The catchers of the last two World Series champs - Yadier Molina and Buster Posey - lead Carlos Ruiz in All-Star voting by an insurmountable margin.
Chooch, who rates as the 10th best player in baseball based on Baseball-Reference's WAR stat, remains third in balloting among National League catcher, earning 1,756,018 votes, trailing Posey (2,445,005) and Molina (2,291,567). In their defense, they're having good seasons, particularly Molina who is the 17th best WAR player in the league and hitting .326/.380/.516. Other Phillies receiving votes at their positions are Jimmy Rollins (4th), Ryan Howard (5th), Placido Polanco (5th), Hunter Pence (7th) and Shane Victorino (13th). Go here to vote Chooch. He and Jonathan Papelbon are the only players I'd send from the Phils. You can vote for Chooch here.
Phillies making no noise in baseball's dumpsters: Anyone else a little surprised the Phils haven't made any noise in acquiring any of the pitchers who've shaken lose in recent days? The Phils appear to be staying the course with a number of under performers, including Joe Savery. Would the Phils get the point where they would consider alternatives for Kyle Kendrick? Down in Triple-A, right-hander Tyler Cloyd improved to 7-1 with six solid innings Monday and has held steady with a 2.37 ERA. Cloyd, 24, reminds many of Kendrick in that he relies on fastball movement, keeping the ball down and command of his pitches.
Tonight's lineup: Rollins, Polanco, Pence, Ruiz, Victorino, Wigginton, Mayberry, Martinez against the left-hander Josh Outman.
Not surprised they passed on Lidge. It was clear when Amaro didn't even offer Lidge a contract this offseason that he had no interest in Lidge & that his time here was done.
Posted by: MG | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 04:42 PM
AS game has always been a popularity contest.
Since the AS game is mid-season, the second half last year & the post season enter into consideration for a lot of voters.
Really, name recognition is probably the biggest factor.
Most all the comps that are written up are on 2012 ytd performance, but thats not necessarily the only criteria for selection.
Posted by: Bubba | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 04:45 PM
MG: It's funny to me that r00b passed on Lidge only to essentially sign Lidge (in the form of Chad Qualls).
Posted by: GTown_Dave | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 04:46 PM
15th different lineup in 15 days.
Posted by: Phatti | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 04:48 PM
Glad to see Mayberry as a starter tonight. His bat showed a little life over the debacle road trip. Gotta hope for something .
Posted by: Bubba | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 04:52 PM
Dave - Difference was that Qualls had been healthy while Lidge has been a fixture on the DL but yeah I get what you are saying.
Qualls is here only because of the injuries and ineffective that have gutted the pen. Otherwise I wouldn't have been surprised if Amaro had released him.
You look at Qualls' numbers from 2010 (non-Petco Park numbers) and he's hasn't been a MLB-caliber reliever. Gotten hit and gotten hit hard with regular frequency.
Posted by: MG | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 04:52 PM
7th start in a row at second for Martinez. That didn't take long.
Posted by: DH Phils | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 04:56 PM
There's not much more left for Cloyd to do. See what the young lad has.
Posted by: Scotch Man | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 04:57 PM
DH Phils: 8th. He's insidious.
Posted by: GTown_Dave | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:00 PM
It's also not helping Chooch that the team is bad. I bet if they were setting atop of the division people outside of Philly would be more inclined to vote for him because most people are stupid and use this line of thinking sometimes too.
Posted by: Joe D | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:02 PM
Vote for Chooch. He's going to hold his bladder until you do.
Posted by: Scott | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:02 PM
Crap! I've been saving my MG impression for the right moment and it gets lost at the end of the last thread.
"Michael Martinez might have the best attitude of all time, but he can't play worth of sh!t."
Fata- in defense of Martinez though he doesn't have a single skill that he excels at though. Just a guy that can't hit or run the bases well and doesn't have a single position he plays well in the field.
Guy has a cocky attitude too. Have never seen a guy like Martinez with a ton of swagger yet a 'zero' baseball IQ. Ditto intangibles. Have no idea about his attitude and don't care.
Posted by: MG (impersonated by Iceman) | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 04:34 PM
Posted by: Iceman | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:04 PM
How can anyone hate that face?
Posted by: Joe D | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:05 PM
Cholly:
Updated expected W-L. Cholly's teams including his year in Cleveland all end up with 2-3 games of their expected W-L.
2000: -2
2001: +3
2002: -1 (39-47 under Cholly)
2005: -1
2006: -1
2007: +2
2008: -1
2009: +1
2010: +2
2011: -1
2012: -2
Not the greatest measure but does look like a guy who manages to his talent. My sense is that as long as the coach at least manages to his talent and he has a good relationship with his players he generally isn't a drag on the team.
This year though I do wonder if the Phils had a different manager or one who wasn't so stuck in baseball orthodoxy that they wouldn't be 2 or 3 games better in the standing. I do think you can make a decent argument for that (no I am not arguing that Cholly needs to be fired now or even this offseason).
Posted by: MG | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:06 PM
2012 is obviously through tonight.
Posted by: MG | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:07 PM
I hate Molina's face.
Posted by: GTown_Dave | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:07 PM
Zolecki: Freddy Galvis suspended 50 games for PEDs. Suspension begins immediately.
Short of the team plane going down, this season now officially cannot get any worse. And I still say counting DL time as suspension time is total crap.
