Game chat: Phillies have another go in Chicago

Joe Blanton, (3-5, 6.41), who was bailed out of a loss in his last start when the Phillies staged a thrilling 10-inning rally to beat the Reds 9-7, tries to get back on track this afternoon against left-hander Ted Lilly (3-8, 4.08) and the Cubs. First pitch is a jarring 2:20 p.m. ET. The Phillies will feature a different lineup against Lilly: Rollins, Victorino, Werth, Howard, Francisco (LF), Ransom (3B), Ruiz, Valdez. Lilly is one of several starters bandied about in trade speculation, but don’t look for the Phillies to be active pursuers. According to Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Ruben Amaro Jr. isn’t optimistic about acquiring help before the deadline. [Jump to the newest comments]

Comments

[Heather]

Is uhm, Castro pinch hitting? For real?

[clout]

Charlie and Joe dodged a big bullet there.

[jason.tp]

out of all the times to not pull Blanton, I'd prolly let him hit instead of Castro.

[MG]

Get that out of the way quick enough . . . does Castro finish the year with an OPS >.400 if he gets enough ABs?

[Heather]

"Get that out of the way quick enough . . . does Castro finish the year with an OPS >.400 if he gets enough ABs?"

Maybe if you square his OPS it gets above .400

[phils and nova]

ruben and the front office must go crazy wathcing some of these decisions made by charlie right? thank goodness joe came through but honestly, he shouldnt have come out there for the 7th and should have been pulled after the first hit he gave up.

another arm needs to be added. washed up/inconsistent vets like conteras, baez and lidge wont get us to the playoffs

[Heather]

Good job working the count there, Phils. Way to make the Cubbies work for it.

[Old Phan]

This was certainly one of Tennessee Joe's better outings. We may need another rocket
Powered By Howard™

[MG]

Bruntlett last year in a historically bad year (105 ABs):

.171/.224/.238

Castro now (126 Abs):

.198/.237/.238

[holy mackerel ( in nyc)]

blanton is putrid

y is he still out there for the 8th?

good thing he's signed for another 2 yrs

[holy mackerel ( in nyc)]

gameday just updated the pitcher to madson -

thankfully...

[bay_area_phan]

Remember, back in 2009, when everyone was predicting that Rollins' .240 average would eventually revert to career norms? Are we ready to conclude that this IS his new career norm?

[MG]

Blanton wasn't putrid today by any stretch but on a day where he needed to come up big he didnt'. Watched a 0-26 pitcher to force in a run and then gave the lead right back the following inning after Howard just hit a 2-HR.

[Sophist]

.625*.625 is about .400. Not sure if she meant it, but I think heather got it about right.

[jason.tp]

So Taguchi in his 103 PA: .220/.283/.297

[phils and nova]

come on now phils, a w here would be huge with roy and cole going the next two games. Winning a 4 game set after the asb would keep that momentum and give everyone some confidence they need, especially at the plate.

[Willard Preacher]

Look, I don't think for a second that anyone on this team is TRYING to enable a feeble offense or that they don't care. They're all professionals and obviously they're all very competitive, or they wouldn't be where they are today.

That said, there has to be some accountability in the fact that they're just mindlessly trying to swing their way out of this "slump" (or whatever it is - yes, I know there are injuries). When an entire lineup (outside of The Problem) is struggling, you break out of it by working counts, seeing pitches and getting the timing back. Going up there and guessing first pitch fastball every time is the round about way to get your mojo back. I'd love to see this team be more patient at the plate, then start to make the pitchers pay for mistakes.

[bay_area_phan]

Actually, I didn't realize he only had 121 ABs. Thought it was more like 250. Alright, it's not a career norm quite yet. But he needs to start hitting -- something he hasn't done since 2008.

[MG]

Fitting.

[Sophist]

BAP - I highly doubt Rollins would have hit .240 this year if he hadn't gotten injured.

[phils and nova]

wow

[Willard Preacher]

Don't let Mad Dog anywhere near a chair please.

Dammit!

[holy mackerel ( in nyc)]

walking the pitcher w/ the bases loaded doesn't make him koufax

out

headed back to philly

[Heather]

See a lot of pitches and work the count? You mean like Aramis Ramirez just did?

Now that's just crazy talk.

[MG]

Williard - I wonder if the Phils issued him steel-tipped cleats today. . .

[Sophist]

Ramirez and Byrd accounting for all the Cubs offense

[phils and nova]

can someone name the strengths of the phillies as a team right now? what a frustrating season this is

[Sophist]

Heather, with the year he's having, we'd have to listen to you cry and moan about Ramirez everyday on BL were he a Phil.

[Heather]

On TV, this ump's strike zone has been unbelievable. Like, unbelievably bad, unbelievably inconsistent, etc.

[passing by]

with the wind blowing out, does Howard see anything over the plate at all?

[bay_area_phan]

Sophist: Let's see what he hits when the year is over. If he hits .240, after having hit .250 last year, it would seem pretty dubious to say the injury was the cause.

