Game chat: Phils meet Mets as hot stove heats up

Vance Worley and R.A. Dickey are teed up for Friday night's 7:10 start as Phillies Baseball enters its second act of 2011. But the big story originates from a series of ESPN reports listing the Phillies as front-runners to land Padres closer Health Bell.

ESPN's Buster Olney tweeted that the Phils, who are believed to be in heavier pursuit of a bullpen piece than a right-handed bat, also have interest in Padres relievers Mike Adams and Chad Qualls. Bell, who is a free agent at the end of the season and is widely expected to be traded away from the dismal Padres, has been connected to a number of teams, including the bullpen-thin Cardinals and weakened Yankees. Since taking over as the Padres closer in 2009, he has 115 saves and a 2.38 ERA. ... As for the game, Charlie Manuel goes with the same magic formula that led to a rout of the Braves on Sunday, which means that Michael Martinez makes another start at third and hits second, with John Mayberry Jr. filling in for Shane Victorino in center field and batting eighth. Enjoy the game everyone.

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Comments

[Michael Martinez]

I'm gonna have another multi-hit game.

[Zudok]

Two relievers maybe? Just so they're not Turk Wendell and Dennis Cook.

[SLO Phan]

Holy Polaroid, Batman...the thread pic shows a player from a team that the Phils aren't even playing today. Is this the first time this year? JW..always keeping us guessing.

[bay_area_phan]

Maybe they could get the Padres to throw Chase Headley into the deal, thereby giving us a RH bat and solving the 3rd base dilemma.

[Chris in VT]

Mayberry and Martinez should be switched in the lineup.

But Martinez did have that 1 good game that 1 time, so...

[conshy matt]

repost (b/c i'm waiting for an answer from clout):

clout - that's an interesting wager, and i admit that i really have no idea one way or the other.

i do wonder what is it about rasmus' power potential that makes you so confident. his frame is solid (6'2, 200lb) but no overly large. Brown is obviously bigger.

i would probably take a chance on a bet like that, but i don't think it's a no brainer.

[Fan From Fifty]

I have a rules question: Suppose Polanco had started in the All Star game and played one inning. Would that habe prevented placing him on the DL retroactive to July 5? or would it have to be retroactive to July 13?

[Willard Preacher]

SLO, this is, indeed, the first time JW has thrown a player not even on either team in the game into the Game Thread header. Interesting....

[Spitz]

BAP - from you comment on the last thread. I'm surprised that you wouldn't give up a top notch prospect for Mike Adams. I think that guy makes the Phils more likely to win a title both this year and next.

That allows the team to let Madson go next year, and Adams is your closer at a price tag of $4 or $5MM. The following year, you could let Adams go and presumably have Bastardo as your closer at a price tag of $1 or $2MM. It allows you to allocate closer money to more important positions like SS, 3B, and OF. All the flexibility is worth a really good single A arm or two in my opinion.

[Willard Preacher]

Not to be all spell-check police or anything, JW, but unless he's opted to change it, I don't think there's an "L" in "Heath."

Although, when it comes to the Phils, I'm all about anything related to "health."

[Willard Preacher]

Anyone else catch Buzz Bissinger accidentally tweeting his own home phone number today?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous' lineup for tonight's game:

Utley
Howard
Mayberry
Rollins
Brown
Ruiz
Francisco
Orr
Worley

[Cyclic]

^ HUH?

[clout]

conshy matt: I didn't say who will hit more HRs is a no brainer. What's a no brainer is that right now, Rasmus is the better player.

I do say that Rasmus will end up with more career HRs than Dom. Do we have a bet there?

Dom, however, has a better chance to be a more complete ballplayer.

[DPatrone]

Heath Bell and maybe Ludwick?
The only question I have is if they lose Madson, Bell's a FA. Do they re-ign Bell or if both leave is Bastardo the new closer? Interesting.

[clout]

WP: Buzz is the most spectacular performance artist on Twitter.

People don't understand his art.

[conshy matt]

sounds like a reasonable bet to me. need my email address? who's lawyer is drafting this agreement?

[clout]

I think it was last season around this time (before his trade to the Padres) that Ryan Ludwick had a higher WAR than Ryan Howard.

That makes him more valuable, no?

[Spitz]

Clout = Performance artist on BL. Most posters don't understand his "art".

