All signs point to Hamels starting season opener

Add Roy Halladay to the list of people who thinks Cole Hamels should start on Opening Day. Doc on Thursday said that the time is now for Hamels to head the Phillies' rotation.

Most pitchers of Halladay's stature would give a generic answer when asked a question like "Who should start Opening Day?" But Halladay is one of those guys who just gets it, and has such a small, unassuming ego for an athlete who has accomplished so much.

Halladay has made 10 consecutive Opening Day starts, tying him for the 11th-longest streak of all-time. In those starts Halladay is 5-3 with a 3.31 ERA and 1.10 WHIP. Interestingly, he's allowed 10 homers in those 10 starts.

Hamels, of course, has never started on Opening Day. He was all set to do it in 2009 following a brilliant postseason run, but elbow tightness delayed his first start.

The Phillies' first game is an Monday night ESPN game April 1 in Atlanta. Current Braves are hitting .224 with a .655 OPS against Hamels, but if you subtract Brian McCann, who is doubtful to play because of offseason surgery, they're hitting .204/.263/.302.

The combination of Jason Heyward, the Upton brothers, Dan Uggla and Freddie Freeman is 24-for-116 (.207) against Hamels with three homers, 10 walks and 38 strikeouts.

Comments

[jbird]

Cole earned it.

[Sam]

This makes me feel good. He's right, to boot, but it is hard to imagine many high-profile athletes deferring such honors.

[donc]

W.W.B.D.?

What would Batushansky Do?

[lorecore]

Iceman: OK, agreed, just checking.

[norbertods]

You know the only game where a pitcher can throw a no-hitter and it not affect the batters average? Opening day. No pressure cole.

[GBrettfan]

I think this is great on Doc's part.

Mike Schmidt's thoughts. I liked his comment that it's wrong to assume someone did PED's, and I was particularly interested that Ryan Howard seems to be seeking out his advice on hitting.

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillies_zone/Schmidt-gives-views-on-Hall-of-Fame-shutout.html

[Rube Can Get His Own Damn Beer]

Where is Weitzel?

[rolo, Founder, JRoll in the 6-Hole Club]

We don't discuss Dennis Deitch's work here much (Delco Times) but he has a post up about what happens to Ryan Howard's production when he gets to approximately 400 uninterrupted PA in a season:

http://phollowingthephillies.blogspot.com/

Scroll down to the February 8th post:

"Why Ryan Howard needs (and deserves a chance to) stay healthy"

[Corey Seidman]

JW hates you guys.

Mikey W and I are your new parents, so start using a coaster or we'll spank the crap out of you.

[GTown_Dave]

I could not possibly care less which pitcher the Phillies choose to start the first game of a season which lasts 6+ months.

[Tim from Willy-port]

SEIDMAN IS GETTING STEAMED!!!

[donc]

"JW hates you guys."

It was bound to happen.

[bay_area_phan]

"I could not possibly care less which pitcher the Phillies choose to start the first game of a season which lasts 6+ months."

I feel exactly the same way. That's not intended as a dig at the topic -- as I realize this isn't really a topic-rich time of year. I just can't bring myself to get exercised about the subject the way I would if we were discussing the 25th man on the roster; the 3rd string catcher battle between Steven Lerud and Humberto Quintero; the merits of signing Joe Mather to a minor league contract; or whether the Phillies made wise use of their pick in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft.

[lorecore]

gtown: yeah... because if KK pitched opening day and got bombed, you wouldn't be on here whining all day.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

In G-Town's defense, he will whine about any start that Kendrick gets and, will likely have tickets to the game.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

On this coaster thing, I get that it's his house and all but, he has been letting clout rhetorically crap in the corner and wipe his azz on the curtains for years without objection.

[jbird]

"JW hates you guys."

Shoot, we hate us too.

[bay_area_phan]

"In G-Town's defense, he will whine about any start that Kendrick gets and, will likely have tickets to the game."

Kendrick starting every time G-Town Dave attends the game is like the swallows returning to San Juan Capistrano on the same day every year. We may never understand why it happens, but it is an undeniable phenomenon of nature.

