With the Phillies winning over the visiting Houston Astros on the last day of September the team notched their third consecutive National League Eastern division title!  Pedro Martinez started the game and went four innings before yielding to Kyle Kendrick who pitched very effectively tossing three shutout innings and very possibly earning himself a post season roster spot.  The team had built up a seven run lead which set up the last inning and final out of celebration and also a tremendous touch of class by the skipper!

Scott Eyre got the first two outs in the final frame before skipper Charlie Manuel came out to waive in the closer  Brad Lidge to record the final out.  The symbolism was not missed by the sellout crowd as they loudly cheered Lidge as he trotted in from the centerfield bullpen.  Mr. Lidge has struggled mightingly this season with eleven blown saves but the skipper knows that the team success hinges on the big righthander regaining some form of his old self in the post season.  Lidge only needed one pitch to record the last out on a ground ball to first baseman Ryan Howard.  The stadium then erupted in recognition of yet another N.L. East title and the celebration began!

The champagne flowed in the clubhouse as team annoucer Chris Wheeler was doused in the bubbly as he interviewed the jubilant players.  In yet another class move the team returned to the field and in tribute to the legendary Harry Kalas went to the memorial marker in his honor on the left field wall and doused the sign with champagne as well, Harry along with Richie I am sure were very proud to see the Fightins win the title from their perch in the booth from heaven!

The work is not done yet as the players remarked, this is a very good baseball team which knows how to win, they now move on to the NLDS with a series victory in scope…..one game at a time, no highs or lows just like the even keeled skipper leads them!  A touch of class indeed.

Chatter

Jamie Moyer is done for the season as he injured his groin in the September 29th game, Moyer will have surgery in 7 to 10 days.  The veteran will be missed but indeed it was debatable whether he would have been put on the post season roster or not anyway.  J.C. Romero was activated and is available, I am sure that Charlie will get him some time in the next four games to see where he stands for post season.   It will be interesting to see who is placed on the playoff roster as the bullpen has been less than stellar this season.

Still the Fightin’s are in the playoffs yet again !  Great time to be a Phillies Phan folks!  Not so great time to be a Met eh!

With 14 games left to play the Fightins have reduced the magic number to clinch their third straight N.L. Eastern Division title to six.  Any combination of Phillies wins or the second place team in the division losses adding to six will result in the championship!

The Fightins just won two of three in Atlanta to basically leave the Braves for dead in the race and now go on to Miami to attempt to do the same with the young Marlins.  Here are some thoughts regarding the remaining two weeks of the season :

Kudos

Raul Ibanez appears to have found a semblance of his batting stroke as he battles thru the tail end of a tough second half of the season for him.  Ibanez has reached the 30 home run plateau and has come up with big hits lately in games.   Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels appear poised to lead the rotation into the post season, Hamels has thrown really well in his last four outings and Lee is coming off of two strong outings himself.  Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins appear to have the playoff game face on as each has come to life offensively during the stretch drive,  both also continue to play very well defensively.  Pedro Feliz and Carlos Ruiz have also quietly went about thier business both with the bat and the gloves to hold down the fort in the lower part of the order as well as providing defensive stability.   Tyler Walker deserves recognition for having a very good year out of the pen which has gone relatively unnoticed.

Concerns

Unlike last season the injury bug continues to bite!  Brett Myers, J.C. Romero, Scott Eyre, J.A. Happ, Chan Ho Park and Pedro Martinez  are all pitchers with different forms of injury that have placed doubt in regards to thier availability and roles for post season.   Shane Victorino, Carlos Ruiz  and Greg Dobbs all are battling “minor” injuries and probably could use some rest before the playoffs begin.   

Not liking at all when Brad Lidge pitches and the Phillies give up second base on “defensive indifference” when a runner is on, more times than not the runner has scored when if held on they would not have.   I realize that Mr. Lidge is struggling and his focus is being directed at getting the hitter out but not holding runners on make closer games than needed in my opinion, also inflates the E.R.A. !

Shane Victorino got tossed in the first inning of today’s game vs the Braves for argueing a play at second base where he thought his steal attempt resulted in a swiped bag, the umpire saw differently.  Victorino argued to a point where he got thrown out, come on Shane, gotta stay in the game in that situation whether the call was bad or not, can’t lose his head as the team needed him for defense and his bat against a tough right hander !

