Game chat: Phillies try to put it together at Petco

The Phillies carry a 22-4 lifetime mark at Petco Park into a key series with the Padres. First pitch is 10:05 with right-handers Vance Worley and Joe Wieland scheduled. The Phillies go with Pierre LF, Polanco 2B, Rollins SS, Pence RF, Victorino CF, Mayberry 1B, Ruiz C, Galvis 2B. Earlier, we examined the struggles of several role players, like Ty Wigginton and Jim Thome. All the while, core members, like three-hole hitter Jimmy Rollins, hasn't produced at a high enough level, either. Rollins is hitting for decent average (.286), but he has one extra-base hit - a double - which has driven down his OPS (.620). [Jump to the newest comments]

Comments

[MG]

Worley is really hitting his spots and keep everything low. Nothing belt level or just below it.

[MG]

Wow. That fastball on the outside corner low has been beautiful tonight by Worley.

[DH Phils]

Worley is dealing tonight. The Padres' lineup is terrible, but he really looks sharp.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Who called a soccer match tonight?

One - nil.

[GBrettFan]

I don't have a problem with Pierre starting for as long as he keeps hitting.

[The Perils of Thinking]

Again, how great is it that this kid is our No. 4 pitcher and gets to develop next to and learn from Lee, Hamels, and Halladay?

Hopefully Lee can teach him how to hit also...

[curt]

A not insignificant component of Rube's brutal winter was the 4 year contract to Jimmy.

[Sophist]

I didn't mean that as an indictment of Rollins' skill (esp with men on, where he's excelled during his career), but just as part of the explanation for this team's problems.

[NEPP]

Fastball, Mayberry hit very well. Curveball, bats afraid.

[TNA]

A little perspective on the previous thread--

Player A: 260/302/340; 4 R, 0 HR, 4 RBI (50 AB)
Player B: 240/310/400 4 R, 1 HR, 5 RBI (25 AB)

Player A: Arguably best player in baseball who makes $12 MM this year ($gazillion over ten years).
Player B: Player who has the most ABs at 1B for a team that pays him $2 MM this year.

Maybe RAJ can swing a deal and not only swap these two players, but also swap their contracts.

[Phlipper (planning my menu for sitting atop the Ben Franklin)]

Does Worley go 10 tonight if the Padres tie the game?

[GTown_Dave]

A not insignificant component of Rube's brutal winter was the 4 year contract to Jimmy.

r00b really outdid himself this past offseason.

[NEPP]

I think Worley's upside is solid #3 starter...which is awesome for a guy drafted with the thought of making him a reliever. The comments when he was drafted was "upside is the next Scott Shields out of the bullpen"

[MG]

When Sarge makes points about hitting and actually takes a second to analyze what is going on, he brings some worthwhile stuff to the broadcast.

[TNA]

Inky news:
Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. said that Ryan Howard (Achilles) could be cleared for more baseball activities after seeing a specialist on Friday.
Howard has been limited to strength exercises and some basic on-field work since having stitches removed from an infected area of his surgically-repaired left Achilles tendon in late February. He saw the same specialist earlier this week, but there was not enough progress in healing. The Phillies are hopeful they'll get different news this time. Howard's return date is a bit of a moving target at the moment, but late May or early June seems possible. Apr 19 - 9:33 PM

[NEPP]

So...if he's cleared for "more baseball activities" does that mean he can actually start playing?

[NEPP]

I'd have sent the runner on Pierre's arm. Pierre's arm is that bad.

[gobaystars!]

If Howard is coming back that must mean that most of the fans have said sorry for giving him such a hard time over the last few year, admitted that $125 mill isn't that much money and that RBIs are a worthwhile state. Thanks guys.

[MG]

Sad thing tonight is that Wieland is primarily beating this lineup with a 4-seam fastball and a curve.

This is exactly the kind of pitcher this team would hit if not tattoo even last year because he throws so many fastballs in the zone.

[NEPP]

Nasty...just nasty.

[NEPP]

Nice...very nice.

Worley has been fantastic tonight.

[Sophist]

What a play!

[Hugh Mulcahy]

One of the more entertaining double plays you'll see. Worley with some composure there because he clearly wanted strike three on the previous pitch.

[MG]

Strike'em out, throw'em out DP. Terrible baserunning though that inning and a questionable decision not to test Pierre though really helped the Phils.

[The Perils of Thinking]

That's some good defense.

[GBrettFan]

Wow. That was great!

[NEPP]

That was a fantastic slider by Worley BTW.

[GTown_Dave]

That's some alert defense & some bad base running.

