Postgame: Phillies emerge on winning end of slopfest

The Phillies and Mets committed five recorded errors, but the most damning miscues occured in the top of the ninth as the Phils staged a three-run rally off closer Francisco Rodriguez to steal away a 6-4 victory.

The Phils scratched their way through three blunders, including a rare miscommunication between Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley on a pop fly that led to an unearned run charged to Roy Oswalt, who allowed another run before exiting after six controlled innings. Offensively, the Phils received a coupe of key hits from Domonic Brown off the bench; Brown is suddenly hitting .250. Jimmy Rollins went 2-for-4 with three knocks; Rollins has been swinging the bat well lately, and generally, the Phils' offense is getting some better cuts at the ball on this three-game winning streak. Ryan Madson overcame a bumpy ninth for his 10th save. More tomorrow ..

Comments

[NEPP]

Mini Mart is the worst fielder I've ever seen in CF.

He's not even good at SS so I dont see the "versatility" he offers.

Mayberry, on the other hand, has really impressed this year with his defense in CF. Very good arm too. He's worth keeping around just for his defense at all 3 OF positions and his occasional pop. He's basically the perfect 5th OF.

[Mego]

So here is a question, who gets shipped out when Vic gets back? The front office has expressed that they dont want to ship Brown back and forth from the minors, but Mayberry has been making a strong case to stay on the team. Do they send down Martinez? Thats leaves only Valdez as the back-up infielder.

[NEPP]

Martinez would make the most sense. Mayberry is too good a backup/5th OF, BenFran is better than he's been, Dom Brown seems much better than he was last year and the balls are finally starting to fall in for him this time around. It almost has to be Mini Mart or perhaps just DL Gload as he's hurting.

Another option would be to drop a reliever as we probably could get by with a short BP with interleague play coming up and us needing a legit DH bat anyway.

[GBrettfan]

I vote Romero. He's not exactly being productive.

[Kyle]

Down 2 in the 9th the braves throw kimbrel. I don't know how he goes a full year, they are running him into the ground.

[NEPP]

Romero would make sense too...though I doubt they go that route. I would as there's no way we should EVER use Romero in a meanigful situation and we might as well just use Baez/Herndon/KK to eat innings instead of him. At least those 3 can sometimes throw strikes.

[EastFallowfield]

And Kimbrel gives up a 2 run HR.

[cut_fastball]

NEPP -- Said it before; I'll say it again. To all the "Dom Doubters": I got your solution right here. Send him down for another 400 PA.

Play Mayberry every day for his defense; hell, he might hit 15 HRs. Put Shane back in right for the sake of his "gun".

BTW, huge win tonight. When Oswalt punched his ticket -- ostensibly because he thought he could get a win without his best effort – I thought we were cooked. As much as I hate that dumbass Chollie, all he does is win.

[NEPP]

Fredi Gonzalez is one of the worse managers in baseball. The Braves are getting to learn that for themselves this year. How they didn't see it while he was in Florida is mind-boggling. Gonzalez was fired for a lot more crap than just issues with Hanley.

He's destroying their young bullpen arms. I actually feel bad for their guys as he could be hurting their careers.

[GTown_Dave]

The Phillies currently have 3-4 relievers who are w/in a few innings (more or less) pitched of Kimbrel's total.

[NEPP]

Why send Dom down at all? He's clicking at the plate finally and even early on, his approach was very good. He's finally getting his timing down too.

He should get the lion's share of the starts in RF from here on out with Ibanez in LF and Shane in CF. Use Mayberry to spot Ibanez and Shane and use BenFran to spot Dom against LHPs. This will work and it will give us a good hitting bench.

Mini Mart is not the answer in CF...using him as a defensive replacement is killing us.

[GTown_Dave]

Three To Send Down When Vic Returns (in Reverse Order of Preference): (3) Romero (2) Francisco (1) Martinez.

[Mark]

Phillies News ----> http://www.squidoo.com/cheap-phillies-tickets

[Dukes]

They have to keep Martinez because Valdez is the only other infield backup. Mayberry will most likely be sent down.

[NEPP]

Does BenFran have any options remaining?

