Game chat: Happ back on hill tonight in Atlanta

After a two-start layoff, team ERA leader J.A. Happ (10-4, 2.77) takes the ball when the Phillies embark on a 10-game road trip starting tonight with the second-place Braves. First pitch is 7:35 from a soggy Turner Field. Following a long injury layoff, right-hander Tim Hudson (1-0, 3.63) makes his fourth start hoping to extend the Braves' win streak to eight. The Phillies maintain a 7 1-2 game lead in the National League East. In other news, a pair of lefties, Scott Eyre and J.C. Romero, are scheduled for Saturday bullpen sessions, according to multiple Tweets. Enjoy the game everyone.

Comments

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Anybody have a weather report? Should I go take a nap?

[bay_area_phan]

Klaus: Yeah, it's amazing how much time gets spent on Beerleaguer discussing stuff that has almost no chance of ever happening, even though, in a rational world, it WOULD happen (i.e., Lidge being kept off the post-season roster, Rollins being moved from the leadoff spot, Bruntlett being waived, etc.).

[king myno]

bap - I'm holding out hope for some kind of Eddie type scenario, where a Beerleaguer wins a Manager For a Day contest, enacts all our "wacky" propositions and wows management and the fans with their progressive thinking.

[Old Phan]

BAP, it is a great honor to be in the presence of the arbiter of the rational world. I feel priviliged.
Meanwhile, if someone on here managed the Phils, I could see them going 0-163.

[fljerry]

only 162 games in a season

[bay_area_phan]

king myno: If MVPTommy wins that Manager for a Day lottery, I look for Pedro Feliz to be on the bench & 6'6" Ryan Madson to be the starting third baseman.

[bay_area_phan]

Er . . . I forgot. MVPTommy would never put Madson at third base for fear that he'd get that "deer in headlights" look. How about 6'6" J.A. Happ instead?

[Hugh Mulcahy]

David Wright is no Mike Schmidt at third. He should use his glove to field the ball.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Plus, Schmidt probably had 2" on him even without the perm.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Don't tell me I'm the only guy watching Nats and Mets. Kool Earl, where are you?

[Old Phan]

How tall was Schmidt with the giant wig?

[Old Phan]

Sick Vic tonight

[Hugh Mulcahy]

I guess Victorino was / is really sick.

[CJ]

bap: The discussion wasn't whether I was satisfied with anything regarding J-Roll. My point was clear. There's not a player in baseball that would displace J-Roll as a leadoff hitter.

On July 26th, Shane Victorino had an OBP of .388 and J-Roll had an OBP of .290. If Manuel wouldn't move Rollins down with this staring him in the face, what makes anyone think a guy like Chone Figgins would replace him?

[Hugh Mulcahy]

How tall was Dr. J without his afro? = schmidt with wig

[NEPP]

Meanwhile in the clubhouse restroom...

Who Does Number Two WORK FOR?!?

~straining~

Who DOES NUMBER TWO WORK FOR?!?

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Adam Dunn just made the weakest effort to catch a foul popup that I ever saw. Do you get an error for failing to catch a popup that a little leaguer would catch easily? Jeff Francouer just popped out anyway

[Old Phan]

Vic on the DL with a busted O-Ring

[Hugh Mulcahy]

I have to agree. What will it take to get Rollins to hit in the bottom third of hte order? Some kind of seismic shift in the current situation.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Acc. to the Braves color guy, Larry (Craig) Jones has a wide stance.

[bay_area_phan]

"If Manuel wouldn't move Rollins down with this staring him in the face, what makes anyone think a guy like Chone Figgins would replace him?"

How about a full season of a sub-.300 OBP? How about another bad start to the 2010 season from Rollins? Or how about just the opportunity to get a .366 career OBP into the leadoff spot? I know Cholly is stubborn to a fault but, eventually, he usually figures things out. Figuring out that a .400 OBP guy is a better leadoff hitter than a .300 OBP guy isn't exactly difficult.

[king myno]

I don't think there's any chance we bring in Chone Figgins (although I realize this is just a fun leadoff/OBP discussion). Unless we sh*t the bed and get swept in the NLDS, this is basically the team you'll see in 2010. Hopefully, though, with a less crappy bench.

[SmokyJoe]

So Hudson is getting 2 inches off the plate on the inside and outside? Interesting. Could be a quick, tough game for the Phillies' bats.

[drake]

those first two pitches to howard seemed awfully high to me...

[SmokyJoe]

Hudson is getting a pretty big stike zone, but through the first 2 innings, his stuff looks really good. I'm not thinking that this will be the game the Phillies break out

[SmokyJoe]

I hate Matt Diaz. Another on the list of Philly killers.

[NEPP]

YOU DON'T TEST RAULLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[drake]

pat the bat would have thrown him out by 5 steps.

[Scott]

That was both Rauliffic and Choochtastic.

[curt]

As usual our guy's getting squeezed, and Hudson only needs to throw it somewhere the catcher can catch it. It's how the umps try to equalize the talent and give the fans a good game.

I have no idea how other teams get Diaz out, but we sure can't.

[SmokyJoe]

Let's play guess the inning the Phillies get their first hit.

I guess 7th inning.

[curt]

Somebody just got pulled for loafing!

[CJ]

bap: Since July 1st, Jimmy Rollins has an OBP of .331. Jimmy Rollins career OBP? .329.

It's not like this guy has ever posted gaudy OBPs. Charlie loves him at the top of this lineup. And since we score so many runs, I'd imagine Charlie believes it's working.

[davetom73]

Chris Coste would have held the ball and made that tag, too.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

oh sh*t

[mal]

watching on gameday...what happened?

