Posts Tagged ‘2010’

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All Star Break needed for Phillies

July 8th, 2010 by Leo | 3 Comments | Filed in Baseball, General, Phillies

Major League Baseball brings Taco Bell All-Star Sunday to Southern California on July 11th at Angel Stadium. The doubleheader includes the XM All-Star Futures Game and the Taco Bell All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game. The XM All-Star Futures Game, which features some of the game’s best young prospects from the U.S. and around the world.  The second game features former All Star Legends and Celebrities in a fun filled softball game.

This will precede the 2010-81st All Star game at Angel Stadium on Tuesday, July 13.  The only Phillie to be named a starter was Chase Utley, unfortunately Utley’s latest injury will keep him out of the lineup. Only 2 other Phillies made the team this year, Roy Halladay for pitching and Ryan Howard as a reserve first baseman.  My prediction is the National League will win this year.

Hopefully this break will give the Phillies a much needed break to help heal the lineup and regroup for the second half of the season.  Currently the Phillies are in third place in the NL East and are 6 games back from the leading Atlanta Braves.

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World Cup 2010

July 6th, 2010 by Leo | Comments Off on World Cup 2010 | Filed in General

The World Cup has been exciting this year.  Although it is not a favored sport in America, I believe it is taking a foothold here after a long time of denial from the USA fan base.  The USA made it to the final sixteen only to lose a controversial match to Ghana.

Today the Netherlands advanced to the Final by defeating Uruguay by the score of 3-2.  The second semi-final match is set for tomorrow with the favored Germany against a strong team from Spain.  It should prove to be an exciting match-up.

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Ryan Howard’s Not So Secret Enemy

March 4th, 2010 by Johnny G | 8 Comments | Filed in Baseball, General, MLB, Phillies, TSP Radio

Ryan Howard struck out 13 times in the 6 game series.

If you noticed an alarming pattern during Ryan Howard’s at-bats in the 2009 World Series it was probably his .174 batting average and 13 strikeouts in the six game series. What is even more alarming though, is the strategy the Yankees used to isolate the Phillies best power threat. Throughout the six game series Ryan Howard saw 101 pitches. 40 of those were fastballs, 36 were sliders, 22 were curveballs, and 3 were cutters. That’s right, in a six game series Ryan Howard saw a fastball less than 40% of the time. That is absolutely unheard of when comparing pitch selection by pitchers in the MLB. Phillies fans could rest easily going forward if the trend stopped there, but thanks to phenomenal research by Tom Verducci and Stats inc., it has been proven that we have quite a bit to worry about.

Let’s start from the top. In the first six innings of a game, Ryan Howard is a .298 career hitter. Any Phillies fan would take that from the big man any day of the week, but after the first six innings that average drops to a very mediocre .237. There are a lot of fluky reasons this could occur if we were comparing a week, a month, or even a season of stats, but when comparing his whole career this is a real issue. Late in games managers have the option of using left-handed relief specialists who live and die by their breaking ball, which is obviously the reason for the substantial drop in production.

When comparing the amount of breaking balls Howard sees compared to the rest of the MLB it is not a competition. Last season over the course of 2009 Ryan Howard saw 1,127 breaking pitches and number 2 on this list was Dan Uggla at 930 breaking pitches. Howard now sees way more breaking balls than anyone else in the big leagues and its only getting worse. Each year the amount of breaking pitches has increased for Howard and so has the amount of at-bats he has against left-handers per season. The average left handed hitter faces a left handed pitcher in 18.5% of their plate appearances. Howard on the other hand faces lefties in a whopping 35.8% of his at-bats, most in the big leagues.

Here’s where the numbers start to get really alarming: Last year when facing a breaking ball, Howard either swung and missed or fouled the pitch off 73% of the time. 73% of the time against a breaking ball it was a strike against Howard. 27% of the time the ball was put in play and that doesn’t mean it was for a hit. You have to assume at least 15% of the balls put into play were recorded outs. That should give you an idea of how often he successfully reaches base against breaking balls. Finally, Howard saw 1,127 breaking balls last year and hit exactly 3 home-runs off of left-handed breaking balls. With those types of struggles it is amazing he puts up the final numbers he does season in and season out.

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Spring Training News and Notes

March 2nd, 2010 by Johnny G | 12 Comments | Filed in Baseball, General

Bright House Field

  • Victorino may not play in Spring Opener: Shane Victorino did not participate in throwing drills on Monday at Phillies camp because of a sore shoulder. Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel and the training staff did not expect it to be serious but were being extra cautious this early in camp. .”We didn’t want him throwing in our drills,” Manuel said. “We want him to take it easy a few days. He’ll be all right.” Victorino did participate in batting practice but his status for Wednesdays exhibition game against Florida St. is unknown
  • Romero and Lidge work their way back: J.C. Romero and Brad Lidge both threw off of a mound on Sunday and both reported they felt fine. “Still going slow, but it’s going in the right direction,” Lidge said. Lidge threw 35 pitches with “6 or 7” sliders mixed in. Romero threw only fastballs in his first session on a mound. “It went well,” Romero said. “I feel good and I’m very positive about it.”
  • Hamels working on cutter: As many fans have noticed, Cole Hamels has become a two-pitch pitcher. With only his fastball and change-up as legitimate pitches, his repertoire has become pretty predictable for fans and hitters alike. “It’s hard, but I’m willing to put in all the work to do it, because I understand the importance and significance behind having more pitches against big league hitters,” Hamels said. Whether Hamels will be comfortable enough with the cutter for this season remains to be seen, but tinkering with other pitchers can only be a positive for Cole.

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The Eagles Season of Change & How They Must Rearrange!

