Game chat: Phillies hoping to solve Matt Garza

The Phillies hit Matt Garza when it mattered most - in Game 3 of the 2008 World Series. But in regular-season play, the Phils have had no answers for the talented right-hander.

Garza (2-1, 2.56 this season) owns a 2-1 record with a 0.96 ERA in four career regular-season starts against the Phillies. Just to point out a few names, Jimmy Rollins (2-for-14), Placido Polanco (2-for-14) and Shane Victorino (1-for-11) have struggled against him in the past.

The Phillies, winners of three straight games for the first time this season, will turn to Kyle Kendrick (0-3, 7.32) in place of the injured Vance Worley. Kendrick faced Garza back on April 29, when the Cubs notched a 5-1 win in South Philly. That was part of a four-game series in which each team won twice.

Minor-league trade: The Phillies swapped minor-league outfielders with the Rays on Wednesday. Coming to the organization is Kyle Hudson, who saw minimal action in 14 games with the Orioles last season. This year, Hudson, 25, was hitting .291 with a .378 OBP for Tampa's Triple-A affiliate. According to the latest Baseball America Prospect Handbook, the left-handed hitting Hudson is "a premium athlete" with "blazing speed," though he is "still refining his baseball skills, in particular his swing and his instincts on the basepaths and in the outfield." To get Hudson, the Phillies traded away Rich Thompson, 33, who was hitting .307 with a .390 OBP at Lehigh Valley. He has already been called up to the Rays.

Comments

[PhillyJoe]

I'm going to enjoy reading Rich Thompson's autobiography "The Missing Piece: the incredible true story of how a career minor leaguer made it to the show and won the world series"

with foreword by Joe Maddon

[Raul's grandpa]

Thompson for Hudson is like trading arthritis for a slipped disc.

[Ed]

How many JRoll pop-ups tonight? He's on track to break the record of 500 pop-ups in a season.

[curt]

Rumor is that the Rays wanted Kratz but the Phils wouldn't budge.

[lorecore]

Phils are +140 with a o/u @ 7 tonight.

If you think the Phils are winning tonight, you'll probably need the under to happen because they never seem to hit Garza well.

Without piecing together the actual ABs and lineup tonight, the current roster hits a collective .195 off Garza.

[Regress To The Mean Machine]

I like the cut of this Hudson kids' jib. Isn't afraid to get dirty.

[awh]

repost:

billit, right now, Chooch is one of the top 5 catchers in MLB.

In light of the contract Molina, who is 4 years younger, just got from the Cards ($14-15MM in his age 34 - 35 seasons), it would not surprise me if Chooch, if healthy, gets a 3 - 4 year deal at at least half that value.

Molina, 2009 - 2011: .287/.348/.397, 103 OPS+

Chooch, 2009 - 2011: .281/.376/.417, 113 OPS+

The fact that Chooch has not yet made an All Star team is nearly criminal. He's not McCann's equal offensively, but I've never heard anyone mention McCann's name in the same breath when discussing defense.

[Jr]

MG,lorecore I guess when you only see a guy play half his games you can't be an expert on him. Sure wish the big club had someone hitting over .500 in his last 5 games (James)
Little phils 10 hits today and j
James and Abreu had half of them. SSS SSS SSS SSS

[bay_area_phan]

"Sure wish the big club had someone hitting over .500 in his last 5 games (James)"

That settles it, then. Jiwan James: the answer to all that ails the Phillies' offense.

[GTown_Dave]

What we gave up to get [Oswalt] and what he did for us in the big picture = Phillies lose.

And what of any value did the Phillies give up to get Oswalt? I think r00b is a dope of the highest order, & even I can't fault him for that trade.

[Joe D]

The Oswalt deal was a straight up steal and that fool Wade sent us cash as well.

[A60]

Kyle Hudson:

1744 Minor League PAs
48 XBHs
0 HRs

Wow!

[drake]

i'll be at wrigley tonight fairly close to RF, anybody want me to yell anything profane?

[Joe D]

i'll be at wrigley tonight fairly close to RF, anybody want me to yell anything profane?

Posted by: drake

No, especially not when Pence is out there. He is already too much of a spaz. Yelling will make his arms flail even more.

[MG]

It is the Pence trade that was questionable and what the Phils gave up more for.

[drake]

oops, i meant LF. pierreberry territory.

[clout]

Kyle Hudson has superb tools.

[Bedrosian's Beard]

Kyle Hudson makes Kyrell Hudson look like Barry Bonds.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=hudson001kyr

[Dickie Thong]

So will Hudson play LF while Dom rides the bench?