Buzz B = Performance artist on twitter. Most people don't understand his art.

Voila! Clout is Buzz Bissinger!

[Willard Preacher]

Nah, Buzz is more of the venting/bloviating type. clout is much more concise in his derision of incompetence.

Though, I thoroughly enjoy the art that both put forth in their respective forums.

[Spitz]

DPatrone, was it you that said that Ruben Amaro deserves a "D" for his work thus far on the 2011 Phillies? If he picked up Ludwick and Bell, would you upgrade him to a C minus?

[Willard Preacher]

I'd kill to know clout's twitter handle, if he has one. I'd follow him and probably refresh my time line every 12 seconds or so.

[phargo]

It's baseball! That was a long 5 days.

[DPatrone]

I'd update him to a higher grade than that!

[whitey]

Did anyone catch the Prince Fielder clips where he borrows a fan's sunglasses? I didn't see a hint of gratitude from Fielder. He looked like a fat, petulant child.

[phargo]

By the way, in case you missed Brian Wilson's outfit at the ESPY's, it might be worth a look.

[bay_area_phan]

"from you comment on the last thread. I'm surprised that you wouldn't give up a top notch prospect for Mike Adams."

Spitz: Notwithstanding the high failure rate of hot-shot pitching prospects, I don't think I could bring myself to give up a Top 100 starting pitching prospect for a guy who only plays 50 or 60 innings per year. Adams is really, really good. But there are enough good relievers out there that we ought to be able to find one without giving up a Top 100 prospect.

[Cyclic]

Why is TMac crying? Did he get fired?

[Fatalotti]

There's Phillies baseball on TV!!!

[Old Phan]

Play Ball!

[Lincoln Hawkes]

2/3rds of an inning, at Citi Field, before the first "CBP is a bandbox" comments from the SNY douchebags.

On a happier note, the SNY studios have one of the windows behind the desk that faces out onto a plaza so that fans can act like idiots behind the anchors. During the pre-game show there were *two* fans. Two.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

"sounds like a reasonable bet to me. . . . who's lawyer is drafting this agreement?"

Just make sure s/he pays attention to choice of law and venue issues.

Baseball!! - time to set my DVR.

[Lincoln Hawkes]

Whitey, what about the part after the inning where he returned them and thanked the fan?

[Fatalotti]

Lincoln, you'd enjoy this post:

http://www.thegoodphight.com/2011/7/15/2276494/phillies-citizens-bank-park-still-playing-neutral

[Lincoln Hawkes]

Thanks for the link.

[Lincoln Hawkes]

2nd inning, 2nd CBP swipe. You're nothing if not consistent Keith.

[whitey]

Whitey, what about the part after the inning where he returned them and thanked the fan?

Posted by: Lincoln Hawkes | Friday, July 15, 2011 at 07:19 PM

It didn't look that way to me. He looked angry IMO. It is difficult to be certain without hearing anything.

@Cyclic, TMac was indicted into the Trenton Thunder HOF.

[Cyclic]

Come on RFD!

[Fatalotti]

Very nice big John!!!

Young guys coming up big in this inning.

[Cyclic]

Production!

[Old Phan]

Nice job, RFD.

[Lincoln Hawkes]

Nice AB for RFD. Fouled off a few knuckleballs.

[whitey]

Mayberry should be hitting 2.

[Cyclic]

Don't forget Raould got it started

[bullit]

Mabes!!

[Fatalotti]

Another nice job by the Worley-bird!

[Fatalotti]

Getting 3 runs from the bottom of the lineup is huge.

[bay_area_phan]

3 runs without any help from the first 4 guys in their order. That's nice to see.

[Lincoln Hawkes]

Worley popped his ribbie-cherry. Shame they're worthless. I bet he feels dirty for no reason.

[Old Phan]

Good start.

[denny b.]

Mayberry seems to like hitting 8th.

[Lincoln Hawkes]

"Mayberry seems to like hitting 8th."

The old "second clean-up" in little league parlance?

[Cyclic]

Great start. I would have expected Kendrick to give 1 or 2 back there.

[Old Phan]

Ryno crushed that. Nice play by Pagan.

[phatti]

unbelievable--two balls smoked, two outs. Utley's little flare turns into a double. weird game, baseball

[Fatalotti]

Wheels is loving him some Chase Utley this inning.