February 27th, 2010 by | 5 Comments | Filed in Eagles, Football, General

The Time Has Come

Okay folks, it is time to turn it over and see some MAJOR changes for these “same old song and dance” Eagles.

The first mistake Lurie made was giving Reid too much power, adding the GM position to the taxing job of coach.  Bad move.  Rarely have I seen one man wear two hats in the NFL and succeed. It was ridiculous and plain stupid of Lurie to do so.  How can you do two jobs well and keep focus?  Answer: You can’t in the NFL.  Many have tried and failed!  So Lurie has gone out and hired a GM to help offset some of Reid’s burden, which is a good thing.

Some may argue that Reid is a great coach, but I believe he is a good coach at best, who comes up short in big games and repeats his mistakes over and over.  That being said, unfortunately I don’t see Lurie going out and getting a coach like Cowher who believes in offensive balance. Reid’s tendency to pass way too much and not build a sustained running game has worn out OUR OWN defenses, which this year was absolutely on dead legs by the end of the year.

Take a look at our time of possession. Yes, we scored points, but in quick bursts. Passing often will actually win you a Super Bowl once in a blue moon with a Montana, Brady or Manning at the helm, who were incredibly accurate, but where McNabb is NOT! Still with Manning, look what the Saints did to him in the Super Bowl anticipating the pass!

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Johnny G’s 2010 NBA Power Rankings

February 24th, 2010 by Johnny G | 23 Comments | Filed in Basketball, General

2010 NBA Power Rankings

1. Los Angeles Lakers- With an overall record of 43-14, the Lakers are clearly the class of the NBA right now. With the injuries to Kobe Bryant, the boys in LA have also proven they can survive without their star for a period of time if necessary. The overall length of this roster provides a lot of problems for their opponents to address. Gasol, Bynum, and Odom down low are very difficult to handle on the boards and create mismatches all over the floor.

2. Cleveland Cavaliers- The Cavs made the biggest splash at the deadline, acquiring Antawn Jamison to take some of the pressure off of Lebron. James has proven he can do it all himself in the past but with Shaq and Jamison on board now, his task should be a lot easier. After the trade Big Z is expected to return to the Cavs through one of the ridiculous loopholes in the NBA bargaining agreement. This team is the favorite to come out of the East at this point.

3. Denver Nuggets- Sitting at 37-19, the Nuggets did not do much at the deadline, but did they really need to? Chauncey Billups playing at a career level, Carmelo Anthony taking over games by himself, K-Mart at the 4, and Nene in the middle, this roster is very dangerous. J.R. Smith coming off the bench is a pure scorer who can put the ball in the basket in bunches and the bird man is a defensive force. Watch out for this team in a crowded Western Conference. Thoughts and prayers go out to George Karl, who is in another bout with cancer.

4. Utah Jazz- On January 9th, this team was on the outside looking in at the playoff picture, sitting in the 10th seed. Since then all they have done is run off 17 wins in 19 games, pushing their record to 36-19. Jerry Sloan, the NBA’s longest tenured coach and recently inducted Hall of Famer is doing wonders with this group led by Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer. This team will go as far as Williams can take them.

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Johnny G’s 2010 MLB Power Rankings

February 17th, 2010 by Johnny G | 44 Comments | Filed in Baseball, General

2010 MLB Power Rankings

1. New York Yankees – Defending World Champs have not lost much besides Matsui and Damon. Added Granderson and Javier Vazquez. The Yankees are the front runners again this season. With a rotation of Sabathia, Burnett, Pettite, Vazquez, and Joba they are very tough to beat with the lineup they put out there.
Questions: How will Pettite bounce back after the heavy workload of 2009 at the age of 38?
Who wins the job in Left field? Gardner, Winn, or Thames?

2. Boston Red Sox– Possibly the deepest roster in the MLB. Added John Lackey to an already phenomenal rotation. Mike Cameron solidifies Centerfield defensively and moves Ellsbury to left. Beltre now mans the hot corner, Marco Scutaro is at short and this is hands down the best defensive team in the MLB. With a defense like that behind Lackey, Lester, Beckett, Dice-k, and Bucholz, this is an extremely dangerous team.
Questions: Is Big Papi done?
Can Dice-k return to his 2008 dominance?

3. Philadelphia Phillies– The Phils were clearly the class of the National League before any additions were made. They added Placido Polanco, who is an upgrade over Pedro Feliz and added arguably the best pitcher in the game in Roy Halladay. Losing Cliff Lee will hurt but the Phillies also posses one of the best offenses in the MLB. They should have no problem taking the NL East.
Questions: Will Brad Lidge bounce back from a horrendous 2009?
Can Cole Hamels regain his 2008 form?
Will Ibanez rebound from a sub-par second half last season?

4. Tampa Bay Rays– Very young and talented roster throughout with a deep starting rotation of Shields, Garza, Niemann , Price, and the young Wade Davis. With the addition of Rafael Soriano to the bullpen, it should prevent the burnout the Rays’ bullpen experienced last season. With a deep young lineup containing Evan Longoria, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, BJ Upton, and Pat Burrell this team could compete for the division crown.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Questions: Can Pat Burrell rebound with his usual .250 30 and 100 season?
Who will win the battle for the catching position between Shoppach and Navarro?

5. Colorado Rockies – Extremely young and talented offensive lineup that could explode this season without Garret Atkins blocking the power hitting Ian Stewart and Chris Ianneta regaining the starting job behind the plate. Ubaldo Jimenez, Aaron Cook, and Jorge De la rosa are a solid top 3 in the rotation and with Jeff Francis returning, this team has a very good chance to go deep into the playoffs.
Question: How will Jeff Francis fare after not pitching for more than a year?

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