[NEPP]

***Kyle Hudson has superb tools.***

Dewalt?

Craftsman?

[Edmundo]

I wonder what the odds of having two Durbins on the same team?

In the early days of this millenium, the Phillies had the only two players in baseball history named Marlon on the team at one time.

The Royals had had the only two players in hitory named Jermaine (Dye, Allensworth) on the team in the late 90s. Since then there have been two more Jermaines (Clark, Van Buren).

Not that this is germane to anything of importance, mind you.

[bullit]

awh: chooch may be the only non-pitching phillie in the asg. i certainly wouldn't vote for hacker pence.

[MG]

My moderately sized bet on the Cubs at -135 tonight is looking like a steal.

Dropped to -150 since KK was the named the starter.

Garza has been nearly unhittable at home, pitching incredibly well last few starts, completely dominates everyone in the Phils' lineup except Chooch, and the Cubs have hit much better at Wrigley.

If there was a game this year that 'Feels like a loss' this is certainly it.

[GTown_Dave]

I still have delusions that All-Star voting ought to be at least somewhat merit based. As such, Chooch is the only Phillies play who will be receiving my support.

[MG]

Pence might deserve some AS merit if his average/OPS pick up especially if he stays in top 10 in HRs & RBIs.

[bay_area_phan]

"What we gave up to get [Oswalt] and what he did for us in the big picture = Phillies lose."

Surely, anyone who makes this claim has not actually bothered to go to Roy Oswalt's B-Ref page and click on the links to the so-called "prospects" whom we gave up to get him.

[NEPP]

I have already voted for Galvis 25 times.

MVP!

We didnt give up anything for Oswalt, we gave up value for Pence.

[Grassie]

... he is "still refining his baseball skills, in particular his swing and his instincts on the basepaths and in the outfield."

Oh good. I thought Hudson had a lot of developing to do, but it looks like he's closer than I imagined. According to this scouting report, the only thing Hudson has to work on is the entire game of baseball.

[MG]

Phils will surely pick up Chooch's option next year at $5M but long-term?

Why I still would love to see the Phils look at the possibility of moving Halladay at the deadline if they are 7 games or more back especially if they can get a 3B or CF prospect who is already in MLB or ready to start next year.

[JRide]

The Oswalt deal was mildly criminal. If that deal had been made in Singapore, Ed Wade would have been sentenced to a public caning.

Now the Pence deal on the other hand...

[awh]

NEPP, re Hudson's tools: Snap On.

[awh]

The Angels fired their hitting coach. Hmmmmm.

[Joe D]

Firing the hitting coach. One of the lamest moves to make in the league.

[awh]

Someone has come up with a sure-fire solution to the Cubs World Series woes:

"Why Wrigley Field Must Be Destroyed"

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304192704577404424241146562.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsTop

[JRide]

Why Wrigley Field Must Be Destroyed -

Because any other building in this country in that kind of shape would have been dynamited years ago.

[NEPP]

Because it has the worst beer selection in baseball?

Old Style or Old Style Lite...woohoo!

[GTown_Dave]

Wrigley Field should be destroyed because it's a toilet.

[NEPP]

It sure smelled like a toilet the last time I watched a game there.

Literally, the concourse smelled like urine.

[donc]

Shea Stadium always smelled like a toilet too. Maybe that was just Queens.

[bullit]

i'm on board with moving forward with cole, lee and worley and dealing halladay. but doesn't doc have a no-trade clause?

[JRide]

Shea stadium always felt to me like i was watching a game in a subway station.

[JRide]

Yes, and he also has a very attainable 2014 option.

[mm]

Would have to be a contender if you were going to move halladay. He wants to win one and probably wouldn't waive unless he though he could win that season. Cardinals would be a good fit. They could really use him and have lots of offensive prospects to deal.

[NEPP]

Or we could just hand the WS trophy to the Cardinals....it'd probably be easier.

unless you're 20 games back at the deadline, you dont even approach Halladay with a trade.

[mm]

Let me stress i'm not in favor of trading halladay. Just if you wanted to, that's the team you might be able to trade him to.

[GTown_Dave]

If the Phillies are sellers at the deadline it will be Hamels who goes, no matter how much sense attempting to deal Halladay might make. That's just how r00b operates. He won't trade his beloved cost certainty.

[MG]

That article by Cohen was one of the single dumbest articles I have read in quite a while.

So the Cubs don't win because they play in Wrigley and the fans are apathetic who are content with the 'loveable losers? persona' Please. At least Cohen hit every cliche about the Cubs and Wrigley.