[Heather]

I guess if the Phils go on a 20-0 stretch here starting tomorrow, they're still in this thing.

[Old Phan]

"I guess if the Phils go on a 20-0 stretch here starting tomorrow, they're still in this thing."

Yea, otherwise the season is over.

[jason.tp]

well looks like someone - Aramis Rameriz - is determined to have a better second half.

Current Phillies lineup as a whole vs. Carlos Marmol:

2-19, 6BB 7K .105/.392./.105 (Vic/Ibanez singles)

[Heather]

"Heather, with the year he's having, we'd have to listen to you cry and moan about Ramirez everyday on BL were he a Phil."

Oh, trust me, I understand that Ramirez is not having a good year, it is just funny Willard mentioned working the count till you got something to hit, and BOOM! Ramirez did just that.

[ozark]

Will Madson punch wall this time?
They leave a guy on 3rd w/ less than 2 outs. They walk the poitcher w/ bases loaded.
Good baseball teams don't do this.

[Old Phan]

Stood there like a house by the side of the road and watched that go by.

[passing by]

just gotta keep doing what I'm doing... yikes.

[Heather]

Uhm, Werth, did you get the memo? If the ball is close to the plate, you want to swing at it when you are behind 0-2.

Remember: when behind, swing at an 0-2 pitch. Did you think this ump was going to do you any favors?

[Albert Tross]

When did the Phillies re-sign Pat Burrell?

Oh, wait. That was Werth.

[phils and nova]

strike one - looking
strike two - looking
strike three - looking

seriously, in the top of the 9th down a run, you STARE AT THREE PITCHES

[Willard Preacher]

Is Werth paid by the walk or something? For the life of me, I can't see how "an elite" free-agent-to-be can stand there with the bat on his shoulder like this clown.

[HammRadio]

@bap -- what was Rollins hitting before he got hurt???

[Sophist]

BAP - Rollins looked great to start the year and hasn't hit a lick since he came back. He's just never going to be 100% this year. Not sure why we should make strong inferences from that to what Rollins does when healthy. Not that it matters. He's the SS next year anyway and we'll have to wait and see. I don't think he hits under .270 when healthy though.

[MG]

Filthy stuff from Marmol.

[MG]

14 Ks and totally dominated by this Cubs' staff with the exception of Howard.

[Old Phan]

Hide the chairs in the clubhouse or the Phils lose Madson again.
And the Cubs get some Marmol-aid.

[Heather]

WHEN DOWN BY 2 STRIKES ESPECIALLY WITH THIS UMP, SWING AT THE CLOSE PITCH! HE'S GOING TO CALL IT!

Obv. Francisco did not get the memo either.

[Willard Preacher]

I hate day game losses. Oh well, at least I have Inception tonight (cheap plug for my employer).

[Bob]

Two of the uglier games thus far.

[ozark]

Raise the white flag kids.

[MG]

Simply put, this is a game this teams needed to win today if they want to have a legit shot at winning the division. Let one slip away today.

[bay_area_phan]

Hamm: He was hitting .391 when he got hurt the first time & .341 when he got hurt the 2nd time. If you think a healthy Jimmy Rollins is a .341 hitter then, yes, I guess we do have pretty good reason to believe that the injury is the cause of his present .240 average.

[RedBurb]

Another winnable game lost.

[bay_area_phan]

Nice to see that momentum from the Reds series carrying over

[NEPP]

Clearly Ryan Howard is the biggest problem.

[denny b.]

When does hittin' season start?

2011?

[Meyer]

Another game another roadblock.

[Heather]

What's really frustrating is some of the stupidity at the plate and some of the managerial decisions.

[Albert Tross]

In all fairness, the statement wasn't that Howard is the "biggest problem."

The laughable statement was that Howard was among their "top 5 problems."

[HammRadio]

No... but Rollins is probably a .270 hitter... I would gather that he hits at least .270 for the second half of the season...

you will however won't acknowledge that however... and say rollins is a .250 hitter... not unlike in 2008 when Ryan Howard started the season off with a horrible slump and you completely ignored that he hit something like 280 from June 1 on....

[denny b.]

Yes, that was a kick-ass outing from Blanton. Exactly what all those 0's in his paycheck are for.

Walked the pitcher for 1 run and gave up a 3-1 lead with a 2 run bomb, for the other 2 runs.

Against the lame-ass Cubs offense.

Stealing money.

[phlipper]

Oops. Forgot to switch my handle back.

[jason.tp]

Let Roy and Cole win your next, split the road series, and let Ryno mash away in St. Louis. I think Werth(Springfield, Ill.) comes alive near his hometown as well.

Werth career vs STL: .298/.381/.607 with 6 HR in 84 AB.

[Old Phan]

2 bad pitches and a game is lost.
Baseball sure is a funny game.

[Heather]

I'm not fired up about Blanton. 3 ER in 7 innings is ok.

I'm just fired up about the whole team. With certain few exceptions, no one is performing to what they "should" be doing.

