Saturday chat: Phillies hand ball to second-half ace

Notes: Kyle Kendrick (9-10, 3.83) is pitching at the highest level of his career. The right-hander reaches for an unbelievable eighth consecutive quality start, as well the fourth double-digit win total of his career, when the Phillies continue their Wild Card push against left-hander Dallas Keuchel (5.35) in the third of four with the Astros. First pitch is 7:05. Friday night's 12-6 assault brought the Phillies back to three games off the Cardinals' pace in the National League Wild Card, with the Cards, Brewers and Pirates all losing ground around them. Earlier today, the Pirates scratched out a 7-6 win at Wrigley, putting them a half game ahead of the Phils. The Cardinals and Dodgers get underway at 9:10. Milwaukee and the Mets are scheduled for 7:10.

Lineups: Rollins, Frandsen, Utley, Howard, Mayberry, Wigginton, Brown, Kratz. John Mayberry Jr. continued his hot hitting with a 3-for-5 effort in Friday's peppering of the Astros. All but one starting position player had multiple hits, and the only one who didn't, Domonic Brown, jacked one to the upper deck.

Let's keep it going against these chumps. 

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Comments

[Jack]

Given that Kendrick has pitched well long enough for everyone to expect him to win tonight, I expect a typical KK crappy performance. Something like 5 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 2 K with 98 pitches and it takes two and a half hours to get through those five innings.

[SLO Phan]

Astros averaging 6 runs per game against the Phils in this series. I still am not an ardent believer in KK and am always nervous when he is on the mound. And Phils against an unknown lefty? Yikes!

[Keith]

(@SLO Phan)Feels like a loss...

[The hook]

Keep
The
Train
Rolling

[Sil Campusano]

Wiggy's gonna rake tonight.

I can't even type that with a straight face.

[clout]

Jack: You shouldn't let your desires overcome your objectivity.

[clout]

Keuchel is an off-the-shelf finesse lefty, of whom there are about 700 in the minor leagues. His fastball tops out around 88-90, he had good control in the minors (but not in MLB so far) and his best pitch is a changeup. He sometimes throws curves and sliders, but they aren't very good.

BTW, it is not unusual for a pitcher who has great BB/9 ratio in the minors to suddenly find at the MLB level that he needs to be more precise to get major league hitters out and winds up walking way more guys. Most statheads don't realize this and fall in love with minor league K/BB ratios.

[Edmundo]

Most statheads don't realize this and fall in love with minor league K/BB ratios.

Thank goodness we have the brilliance of clout and his strawmen to keep us in line.

[Jr.]

Would have been nice to see Ruff instead of Wiggy.

[Sophist]

Rollins just taking advantage of hapless Astros.

[NEPP]

Jimmy gunning for 30 SB tonight.

[Sophist]

Rollins is on third now, but if you throw that in there with Utley's numbers with a guy on 2B and first open, he's got 14 BB/HBP/IBB in 27 PA.

[SLO Phan]

(sigh)....WTF Howard? Up to Mayberry now.

[Jack]

Howard really should be hitting cleanup against lefties. Definitely. No question.

[gobaystars!]

Come on Wiggs.

[gobaystars!]

awful

[GTown_Dave]

I really dislike Wigginton.

[NEPP]

Why the hell is WIgginton starting?

[Ryan Howard]

Cholly said he wanted to give me a blow tonight but I told him I'm not into dudes.

[bay_area_phan]

Yeah, I'm sure glad we started Wigginton instead of Ruf.

[CN]

Charlie's fascination with Wigginton continues to bewilder.

[Sil Campusano]

Wigginton's got nothing. Ruf couldn't possibly be worse. I'm not clamoring for Ruf; just someone better than Wiggy.

[awh]

Wiggy instead of Ruf is, to me, inexplicable. Why? Because Wiggy isn't exactly tearing it up against LHP.

[MG]

From the last thread:

"I would have rather seen Ruf in the lineup tonight or Pierre. Don't get Cholly fascination with Wigginton in LF. Horrendous defensively & on the basebaths, really hasn't hit that well vs LHP this year, and hasn't produced really since April. Reading the pine."

Pretty clear that LF is going to be a platoon of Pierre/Wigginton the rest of the way with Wigginton getting starts vs LHP.

It's a mistake but Cholly will always go with a veteran player over the alternative.

[NEPP]

Wiggy has a .649 OPS since May 1st.

.211 AVG

[MG]

Hung a changeup and Maxwell just hit it out. Ugh.

[gobaystars!]

What is this cr8p.
We let them off the hook and then Kendrick turns back into Kendrick.
Still early. I have faith.

[SLO Phan]

Awesome. That pitch before the homer sure looked like a strike on Gameday.

[Jack]

Clout: Brett Wallace continues to be a pretty mediocre baseball player (and that's being generous). Your thoughts?

[Sophist]

Really weak stuff there from Kendrick after getting up 0-2

[Sil Campusano]

Ugh.

[Jack]

I wish I hadn't seen this coming from Kendrick.

[GBrettFan]

It figures. We have bases loaded and zip. They hit a 2-run HR.

