Howard, Brown pound Jays as bullpen impresses

Domonic Brown sent a ball sailing out of Bright House Field in the fourth inning, and then Ryan Howard did him one better with a mammoth shot in the fifth in the Phillies’ 13-5 split-squad win in Clearwater.

The two sluggers have both been hitting at a torrid pace this spring. Brown’s homer was his only base knock – he went 1 for 4 on the afternoon. He now has seven hits, including a double and three long balls, in 20 at-bats.

Perhaps almost as impressive as his tearing the cover off the ball has been his patience at the plate. Though he didn't get a walk Sunday, he’s drawn six in nine games and boasts an OBP of .519. Last season, Brown drew just 21 walks in 212 plate appearances.

Howard, going 1 for 3 on the day while playing in his ninth straight game, brought his Grapefruit League line up to .417/.444/.917.

His homer, which likely ended up somewhere on US-19 after clearing the stadium in right field, came off Toronto lefthander Brett Cecil. It was his first homer of the spring off a southpaw, but continued the trend he’s been having against lefties. In nine at-bats, he’s racked and five hits including two doubles and a homer.

Think it’s time for Howard to get a day off? It won’t happen Monday, when the Big Piece is slated to see action for the 10th consecutive game against the Pirates in Bradenton.

’Pen does its job
Despite battling a hitter-friendly wind, the Phillies’ reliever lineup of Justin De Fratus, Antonio Bastardo, J.C. Ramirez and Joe Savery combined to hold the Blue Jays to one hit and one run (a Mark DeRosa homer off Bastardo) in five innings of work.

De Fratus’ outing in particular was encouraging for the righthander, who’s expected to compete for a regular season spot in the ’pen.

After chalking up four runs and three hits in his most recent appearance Wednesday against the Twins, he needed a grand total of three pitches to induce three ground-ball outs in a 1-2-3 fifth frame. It was his first showing of the spring in which he didn’t give up a run.

Comments

[clout]

I think anyone who can take Aaron Loup deep has a place in the Big Leagues.

[rolo]

After looking at the two videos of Howard and Brown's HR, to my naked eye, at least, Howard looks like his bat is still a little quicker than Brown's.

Mebbe I'm wrong, but it looked that way at first viewing.

[The Truth Injection]

Pecota has their standing projections out:

They have the Phillies at 80-82, 8 games behind the Nationals tied for third with the Mets.

Anyone want to bet me that the Phillies clear that win total by 6.5 wins?

[bay_area_phan]

"Anyone want to bet me that the Phillies clear that win total by 6.5 wins?"

You're going to take what is essentially the betting line & give an additional 6.5 games? I don't bet against my own team but, if I did, I'd be emptying my bank account to take you up on that bet.

[The Truth Injection]

BAP: Point is I think it is a bogus line. I would say the line for wins on the Phillies is probably 86.5 like I pointed out.

[RedBurb]

So according to Pecota the Nationals will win the division with 88 wins? Really?

[nik]

Ruf is going to have start mashing soon or he'll really have a hard time making the cut. Also nice to see Michael Young and Galvis going deep in the second game. And Mayberry has been really hot after Charlie had his little talk with him.

[bay_area_phan]

If I recall correctly, those Pecota win projections tend to be systemically low for the good teams and systemically high for the bad ones. They tend to clump all teams very closely around the mean.

[Pblunts]

Anybody else read the blurb by Ryan Lawrence on Philly.com how the Rule 5 kid showed up early the first day of camp and Chollie didn't know who he was? I like to bash him as much as the next guy when it comes to his lack of in-game acumen, but can anybody defend that? Unbelievable.

[nik]

Pblunts, I don't really think it needs defending. I don't think Charlie really knows half the minor league players that are invited to ST either. I don't think its a big deal.

[Gray's Ferry]

Torrid

[Iceman]

BAP- that is not the betting line. Last time I looked, the betting line was O/U 84.5 wins.

80.5 is ridiculously low, especially when you consider that with all the crap that happened (bad luck and otherwise) last year, the team still won 81 games. Utley and Howard showing up healthy and the fact that they have a competent 8th inning guy already puts them ahead of the curve. 80.5 wins is laughable. Being tied with the Mets is even more insulting.

I tend to agree with TTI that 86 wins is more realistic for a O/U. If I was a gambling degenerate like some, I'd put some money down on the over 84.5.

[Fatalotti]

Wow, team projections behind a paywall?

I wouldn't even consider paying to see something so frivolous.

Also, whenever someone sees a projections for the Phillies that they think is low, they retort with, "don't they know Howard, Halladay, Utley were hurt, and that we had a billion leads blwon in the 8th inning..."

I'm pretty sure they know these things. They just view the prospects of the team differently. Big deal.

[rolo]

"I wouldn't even consider paying to see something so frivolous."

On this we agree. It's not as if Pecota (or any other service for that matter) has accurately forcast every season since they started.

[Pblunts]

@nlk I hear you, but I think it's weird because he's a rule 5 guy and has to make the roster or he's gone and the manager has no idea who he is (or obviously what his game is about).

Anyway, it's great to see Howard and Brown mashing. Love it!