Same kind of stupid short-sighted article you read in the Boston Globe/Herald about Fenway in the late 80s/early 00s.

Yeah it would have been a really smart move for the Red Sox to tear down Fenway and have moved to a new park on the Southie waterfront.

How about just getting an owner (Ricketts) who just doesn't come out with a tin cup in hand begging the city of Chicago and the state for hundreds of millions in publicly-backed bonds and infrastructure spending to improve Wrigley as he has now tried twice since he acquired the team in '09?

F@ck that. So tired of owners especially pocketing tens of millions in public dollars that ends up in their accounts when they sell the team.

How about Ricketts showing some vision to rebuild and upgrade Wrigley as the Sox did with Fenway?

[The Hook]

None of the pitchers are going to be moved. Doc will have his contract kick in with his innings pitched. He gave the phils a hell of a break to come here. And with Vance injury in the mix. Forget about it. Trading doc would be like making out with your best friends wife. It may seem good but after the fact you scratch your head and say what the F0@" did I do? And with rube's trade record. NO!!!

[NEPP]

What Wrigley needs is a new ownership group that will do what MG mentions and rebuild it like Fenway. Fenway used to be just as big a dump and now its great.

[MG]

Ricketts have been buying up land around Wrigley and have been seeking at least $200M (earlier it was larger but they scaled it back) in various taxpayer incentives & other goodies from City of Chicago & state of IL.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-12-14/news/chi-ricketts-family-buys-mcdonalds-across-from-wrigley-field-20111214_1_ricketts-family-wrigley-field-cubs-chairman-tom-ricketts

[NEPP]

I'm cautiously optimistic that tonight will be the night KK figures things out.

[GTown_Dave]

Rollins (SS), Pierre (LF), Victorino (CF), Pence (RF), Ruiz (C), Polanco (3B), Mayberry (1B), Galvis (2B), Kendrick (Sucks).

[MG]

NEPP - Ricketts bought the team in '09. No way they are selling any time soon and they realize that tearing down Wrigley would be financial insanity due to the tourist attraction that Wrigley is to non-Cubs fans (let alone the cost of financing of building a an entirely new stadium).

Nah Ricketts is just a University of Chicago MBA puke who argues for capitalism/private sector and then on the side loves for gov't to shower his businesses with all kinds of subsidies and goodies that greatly paid his back account.

Not don't feel that strongly on a topic but stadium owners and public financing is one I do.

[MG]

Reason the Cubs lose is not because of Wrigley but because they have generally had piss poor management and talent development.

Why they hired Epstein along with several other individuals to change that. Just going to take a few years to really see if they can show results.

[NEPP]

Rollins will break out big time tonight.

Red Light Player

[NEPP]

Epstein did such a great job in Boston the last few years...this year's BoSox team is a testament to his greatness.

[NEPP]

***NEPP - Ricketts bought the team in '09. No way they are selling any time soon and they realize that tearing down Wrigley would be financial insanity due to the tourist attraction that Wrigley is to non-Cubs fans (let alone the cost of financing of building a an entirely new stadium).***

He has very little need to update the stadium given their solid attendance numbers regardless of their record: Over 2.5 million sold every year since 1999 and over 3 million every year since 2004 and they're on pace for another 3 million in attendance this year.

[MG]

NEPP - Epstein was smart like a fox and got out before things fell apart in Boston. Because of the crappy contracts they have which he played a large part in, they will be hard pressed to acquire much on the FA market even next year.

Gillick was a master of doing that. He left the O's and Mariner before things fell apart. Hell, Gillick was a huge reason why the O's fell apart so quickly because he acquired a team of veteran players and traded away bunch of prospects.

[NEPP]

Ironically, Gillick left the Phillies in great position (probably the only time he's ever done that in his career and because he managed to win a WS in 08 so he had a great high-note to leave on)

[Iceman]

If you "want" Halladay to be moved at the deadline, you should be immediately drug tested.

[RK]

Given KK's performance this year why not bring up Trevor May (he last pitched on the 11th) it would be a great opportunity for the club to check him out under the lights.
But I know its not the Phils style.

[MG]

If the Phils are 'out of it' (define that as several games or more back from the 2nd WC), then yeah I want the Phils to strongly look at moving Halladay and not Hamels at the trading deadline.

It would be a massive gamble on several fronts and hard to achieve but better than the alternative (holding on to Halladay, very good possibility Hamels signs elsewhere).

[Let's go Eat]

What we gave up to get [Oswalt] and what he did for us in the big picture = Phillies lose.

And what of any value did the Phillies give up to get Oswalt? I think r00b is a dope of the highest order, & even I can't fault him for that trade.