[Corey Seidman]

Just gonna stop replying to comments since every thread now has a fake Corey Seidman running around. Smh

[Edmundo]

Mikey W and I are your new parents

Sounds like this site has become the Alternative Lifestyle Beerleaguer.

NTTIAWWT. (I think I acronymized that correctly)

[lorecore]

"every thread now has a fake Corey Seidman"

as an administrator of BL, you are one of the few who can fix this.

[rolo, Founder, JRoll in the 6-Hole Club]

lore, exactly. Ban the impersonators.

[tombieler]

The 5th post makes NO SENSE...you are an idiot!!! How does it not affect the batters' batting average if they go hitless? Idiot!

[Sil Campusano]

I can only assume that Michael Martinez is posting on BL under numerous fake handles. This is punishment for our continual disparagement.


Yet, I shall never cease...

[Corey Seidman]

Just gonna stop replying to comments since every thread now has a fake Corey Seidman running around. Smh

Me too.

[Edmundo]

How does it not affect the batters' batting average if they go hitless?

Assuming that the batter gets an official at bat, you are right. The BA goes from NULL to .000.

[Phillibuster]

Nats sign their backup SP (Chris Young) to a MiLB deal.

[NEPP]

Pretty good signing for the 2nd week of ST.

Good depth piece for them.

[moffss]

whoever might know,
Why isn't schmidt on the coaching staff as an assistant hitting coach or even "special assistant coach" full year around? I am guessing he must have been offered something and just doesn't want to spend that much time coaching? You would think he would make a great minor league coach, batting coach, bench coach, or infield coach. Hell, I bet he would do a better job then chuckles.

[NEPP]

They tried him as a coach about 10 years ago and made him the manager of Clearwater. From what I recall of it, he hated it and has pretty much zero interest in doing anything beyond showing up to ST as a instructional guy there every spring.

[NEPP]

Upon thinking about it, it was probably closer to 15 years ago, not 10 at this point.

[Kendrick Appreciation Society]

NEPP is right. He gave the coaching thing a try but it just wasn't for him.

[NEPP]

Looked it up, it was actually 10 years ago.

[moffss]

I like his comments and interviews and I bet the guys get some good insight from him. They should try talking schmidt into coming in for a week here or there through out the season to touch base with the guys.
http://tinyurl.com/b8b5oq6

[Phillibuster]

MJS is a great example of how excellent players don't always become excellent managers/coaches. Even if they have something to teach, and can teach it well, it doesn't mean they're suited to that role.

[Conway Twitty]

Dickie Noles will throw the ceremonial first pitch of the home opener AT George Brett.

[Bonehead]

I attended one of those Clearwater games managed by Michael Jack.
He kinda just sat there in the dugout a la early-season Jimmy Dugan.

[Bonehead]

It was made very clear to me what I'm supposed to do here. I smile, wave my little hat... I did that. Is the season over yet?

[aksmith]

I seem to remember Schmidt being blamed for screwing up Burrel's swing, then patronizing him in the press.

Schmidt was often seen to be an overthinker at the plate during his career. He was tremendously talented, so was still able to be a great hitter. But that doesn't really make for a great instructor.

[Bonehead]

The Great Whiteness would often say that Schmidt would've been better off at the plate just seeing the ball and reacting. Stop thinking.

[clout]

Regarding Lowrie for Brown from the prior thread, when evaluating this, you should note that Lowrie is a bad fielder. He's had negative UZR for 3 straight years and best you could hope with a move to 3B would be maybe league-average defensively.

On offense, he's career 97 OPS+.

Brown for Lowrie is a bad trade. Brown for Lowrie & Lopez also likely would've been a bad trade.

[NEPP]

Lowrie was fairly decent as a 3B when Boston tried him there...FWIW. He's a terrible defensive SS though.

[Of Note]

JW hasn't updated his music recommendations for like 7 months. I'm guessing he's just really busy and writing here isn't as much fun anyway while we have middle school outfield and decaying roster.

That's why we're stuck with stiffs like Corey.