[Kyle]

Kendrick and Baez are the two relievers with more IP than kimbrel

[GTown_Dave]

NEPP: I don't think so, bur I'd have no qualms about the DFA. He makes less than Gload or Romero.

[NEPP]

Sending mayberry down with Interleague play coming up is stupid. We dont need a 12 man rotation in that situation.

[cut_fastball]

NEPP -- I spend too many hours at work; I tried to make it up to wife/kids. I heard the middle of the game on my Sony "boombox" while grilling. I glanced at Mad Dog's save on "Game Cast".

Meal was great. However, it's clear I did not get Dom's contibution. Wow. The more he gives, the better we get!

[Oliver]

I'd vote for Romero. Also it seems Cholly's frustrated with him too. He's really unproductive and barely gets outs anymore.

In other news, Michael Bourn hiring Scott Boras probably makes him available via trade. Anyone think we could fleece Ed Wade's Astros again this year?

[NEPP]

We can sign Bruntlett and then offer Lidge and Bruntlett for him.

[Mike]

Posted by: NEPP | Friday, May 27, 2011 at 10:55 PM

Mini Mart is not the answer in CF...using him as a defensive replacement is killing us.

NEPP, while I agree that Mini Mart is not the answer in CF, he wasn't really a defensive replacement tonight. The only reason he was in there was because Charlie used Gload as a pinch hitter against a right hander instead of Mayberry.

[GTown_Dave]

NEPP: That's just cruel. Throw in Blanton, too.

[PhxPhilly]

I am not sure how Martinez's defense is 'killing' the Phillies. I have no problem with cutting him, but with Victorino out (and Francisco seemingly not a usable CF) keeping Martinez made sense over Orr.

Mayberry should be sent down. He is too similar to Mayberry. Charlie can decide who to platoon against lefties between Ibanez or Brown. Francisco and Gload will be the backup OF. Then pick any LHV infielder to replace Martinez (Orr, Belliard, Bozied, whatever).

[cut_fastball]

Best winning % in MLB. I know that we're all sick of the old school stuff, but this warrents a "Hard to believe, Harry."

[GTown_Dave]

Mayberry should be sent down. He is too similar to Mayberry.

In all fairness, he really can't help that.

[NEPP]

Easy solution would be to just DL the injured Ross Gload and keep Mayberry. If he's hurt, DL him.

[PhxPhilly]

yeah, so Mayberry is similar to Mayberry. I meant Mayberry is similar to Francisco.

Good point about DH coming up, Gload or Ibanez (with Francisco in LF)?

[Phlipper]

Beerleaguer is funny.

Brown had two pretty unimpressive base hits tonight - one of which should have been ruled an error, and some BLers are convinced he's major league ready? Jury's still out, IMO.

[awh]

"Mayberry should be sent down. He is too similar to Mayberry."

Phx, what?

[NEPP]

I'm not convinced he's MLB ready, I'm convinced he needs to be given a chance to prove whether he is MLB ready or not and he cannot do that in the minors. He's been showing a good approach at the plate, taking pitches, not chasing too many breaking balls and even making good contact. Give the kid a chance, dont stash him in the minors for the season.

[Tray]

All I can say about Brown is that more time in the minor leagues won't benefit him and more time spent here won't hurt us. We have so little production from the outfield as is.

[EastFallowfield]

Brown's had some tough luck hard outs and some softer hits, much like many MLB players.

Seems to be able to get walks and run, which is a nice dimension to add to our Sr. Citizen roster.

[RK]

As promised took my girls to the game tonight. I am impressed with the number of Phillies fans that show up here. I was surrounded by them--very nice.

Brown is getting comfortable and both were legitimate hits. Mayberry should not have been taken out! Both kids are getting stronger and since they are in the Phillies future we need to play them regularly.

[NEPP]

The only hits I accept from rookies are HRs and crushed doubles to the gap...preferably off the top of the wall.

Otherwise, its questionable IMHO.

[CJ]

Best record in baseball. Imagine that.

[MG]

Missed the game, see the highlights. Slopfest indeed.

- Nice for the Phils to some gumption and win a game they easily could have lost.

- Loved seeing a dejected KRod leave the mound in the 9th and hit the showers. No fist-pumping or antics tonight from that jerk.