Yunell Escobar got benched by Braves Manager Bobby Cox in game one of the series and deservingly so, Escobar failed to run out a ground out to shortstop in his first at bat and the crusty old skipper immediately gave the young stud a seat on the bench for his “lapse in judgement”.  Cox was absolutely correct in doing so and it is why he continues to be one of the games best managers! 

Chatter

The team moves on to Miami for a three game set including a rare Tuesday night doubleheader, the DH is a result of the Miami Dolphins needing the stadium for a Monday Night Footbal game.  The last regular season road trip of the year ends with a four game set in Milwaukee.   Kyle Kendrick has pitched very well for the Fightins this September, one as a starter where he went 8 very strong innings and most recently in relief of J.A. Happ in Atlanta where he came out of the pen to throw three scoreless innings!  His sinker has been very effective and he has shown an ability to change speeds effectively, something he did not do during his last stint with the team.

Go Phillies!  Clinch that division and then on to the playoffs, great time indeed to be a Phillies Phan !

As New York Mets fans know being in first place in the National League East in September is not the most secure place in recent years.  The mighty Mets fell out of the top spot and eventually relinquished the title to our Fightins each of the last two seasons.  The FIghtins presently hold that leadership perch this season and one would think that with a 5 and 1/2 game lead and a magic number of 16 as of the time of this writing that such lead would be relatively safe………. as the New Yorker’s would tell you, don’t count on it till the fat lady sings!

The Phillies have not played well in September this season, they were swept in a four game series in Houston by the Astros and albeit came back to win two of three against the Nationals in Washington struggled to do so.   Everyone knows that the team offense is predicated on the long ball but recent times have seen that reliance to become somewhat alarming.  The Fightins run production recently has been delivered 60% of the time on home runs !  Too often they have been unable to produce runs with runners in scoring position and less than two outs.   If the team holds on and wins their third straight division title, which I expect them to by the way, the playoff run will be short if they do not figure out how to get back to offense 101 and move runners to score the small ball way also.  Home Runs usually don’t fly against the pitchers you see in the playoffs.

On top of the offensive woes the bullpen has been a real worry, Brad Lidge blew another game in Houston and struggled so mightingly in a game in Washington that skipper Charlie Manuel had to go get him in the ninth in favor of Ryan Madson who eventually closed the win.   Madson, though is not a closer just yet as he displayed against the Mets in yesterday’s game by blowing his sixth save of the season.   Brett Myers also pitched poorly against the Mets yesterday giving up a two run blast himself in the eighth inning set up roll.   Bottom line is this, anyone who does not realize that the Phillies must get Lidge right in the closer roll is blind as a baseball fan, the skipper knows it and will attempt to take the last few weeks of the season to try and get him right. 

In today’s game against the Mets Kyle Kendrick stepped up in a spot start opportunity and threw very well leaving with a 5 to 2 lead.  Matt Stairs doubled in the home eighth and was plated by Andy Tracy with a single to score that fifth run in what may become one of the more important RBI’s of the season.   The skipper brought in Mr. Lidge to attempt to get the game done and he needed every one of those three runs to do so as he converted a save for the 5-4 win.   I truly think that even though he struggled once again with hanging sliders that were hit hard by two Met hitters the fact that he was able to convert with two strike outs may indeed finally be the bridge back to where we need him to be.

I repeat, this team needs Brad Lidge to close, he is the best option we have and the success of the season will hinge on his ability to recover. 

Chatter

Kudo’s to Phillie fans who gave Lidge a very nice ovation when he came into the game today, it was a show of class for a class act, Lidge has never ducked his responsibility this season and does not deserve any boo birds wrath for that, he has not performed on the field but as we saw last season the Phillies home crowd can be a great attribute to the home team if we are behind them, this is a very good team we have, no room to be negative now fellow Phillie Phans, not if we want another title which is indeed in reach!