[KaSmi621]

Guessing that this is "one last shot for Dom Brown" spring training and up to this July trade deadline .. Be good or be gone. Quotes are mine by the way ..

[The Hook]

It ain't cool to be a tool. Quotes are mine by the way.

[epicurean]

Any thoughts on this one?

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/02/22/jonathan-papelbon-on-the-phillies-clubhouse-i-havent-seen-any-leadership/

[lorecore]

epi: my thoughts are: We were unbelieveably lucky last year that Papelbon didn't say stupid stuff all the time. I expect him to revert back to his career avg this year.

[rolo, Founder, JRoll in the 6-Hole Club]

lore, yep, Pap has a history of opening his mouth an dtalking before he thinks.

He did it all the time with the Red Sox.

Personally, IMO the team will dismiss it and laugh at him. That, or Utley will pull him aside and tell him to STFU.

[Fatalotti]

While reading the comments on that Paps article, I discovered the following piece of trivia in the comments.

Papelbon's contract isn't for $50 M, it's for $50,000,058, since his number is 58.

What a wanker.

[Fatalotti]

Also, why would Papelbon's view of "leadsership" mean anything? He came from one of the most perennially dysfunctional clubhouses of the past couple decades. He wouldn't know what leadership was if it smacked him right in the face.

Also, he's a relief pitcher, who spends half the game in the bullpen, probably making eyes at all the drunk college chicks in the stands. How the hell does he know that feats of leadership aren't being displayed during the toughest parts of the game.

[lorecore]

A good example of leader - someone who has been to the playoffs before and won, someone who plays at a top level and has been named to multiple all star games, someone with perspective both in and outside the organziation, someone who's track record has earned them one of the wealthiest contracts for his position.

Instead of trying to be a leader, this person instead complains that there aren't any.

[NEPP]

So we've got Billy Wagner back then?

Awesome.

[RedBurb]

Those comments are incredibly stupid. Paps needs to just pitch his 60 innings a year, not mess up too often, collect his $13 mil a year and shut his trap. Let the guys who do the heavy lifting day in and day out make the comments to the media.

[Iceman]

Pap is right. Where was the leadership when we were forced to run Wigginton and Luna out at clean-up last year? Or when Qualls and Schwimer were blowing 8th inning leads every other day?

And I sure wish we had some 'leadership' when Papelbon blew a two run extra inning lead in LA late in the year, or when he blew another multi-run lead in Atlanta like it was his job.

Maybe if Chase or Jimmy had just led more, those things never would've happened.

[The Truth Injection]

The Papelbon quote is a complete nothing happening, it's February type baseball story. Clicking through all the links you can parse through what Papelbon said and see he was taking himself to task as much as anyone. Also, Halladay said "we lost presence last year, without guys like Werth and Ibanez," which is a roundabout way of saying "we need leaders and guys to step up.

But Papelbon took a deal offered to him and added 58 dollars to it so he is a massive douche.

On the JW thing: I get that people have high expectations because of the phenomenal work Weitzel did on the blog here for many years. But continually slagging the new guys is just being a dick. Yes there have been some clunker topics (the Stanton one the other day was bad) but you don't have to comment on it. Just engage in another discussion and let it go. The new guys are still finding their way a little. At least try to be hospitable to them.

[NEPP]

FWIW, Pap's performance on the field wasn't why the BoSox had pretty much zero interest in bringing him back in 2012. This is nothing new for him.

[Fatalotti]

TTI, not massive douche. Wanker.

Big difference.

[rolo]

TTI, I root for the Phillies, and therefore root for Papelbon.

I also vacation in New England several times a year, and watch a lot of Red Sox games (only thing on when we're there), and have seen Pap's antics in the past.

Fatti is correct. He was a bit of a wanker (d8ck) when he was with the Red Sox.

Tigers don't change their stripes.

[rolo]

NEPP, correct. It had to do with his pricetag and his wankerness. :)

[Iceman]

"I get that people have high expectations because of the phenomenal work Weitzel did on the blog here for many years. But continually slagging the new guys is just being a dick."

This is exactly right, and it makes people look like spoiled brats.

