California Dreamin’

September 1st, 2010 by Christian | No Comments | Filed in General

Utley, Rollins Burn Dodgers

Looks like a change of scenery is just what the Phillies needed.

Jimmy Rollins led off the game with a homerun.  Shane Victorino led off the second inning with a homerun.  Chase Utley hit three doubles and drove in two.  Roy Oswalt pitched a one hitter through 6 1/3 innings and the Phillies cruised to a 5-1 win over the Dodgers to take the rubber match of their three game series.

Prior to beating the Dodgers, the Phils swept three games from the San Diego Padres, so their record on this short west coast trip is a sunny 5-1.

It’s great to see the bats come alive again, especially Utley, who has been in a funk just about all season.

And Oswalt has just been tremendous.  I always liked him while he was with Houston,  and now watching him on a regular basis I appreciate him even more.

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Eagles Roster Battles – Cut Down Day Approaches

September 1st, 2010 by OD20 | 14 Comments | Filed in Eagles, Football

Gratuitous Cheerleader Photo

The last week of preseason always brings two things – an incredibly boring final game and roster cuts.

There are some intriguing battles outside of the 40 or so roster spots that are already locked up.  There will be some tough decisions made between now and the final cut down day and Andy Reid has indicated that there are spots to be won.  This is how I see the battles heading into the preseason finale.

Running Back –

There are two spots locked up.  Mike Bell and LeSean McCoy are locks.  After those two there is some discussion.

Eldra Buckley has been in the system and has been listed consistently as the third back.  That doesn’t mean the Eagles haven’t given him competition.  Martell Mallet was the CFL rookie of the year last year, and is listed with JJ Arrington as the 4th back on the depth chart.  Mallet has practice squad eligibility, which may work against him in trying to earn a spot.  The Eagles could stash him there for a season and revisit this battle next summer.  Arrington was sign as a free agent, but has battled foot and ankle injuries.  His last gasp may be to make an impact Thursday as both a back and a return man.

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Power Surge

September 1st, 2010 by Christian | No Comments | Filed in General

Ryan Howard Congratulated By Teammates

Game Recap: August 31st, 2010

Finally.  After being held to two runs or less in eight of their previous twelve games, the Phillies bats awakened last night as they put eight runs on the board and beat the Dodgers in Los Angeles, 8-4.

With the Phillies trailing, 1-0 in the second inning, Brian Schneider hit a three-run blast to get the Phillies started.  In the third, Ryan Howard, who hadn’t homered in thirteen games (his 2nd longest drought of the season), also hit a three run shot, to give the Phillies a 6-1 lead.

Charlie Manuel said of Howard, “He’s got to get going.”

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How Did We Get Here? The Evolution of a Roster

August 31st, 2010 by OD20 | 8 Comments | Filed in Baseball, General, Phillies

When Will We See THIS Again?

There will always be something to complain about.  For years this team didn’t have enough pitching.  The bullpen was a liability.  We have/had no closer.  The bench was horrific.  Players wore down because they didn’t have the pieces to provide rest for the stars. The latest and greatest complaint?  The offense is inconsistent, streaky, strikes out to much, and is just flat out killing us.  We can’t win with this offense… or can we?

Sure some of that is valid.  The offense is down this year.  There are multiple reasons for the lack of offensive production.  There have been a total of 3 months of lost ab’s between the 3 and 4 hole hitter.  Another 2.5 months of lost at-bats between the leadoff man and 2-hole hitter.  When you lose 5.5 months of production from the top 4 hitters in your lineup, there stands to be some regression in terms of total runs scored.

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Beyond that, a season long slump from centerfielder Shane Victorino, and what appears to be age related regression from Raul Ibanez have also contributed to what has been a disappointing season offensively for the Phillies.  All in all, this could end up being the first year in the past 8 seasons that the Phillies fail to score 750 runs.  Even if the team managed to average 5 runs per game over the last 31 contests, a feat that seems almost impossible at this moment in time, they would still only manage 752 runs for the season, which represents the lowest total since they scored 710 runs in a sub .500 season in 2002.

With the injuries and slumps accounted for, how is it that this team stands 15 games over .500?  How do they hold a 1.5 game lead in the wild card race despite one of their most putrid offensive outputs in a decade? The answer is quite simple.  There is more than one way to win a baseball game. This roster has evolved in an astounding fashion.  In fact, the argument can very well be made (so I will make it) that the ONLY way this team could stand where it does today is because of the evolution that has taken place over the past 4 years. Here are the statistics from the areas that decide the outcomes of baseball games – runs scored, and runs allowed – from the past 4 seasons in which the Phillies have had a wealth of success.

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Dodge Ball

August 31st, 2010 by Christian | 1 Comment | Filed in General

Kuroda One Hits Phillies

Game Recap: August 30th, 2010

Hiroki Kuroda took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, and the Dodgers beat the Phillies 3-0 last night in Los Angeles.

Kuroda, who later said he didn’t even realize he had a no-hitter going until the fifth inning, gave up a clean single to right to Shane Victorino in the eighth – the Phillies only hit of the game.

Kuroda has dominated the Phillies, posting a 0.68 ERA and limiting them to a .084 batting average in each of his last four starts against the Phils.  He’s gone at least six innings and allowed less than two hits in every game.

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In-Depth Look at the Phillie’s Top 10 Prospects

August 30th, 2010 by OD20 | No Comments | Filed in Baseball, General, Phillies

courtesy http://blog.blueclaws.com

I can’t remember the last time I took a broad look at the Phillies farm system and saw this amount of depth and projectability for the future.  Despite trading away 9 guys who were ranked in top 10 (or close to it) in the organization, there is still a wealth of potential MLB players, and possibly a solid core group of impact guys.

Here is my current top 10 ranking of the Phils minor league system.  Obviously this is going to be subject to change, and I will try to update both performance and rankings on a regular basis.

8/30/10 Org Rankings

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1.  Jarred Cosart, RHP – Cosart burst on the scene this year as a 20 yr old pitching for Low Class A Lakewood.  Why is he ranked above some more highly regarded draft picks, and some more advanced prospects?  The answer is quite simple – the numbers match the stuff at a fairly high level for his age.

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5 Thoughts Heading Into the Final Preseason Game

August 30th, 2010 by OD20 | 7 Comments | Filed in Eagles, Football, General

A great deal has been written about the off season questions, the play of the team last year, and what questions needed to be answered in training camp.  The Eagles are weeks removed from Lehigh University, and have completed the game that has been dubbed “the important preseason tune up”.  So where are we left heading into that last, apparently meaningless game?

I have 5 thoughts or questions, beside the Kevin Kolb storyline, that really stand out for me at this point in terms of areas that will impact the coming season.

1 – What Will They Get From the O-Line?

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This story has been beaten to death but it deserves repeating.  Herremans is healthy (kinda, he just tweaked an ankle).  Peters is here and supposedly in good shape, but he has been as inconsistent and penalty ridden as ever.  Jackson is on his way back, but is still not anywhere near certain for the opening game.  McGlynn has shown steady progress, and I think the team is happy with where he is, but that doesn’t make him a starting center in the League.  Right guard has been a mess.  Andrews continues to mimic his brothers decent from favor (albeit better behaved), Nick Cole is just returning from a knee injury that shelved him for the majority of camp, and Max Jean-Gilles has moved between left and right guard, essentially earning back up roles at both, but starting consideration at neither.  Winston Justice has quietly had a ho-hum season and a ho-hum training camp.  I pray that is a good thing, and that he’s not just escaping criticism because there are so many others to steal the spotlight from him.

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