Archive for August, 2010

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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.

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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 | Comments Off on In-Depth Look at the Phillie’s Top 10 Prospects | 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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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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The Great Lineup Debate

August 30th, 2010 by Johnny G | 31 Comments | Filed in Baseball, General, Phillies

I know exactly what you’re thinking already before you even have to read the first line of this article. Someone had the balls to take on Johnny G in a debate? Well, yes they did. I have to give credit to Mike Dicicco for being a worthwhile opponent. Keep an eye out for some of his articles coming up on both the Phillies and Eagles. We basically were completely and brutally honest about our opinions on each player in the lineup and when we disagreed, we argued. Simple as that. Hope you enjoy it and be sure to comment.

Jimmy Rollins– Strengths

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The Awesomeness of Colbert Richard Hamels

August 29th, 2010 by OD20 | 8 Comments | Filed in Baseball, General, Phillies

Cole Is Flashing Greatness

I’m gonna piggy back on Christian here, but first let’s get a few things out of the way from the get go.

His record is 8-10.   He had a gawd awful April.  He was quoted saying the worst thing at the worst time last October.  His ill-timed quotes from last October were the unfortunate conclusion of a miserable season.  He will be linked, in one way or another, to a historically big trade made prior to this season where Rube dealt away a big time starter.

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With all of that out of the way,  here we are on the tails of what has been a four month string of outstanding starts for Cole.  Christian hit the nail on the head, Cole has flat out looked like an ace.  His 8 inning, 4 hit, 0 run gem tonight is a small sample of what Cole has done since the end of April.

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Cole Blooded

August 29th, 2010 by Christian | Comments Off on Cole Blooded | Filed in General

Hamels Was Nasty vs. Padres

Game Recap: August 29th, 2010

Cole Hamels dominated the San Diego Padres today, going eight shutout innings, striking out six and allowing just four hits. Hamels strong performance propelled the Phillies to 5-0 win, finishing a three game sweep of the NL West leading Padres.

Hamels retired the final 16 batters he faced and lowered his ERA to 3.31 on the season. He finally got some run support, as the Phillies scored five runs on five hits, sparked by a two run blast by Mike Sweeney, playing first base while struggling Ryan Howard was given a day off. Jayson Werth also homered for the Phillies.

In my opinion, Hamels looked like a staff ace today, and he has returned to the form that made him the 2008 World Series MVP. The Phillies NEED to make the playoffs so the big three in their rotation: Halladay, Hamels & Oswalt can dominate playoff series.  Thank God they rebounded from the horrendous Astros series!

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