Also, I understand people once came here predominantly for JW's insight into the team. For most of the people here, that is not the case anymore. This site is driven by commenter-driven content and has been for a while. It's the best place to talk Phillies on the web. JW doesn't need to hold our hand through the off-season. Corey and Mike are just fine.

Complaining about the writers on a website where you mostly go to interact with fans in the comment section is like being invited over to someone's house to watch the Super Bowl and constantly whining about the size of their TV. If you don't like it, there's the door.

[The Truth Injection]

Fatalotti: I ain't gonna hate on the guy for doing something so many others do.

Rolo: I know Paps has his negative traits but he sai something similar to Halladay and called himself out. This wasn't an example of him being an ass. This was "we need some quotes for an article about what went wrong last year."

[Fatalotti]

Fatalotti: I ain't gonna hate on the guy for doing something so many others do.

Posted by: The Truth Injection | Friday, February 22, 2013 at 10:16 AM

And you don't have to.

Also, if you want to call yourself out for not being a good enough leader, here's a simple line for you:

"I wasn't enough of a leader last year, and I need to improve at that."

If you want to call YOURSELF out for not being a leader, there is simply no Earthly reason to use the words, "Since I've been here, I haven't seen any leadership", unless you ALSO want to call others out for not leading.

[rolo]

TTI, I get it that you think we ought to cut the new guys some slack. That's the Christian and hospitable way.

Still, Weitzel was/is, in many ways, in a class by himself. IIRC he won a sportswriter of the year award, no?

So, our consternation comes from the high expectations that he set - to which you correctly refer.

No one is saying the new guys are jerks or incompetent, but, to use a sports analogy, people are saying they need to raise their game.

Weitzel was almost always (I used "almost always" to CYA) interesting, well written, topical, timely, and most of all - knowledgeable. The last point is, I think, the most important to most people here.

A writer's "A Game" is required on this site. If we want to read or listen to mindless, poorly-informed drivel we can go to other blogs or listen to WIP.

Since finding this blog I don't listen to WIP (the hosts are mostly uninformed about baseball) and rarely read other blogs. Weitzel, and the other longtime, intelligent, well-informed posters here - like yourself - are the reason.

If we want stupid headers or to engage in readinga and responding to stupid comments, we can go many other places.

BL is has been a cut above, and we'd like to see it stay that way.

(Soliloquy over.)

[RedBurb]

I'm with Fata on this one. Saying "I haven't been a leader" and "Since I've been here, there hasn't been any leaders" are two wholly separate issues. Now I do give Paps credit that he came out and said he didn't have a good year last year and expects to be better than what he showed. Throwing the rest of the team under the bus for lack of leadership is a petty issue and something that shouldn't be addressed to the media, where it becomes fodder for the masses. It should be something that is addressed behind closed doors or on the field.

[The Truth Injection]

Read his full quote guys. He was talking about last year and took himself to task as a part of the discussion. I know it is easy to just read excerpted headlines but he had a lengthier answer

[bay_area_phan]

TTI: "On the JW thing: I get that people have high expectations because of the phenomenal work Weitzel did on the blog here for many years. But continually slagging the new guys is just being a dick."

Iceman: "This is exactly right, and it makes people look like spoiled brats."

February 22, 2013: the day TTI, Iceman, and I found common ground.

[The Truth Injection]

And again- Halladay basically said the same thing.

Papelbon even indicated that the injuries to HHU have the team trouble gelling together. It isn't as if he solely said "we have no leaders."

[RedBurb]

TTI - I think the problem stems from the fact that Paps has been known to put his foot in his mouth on multiple occasions. He has a track record of saying dumb things. Halladay doesn't.

[MG]

Papelbon saying something that is kind of dumb? Chalk it up to a 'irrelevant meathead' statement especially since he doesn't call out any of his teammates or Cholly directly.

No idea if Papelbon is right about the leadership question or not. Papelbon might have some legit points but that's almost impossible to know unless there are multiple guys/reports coming out about it.