Posted by: GTown_Dave | Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 03:44 PM

----

It would have been an unnecessary trade to obtain Oswalt...if R00B doesn't trade Lee in Dec 2009 to Seattle. All R00b had to do was think...

[MG]

Trevor May is a desperation reach. He has to be added to the 40-man roster, Phils have to release someone, and he barely has any had time above AA.

KK gave them decent results as a starter last year and is a better option than Bush/Elarton.

Maybe it was a dumb signing but he's the best option right now. Only way you consider taking KK out of the rotation is if he flops badly & Worley's injury is worse than initially thought.

[Luis]

What MG said....

[MG]

Utley:

So he has been back with the team for over a week now and has yet to take any grounders on the infield.

Still no timetable on his return. I really do wonder if the Phils are going to see him before ASB at this point.

If he isn't taking grounders by this time next month & has a clear timetable on a return, he's a lost cause.

[bullit]

if i can't have both cole and doc, then i want cole. even with a 7 year deal, he is only doc's current age at the end of it.

[MG]

I am definitely in the 'blow it up' camp if the Phils really are out of it at the trading deadline too.

Just don't think they will be there. Instead in a 'gray area' another with a ton of other teams that are hanging on to valid playoff hopes because they aren't that far back from the WC. What is going to make it tough for Amaro.

Buyer, seller, stand pat? My sense is that Howard will be back by late June (no idea on Utley), Phils will be only a few games back of the 2nd WC at the trading deadline or literally neck and neck, and Amaro makes a complementary move this year. No blockbuster. Plays it out & hopes the Phils can get into the playoffs as a WC.

[GTown_Dave]

Let's go Eat: Well, yeah. There's that.

[Earth]

" Fenway used to be just as big a dump and now its great."

Earth to NEPP: Fenway is STILL a dump.

[NEPP]

fenway is miles better than it used to be....miles.

[Bowlcut]

from last thread posted by Bedrosian's Beard "Uh.....except he didn't work for the Rays."

Uh....except that Hudson was drafted by and came up in the O's system when Jordan worked there. He's in an Orioles uniform in the picture posted right here on this site. But don't let facts or anything slow down your "gotcha" reflex. It's cute.

[awh]

NEPP, Fenway has the most uncomfortable seats in MLB. Period.

[RK]

MG why would they have to release someone. Just bringup May instead of Savey

[NEPP]

Of course it does...those Wrigley's are pretty much the equivalent.

The ballpark at least doesnt feel like its going to collapse anymore and it doesnt smell like urine anymore so there's that.

[lorecore]

If the Phils are out of contention at any point of season with 2nd WC, they'd have to be like 12 games under .500 or something. I just cant imagine a team with this starting pitching, no matter how bad offense/bullpen is to be that bad of a record.

[Luis]

How much can they possibly reconstruct this team. We are stuck with Howard, he is unmovable. We are stuck with Utley. We are probably stuck with the Popup Grandmaster unless we eat some of his salary. We need Chooch. I suppose we can re-work our outfield. Lee, Doc and Cole arent the problem. Papelhead is ours for the long haul.

[Let's go Eat]

Here's an alternative to KK

How about Tyler Cloyd... He's been lights out this year.. he is 7-0 combined between LV & Reading with a 1.24 ERA..

And in LV alone- his ERA is 0.69

[NEPP]

We're paying KK $7 million over the next two years so it might make sense to see if he can be the swingman he was last year.

[Let's go Eat]

wonder if Utley is trade-able to the AL as a DH?

Maybe if the Phils eat part of St. Utley's salary - Also, does he have a no trade clause>

[RK]

Last winter I recomended trading our vets and was outed on this site. I actually suggested trading Utley and Rollins two winters ago as well. Now you want to dump the lot I don't agree.
Actually think Utley has tremendous value in the AL as DH. We are stuck with Rollins but I would trade Vic as well. And unless we are prepared to bring up Brown I would trade him now.

We know we need an new infield certainly at 2nd, 3rd and SS. Galvis can be at either 2nd or SS. He has the makings of a very good ball player (Rollins was not a gerat hitter when he came up). Definitely need a young--no retreads--3rd base and 2nd.
But the problem remains who and where are these ball players.
And just as important would you trust RAJ to make such a trade?

[Let's go Eat]

i wouldn't trust R00b to trade in my car...

[GTown_Dave]

I wouldn't trust r00b to trade baseball cards, let alone the actual players.