[bay_area_phan]

Something tells me those Howard & Wigginton failures might just loom large.

[NEPP]

KK gets massively squeezed and then hangs one.

Brutal.

[GTown_Dave]

Kendrick was overdue to remember he's Kendrick. Figures it happens now.

[GBrettFan]

I blame Wigginton & Howard, too, BAP, although I did read that while hitting poorly, Howard is doing well with RISP. So maybe we should be less harsh to judge him for his failure there.

[Brooklyn Phillies]

Isn't baseball wonderful?

[SLO Phan]

For the Phils to have any shot of getting the WC, KK can't remember he's KK for the rest of the year.

[MG]

Phils' staff are now 14th in the NL in HRs allowed (160) and only are in front of Astros (161) and Colorado (172).

HRs have sunk this staff this year especially the starters.

[Sophist]

Howard is hitting well with RISP.

Phils should put up a bunch of runs on this guy. If they can't score more than a few, even mediocre Kendrick can't hold them back.

[GBrettFan]

This is what I read earlier, first about the Astros' pitcher, then about hitting with RISP & Howard:

found this info on csnphilly.com:

1) Astros pitcher tonight:

This is Keuchel’s first major-league season and the Astros haven’t had him go too deep into games. He’s averaged 87.9 pitches and just a tick over five innings per start.

Opponents are hitting .284 with a .803 OPS off of Keuchel, a 6-foot-3 left-hander. His strikeout and walk numbers are terrible – he has 33 BBs to 31 Ks over 70 2/3 innings.

Keuchel’s redeeming quality is his ability to induce ground balls. He throws his two-seam fastball/sinker exactly one-third of the time, and the result is a 50.2 percent ground ball rate. Keuchel’s fastball is in the 87-90 mph range, and he also throws a mid-80s cutter and a curveball and changeup in the mid-70s. Similar to Friday’s matchup against the hittable Edgar Gonzalez, the Phillies shouldn’t have any problem getting started early against Keuchel.

2) Phillies with RISP, esp. Ryan Howard:

Hitting when it counts
A 7-for-15 night with runners in scoring position Friday brought the Phillies’ September batting average with RISP up to .333. Their season mark continues to hover in the .260 range.

Ryan Howard, who hasn’t been great over the 59 games since his return, has done his best work with runners in scoring position. In those situations, he’s 20 for 57 for a .351 batting average. He has eight extra-base hits, 37 RBI and 13 walks to 17 strikeouts in those situations.

[MG]

Brown works the count back to 3-2 and then swings at ball 4 in on his hands and weakly taps out to the right-side.

Ends up doing that in way too many ABs. Good eye, weak contact.

[MG]

Keuchel has shown very little so far including command. Stunned if they get shutdown by this guy for another 3 IP.

[awh]

Based on what I see on Gameday, it looks like the Phils hitters are missing meatballs in the middle of the plate.

Is that what it looks like on the telly?

[bay_area_phan]

If they lose to this team, against this pitcher, I think you can pretty much write the obituary on their 2012 season. They can afford to lose a few more games before the season is over. But this one can't be one of them. It's a "silver platter" kind of game.

[norbertods]

awh: I was about to ask the same question.

[MikeD]

I don't know, but this pitcher sure seems like someone Ruf could crush. The Phils are back I'm the race with help from a bunch of AAAA guys. Sure would make sense to see if one more might help. Particularly one that owned pitchers just like this for a historic power season. Just sayin.

[MG]

awh - Pretty much. Kuechel is either missing the corners pretty badly or throwing hittable fastballs over the plate.

Kind of pitcher even 2 years ago they clobber. Just don't have the same power & ability to hit fastballs though.

[GTown_Dave]

Keuchel has shown very little so far including command. Stunned if they get shutdown by this guy for another 3 IP.

I wouldn't be. Feels like I've seen this before.

[Sil Campusano]

Discussion on TV broadcast about playing Wiggy vs. Ruf in left. Wheels predictably defends it.

[bay_area_phan]

Sadly, we seem to have gotten reversion-to-career-norms Kendrick today.

[gobaystars!]

This worries me.

[GTown_Dave]

Kendrick Asplode.

[SLO Phan]

On the cusp of getting ugly.

[wes covington's ghost]

He has nothing tonight. This could go dirty very early.

[MG]

Teetering on the brink of disaster. KK picked a hell of a night to completely sink it up.

[MG]

KK's sinker/stinker tonight. Missing the corner badly and no where near the strike zone at the knees.

[GBrettFan]

The thought of not having to play a late-season game in Houston next year makes me happy.

[aksmith]

Watching Kendrick throw slop right down the middle was hurting my eye holes, so I muttered something out of my mouth hole and turned the game off.

We all start marveling at how good he's been, and he does his best to dampen enthusiasm and lower expectations for the future.

[gobaystars!]

Need this K.

[GBrettFan]

Why did Howard not step on 1B?

[Sophist]

Ah, almost a perfect DP.

[SLO Phan]

(sigh)...WTF Howard?

[Sil Campusano]

Need a dp here.