I would be very curious though to see what the players think of Cholly. I imagine they enjoy him personally but that is ability to motivate this particular group of players has waned due to several factors including their previous success, his age, his tenure here, and the large number of core veterans still on this team including JRoll/Chooch/Howard/Utley/Hamels/Halladay/Lee.

[MG]

Always thought that leadership (especially in baseball) matters much less than any other sport. It is a sport dominated by one-by-one matchups.

When the Phils went in the crapper last year in June/early June for 6 weeks, it was because of injuries to their pitching staff and their starting pitching sagged badly.

I don't see 'leadership' really having unless the starting pitchers felt they almost no margin for error & it affected their performance. Even then, I don't see a capable veteran leader or two being able to really address that vocally in the clubhouse either.

[Fatalotti]

Honestly, I don't really care about the Paps comment. He's a guy who gets paid millions to throw a ball. I don't expect him to be intelligent or sagacious about what he says in the media. Some sports athletes are; some aren't.

I also don't think that what he said is going to, in any tangible manner, affect the team this year. It's a complete non-issue in terms of how the Phillies perform this year.

But, let's be honest here. He could have said, in several ways, that he wasn't a good enough leader, or criticized himself in any way, without saying something that absolutely called other people out. It was a stupid comment, if it was surrounded by other terrific comments. Really hard to understand the point in trying to defend the comment.

He didn't have to say it. He did.

And irrespective of this entire incident, the guy is, without a doubt, a wanker.

[Cyclic]

Intrasquad game!

Team One:
Rollins SS
Gillies CF
Mayberry LF
Howard 1B
Nix RF
Frandsen 2B
Asche 3B
Joseph C
Mitchell DH
Pettibone P

Team Two:
Revere CF
Galvis SS
M. Young 3B
Utley 2B
Ruf LF
Brown RF
Ruiz C
Fields 1B
Mather DH
Morgan P

Go Team Two!

[AlexRosie]

Just got my ticket to the spring opener tomorrow I'll be the judge of who is in the best shape of their life.

[Jack]

It's weird that the Phillies apparently had more leadership back when they also had better players in the prime of their careers.

Total coincidence, I'm sure.

[MG]

Leadership vs reality:

Here is the starters' ERA in June last year (yeah I am not going to go into FIP):

Valdes (1 GS)
Worley (5 GS)
Lee (5 GS)
Hamels (6 GS)
Blanton (5 GS)
KK (6 GS)

28 GS and 173 IP (6.2 IP) out of their starters.

So their starters weren't going that deep into games which effected an already depleted bullpen & they had a 4.99 ERA.

Even NL teams with a deep bullpen and explosive offense would struggle to have a winning month with a starting staff that put up an ERA of ~5.

KK replaced Halladay in the rotation & pitched poorly. Ditto Blanton who gave up 8 HRs in 5 GS. Lee had a bad month that wasn't due to luck alone.

Also included the really poor decision by Amaro to go with that 'bullpen game' in June 27th at Pittsburgh. It was Amaro's choice to go with Valdes instead of bringing up Cloyd. Phils were only 4 under .500 going into that game. They went into the ASB just 2 weeks laster at 13 games under .500.

It was a disastrous mistake and I actually heard Amaro admit during one of his radio apperaances last year.

If anyone wants to recap where the 2012 might have been lost, it was in Pittsburgh on June 27th.

[bay_area_phan]

If you're pessimistically inclined, intra-squad are right down your alley. If a Phillie player hits 3 homeruns, our pitching sucks. If a pitcher throws a no-hitter, our hitting sucks.

[NEPP]

Just remember when looking at our outfield this year...it could be worse:

Mets Outfielders by 2013 Salary:

1. Jason Bay: $18 million (playing in Seattle)
2. Bobby Bonilla: $1.2 million (last played in 1999)
3. Lucas Duda: $497K
4. Colin Cowgill: $482K
5. Mike Baxter: $480K
6. Kirk Neiuwenheis: $480K
6.

[bay_area_phan]

"It's weird that the Phillies apparently had more leadership back when they also had better players in the prime of their careers."

Maybe leadership skills decline with age.