Pedro Martinez goes tonight against his old teammates in the night portion of the day-night twin bill.  Pedro has been excellent thus far so let’s hope that streak continues.  Has anyone noticed that Jamie Moyer could actually have 15 wins this season if not for the last two games where he left with a lead and the bullpen collapsed, not bad for a spot starter eh!   J.A. Happ is still struggling with a strained obligue and may miss another start, good thing we have Moyer ready to take the ball.   Clay Condrey threw in Reading in a rehab assignment but no word if he is ready to resume big league service, the injury to his obligue has cost the valuable right hander a big chunk of the season, J.C. Romero is still struggling with elbow woes as is fellow lefty Scott Eyre.   If those two guys can’t get back in time to finish the season don’t be suprised to see Mr. Happ in the bullpen as the team has only inexperienced Sergio Escolona and Jack Taschner in the pen presently from the left side.

Magic number is at 16 and Marlins are losing right now to Nats 7-1 in the eighth so there is a possibility that can go to 14 if they lose and the Fightins win behind Pedro tonight.   Good time to be a Phillie Phan folks!

Note :  The Fighins have four guys with 30 or more home runs this season, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth, Raul Ibanez and Chase Utley……..  those four guys have more than many entire teams including those lowly Mets, indeed a great time to be a Phillies Phan !

For he first time since 1984 the Phillies went into Chicago and swept a series away from the hometown Cubbies.  After winning the first game in extra innings on Tuesday  the Fightins came out of their recent offensive slumber to score 12 runs Wednesday evening enroute to claiming a victory behind starter Pedro Martinez and then rode ace Cliff Lee on Thursday afternoon to the winners circle.

Martinez tossed a very effective five innings and was clocked as high as 93 on the radar to earn career win number 215.  Chan Ho Park tossed three perfect innings behind Martinez and Chad Durbin finished out the game.  Home runs were clubbed by Jimmy Rollins, Raul Ibanez and Shane Victorino.  All tolled the Fightins pounded 14 hits in the game.  An idiot fan tossed a full cup of beer on Victorino as he made a catch in centerfield on the warning track.  Originally security ejected the wrong guy but then came back and tossed the entire row as the dumbass fan didn’t fess up to his stupidity.  Some fans actually cheered the idiot as he left which makes one wonder……… maybe there is a reason for the curse on the cubbies, stupid fans like these!  I am sure that there are plenty of good fans in Chicago also but this dumbass sure is not one of them!  Charges have been filed by both Victorino and the Chicago Cubs, let’s see how proud the dummy is going to be about that!

On Thursday afternoon Cliff Lee continued to prove he was worth trading for as he led the Phillies to a 6 to 1 victory.   Ryan Howard belted a three run home run to give Lee all the runs he would need and Pedro Feliz also belted a dinger.   Both Howard and Feliz had three hit games.   Cliff Lee tossed eight innings in the contest and is now 3 and 0 as a Phillie, he even belted a double as a hitter !

Chatter

Depending on the outcome of tonight’s games involving the Braves and Marlins the Phillies will head to Atlanta with either a 4 and 1/2 game lead in the division or one game more.   Last season the Phillies were perfect in Atlanta but this year has been a struggle.  Big Joe Blanton will take the hill in the opener followed by Cole Hamels and J.A. Happ.   

Word is that Brett Myers had another very effective simulated game session and  is on track to be back pitching at month end or early September.  Clay Condrey and J.C. Romero are not close to returning though as both have had setbacks in the injury recovery process. 

Sources tell me that my boy Ryan Freel was released by the Royals, have always liked him as a player so hope the Phillies give him a shot.   How bout that Milwaukee Brewer housecleaning of late, I think that Bill Hall is still a player and was surprised the Brew Crew designated him for assignment.  He is another guy I would like to see in Phillies red pinstripes.

Cliff Lee’s first start as a Phillie was pretty damn awesome!  He threw a complete game against the San Francisco Giants winning by a count of 4 to 1 and even had two hits as a batter!  Lee was dominant in the outing using all four pitches in his reportoire and literally cruised to the victory.  He had a no-hitter thru six and 1/3 innings before giving up a bloop double down the right field line for the first hit.   Jayson Werth provided the offense for Lee as he knocked in three of the four runs including a solo home run in the second inning to give Lee a lead he would never relinquish.

The other newcomer from Cleveland to the team, Ben Francisco, also has been impressive thus far.  Francisco has been thrown into the fire immediately in center field as starter Shane Victorino rests a sore and swollen knee that he injured in the Arizona series.  Francisco has shown a short compact swing albeit he jerks everything to left field and might be suspect to the outside strike…….. time will tell.   Francisco has collected three hits in the two games he has started in center and has displayed a good outfield presence as well with good range.  So far so good for the two new additions.