Posted by: GTown_Dave | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:08 PM
GALVIS?!? PED'S?!? WTF?!?
Posted by: Scott | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:08 PM
Wow are you serious? Jesus. What a year.
Posted by: Joe D | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:09 PM
Galvis suspended 50 games.
Posted by: Bake McBride was Here | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:10 PM
They better appeal that suspension and say that it was Michael Martinez's sample and fight for a lifetime ban.
Posted by: Joe D | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:11 PM
Say it ain't so Freddy!
Posted by: Scotch Man | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:11 PM
Zolecki: Galvis tested positive for a metabolite of Clostebol, a performance-enhancing substance.
This sort of thing happens when you juice while wearing the wrong color pinstripes.
Posted by: GTown_Dave | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:12 PM
Your 2012 Philadelphia Rimbauds!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Season_in_Hell
Posted by: Bake McBride was Here | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:12 PM
Well, maybe his back can heal during his 50 game suspension. In all seriousness, this is a complete shock. Freddy Galvis??!!! He probably thought that Human Growth Hormone would make him taller!
Posted by: Lake Fred | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:13 PM
Not that my BIL is an inside source but as I noted before he told me they have AllStar ballot boxes in a bunch of places in
PR and they are stuffing them for Yadi. No boxes in Panama.
Posted by: Raul's grandpa | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:13 PM
In all seriousness, for me Galvis was about the only enjoyable part of this increasingly wretched season. Now we find out what little batting skill he had was fraudulent, & I'm officially disgusted w/ him, & the entire organization. Blow it all up & start fresh.
Posted by: GTown_Dave | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:14 PM
Fata- in defense of Martinez though he doesn't have a single skill that he excels at though. Just a guy that can't hit or run the bases well and doesn't have a single position he plays well in the field.
Guy has a cocky attitude too. Have never seen a guy like Martinez with a ton of swagger yet a 'zero' baseball IQ. Ditto intangibles. Have no idea about his attitude and don't care.
Posted by: MG (impersonated by Iceman) | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 04:34 PM
I could care less if Mini Mart has a 'cocky attitude' but he does make more than his share of mental mistakes and doesn't have some of the prerequisite skills you effect out of a backup infielder (e.g., ability to bunt, etc)
Posted by: MG | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 04:40 PM
These are the greatest back-to-back posts in BL history. Is this the same person, or did the first impersonation nail MG perfectly?
Posted by: Fatalotti | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:15 PM
What event could possibly happen to make this season worse? This has to be rock bottom, right?
Posted by: DH Phils | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:19 PM
Tonight is a night where they need Vic and Mayberry to step up. Both of these guys have struggled mightly vs RHP
Mayberry - .215/.277/.290 (.587 OPS) in 101 PAs
Vic - .225/.300/.324 (.624 OPS) in 229 PAs
Outman only has 3 pitches - a 4-seam fastball; slider; changeup
Mayberry can't hit changeups to save his life but he kills sliders & hits fastballs well when he isn't staring at them right over the plate.
Vic too is a guy that should hit Outman pretty well too even though he isn't a good changeup hitter either.
No reason each of these guys don't have at least 1 hit tonight vs Outman if they get at least 3 ABs.
Posted by: MG | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:19 PM
Next someone will tell me that the Santa Claus that we pelted with snowballs wasn't real.
Posted by: Scott | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:20 PM
Hope he gave others some to help em
Posted by: The hook | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:20 PM
Mini Mart isn't a bad 2B. Given Fontenot's butchery there this month, I guess Mini Mart is the starter there until Utley comes back in ~2 weeks.
Posted by: MG | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:21 PM
I too take PEDs. Pretzels, Entemanns and donuts.
Posted by: Joe Blanton, still a fat bastard | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:22 PM
Love the Phils tonight but I guess so does Vegas. Not touching a -250 line.
Posted by: MG | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:25 PM
David Murphy: not a fan o' Galvis.
Posted by: Bake McBride was Here | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:25 PM
I'm pretty sure David Murphy is a fan of David Murphy. Not sure about his affection towards others.
Posted by: Scott | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:29 PM
I'm with GTown. This blows. And agree, too, that it makes no sense to allow suspension to be served while on the DL. How is it punishment if you're already not playing?
We still have another month to wait for Halladay's return, at least, plus up to a month to see what Utley & Howard can do for us.
We'd better beat the Rockies, but why do I fear that our BP will give back runs that their pitchers allow?
Posted by: GBrettFan | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:30 PM
Todd Zolecki @ToddZolecki
Stutes could be headed to exploratory surgery for his shoulder. Herndon could be on his way toward Tommy John surgery. Would be blow to pen.
Posted by: Scott | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:31 PM
'Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate; above CBP would be appropriate this season
Posted by: MG | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:33 PM
Todd Zolecki @ToddZolecki
Oh yeah, Laynce Nix suffered a setback today (strained left calf). Pretty much bad news everywhere.
Posted by: Scott | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:42 PM
Officials at Citizens Bank Park say the seats in the ballpark inexplicably can not be folded down into the sitting position. People will have to stand and watch tonight's game.
Posted by: Chuck | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:49 PM
Meh. People were expecting too much of Nix, anyway. He would've come back & become himself, much as Wigginton has become Wigginton.
Posted by: GTown_Dave | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 05:55 PM
Yo, newer threads
Posted by: EastFallowfield | Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 07:50 PM