[MG]

Odds the Phils score another run the next 3 innings? 25%? 20%? Less?

[TNA]

What is Pierre's maximum "frozen rope" throwing range? 15 feet, 20 feet? There are middle school kids with better arms.

[The Perils of Thinking]

Really gotta give Jimmy credit for not hesitating at all...

[NEPP]

I'm sorry Ruiz has had a rough week. I picked him up and started him in my FBB league.

Wont happen again.

[GTown_Dave]

Chooch is doing one helluva Schneider impression tonight.

[NEPP]

***There are middle school kids with better arms.***

Most kids in little league have better arms. How can a grown adult have such a weak arm?

[Fatalotti]

One thing you can say is that the Phillies have absolutely gotten the best of what they could have hoped for from their starters. As of this inning, Halladay, Lee and Worley have given up 2 ER in 24 IP. Just dominating.

[Fatalotti]

Meant on this road trip.

[Fatalotti]

I know it's early in the season, but since coming up with the Phillies two years ago, Worley has really had great success at the ML level.

How do we feel about Worley's long-term prospects? Are we still waiting for the other shoe to drop?

10 strikeouts, by the way!!

[MG]

Worley's been a one-man wrecking crew tonight with his 4-seemer. Curious to see the amount of swing & misses on it.

[NEPP]

I think Worley is gonna be solid as a SP.

[Raul's grandpa]

It's quite interesting. If there was actually some form of offense, this kind of pitching (including Blanton's semi-quality starts) would be rewarded.

[Fatalotti]

For one reason or another, I can't seem to get brooksbaseball's Pitch F/X feature to work for me anymore. I get to the selection of the pitcher, hit "Select", the screen flashes and nothing happens. Anyone ever had this issue?

[NEPP]

Worley is clearly tiring here...hopefully UC doesnt leave him out there too long.

[Sophist]

Yeah, Fatalotti. Used to work in-game for me, but not this season.

[MG]

Chooch looks tired and is flailing away a bit at the plate.

He's started every game since Sat. and hasn't had an off-day this week.

[NEPP]

Yeah, they changed the rules this year for some reason.

[HammRadio]

I think F/G said due to "technical issues" they won't be offering pitchF/X in game this season...

[Bake McBride was Here]

Middle school kids today are all about 6'5" and around 200 lbs. The not-so-little b_stards better have better arms than Juan Pierre, who is a mere 5'11" and a slight 175 lbs.

[NEPP]

***He's started every game since Sat. and hasn't had an off-day this week. ***

Well, we dont have a legit backup catcher. This is a side effect of that reality. You have to wonder if UC had any input at all on bringing back Schneider. I cant imagine he was for the move given his usage of Schneider last year.

[Fatalotti]

Oh, I now see the little wording at the bottom of the screen: "Game currently in progress, data will be available immediately following the game."

Sucks

[NEPP]

***think F/G said due to "technical issues" they won't be offering pitchF/X in game this season... ***

Guess: MLB is restricting the feed so people use their site for the info during the game.

[Bake McBride was Here]

Also, has anyone pointed out yet that the Phils' offense is not very good?

[Fatalotti]

Also, has anyone pointed out yet that the Phils' offense is not very good?

Posted by: Bake McBride was Here | Thursday, April 19, 2012 at 11:53 PM

What is this blasphemy you speak!

[HammRadio]

@NEPP -- probably did not get "written consent from major league baseball" :)

[Fatalotti]

Hamm, they got implied oral consent, as opposed to expressed written consent.

[MG]

1 run through the last 21 IP for the Phils.

[Fatalotti]

Oh my goodness, that was one hell of a generous call.

[NEPP]

That was a gift.

[MG]

He got a call but sit down meat!

[Sophist]

fitting

[lorecore]

dude, VANIMAL just froze Kotsay with some nastiness. not even a bad call I dont think, generous, but not that much.

[GTown_Dave]

Worley was lights-out. I really, really hope his teammates don't blow it for him. Great start, esp. considering the act he had to follow.

[Fatalotti]

Very impressed with Worley tonight. His stuff had really good life tonight. If he can pitch even semi-closely to what he did last year, we will likely have the best rotation in baseball.

[MG]

I have no idea what it has to do with timing when Polanco flails away at the outside breaking pitch. He's done that all year so far.

[lorecore]

jimmy can hit this dude

[Fatalotti]

Best swing Rollins has had in a while. Too bad it was an at'em ball.

[The Perils of Thinking]

Juan screwed up his pretty slash lines with the walk and triple...

Seriously, he should probably bat second, if the reasoning for having Polly bat there was that he made a lot of contact.