- Oswalt out after only 91 pitches and 6 IP and only 2 Ks? That's only 7 Ks in the 18 IP since he has been back off the DL.

Fastball velocity is down a few MPH and he is throwing notably less sliders this year. Only threw 3 tonight. Tells me he is still isn't healthy. Labored last Sunday when I saw him & I would be curious on what people thought he looked like tonight.

- Utley is 3-18 with a 1 HR since being back. I thought the Phils were going to get an offensive lift at 2B. Curious to see when it starts to happen.

- Ditto Polanco. He's gone pretty much ice-cold after a stellar start. Just a mediocre .236/.265/.292 this month. Those are also Valdez-type numbers and that .557 OPS this month is notably worse than any month last year Polanco had.

- Did see the Phils went 5-12 though with RISP. Explains why they scored 6 runs with only 1 XHB and no HRs tonight. Nice to get a little luck in those spots because the Phils' haven't had much luck with RISP in May.

[denny b.]

"They have to keep Martinez because Valdez is the only other infield backup."

We survived an entire season with Bruntlett as our only backup middle infielder, didn't we?

With Polanco on the roster, that gives you some extra versatility.

If the need for the extra middle-infielder comes, you have a stack of them in AAA to call up. Orr, Young, Barfield, etc...

You can get by just fine with 4 guys, for 3 spots (2B, SS and 3B). No different then only having one backup catcher.

Martinez truly doesn't belong on this roster. Most of us have known that since March. It will be either him going (that play in the 9th tonight looked like a little leaguer trying to field that ball) or a reliever. You don't need 12 pitchers on this team anyway, unless you have a long stretch of continuous games.

Mayberry is not going anywhere. He has too many positives that he brings to the team. Brown isn't either. He is going to break out sooner or later and if he does, could be one of your best players. Plus, Ibanez and Francisco are below average defenders (at best). And the difference between RFD and Martinez defensively in center is rather large. And I don't think you want to push Vic too much when he does get back. Much like Utley, he will be rested some early on.

With interleague coming up, 11 pitchers is certainly all you need. You think Seattle's popgun offense is going to do much against this staff? Not likely. Dump the worst reliever (which is Juan Carlos) and activate Victorino.

[MG]

Mini Mart is going to be on this roster all year. Good (not that often although he did do a nice job on the sac fly tonight), Bad (his bobble in CF tonight), and the ugly (nearly every AB and the worst hitter the Phils have had since Bruntlett/No-Hit Nunez).

[denny b.]

"Organization officials like Martinez’ skills and would like to find a way to keep him."

What skills? He can't hit. He has no power. He has no natural position. He still hasn't stolen a base.

What does he even project as, in 2012 or 2013? A starting player? Rollins replacement? I don't see really any upside there. With Herndon, you at least saw some signs of him becoming a good middle reliever. With Mini Mart, what exactly do you see?

Guys like Martinez are a dime-a-dozen. Heck, you already have 2 clones of Martinez playing at Lehigh (Orr and Barfield).

If you think he's so valuable, make some sort of trade with Washington and keep him that way.

Again, quit acting like you are Mets or the Nats or the Royals. Its those sad-sack teams that keep Rule 5 guys. Not the Phils, Yankees or Red Sox.

[MG]

- As long as Gload is healthy enough to PH, he will be on the roster too to hit singles. His oddball line continues with his PH basehit tonight:

.306/.306/.306 in 36 ABs

Now 7-25 (.280) as PH with you guessed it - all singles.

- Chooch also continues to work his way back and give this lineup some desperately needed production out of the C spot:

He is 10-35 since coming off the DL and has given them a line of .286/.419/.371 with 6 BBs. Really missed his ability to work counts/BBs at the bottom of the order. Glad he has been back.

[MG]

Mini Mart blows. There isn't a single thing that he is above average at except he is fast. He isn't even young (29).

Guys like him are a dime-a-dozen. More even more because he will struggle to hit above the Mendoza line and has zero pop. ~.200 AVG and ~.500 OPS is terrible even for a middle utility INF

[Jack]

Oswalt is a real concern at this point. As MG pointed out, he's not striking anyone out and his stuff simply isn't there. Something isn't right, still.