Chatter

John Mayberry Jr. and Steve Register were optioned back to Triple A Lehigh Valley to make room for Lee and Francisco on the active roster.  The trade also impacted others throughout the minor league system as Joe Savery was promoted to Triple A from Double A Reading to take the rotation spot vacated by Carlos Carrasco.    Catcher Kevin Nelson was also promoted to Lehigh Valley to take the roster spot vacated by Lou Marson.  Dominick Brown was moved up to Double A Reading from Single A Clearwater.   Pedro Martinez threw about 90 pitches in his start last night at Lehigh Valley and thinks he is ready to join the big club,  it remains to be seen when the Fightin’s decide to make that move.

Joe Blanton takes on the Giants tonight in San Francisco, Blanton has been throwing extremely well, here is hoping that trend continues…………. good time to be a Phillies Phan!

The Fightin’s embark on a seven game road trip to points west, namely Phoenix and San Francisco, with a six and one half game lead in N.L. East in tow.    West coast trips for east coast teams are historically challenging as is watching the games live on TV for  us fans and now is not the time for the team or us fans to start feeling our oats in regards to being comfortable with the present lead.   The Braves have won seven of the last ten games themselves, almost matching the Phillies string of 8 of 10.  One bad string of losses coupled with an offsetting win run by either the Braves or Marlins and this is a race again!  Don’t forget those pesky Mets either.

The offense continues to excel for the team as different hitters step up when others are in slow spells.  Jimmy Rollins has gotten into a groove again and Shane Victorino is on pace to collect 200 hits this season, as long as those offensive catalysts continue to set the table this team will score runs.  Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez each have hit over 20 home runs already this season giving the team a real chance at four guys with 30 or more.  Pedro Feliz has had a very consistent season and has made the bottom of the order a tough task to face as well.

Bottom line is the pitching will make or break the team, the starters have been very good during the last month and the bullpen albeit banged up with recurring injuries, Clay Condrey, J.C. Romero and Chad Durbin are all presently on the disabled list has more than held their own thus far inclusive of being TV stars of their own  shown on MLB TV…….. “The Bullpen”.   We can use reinforcements on the pitching staff and Roy Halladay would be a sweet addition to say the least.   I think that Pedro Martinez will be a surprise as well and be more help than some may think, perhaps even out of the Pen!

Chatter

Pennants are won or lost in the last months of the season and as August and September rapidly approach we will see what this year’s version is made of, personally I would like to see a closer race for the N.L. East as I think that teams that win big have tougher times ramping up in the playoffs, witness last season and the Chicago Cubs for example.   As we go thru this week and a trade is either realized or not for another pitcher the end goal is the same, another “freakin title”!   I am a bit concerned that our second baseman may have tweaked that hip injury, our announcers noticed some doubtful movements this past weekend during his play…….. hope not but the man is tough as nails so he will play thru it one way or another it would seem.

The Phillies pounded the Cincinatti Reds for 22 runs on Monday night as the offensive flood gates opened!  They pounded 21 hits including four home runs while setting a team record with a ten run first inning!  Reminds one of the big explosion they had in St. Louis last year.  Cole Hamels was the recipient of the great run support and got the mound win.   In the second game of the series Brad Lidge took the loss as he was tagged for the go ahead run in the ninth inning of a 4-3 loss.  On Wednesday Shane Victorino knocked in the game winner in the ninth for the Phillies making a winner out of Ryan Madson in a 3-2 win.

Injury Updates

Raul Ibanez is in Triple A Lehigh Valley on his rehab assignment, he hopes to be activated this weekend for the Pittsbugh series prior to making his first All Star start in the game on Tuesday.  Clay Condrey is also close to going on a rehab assignment himself and should be activated a week or so after the all star game.  Rodrigo Lopez strained his shoulder in his start on Wednesday but reportedly was ok on Thursday, the Phillies wont need a fifth starter till 7/20.

All Stars

Shane Victorino was voted in as the fan’s reserve to the All Star game, the Fightin’s faithful did a great job of putting the flying Hawaiiin in the game… speaking of Hawaii the Governor there and our PA Governor made a friendly wager on which state would generate the most votes for Shane, not sure which one won!  Victorino joins Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez and Chase Utley along with skipper Charlie Manuel in St. Louis for the game.   Howard will also participate in the home run derby contest.