Get a team of underperforming vets, add in some injuries, add in some stupid managerial decisions and you get what we are looking at now.

[jason.tp]

denny b: so let me guess, we should call up Andrew Carpetner? Or is it Nate Bump that is pounding down the door? Maybe JA Happ and his Moyer-esque fastball?

[bay_area_phan]

Hamm: Full-year stats are the best index of a player's performance. Rollins was a .250 hitter last year. I don't know what he is this year because he has missed so much time that we're dealing with a small sample size. So far, though, he has been a .240 hitter. If he ends up hitting around .240 or .250 for the season, what would your theory be? That he was a .250 hitter last year because he had one very bad, prolonged slump, and he was a .250 hitter this year because he got injured but, in a normal year, he's still a .270 hitter? That seems like pretty convoluted reasoning to me.

[denny b.]

Jason, you could get some scrub off the street to do what Country Joe has given us this year.

He's been a joke.

I'd almost rather see Happ at this point (and he is obviously not right yet). At least he'll be here next year.

[tutpsu]

What can be done to light a fire under the offense?

[Bob]

Baffling, this team.

I know there are big differences, but I can't help but go back to the time Abreu was traded. The team could very easily have said wait till next year and played out the string, but they didn't, they regrouped, and scratched and clawed back, and did better than anyone would have expected.

I had the sense that when Utley and Polanco wwent down it was kind of a watershed moment for the team and how they would respond. I was really encouraged after the great performance in the Reds' series and had high hopes, but these last two games did not exactly build on that positive momentum.

How will they fare going forward? Fold or fight? Like I say, baffling. I do not think anyone could make a confident prrediction either way.

[gobaystars]

This team just isn't very good right now. This will hopefully just be the weird year that never got off the fround.

Still, they could sneak in as the wild card and do soemthing.

[gobaystars]

As we've seen a .259 hitting Rollins does a ton for this team. You want him around.

[GTown_Dave]

18 May (or as I refer to it, "The Day The Offense Died") through Last Night's Game:

Player (A) - 193 PA / 4 HR / 22 RBI / 16 XBH / 6 GIDP / 31 K / .251 BA / .316 OBP / .394 SLG / .710 OPS

Player (B) - 194 PA / 5 HR / 18 RBI / 13 XBH / 5 GIDP / 52 K / .232 BA / .325 OBP / .378 SLG / .703 OPS

------------

Blanton pitches well until he gets a lead, at which point he suddenly remembers he is Joe Blanton, & reverts to pitching accordingly.

------------

Madson gets 2 quick Outs, & then turns into Danys Baez. I didn't miss him while he was gone.

------------

The Phillies are now 3-7 vs. the likes of Chicago & Pittsburgh.

------------

By the way, Player (A) is Raúl Ibañez. Player (B) is Jayson Werth.

[jason.tp]

denny: eh, i guess you're right, any of our triple A guys could probably be 3-5 with a 6.41 ERA going into the 2nd half.

Today isn't really the time to jump on him tho. He had awful moments(walking Lily) and good ones(two Ks in the 7th with man on 3rd) and ended up with 7IP 3ER.

I think its time for someone to hit Madson with a chair instead of the other way around.

[ozark]

Madson is joining the Hole-in-the-wall gang.

[jr]

Seriously,Is Werth on something,or just hung over? He seems completely out of it.Maybe he's just trying to make sure noone offers him big bucks so he can resign. TRADE,TRADE,TRADE.
BROWN,BROWN,BROWN.

[denny b.]

Blanton was serviceable (for once) today.

3 ER and 7 IP is a decent days work.

Walking a pitcher who can't hit and giving back a 3-1 lead in the next half-inning, aren't proud moments though.

If you are being paid like Blanton is and have the experience he has, you have to close that game down when you are up 3-1.

Instead, he leaves tied (and was lucky to get out of the 7th without a run) and turns the game into the first guy to get the ball into the air. The Cubs did and with the Phils pop-gun offense, that is all it took.

Have you seen 3 worse AB's in the 9th inning of a 1 run game, then what Werth, Howard and Benny Fran gave? Werth should have gone up there without a bat. Howard at least worked the count to 3-1, before he decided to swing at Ball 4. And Francisco looked like he would have rather been about anywhere, then up there against Marmol.

Gotta think that Francisco wasn't pinch-hit for, because the Phils are trying to move him and they need him to do something. Otherwise, when were they going to use Ibanez? In the 10th inning?

He wouldn't have likely touched Marmol either, but maybe he would have guessed right or somehow worked a walk (which is about all he is good for anymore).

[MG]

Wow is anybody thinks Beerleaguer is negative you shouldn't watch DSL today. Its ugly.

[EastFallowfield]

Some of these work, even this year.

2010 Phils: 47-42
2007 Phils: 45-44
1983 Phils: 45-44
1980 Phils: 47-42

[CJ]

Yo, new thread.

[lacoste shoes]

When an end is lawful and obligatory, the indispensable means to is are also lawful and obligatory .Do you understand?