[goody]

The 6 games that we need a DH will be a perfect time to give Raul some semi-rest as DH, and better D with RFD in the OF.

[goody]

Just noticed that we will have 4 straight 1PM games June 30-July 3. Glad Cole has gotten past his Dracula Syndrone.

[pb]

Mini Mart is going anywhere Valdez would be our only back up. According to phuturephillies franscico does have an option remaining. If I were a betting man I'd say that Gload's hip is really about to flair up and he goes on the DL to make room. If nothing else it buys them time.

[pb]

mini mart isn't, my bad

[bay_area_phan]

Martinez literally does nothing well.

The Phils have gone with 1 backup infielder before. If one of our guys gets injured, & Valdez has already been used, we'll do what we did the other night: move Ruiz to 3rd & Polanco to 2nd. It's not ideal but it would be for a few innings of one game; after the game's over, we would call up Orr. If we can use a utility infielder to pitch, and a pitcher to play LF, we can play with only one backup infielder on our roster.

[Old Phan]

"Best record in baseball. Imagine that."
You'd think with a guy like Mini Mart on the team that they would at least have a losing record.

[Old Phan]

9 hits in 6 innings isn't spectacular, but no walks, good control and 1 earned run isn't too shabby. Overall, Oswalt looked pretty good.

[kuvasz]

Mayberry is playing very good center field; his glovesmanship alone is worth a run, and when on the bases is impressive in that he maximizes his opportunities. Also, I think that on a team with little plate discipline he shows the best patience. He'd be starter on most other teams in the league. I don't want to see him in an Iron Pigs uniform again.

I am looking forward to seeing a Phillies outfield next year composed of Mayberry in left, Victorino in center and Brown in right. Other than coating the outfield in polyurethane film I don't see how much more leak-proof you can make it. Can you imagine the coverage that trio will provide in the outfield?

[bay_area_phan]

kuvasz: There's a lot to like about Mayberry but a .235 average and .679 OPS speak for themslves. He'd be lucky to be starting on ANY major league team, let alone most teams.

[limoguy]

Mini-mart was the 25th man to make the opening day roster. Stands to reason he would be the first to leave.

He couldn't make the Nats and yet is good enough for the Phils? Gimme a break!

[Tray]

I think that every organization does one stupid thing or two with their roster that costs them a win, if that, and Martinez is ours. Perhaps we could accept this and move on to talking about something both more meaningful and more likely to actually change or happen - like whether we should trade for a bat.

[kuvasz]

Bap, I do not agree. I believe that Mayberry has sufficient defensive and base running skills that make up for any current batting deficiencies. I am not looking at statistical metrics, but the fight in the dog. Mayberry looks to me as a gamer. If you want to ridicule me for believing in intangibles, so be it.

I have yet to see the guy do something stupid or lazy on the field. I think that not making a mistake under stress in fielding or on the base paths is as much an asset as performing under stress in the batter's box.

You saw the catch he made in left-center? I don't think that Victorino would have caught it; Victorino has a Golden Glove. Mayberry seems to be able to flat out run down mortar shells. I am willing to give up a bit of offense with the replacement value in the other areas. But that is a reflection on my perspective that it is the best defense that wins the most, which itself is predicated upon my observations that while most teams are physically equal the teams that win most are those that make the least mistakes under pressure.

I guess that is an operational meaning for the term "clutch," an intangible quality.

[PhxPhilly]

I think the Phillies tend to have too many 'unavailable but on the roster' players to not have a second backup infielder. As bap mentioned, I suppose Ruiz could go to third, Polanco to SS or 2B in that case. Heck, Ibanez played 3B a long time ago and Mayberry has fielded grounders at 1B and has a good arm so I'd try him at third if necessary.

I think AL teams need fewer position players due to DH. Most bench players in NL are used as pinch hitters. Though I agree that a 12th reliever may not be necessary for the Phillies, an extra position player may be less useful with the DH.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Oswalt looks like his back hurts. Manuel yanking him after 6 suggests he wasn't feeling good, too.

[Chris in VT]

Believing in a player's intangibles overcoming his lack of talent is what gets players like Rowand 60 million dollar contracts. It's not the way you build a winning team.