Chatter

Pedro Martinez anyone ?  According to reports he will be signing with the Phillies and added to the starting rotation after the All Star break.  Martinez apparently threw consistently in low 90’s in a private workout for the Fightins.   Roy Halladay is apparently also on the team’s radar as Toronto has announced it is willing to listen on trade offers, will take a boat load of talent to pry him loose from the Jays but the Phillies may have it to do so, minor leagues are steep with talent for the Fightins and the Jays were scouting the big club this week, perhaps J.A. Happ and Jayson Werth may be part of the asking price.  Halladay is 32 but is perhaps the best right handed pitcher in baseball and sure would make the Phillies a tough crew to beat in a playoff series when coupled with Cole Hamels!  I know that we gotta get there first and that everyone loves offense but it has long been proven that pitching is what wins in the playoffs and world series.  Just look at what potential staffs the Fightins may face in the playoffs and series, the Sox roll out studs as do the Yanks….. if the Phillies can put up Hamels/Halladay at top of rotation I will take my chances against anyone!

In western North Carolina and am listening to games on Fox Ohio, interesting perspective hearing the Reds announcers talking about how dangerous the Phillies lineup is throughout, that being said we could pry a bat loose to get another stud pitcher!

As June  has closed and July has begun the Fightins keep us fans on an up and down ride thru the 2009 season.   The team looked like it had righted the ship with two straight wins against Toronto to end interleague play for the year but then they go to Hotlanta where they did not lose at all last season and get swept in a three game series!    After the Atlanta sweep the Phillies were in a NL Eastern Division first place tie with the Florida Marlins and were staring at a three game stint with the not so Amazin 2009 version of the Mets………guess what, they sweeped the Mets and now have a one game lead over Florida.

Mets Series

The Mets are banged up, have been for awhile so it is to thier credit that they have stayed in the race.  In this series we saw Joe Blanton outduel the game’s best pitcher Johan Santana for a 2-0 win, the return of Brad Lidge to saving form and Jimmy Rollins starting to hit like J-Roll!   All good things which the optimist in me says is great but the pessimist in me says what comes next, a downward slope of the roller coaster!   Here is hoping that we are on the incline for awhile.

All Stars

Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez got voted into the All Star game as starters and Ryan Howard has been named by skipper Charlie Manuel as a reserve.  Shane Victorino is up for vote as the fan’s choice as reserve, knowing the Philly faithful I think Shane is headed to St. Lous also!

Starting Pitching

Rodrigo Lopez made his Phillies debut as he was recalled from Triple A to replace an ailing Antonio Bastardo in the rotation.  Lopez at one time was a coveted trade prospect of the Fightins when he was a member of the Orioles, I remember rumblings that Pat Burrell was dangled in exchange for Lopez a few years ago.  Lopez beat the Mets in his debut and showed a Greg Maddux like pitching savvy,  he will apparently be given every chance to prove he belongs.

Rumors

Carlos Carrasco, Kyle Kendrick, Drew Carpenter and Sergio Escalona are all names that the Phillies consider to be either big league ready or close to it.  Add folks like Kyle Drabek, Joe Savery and others and the Fightin’s have some surplus to offer up in trade, rumors are they are still looking for a big name starter and have interest in Roy Oswalt and Erik Bedard still………. as the July 31 deadline gets closer we will see what shakes loose.

Chatter

Sorry for the infrequent posts, my day job got in the way a bit!  I am on vacation now traveling the east coast of the U.S. , presently in the Outer Banks.   Still keeping up with my Fightin Phillies though and will post comments when I have them…….. Scott Eyre is back from the D.L. and perhaps Clay Condrey is soon to follow.   Looks like Chris Coste has been designated solely a pinch hitter by Charlie lately as Paul Bako has logged all the backup catcher innings, with Carlos Ruiz mired in another slump Bako has caught very often in the latest stretch of games.

After pounding the Rays in game one of the series in Tampa the Fightins proceeded to get smoked in the next two by counts of 7-1 and 10-4.   Tempers also started to flare a bit as reliever J.C. Romero allegedly had a physical altercation with a fan after the series finale on Thursday.  Word is that the fan was taunting Romero about his “banned substance” suspension and that Romero grabbed the 25 year old fan by the neck and shoved him.  The incident is now being investigated by the Tampa police department!   So…..not only is the team scuffling on the field but also off it as well!

