]

I thought you wouldn't see another PH have a completely inept season in a Phils' uniform like No-Hit Nunez had in 07 - 1 for 23 with a with a .163 OPS. It was historically the worst season by a Phils' PH with more than 20 ABs.

Bruntlett this season - 3 for 18 now a .540ish OPS. Not historically bad because all 3 hits have oddly been 2Bs.

What is more staggering is that Bruntlett now has a sub .500 OPS and is on pass to somehow get 180 ABs this season.

Only a handful of guys in all of MLB have been worse and you could arguably say that Bruntlett has been the worst offensive player in the NL besides Erstad (who has been dreadfully bad but has "veteran presence")

[Andy]

Yeah, Carson. Players like Gnome and Taschner have a way of making any manager look pretty imbecilic.

[TK]

In other news, Pat Burrell has facial hair!

Oh and he just struck out in a big spot against the Mets.

[EastFallowfield]

Pat the Bat goes down swinging...

[gm-carson]

I want to punch someone!

[G-Town Dave]

"Continuing to use Bruntlett, even with Bako on the team, is the most incomprehensibly stupid thing that Cholly has ever done -- and that's no small feat."

b_a_p: That pretty much says it all.

And I am now rescinding Howard's Gold Glove.

[TK]

BJ Upton picks up Pat with an 2 RBI Double.

[PhillyBlunt]

Howard! Man! Even the Bunk could have caught up to that one...

[Andy]

aaaaaarrrrrrrrgggggghhhhhhh

[gm-carson]

Howard is totally doucherific lately. Bad fielding and even worse batting. Try striking out again big guy!

How is it again that Adam Dunn gets bashed and Ryan Howard gets praised when they're seemingly the same player.

[MG]

Oddly Bruntlett's split vs LHP are horrendous. He is 6-26 (.231 AVG) and has shown an ability to work some works.

It is his pitcher-like numbers against RHP with a 2-23 (.089 AVG) with a .235 OPS. In fact, I bet Bruntlett is hitting better than .150 against RHP since August 1st last year.

[bay_area_phan]

Some extremely generous official scoring going on tonight. Both Utley and Howard should have errors.

[Claude Harring]

Dunn at least gets walks

[bay_area_phan]

Then again, I'm glad Howard didn't get charged with an error because, if Taschner allows a run here, I want it charged against his ERA. The higher his ERA goes, the more likely the Phillies will dump him.

[MG]

Worst defensive stretch for this team since last April during the first 2 weeks of the season and arguably the worst they have played defense during a homestand in quite a while. Mental gaffes and boneheaded plays galore.

[Andy]

Mora is slow; thank God.

[GBrettfan]

I thought the kid pitched pretty well tonight. I was very pleased he pitched 7 innings. Our BP needed it! Unfortunately, we're again not doing much offensively and again making mental mistakes.

[MG]

BAP - Utley tough but probably no. Mayberry and Howard - yes.

[That Dude]

dudes, Drabek went 8 innings giving up 4 hits NO BB and NO ER for the win with 5Ks.

[gm-carson]

Sadly enough, Taschner is far from the Phillies problems right now.