[Scotch Man]

The 9th inning last night reminded me a lot of '07 and '08 where the Phils would play a real sloppy game that has everyone rolling their eyes and all of a sudden they have a big inning.

[Phlipper]

Mayberry's defense is a tangible.

From what I've seen, he has looked very good in CF - getting good jumps on balls with good closing speed and a nice arm. That goes a long way while it's being established definitively whether he's major-league quality on offense.

[jbird]

I know that there are some who will be disappointed but I think Brown with back to back multihit games is awesome. Hopefully he keeps building on it.

[Heather]

Oswalt's line looked good, but watching him move, he looked like an old man. Probably his back, but he looked stiff and moved awkwardly.

I have no issue with him pitching if he can continue to get better if he pitches but if he needs time off to be healthy, he should take it. KK taking his place for 2-3 starts wouldn't be the end of the world.

[Scotch Man]

I definitely caught a few winces in between pitches for Oswalt.

[cut_fastball]

Heather -- I really hope that this is not a match in a gas can, but I just bet if you ran a simulation of the remainder of the Phils season 100x; once with Worely as the No. 5 and once with KK as the 5th starter, KK would end up with more wins.

This is his 4th season in the bigs and I'm sure he's looking for starters' money in his next contract. Worley doesn't seem to be missing as many bats a he did; he also whined about being "gassed" or some such thing the last time out. KK makes sure that doesn't happen -- I'm sure he's still staying fit to the extent that anyone can maintain Doc's workout regimen.

Finally, maybe KK's reliever’s stint has taught him to bear down a bit and get key outs. He sure looked terrific in his outing in the 19-inning marathon; if he takes that "bear down" attitude to his role as a starter, I bet he cuts way down on the ugly big innings.

In all this time he's been up, I've heard that he's got no stuff; he's soft; he's got the DITH look. Yet he's got a solid, sub-5.00 ERA and still has not lost his 30th game. Amazing.

[Andrew]

cut, he whined about being gassed because he hadn't pitched more than 2 BP sessions over a period of a week and a half or something. All because we wanted him stretched out in LHV...

[Bedrosian's Beard]

Perhaps he should've just kept it quiet, but I'm not sure he was "whining" all that much. I'm not sure how good Worley really is, but let's not have another "KK could be turning the corner!" discussion.

[John Jitbag]

Shut up peons...the Phillies be winning and winning

[cut_fastball]

BedBeard: I respect that. I just think that Kendrick turned the proverbial "corner" when he was sent down in 2009 and came back with a new sense of purpose.

If he helps bring a bat, I have no trouble moving Worley and keeping Kendrick. Problem is, with a creaky Oswalt and an injured Blanton, we need both pitchers.

[bay_area_phan]

kuvasz: Mayberry is a very good fielder & an excellent base runner. And, while I don't exactly know how to distinguish a "gamer" from a non-gamer, I'll take your word that Mayberry's a gamer. Nonetheless, a .679 OPS is intolerable for an outfielder, even if he plays CF.

Mayberry will turn 28 this year. He is a career minor leaguer. If his defense & speed were sufficient to land him a starting job for most teams -- or even a few teams -- he would have had that starting job a long time ago because it wouldn't have taken any great haul to get the Phillies to trade him.

[clout]

BAP: How would you describe Mayberry's sample size? Do you think a .679 OPS is what we can expect from him going forward?

[bay_area_phan]

clout: Going by minor league stats, I'd say you could expect around a .730 or .740 OPS. Do you think that's acceptable from a starting corner oufielder, or that it's good enough to be a starter for most major league teams? I certainly don't. I think he's a fine reserve outfielder, though.

[Oliver]

Here's the thing about Mayberry: despite the low average, he's OBP-ing an above-average .333. Saying his OPS is bad is one thing, but wasn't the knock on this guy that he didn't have enough discipline? He's walking in over 11% of his PA and seeing 3.9 pitches/PA. That has value. His .345 SLG is atrocious, but I feel like that is unsustainable.

Even if it doesn't increase a whole lot, there is value to a guy who is a good defender, works counts and gets on base and can run pretty well. Not a lot, mind. He'll need to show some more power if he wants to be a starter, but I'd keep him on the team.