[They Call Me King Of The Bop]

Hib to the jib

[Fatalotti]

Brown's defense needs to be improve. He had Dickey by a country mile.

[bay_area_phan]

Between his butter-fingers and his circuitous route-running, it's hard to believe that Brown was supposed to play wide receiver at a major college football program.

[denny b.]

Does Brown fumble a ball every game?

[Fatalotti]

Interesting error on that one. I don't necessarily disagree because Brown definitely screwed up, but when you're not allowed to assume the DP for error purposes, you shouldn't be able to assume an outfield assist.

[Cyclic]

Worley..... ice in his veins

[bay_area_phan]

Fat: It was a force play, so that kind of makes it a little different from the usual OF assist. But, yeah, it's not the kind of scoring decision you see every day.

[whitey]

It looks like the ball falls out the webbing of Brown's glove because it is too big or too broken in.

[Fatalotti]

BAP, does a force play still count as an outfield assist, or does it have to a tag play?

[bay_area_phan]

Fat: I assume it's still an assist, just as an infielder gets an assist when he fields a grounder & throws the guy out at 2nd on a force play. But it's not what we typically think of as an OF assist.

[Met's Troll]

Remember when the Mets were a good team and I would get y'all riled up with comments? Ahhh, those were the days.

[whitey]

Do you know who used to get outfield assists by throwing out slow baserunners at first base? How about that Glenbo Wilson.

[bay_area_phan]

The Nats have Mike Morse playing 1st base tonight. He has made 3 errors in the first 2 innings.

[Cyclic]

Is it me, or has this game been a little boring so far?

[Fatalotti]

You don't see that often from Ibanez...

[Old Phan]

Fantastic catch, Raul.

[Cyclic]

Pat Burrell would have had that

[whitey]

Pat Burrell would not have needed to dive to catch that one.

[bullit]

rauuuuuulll!!

[bay_area_phan]

Raul is suddenly looking pretty sprightly.

[Old Phan]

Worley leading the league in ERA for rookies? Impressive.

[Cyclic]

Worley going 7?

[denny b.]

Rauuuuuul would be in the HOF if he could play the Mets and Nats every night.

[Cyclic]

Good D gives you confidence, I expect a hit here

[Cyclic]

HR

[Old Phan]

Washed Up!

[Meyer]

Professional slugger.

[bullit]

rauuuuuulll again!!

[Lincoln Hawkes]

LA PELOTA ES NO REGOSA!

[Fatalotti]

I really hope this is the beginning of one of those hot streaks by Ibanez.

I've said a lot about him being near the end this year, but I do really like the guy, and I'd love to see him finish strong, and help lead this team to a WS.

[bay_area_phan]

Yeah, I'm not really pining for Jeff Francoeur.

[Old Phan]

I can't imagine Mrs. Francoeur pining for Jeff Francoeur.

[Andrew]

Old Phan, 2nd in the NL period this year behind Jurrjens according to the graphic they showed earlier.

[Old Phan]

Andrew, Jurrjens is not a rookie.

[Old Phan]

Our LVP is having a nice game.

[Andrew]

Nice play Martinez. He's done pretty well at 3B lately.

[Andrew]

Old Phan: I know. Hence his being 2nd makes him have the lowest rookie ERA.

[Cyclic]

Worley going 6

If only he could go deeper in games

[Mike G]

Andrew, Jurrjens is not a rookie.

Posted by: Old Phan | Friday, July 15, 2011 at 08:52 PM

That's what Andrew was trying to say. Worley's ERA is second only to Jurrjens if he had enough games to qualify.

[Lincoln Hawkes]

Good game by Vanimal, if not a good sixth.

[Cyclic]

This situation scares me. I would have let Worley have 1 more hitter.

[Fatalotti]

This is why you don't pitch Worley and KK in back to back game. Worley pitched really well today, and he still gets lifted in the 6th with 11 outs to go.

You really think the Phillies want KK pitching tomorrow after all the work the bullpen will get today?

[Mike G]

Am I the only one wondering why a 3-2 breaking ball there with a 4-0 lead?

[bay_area_phan]

I know he has done well in his last few appearances, but the idea of Juan Perez coming in with the bases loaded does not exactly instill confidence in me.