[wes covington's ghost]

the improvements at fenway park were essentially putting lipstick on a pig, and a massive marketing campaign dubbing it "america's most beloved ball park" which the lemming, pink hat, front running "fans" bought hook line and sinker.smart move because it takes some of the focus off of the pampered, entitled, and petulant players on the field

[bullit]

good one, gtown.

[pb]

so does he have options? and is he now on our 40 man?

[gobaystars!]

Re: ballparks.
I love Wrigley but I hate Cubs fans. They romanticize losing. The REd Sox did it too. When we were bad we were miserable. Nobody ever talked about lovable losers and that stuff. It was hellish. Cubs fans have embraced losing and I can't stand that.
Back to the ballpark. It's old and smelly but that's great.
Shea was awful. If you sat in the back of the first level you couldn't see a ball hit more than 40 feet in the air. A fly ball would go up and you couldn't follow it. You could only see where players were running.

[st]

Utley:

So he has been back with the team for over a week now and has yet to take any grounders on the infield.

Still no timetable on his return. I really do wonder if the Phils are going to see him before ASB at this point.

If he isn't taking grounders by this time next month & has a clear timetable on a return, he's a lost cause.

Posted by: MG | Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 05:36 PM

he's taking them right now. going full speed side to side says Gelb

also worley has no structural issues. will rest for a week before throwing

[gobaystars!]

And just for laughs a funny promo from my favourite NPB squad. Even with new ownership they can't get anything right.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/sports/T120515004603.htm

[MG]

ghost - No way. I have been to several games at Fenway since they have renovated and it is night-and-day since the late 90s when I would lived in Boston & would attend several games annually.

Disregarding how much better the places is cleaned (my personal favorite was going to a Sat/Sun day game after a night game where you would crap in seats especially if it rained the night before), they have made several major improvements including replacing most of the seats in the place.

There are still a bunch of places that are bad seats (obstructed view; anywhere down the RF line) and simple space limitations, it is an improved place to watch a game & certainly much cleaner.

[MG]

st - Excellent news. Thanks for the update.

[Mick O]

Interestingly, starting pitching depth will be much more important for wild card teams this year as opposed to years past. While the road to the WFC will be so much harder for wild cards now, the Phillies strength (starters) makes the wild card not as unpalatable as it might otherwise feel. That and the wacky homefield pseudo-advantage for WCs this year only will make for an interesting conundrum on how much to push to the middle of the table.

Say the Phillies make the wild card and have to burn Halladay in the "play-in game." They still could have Cole and Cliff starting at home in games 1 and 2 in the NLDS.

Crapshoot!

[MG]

Also did away with the old piss thoughs at Fenway too. Pity the fool who drank too many beers and put his foot in that or wasn't paying attention when they overflowed because some jacka$$ thought it would be funny to put something in them to block the flow.

I am only been to Wrigley once about 15 years ago with my old man. Loved it but I haven't' been there in years.

[MG]

I never thought the Red Sox fans embraced losing either. Bitter sure. Always thought they would generally come out on the short end. Probably especially after the '03 ALCS playoffs.

That was largely schtick though about them embracing losing. I have never meet anyone who followed a sport who was glad his team or was indifferent to it.

[wes covington's ghost]

mg- i agree that it is alot better than it was, but nowhere near the house of worship the owners and pr people would have you believe.

[GTown_Dave]

I remember the piss troughs at the Vet. For some reason the city insisted on referring to them as "sinks".

[gobaystars!]

Maybe it's too much Dan Shaugnessy (sp) that had me believing the Red Sox pre-2000s were into losing. Of course the fans want to win, but I always got a vibe that losing was very much part of the Sox identity and they enjoyed it to a point. Could be wrong.

[bullit]

time for the sixers on tnt. i think i'll be taping the phils at 1:30 am and watching them in the morning while reading the game chat.

[MG]

ghost - Yeah but it is a great place to watch a game on a summer night especially in June.

Agreed thought that there are plenty of awful seats there. It is also cramped without much leg room.

Area around it though really has improved too. Kenmore Square even in the mid-1990s yet still had a huge methadone clinic, a bunch of crummy/cheap stores (my favorite was the pizza/Italian/Chinese takeout place which was a stoner or club's kid dream destination at 1:30 PM), and crummy restaurants. Best restaurant there was a Pizzeria Uno.

Completely changed & upgraded. Ditto Landsdowne.

One thing that CBP is missing is anything worth going to around it. Xfinity Live! is even worse than I thought. Crappy generic restaurants with a huge meathead/frat boy contingent. No thanks.

[NEPP]

I actually love CBP because I go there just for the game...and feel the stadium food/beer is probbaly the best in baseball.