[MG]

More lousy defense from Howard. That should be a DP. He had plenty of time given how hard that was hit.

[Sophist]

My guess is that he felt he didn't have time to go back over to 1B and throw home.

[gobaystars!]

Got the out at home. Cool.
Not sure why Kratz went with the tag, should have gone for the return throw and gotten two.
Not going to complain too much.

[GBrettFan]

Does anyone think about what they'd say to the pitcher in these situations if they could visit the mound?

[Iceman]

Considering Kendrick is a big reason they are even in contention right now, I'd hold off on the pitchforks. All of these starters have failed to impress against this pathetic lineup. Not one good performance.

But like I said earlier, if they can't hit this pitcher, it doesn't matter what Kendrick does- it is a massive failure.

And Howard not getting that out is just awful. He was less than 6 inches from the bag.

[MG]

Most 1B make that DP no problem. Howard just has limited mobility and has one of the worst throwing arms by any 1B in MLB. Cost the Phils a run there.

[bay_area_phan]

KK is falling behind every single hitter. If he allows another couple runs, Cholly needs to get him out of the game. Good thing rosters have expanded and the Phillies have a whole slew of extra relievers on hand for situations like this. Oh wait . . .

[Sophist]

I'm with go bay. Howard went conservative there, but Kratz should have gone back to 1B with that.

[GBrettFan]

Thanks, Sophist. It makes sense that his priority was to get the out at home. Bit of a brain fart by Kratz there to tag on a force play rather than throw back to home, but at least no run scored nor did any runners advance.

[gobaystars!]

Howard could have gone bag then home but Kratz not throwing down to first and opting to tag on a force is a bigger mistake.

Howie just made another big throw but KK didn't get over.

Someone pin that on Howard.

[SLO Phan]

This is some sad defense. Really. This is a huge difference from the 2008-2010 teams.

[MG]

Out. No chance there with how fast Altuve is down the line.

[GTown_Dave]

The mental aspects of Kendrick's game remain seriously lacking. I'm not claiming it's fair, but I doubt I will ever like him. Far too many outings such as this one, & these are the ones I remember. His freq. total lack of control -- & awareness -- irks the hell out of me.

[Sil Campusano]

What the hell is it with this freaking team that causes us to go @ss over teakettle every year no matter who's playing for them? These guys stink. This should've been an easy sweep.

[Iceman]

That's a run that absolutely should not have scored. He threw two DP balls. And the inning isn't over yet, either.

[Sophist]

Iceman, to be fair, one of those DP balls wasn't converted because he failed to cover first.

[MG]

I like/root for Howard but his defense this year has been horrendous. Almost no range, poor throwing arm, and real issue scooping & picking balls.

If he is this bad defensively next year, he will end up being at least -1.0 WAR for the season defensively.

[GBrettFan]

I'm with SLO. I get very annoyed by poor defense.

[gobaystars!]

3-0 isn't the biggest deal. If KK can settle down I see more than 3 runs being scored by the good guys tonight.

[MG]

3-6-1 DP is really tough to turn is Altuve is ridiculously fast down the line.

Not turning 2 on the ball that pitcher hit hurt. Cost them a run too.

[Sil Campusano]

Could've been worse I guess.

[SLO Phan]

Brutal. KK with 47 pitches through 2 innings. Who's the long man, again?

[Iceman]

gobay, good point. On second thought I think you're right. Kratz should have recognized what he did, and he probably could have had the pitcher easily.

Thank God they held them to a run there. If they can't score 3+ off this guy, they deserve to lose.

[MG]

Need to get a run this inning. Get back in the game & don't let this stiff settle in.

[bay_area_phan]

"Iceman, to be fair, one of those DP balls wasn't converted because he failed to cover first."

It would have been a tough DP, because Altuve is fast. But there's still no excuse for not covering.

[Iceman]

Sophist- wasn't exactly looking to exonerate Kendrick, just saying the run shouldn't have scored, no matter who made the defensive brain fart (and there were two that inning, one by KK).

[GTown_Dave]

SLO: Horst, remember? Which is why he didn't pitch Thursday, but did last night. And if none of that makes any damn sense at all, you're clearly Charlie Manuel.

[bullit]

gbf: since nothing said is really consequential, i'd say "kyle, you lost your release point. i found it on the bench." then i'd pretend to hand him smth.

[bay_area_phan]

They'd have a long man if they hadn't traded Nelson Figueroa.

[MG]

Keuchel for what it is worth has been worse than KK so far. Can't get anything over offspeed and his fastball command has been iffy at best.

[GTown_Dave]

Edit: not

[MG]

Nice play by Altuve.

[gobaystars!]

Howard and Utley not doing much aside from yesterday.
However many years on it is and we're still talking about splitting up the lefties.

[SLO Phan]

If I'm an opposing manager, the only thing I need to do to handcuff the Phils is start a lefty. That's it. Everything else doesn't matter. I could field a team of Mini-Marts against the Phils, and I'd still win as long as I had a lefty on the mound.

This is so freaking frustrating....

[Iceman]

I can't believe they are rolling over for this clown.

Well, I sort of can.