Of course, he's only come to the plate 96 times so far this season, so everything should be taken with a small-sample-size grain of salt...

[bay_area_phan]

Oliver: 2,800 minor league PAs tell us that the slugging will go up, but the walks will go down. He had a .330 OBP in the minors & even lower than that in his 3 AAA seasons. I'm not saying he shouldn't be on the team, or that he doesn't have value as a reserve. I'm saying there's a reason he's almost 28 years old and hasn't had a major league job until now.

[mvptommyd]

It is good to see during last night's game, the rivalry is still there even with the Mets near the basement.

Did anyone see Chooch's "mocking gesture" regarding the Mets? All the other guys seemed to be getting a kick out of it as well.

[cut_fastball]

b_a_p/Oliver -- Based on my microscopic knowledge of inside baseball stuff, the book on Mayberry seems to be strike 1 right down Broadway; he absolutely will not swing. If that’s his key to working the count, so be it.

However, if he's frozen with indecision on the first pitch, b_a_p's probably correct in stating he’ll never put up numbers worth a damn. I made a bad allegory about RFD once; after the early season bustout glow had begun to fade, I commented that he looked like a young very much bigger Hank Aaron, but hit like Hank Ketchum.

In my dreams, I'd love to have Mayberry’s bat speed and be aware it's first ball fastball. I'd either hit it 400 feet or corkscrew myself to China.

[Oliver]

BAP, thanks for that. I hadn't checked his MiLB stats (foolish, I know).

[Fatalotti]

BAP, offensive numbers for players have to be judged in light of the context of the league. This year offense is down, so a .730-.740 OPS, which you expect Mayberry to put up would actually be good, when combined with his good defense, good arm, and great baserunning abilities. As reference, Drew Stubbs of the Reds has OPS of .731, or an OPS+ of 101, a.k.a. above average.

Offense is really down across the league, so the numbers we judge players by have to be adjusted. Consider that Ibanez has actually pulled his OPS+ all the way up to 90 from being in the 20s just a month ago. This league is all about pitching and defense, and while Mayberry might not be a starter on this team, there are teams he could start on now, and if he posted a ~.730 OPS, he would start on a fair amount of teams.

[Iceman]

BAP- "If you believe the Phillies runs per game average is an accurate gauge of their day-to-day performance, then you must also believe the same about Danys Baez's stellar 115 ERA+."

Didn't we have this discussion roughly 48 hours ago about your double standard regarding runs per game? You just used that stat to say the Reds are the best offense in baseball, despite saying the stat was irrelevant regarding the Phillies last year (because it went against your argument that their offense is and was 'woeful'). Now you're backpedaling on it yet again.

You either have a severe lack of knowledge regarding use of the most basic of statistics, or you're the most disingenuous person on BL. Possibly both.

[Jack]

Didn't Mayberry play corner OF most of his time in the minors? What evidence is there that he would be an above-average major league CF?

I find that a little hard to believe. He looks fine out there, I'll give him that. But my guess is over a large sample, we would see a below-average major league CF in Mayberry.

[Phlipper]

"If you believe the Phillies runs per game average is an accurate gauge of their day-to-day performance,..."

Did BAP really say that?

[krukker]

As bad as TBag and Wheels are, they're still better than Ken "Hawk" Harrelson. His "he gone" after every White Sox pitcher strikes someone out makes me cringe more than TBag's phony laugh, and I didn't think that was possible. These guys are huge homers too. Just awful.

[GTown_Dave]

Zolecki (via Twitter): "Tonight's Lineup @ NYM: Rollins SS, Utley 2B, Polanco 3B, Howard 1B, Ibañez LF, Ruiz C, Brown RF, Mayberry CF, Hamels P."

[GTown_Dave]

The Phillies score 8 Runs in Game A, & 2 Runs in Game B. That's an average of 5 Runs/Game, & an accurate reflection of nothing.

[Phantom Limb]

MVPTommy - yeah, I saw that and had to laugh. Was that in response to something specific the Mets did? Was it a knock on KRod or Reyes or just the Mess in general?