The Phillies squandered a very effective pitching performance by Joe Blanton in the Tampa series as he struck out 10 Rays in seven innings on Wednesday night.  The Phillies could not solve Matt Garza of the Rays however and the bullpen got tagged for five runs in the eighth inning to make the game a blowout.   In Thursday’s game  the Fightins spotted rookie Antonio Bastardo with a four run first inning lead but the young lefty could not hold it and ended up departing after only 3 and 2/3 innings after giving up six runs.  He actually left with a shoulder strain as well and will miss at least his next start, another injured warrior to add perhaps to the D.L. list. 

On Friday night the Fightins invaded Canada to take on the Jays in hopes that a letter change in the first character of the opposition’s name would make a difference!  Cole Hamels toed the rubber for the Phillies but did not pitch very effectively,  Hamels was bounced after four and 2/3rds giving up four runs enroute to a 6-1 loss.  Hamels was also tossed by the home plate umpire as he argued called balls and strikes on his way to the dugout, he became the first Phillie player to earn ejection this season.   

After the game the skipper held a 20 minute closed door team meeting and refused to speak to the press afterwards, seems Ol’ Charlie had finally reached the break point.  No one likes to get reamed but doing it in private and not in front of those outside the team is indeed the proper way, I watched an amatuer coach at a local game  try to motivate his team in front of all in attendance on Friday night and indeed it was amatuerish in how it came off and in it’s effect………Charlie Manuel is a very good manager and knows how to get to his players, I am sure that his words were not pointed at individual failure but more at getting the collective heads out of the collective tails and playing smart and good baseball, that is how this team has succeeded the past two years.   Recent struggles have been due to poor defense, bad baserunning, swinging at pitcher’s pitches and our pitchers not making said type pitches!  Those things are correctable if heads are screwed on straight and the team has talent.  This team has talent and will move forward, I still don’t believe anyone in the division is good enough to beat them, in fact even with all the recent struggles they were still in first place by 1/2 game !

Saturday perhaps was the game that shed some light at the end of the tunnell.  Jayson Werth had a huge offensive game going four for four with two home runs.  J.A. Happ threw a complete game shutout as the Fightins rebounded to win 10-0 over the Jays in the afternoon contest.  Ryan Howard had three hits also and a couple were bloops in front of outfielders which may be a gift from the baseball gods for all the “hits” he outs on by hitting hard shots into the right side shift that most teams put on him!  In any regards when the Fightins wake up on Sunday Morning they will still be in first and perhaps the meeting has restored the proper approach, we will see.

Chatter

Jimmy Rollins has sat out three consecutive games and in fact late inning defensive moves saw third sacker Pedro Feliz play shortstop for the last two innings on Saturday.  Skipper Manual is hell bent to rest Rollins until he gets that swagger back and becomes the J-Roll we have come to love.  It will happen but it may not take place till the Atlanta series as the skipper has indicated he may sit J-Roll again tommorrow.     Outfielder Raul Ibanez is eligible to come off the D.L. this coming week as is lefty reliever Scott Eyre.  Both would be welcomed additions back to the roster albeit John Mayberry Jr. has done a nice job filling in for Raul when he has played.  Mayberry is a very athletic player who is much better defensively than one might expect in the outfield.   He could be used as a trade chip perhaps as the July 31st trade deadline looms.   The Phillies have two young very gifted outfielders in the minors behind Mayberry in Dominick Browne and Michael Taylor.   Rumblings are that Browne is considered untouchable but Taylor or Mayberry could be had for the right return. 

if Bastardo has to be disabled the call to the minors this time may go to 21 year old top prospect Carlos Carrasco.  Carrasco started the season struggling but has won four of his last five decisions and appears to be back on track.  Andrew Carpenter is also apparently throwing the ball very well and could be the choice………… fans like me are salivating over when we get to see Kyle Drabek in the red pinstripes as word is he is the next real deal, a right handed stud offset to our young ace Cole Hamels.  Drabek has been clocked in the 95 to 97 range and couples it with a nasty change and curve ball apparently of the 12 to 6 variety.  He is tearing up double A ball so hopes are he is not far away!