[MG]

Forgot to add too that Contreras had just started to pitch really well in late May with a nice scoreless streak going.

Contreras got hurt on June 1st and that is when the bullpen started to fall apart. Qualls became the setup man & failed. Bastardo struggled with his command badly almost all month. Guys who have no business pitching on a playoff contender including Savery, Rosenberg, and Diekman all saw their share of time in June.

Anyone who insists the Phils didn't need to sign at least 1-2 additional bullpen arms should be subjected to a 'Clockwork Orange' scenario where they are forced to watch the bullpen in June implode in game after game, random audio clips of Sarge and TMac, and the words 'average replacement reliever' flashing on the screen.

[MG]

Looking at this team too I would stay 'health' and 'defense' are my two biggest concerns going into the season with health far and away the biggest issue. Nothing else is really even close.

Phils just need a ton of good juju to get out of spring training with no injuries to key players.

[lorecore]

re: intrasquad - thats a pretty even matchup. Who do you think wins?

I think Team 2 edges it out with Ruiz and Utley. Joe Mather as DH might be worse than letting Adam Morgan hit - and I know knowing about Adam Morgan's ability to hit.

[Bonehead]

Thats funny, NEPP.

And, if you plug in 2014 payroll obligations, the same two guys would top the list. (Bay: $3M 2014 buyout; we'll see Halley's comet a few more times by the time Bonilla stops getting paychecks from the Mutts.)

[lorecore]

'DH - Mitchell'

Jermaine or Derrick?

[Kendrick Appreciation Society]

"Leadership" and "chemistry," two things always more prevalent on a winning team.

Are the teams winning because they have leadership and chemistry or do they have "leadership" and "chemistry" because they are winning?

[Bonehead]

Kevin or George?

[Kendrick Appreciation Society]

Gelb tweets John Mayberry Jr. struck out in the intrasquad game.

Season = Over

[MG]

Is Lohse waiting until a starter goes down in camp to sign? Can't remember the last time a solid FA starter like him went this long before signing.

[Phillibuster]

I must admit to being a little confused why one team is allegedly running JMJ out in LF while also running Nix out in RF. Shouldn't those two be inverted for maximal defensive returns?

[MG]

You can't bet on the intrasquad game but you can bet on spring training games today.

I have always wondered if there was some kind of arbitrage opportunity there because Vegas no real idea on how to set lines properly (better perceived team is always favored) or if it is just too completely random due to who is playing.

[Bonehead]

And, KAS, the pitcher Morgan is LH.

Season = Really Over

[donc]

"Gelb tweets John Mayberry Jr. struck out in the intrasquad game."

They are just trying to make the scrimmages as realistic as possible.

[clout]

KAS: Leadership + Chemistry + Great Players = Winning.

[bay_area_phan]

"Is Lohse waiting until a starter goes down in camp to sign? Can't remember the last time a solid FA starter like him went this long before signing."

I think the last time it happened was back in 2008, when a solid FA starting pitcher signed with the Cardinals in mid-march. The pitcher was Kyle Lohse.

[Sil Campusano]

Mets paying Bay $18M to go away? Not enough.

[clout]

lorecore: " 'DH - Mitchell'
Jermaine or Derrick?"

Neither. Kevin.

[Kendrick Appreciation Society]

David Murphy tweets:

Adam Morgan an impressive debut here. 2 strikeouts, 2 double play balls in 2 scoreless innings. 3 sliders for strikes on Howard K

[bay_area_phan]

"Adam Morgan an impressive debut here. 2 strikeouts, 2 double play balls in 2 scoreless innings. 3 sliders for strikes on Howard K."

A finesse lefty with no major league experience breezing through the Phillies' lineup? Shocking.

[average poster on seidman's other blogs]

Adam Morgan an impressive debut here. 2 strikeouts, 2 double play balls in 2 scoreless innings. 3 sliders for strikes on Howard K."

Start Morgan Opening Day and trade Howard for Giancarlo Stanton.

[lorecore]

ha, i suck.

[aksmith]

Howard strikes out against a lefty?

Hard to believe, Harry.