[Andrew]

GTown_Dave: Yes, but over the course of 1/3 of the season, it becomes more meaningful. They may score 3 games of 10 runs, but those will counter the inevitable 3 shutouts. And as abysmal as the offense has been, it is a decent stat to reference for the Phillies offense.

Krukker: I just turned on the Sox game and heard the "he gone" as soon as I read that. Gross.

[GTown_Dave]

Matt Gelb (via Twitter): "Doesn't seem like DL will do much for Gload. Options are play through it or season-ending surgery."

Interesting. Shut him down for the year once Vic is ready to return?

[Iceman]

G-Town: the discussion of whether or not RPG is an accurate measure of offensive output isn't the problem here. If you want to believe it's not, that's fine, although your analogy of 2 games vs. what we're actually talking about (162 games) is just idiotic.

The problem is BAP moving the goalposts to fit his self-loathing "This offense sucks" mindset. RPG isn't indicative of output for the Phils but it is for the Reds? Why? Because you've decided the Phils suck so much that statistics aren't relevant to them?

This isn't an optimism vs. pessimism thing. It's people who are grounded in reality vs. people that will bend reality to fit their perceptions because they don't want to admit being wrong. BAP is the chief offender.

[EastFallowfield]

What did Chooch do exactly?

[Heather]

I don't have a problem with the Hawk in small doses. Like, once or twice a year, it's fun for the amusement factor.

[philwynk]

Fatalotti: "an OPS+ of 101, a.k.a. above average."

Not to be overly picky, but the only way that an OPS+ of 101 is ABOVE average is if a single point on that scale is statistically significant. Since what we're talking about is a combination of two statistics (OBP and SLG) that vary by the day, normalized into a scale with 1 at the midpoint, the likelihood that a single point on that scale has any real statistical meaning is about 0.

I would expect a player with an OPS+ of 101 to be average.

[Andrew]

EastFallowfield: He mocked the Mets' players doing the claw celebration thing with their hands by doing it in the 9th when the Phillies scored.

[Phlipper]

"The Phillies score 8 Runs in Game A, & 2 Runs in Game B. That's an average of 5 Runs/Game, & an accurate reflection of nothing.

GTown - was that a serious post?

[GTown_Dave]

Pelfrey vs. Phila.:

15 GS, 84 IP, 5.25 ERA, 1.500 WHIP, .297 BA/.358 OBP/.454 SLG/.812 OPS

Which would seem great, save for

Hamels vs. NYM:

14 GS, 82.2 IP, 4.35 ERA, 1.573 WHIP, .313 BA/.360 OBP/.478 SLG/.838 OPS

and at Shiti Field:

4 GS, 24.1 IP, 4.07 ERA, 1.644 WHIP, .347 BA/.385 OBP/.485 SLG/.870 OPS

Hamels has never won vs. the Mets in NY (0-4 in 7 Career Starts).

Looks like this could be an ugly game.

[Andrew]

We said the same things about Hamels vs CR. Look how that turned out.

[Phlipper]

Just curious whether anyone's seen any articles on how good a predictor is past performance for a pitcher against a given team, or in a particular opposing team's park.

Seems to me it would be pretty poor predictor (as compared to overall performance) unless a particular team is way above or below average offensively, or unless a particular park is way above or below average in runs per game.

[GTown_Dave]

phlipper: Fine. Carry it out over a full season. The Phillies scored 772 Runs in 162 Regular Season Games in '10. That's an average of 4.77 Runs/Game. But in how many games did the Phillies score either 4 or 5 Runs in '10? 28 Games, or barely 17% of the time. Runs/Game is a bullshit stat.

[GTown_Dave]

Edit: I accidentally counted 3 Postseason Games in the 4 & 5 Run Game total, which drops the overall number to 25 Games, or 15% of Regular Season contests.

[GTown_Dave]

Game Chat, yo ==>

[Phlipper]

From Crashburn Alley - Sept., 2010:

"The Phillies’ offense isn’t any more inconsistent this year than it was last year, believe it or not. The standard deviation on runs per game this year is 3.42; last year, it was 3.43."

[Christian Louboutin]

Martinez would make the most sense. Mayberry is too good a backup/5th OF, BenFran is better than he's been, Dom Brown seems much better than he was last year and the balls are finally starting to fall in for him this time around