Apparently not many teams willing to talk trade just yet but that will change as the deadline gets nearer.  The Cardinals are rumored to be in hot pursuit of Matt Holliday again which would give them bat protection for Mr. Albert P.     The Indians are apparently unwilling to trade starter Cliff Lee but this is the same franchise that traded C.C. Sabbathia last season and most feel a good package of prospects will wedge Mr. Lee loose, the Phillies are one of the teams that are deep in minor league talent and some sort of combination offer of the likes of Jason Donald, Michael Taylor, J.A. Happ, John Mayberry, Andrew Carpenter, Sergio Escalona, etc.  may indeed get it done.  Time will indeed tell.

A matchup of the world champions of baseball vs a last place club with said champions being on the home turf would seem to equate to a series sweep correct ?   Well indeed it was a series sweep but it was the Baltimore Orioles who did the sweeping of the defending champion Phillies and not vice versa.   The Phillies closed the most recent homestand with a not so stellar record of 1 and 9 and headed off for a three city road tour with a losing streak in tow of six games.   Rather than detail the agony of the three losses to the Orioles I chose to focus on where the team is at this stage of the season.  This is inclusive of the first game of the team’s newest road journey which was a 10 to 1 clubbing of the Tampa Rays…….. road life indeed has been the key to the season thus far !

Standing

Despite a record of 13-22 at home the Fightins are still in first place in National League East leading the Mets by two and one half games.  That is due to a stellar road record of 24-9 and the fact that no one else in the division has played well enough to overtake them.  The Mets are tremendously banged up, three key position players, Reyes, Beltran and Delgado are out……. to the New Yorkers’ credit they have remained above .500 with a patchwork lineup and rebuilt and reengineered pitching staff but even the most optimistic Mets fan cannott expect that to continue.    Florida is riding a current three game winning streak and does indeed have very good young starting pitching but they cannott catch a cold in the field and I do not see them overcoming that achilles heel, they do have chips to play for trade so watch the young Fish!   Atlanta can’t hit thier way out of a paper bag so no one should really worry about them at this point, they went out and got a really good young center fielder in Nate Mclouth but there are still major holes in the lineup.  Washington just flat out sucks so nothing more to say.   

Wounded

The Phillies also have thier share of injuries, Raul Ibanez carried the team early and is presently on the disabled list,  key pitchers Brad Lidge, Brett Myers and Clay Condrey are all presently on the same DL.   Starting pitching has been erratic all season and I do believe that GM Ruben Amaro is actively looking at trades but most clubs still feel that they are still in the playoff hunt so deals are not readily available unless you are interested in Zach Duke ?

Home Woes

I cannott believe that the team will continue to struggle with winning at home.  CBP is constantly sold out and the fans have been very patient, only recently did they bring out the boo chorus!  I think the team is more focused on the road, perhaps too many personal appearances are scheduled when they are at home ?   In any regards they are too talented to not find a way to begin winning at home  consistently soon.

J-Roll

Jimmy Rollins is the catalyst for this crew,  has been for the past few years and nothing has changed, folks gripe that Charlie should move him out of the lead off hole, the same folks who said to move Lidge out of the closer role I suspect…………. just plain stupid to think that way.   J-Roll will find it, Charlie is very patient, we fans have to get behind our lead off hitter rather than get negative.  This team will go the way he does, plain and simple.   He has had spurts where he has shown evidence of getting on a roll, I think that perhaps that daggone extended spring training due to that silly little tournament has had more impact on Mr. Rollins than we know, that is my suspicion at least…..never know what nagging little injuries these guys play with.

Chatter

Rumblings were that the Fightins were actually close to a deal with Colorado that would have brought Jason Marquis here along with Ryan Spillbourgh.   The cost would have been J.A. Happ and minor league prospects, apparently Colorado backed off when they started to win games after ditching skipper Clint Hurdle.   While Marquis is not a number two starter he does win games and eat innings and Spillbourgh would have been a right hand bat off the bench so let’s see if perhaps the deal might resurface before the July 31 trade deadline.    Don’t be shocked to see Ruben make a play for a combo of Cliff Lee and Mark DeRosa out of Cleveland either, I have nothing to go on with that statement, only a fan’s view of what could help our club and who might be available.   Watch that young Kyle Drabek’s progress in Double A Reading also, the answer to starting pitching may indeed be in house!