Rollins
Pierre
Vic
Pence
Mayberry
Ruiz
Polanco
Galvis
P

[lorecore]

dammit wtf jimmy you weak old man, get some god damn fn pop, you cant even get the ball past the OFer on a solid swing at a fastball.

[MG]

Padres haven't beat Phils here since 8/16/08. Been a while.

[Iceman]

As great as Worley was tonight (maybe the best I've seen him), I am PUMPED for Chad 'The Grim Reaper' Qualls coming in to neuter these guys.

[TNA]

"Anybody watching the Pads' broadcast? Dick Enberg is a disembodied voice. He actually said "there are no soft spots in this Phillies lineup."
Posted by: Hugh Mulcahy

------
"Another criticism has been that Enberg “talks up the opponent,”"

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2010/may/28/enberg-favors-padres-just-not-while-at-work/

[jase]

wow. braves are killing teams and scoring insane and we can barely score. we're doomed in this division if we dont find some answer. if there is even one. braves killing the red hot diamondbacks in az 10-2.

[Fatalotti]

Padres haven't beat Phils here since 8/16/08. Been a while.

Posted by: MG | Friday, April 20, 2012 at 12:04 AM

How close it was that the Padres made the playoffs in 2010 instead of the Giants. Had that happened, and they advanced past the NLDS, we could have faced them in the NLCS instead of the Giants. Might have actually made it to that third straight WS.

[Bake McBride was Here]

What is this blasphemy you speak!

Posted by: Fatalotti | Thursday, April 19, 2012 at 11:54 PM

--------

Heresy, even.

Clearly I ought to be banished from the Sunny Uplands of Real Phandom.

[MG]

Hatfield Dollar Dogs night stink. Tend to attract a lot of younger fans/frat guy type idiots who want to consume as much beer/hot dogs as possible.

Not to mention the simple fact the hot dogs aren't throughly cooked. As if they could be more disgusting.

[NEPP]

At least he can still field.

[NEPP]

Just got there...good work by Qualls so far.

[Fatalotti]

Nice job by Qualls to make it to the bag and handle the toss.

[The Perils of Thinking]

MG, do you not love America or are you just a communnist?

[MG]

Nice recovery by Qualls. Good infield defense tonight.

[The Perils of Thinking]

Or a communist, if you prefer.

[jase]

have we even scored a total of 20 runs this season? yeh i hope we win this... but this is just bad baseball. we look dead as it gets at bat.

[Fatalotti]

I look at that last pitch by Qualls, and the last pitch that Worley got called for a strike and I just shake my head.

[Fatalotti]

35 runs this season, joe

[NEPP]

We're up to 36 runs now...in 13 games basically.

Just racking up the runs.

[GTown_Dave]

(a) You don't eat hot dogs expecting a gourmet experience.

(b) Considering the usual cost of a damn dog is up to $3.75, I treasure Dollar Dog Nights.

[MG]

The Perils of Thinking - Commie if the disgusting half-cooked Hatfield hot dogs are what is current state of Americana.

My great uncle was Italian and used to make home-made sausage. Used to dry cure tool. That was high quality.

Hot dogs are just disgusting filler and chemical-filled nastiness.

[NEPP]

Whatever you say, pinko.

[Sophist]

Get Papelbon up

[NEPP]

I just like watching Galvis field.

[Sophist]

Nice throw from Galvis

[lorecore]

freddy everywhere

[MG]

No doubt with Freddie. Just an eraser at 2nd.

[jase]

36 runs... god the braves have gotten that in like 3 games. whats wrong with us???

[NEPP]

At least we'll get to see Papelbon pitch again.

[The Perils of Thinking]

Freddy F'in Galvis.

[Raul's grandpa]

I may be wrong but I believe hot dogs are considered a precooked food.

[Fatalotti]

NEPP is correct. Looked at the wrong cell in my spreadsheet. We've allowed 34 runs so far this year, and have scored 36.

[GTown_Dave]

Hot dogs are just disgusting filler and chemical-filled nastiness.

This is entirely correct. However, I also consider it to be a major part of the charm of the American hot dog. Quite frankly, they've never tasted right since CBP opened. I think it's the new machines. The old ones had 30 years worth of exposure to open air & rat feces, which provided character -- both to the hot dog, & the consumer.

[Iceman]

Galvis is a vacuum over there.

Quails- your set up guy. We're not worthy

[NEPP]

***I may be wrong but I believe hot dogs are considered a precooked food. ***

Yes, they are...but they still need to be cooked.

Yeah, 36 runs in 13 games is pretty damn pathetic. Thankfully, we've only given up 34.