[No-Doubles Defense]

Matt Diaz hitting .529 (18 for 34) with 4 HR vs. the Phils this year... Wow.

[NEPP]

What's going on? Who's hurt??? (on gameday here)

[king myno]

DAMN IT. Get Happ out of the game.

[Old Phan]

Happ grimaced a bit after the 1st out, but he's OK.
Then again, he just gave up a dinger

[SmokyJoe]

Don't go there

[Scott]

That was well struck.

[NEPP]

If he grimaced he should be out of the damn game...it'll tighten up as soon as he cools down.

[Old Phan]

KK warming up in the pen.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Happ pulled up short on the grounder to 1st. Grimacing. Big pow-wow instigated by Utley who saw his reaction. Dubee and Manuel let him continue. Braves announcres seem to think he's favoring the oblique. Not necessarily apparent to me.

[Scott]

Charlie knows he just needs to throw about 125 pitches to loosen it back up.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

cricket ball

[king myno]

Scott - Good one. And don't forget to warm Madson up!

[SmokyJoe]

That was very Vladesque. McCann made contact after it bounced off the ground.

[drake]

if he can't finish the game, just get him out now.

[SmokyJoe]

Happ needs to not swing the bat, period, for several games. That's what will re-injure him.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Rollins loves that first pitch.
Happ needs to put on the warmup jacket.

[king myno]

If Happ can't swing the bat/make a sharp turn to his left, he can't play baseball. I know they need to see what he's got before the playoffs, but this wasn't good for numerous reasons.

[SmokyJoe]

Don't go there

[Hugh Mulcahy]

That was bound to happen.

[Old Phan]

Bandbox

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Werth gets more hits on ugly swings than any man alive.

[birds]

That went off the screen on gamecast

[Old Phan]

Happ is out. Not good.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Kendrick in. What were they thinking, let him pitch while he's still loose? Obvious he should have come out.

[Iceman]

Atlanta fans must HATE Ryan Howard. He absolutely kills them, especially at Turner Field.

Kendrick for the rest of the game...gonna go out on a limb and say we'll need more than two runs.

[SmokyJoe]

I'm hoping it's just precautionary

[G-Town Dave]

Hugh: What is obvious to the rest of the world is almost never obvious to Charlie/Dubee.

[NEPP]

Stupid to leave Happ in there after the initial wince. Now he's back to square 1 with his rehab...good work.

[CJ]

For the best... even if it's an over-abundance of caution. Sure would be nice to have Happ healthy by playoff time.

Any doubt now that the playoff rotation will be:
Hamels, Lee, Blanton, Pedro?

[NEPP]

No doubt whatsoever now, CJ.

[SmokyJoe]

I wonder why Cox has Diaz batting 7th against the Phillies? He turns into Ted Williams when he plays us.

[SmokyJoe]

T-Mac just said the official word is that he was pulled as a precaution.

[SmokyJoe]

Groundball, left side, Pete Happy

Second verse, same as the first

[Hugh Mulcahy]

pencil him in for 3 of those a game, smokyjoe

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Who is 8 for 65 in 16 games against Atlanta? Our leadoff hitter.

[SmokyJoe]

As this inning was just prototypical, can anyone give a reason why Chooch shouldn't be hitting up top right now and Jimmy at the bottom?

[SmokyJoe]

Nice inning, KK

[Scott]

Now that we've potentially ruined Happ, I fully expect to see Chan Ho pinch running later in the game.

[SmokyJoe]

Since Clout isn't here, I'll say it. Kendrick looks good. He's thrown 2 sliders, and quite a few changeups, and has put them in good locations.

[curt]

If KK can hold the Braves down for 6 innings here, he could put himself in the conversation for next year.

[valo]

If Sarge or McCarthy say, "That's the key," just once more I'm gonna scream.

[ozark]

Why is Diaz ashamed of being Latino? His name is Dee-az, not Die-az.

[SmokyJoe]

BenFran showing he is a very capable substitute for Vic

[Scott]

And even if the Phils later decide to part ways with KK, he's currently increasing his trade value if he continues to mix it up and show poise out there.

[SmokyJoe]

And that was very Vic-esque

[Old Phan]

Ben Francisco, show us your golden gait.

[Hope SE]

LA on Francisco: That's the stuff Washington does. Why?

[Scott]

Someday, Hudson will figure it out. But not tonight.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

40 circuit clouts

[SmokyJoe]

If McCann calls one more slider from Hudson against Ryno, he's a moron.

[Scott]

Look like he might have dropped a G.D. and an F-Bomb after that one.

[Old Phan]

Bobby Cox and his Bandbox.

[SmokyJoe]

Too bad BenFran got greedy.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Francisco didn't read the job description for no. 2 hitter. Rule 2: Don't make an out on the bases in front of Utley, Howard, et al.

[curt]

Sure glad Howard's along for the road trip.

[NEPP]

Funny, I was just saying earlier today that Ryno was worrying me with his lack of power the last few weeks.

BL Reverse Jinx strikes again.

[SmokyJoe]

Ruiz out, no reason yet...Bako in.

[awh]

Tim Hudson must have a monstrous ego to try to continually pitch to Howie.

Either that or he's not too bright.

[G-Town Dave]

Is Chooch hurt? He looked like a bit awkward hopping up after the collision at home, but I figured it was nothing since he stayed in.

[SmokyJoe]

If Cox was smart, he'd go Diaz, Prado, McCann with the lineup. That would be big trouble against the Phillies.

DP time

[NEPP]

Dropping like flies right now.

Ruiz would be on of the worst guys to go down.

[SmokyJoe]

The ump started to call safe and switched it to out.

[vegas]

Ruiz looked like he got hurt on that play at the plate earlier in the game.

[Old Phan]

Bad call, but I'll take it