PHILLIES: Top Ten Starting Pitchers Debate

In the wake of the R2C2 + Big Joe press conference today at Brighthouse Field, I just want to touch on something that Phillies MLB.COM Beat Writer Todd Zolecki wrote about during his initial coverage down in Clearwater.

With the start of Spring Training action looming, the MLB Network recently released their list of the “Top Ten Starting Pitchers” for the 2011 season.

While it was with no real surprise that two particular Phillies were able to land spots on the lists, the order of which they appeared was a bit perplexing.

Halladay is the cream of the crop of Starting Pitchers in baseball.

Well, one of them at least.

Take a look for yourself.

(From MLB Network)

10. Josh Johnson

9. Justin Verlander

8. Adam Wainwright.

7. Cliff Lee

6. David Price

5. Jon Lester

4. CC Sabathia

3. Tim Lincecum

2. Felix Hernandez

1. Roy Halladay

First off, the case against Halladay is almost unarguable. Being the proud owner of a perfect-game, another no-hitter in his first ever playoff appearance, and an NL Cy Award in 2010 provides way too much evidence to the contrary.

However, where Lee sits can certainly be argued.

To give MLB Network the benefit of the doubt, on paper, Lee hasn’t been able to match up statistically with the others on the list, especially over the past two season.

Since his 2008 AL Cy Young Award winning season with the Indians, he has a 26-22 overall regular season record while spending his time in Cleveland, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Texas. To put that into perspective, those with just as many wins or more over that time span include Ricky Romero, Jon Danks, and even ex-Phillie Vicente Padilla.

Obviously not bad company, but not elite by any stretch of the imagination.

With that said, taking into account hype generated about Lee with his production in the playoffs and the way he decided to go back to Philadelphia, ranking him behind both Jon Lester and David Price is a little difficult to comprehend. Do not get me wrong, Price and Lester are TREMENDOUS pitchers. They are the clear aces of their respective rotations, and are more than worthy of a spot on this list. All I am saying is Lester’s lack of postseason success (2-3 record, 4.00+ E.R.A) combined with the fact that Price only has one full season of being a MLB starting pitcher under his belt should be put under a much greater microscope in my opinion.

Well, at least more than Lee’s subpar regular season win total over the last 24 months while he was a part of two struggling franchises for a large majority of that time.

Besides the Lee ranking, the utter disrespect of Josh Johnson (should be considered a top 5 pitcher) and the notable absence of Ubaldo Jimenez (read the names three times to make sure I didn’t just miss him) on the list could also make for great discussions and further blog posts.

For another time.

PHILLIES: A Preview Before the Preview

As pitchers and catchers have made their way down to Clearwater and the friendly confines of Brighthouse Field, most who care about such a movement would also take that as a sign that the 2011 baseball season is finally starting to take form.

From the perspective of a certain baseball enthusiast/blogger, there isn’t much in the way of news that could be considered more of a breath of fresh air.

In fact, that could probably the best news in, give or take, three months and 13 days.

For those who are wondering and are too lazy to do some simple math or a google search, that was when the 2010 Baseball campaign officially ended as the San Francisco Giants were crowned as World Series champs.

With that said, a Spring Training preview will be up shortly, breaking down everything from..

Beautiful sight, isn't it?

1. Is Joe Blanton going to remain in the fold as the Phillies 5th starter behind R2C2?

2. Will Dominic Brown be able to beat out Ben Francisco and John Mayberry Jr. for the everyday RF job?

3. How will the bullpen shape up without Chad Durbin?

4. Expectations, expectations, and more expectations..

5. Everything else.

Such a breakdown, however, will all come over the span of some six odd weeks before the Phillies take the field against the Houston Astros on April 1st.

In the mean time, if you want to take a look at a couple blogs that will have Spring Training coverage to a capacity much larger than this particular college senior who is roughly 700 miles from any Grapefruit League action whatsoever, a combination of Todd Zolecki’s “ZoZone“, David Murphy’s “High Cheese“, and Matt Gelb and Bob Brookover’s “Phillies Zone” should do the trick.

With that, enjoy the arrival of baseball season.

PHILLIES: Concern for Ryan Howard

The injury bug has been present all-season long in the Phillies clubhouse.

Want proof?

Chase Utley, Placido Polanco, Brad Lidge, Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, Raul Ibanez, Ryan Madson, Joe Blanton, Carlos Ruiz, Chad Durbin, J.C Romero, Brian Schneider, Antonio Bastardo and the recently departed J.A Happ have all already spent time on the disabled list.  That’s 14 disabled list casualties among the projected 25-man roster for this team at the beginning of the season. For some (Rollins, Victorino, Lidge), their individual stint has even turned into stint(s).

Pluralities are never good when talking about injuries.

However, with Utley and Victorino still on the DL, and Raul Ibanez dealing with a wrist injury, Philadelphia’s injury issues were put under an even greater microscope Sunday after slugger Ryan Howard sprained his ankle sliding into second base.

Ryan Howard's ankle injury is the most recent cause of concern regarding the Phillies.

For the Phillies, losing Howard for a long duration of time may affect the chemistry for this team more than any other injury this season. Bold statement aside, I am not questioning the value of Chase Utley or Jimmy Rollins to this team by ranking them under Howard in this comparison of order of importance. They are both all-star caliber players, and they obviously both have very important (and different) roles on this team. With that said, losing a guy who is involved in plating or scoring almost a quarter of the offense’s runs over the course of a season and is one of the biggest threats in baseball with what he can do with one swing of the bat would be absolutely detrimental to the Phillies playoff hopes is in 2010.

The good news?

Nothing’s broken. Howard’s MRI immediately following Sunday’s contest against the Nationals revealed no broken or fractured bones in his ankle, ruling out a possible surgical procedure that would lengthen a DL visit.

The bad news?

This injury, one that was earlier categorized as “a couple day thing” by manager Charlie Manuel on Sunday, may be more severe than we all, including the skipper, originally anticipated. After Howard left Nationals park on Sunday on crutches, it was announced late Monday night by MLB.COM’s Todd Zolecki that instead of traveling with the team to Florida for the Phillies series against the Marlins, Howard would be going to Philadelphia to meet with team doctors about the status of his ankle.

The scenario.

If the doctors conclude that he the condition of the ankle is improving, he’ll fly down to Florida himself, and rejoin the team (maybe not in a active role right away) on Wednesday. On the other side of the spectrum, if the pain and the swollen nature of the injury does not subside substantially (which it hasn’t as of late Monday night) in the next 12-24 hours, then it is very likely that Howard will end up on the 15-day DL, retroactive to Sunday, August 1st.

Sadly, my intuition tells me the ladder might for in store for the Phillies, which if you look at them right now, are a team that can ill-afford the reality of an injury like that to a player like Howard while being in the middle of a pennant race.

PHILLIES: Surgery for Utley

And the news isn’t promising.

Early Thursday morning, MLB Network’s Peter Gammons reported that Utley’s thumb will require surgery, something that Phillies Beat Writer David Murphy repeated shortly after. Apparently, the ligaments in his thumb were torn to the extent that they could not heal naturally, and Todd Zolecki has confirmed that the procedure will take place today, likely derailing the all-star 2nd basemen for at least 8 weeks.

The outlook is clearly not good. As I stated in a previous post, the difference between losing Utley for 15 days and losing Utley for 60 days is HUGE. While the Phillies now have to deal with these injuries along with a depleted farm system, they do have some some options if Utley were to have surgery.

In reality, a lot has to do on the health of Placido Polanco. He is in New York right now seeking a second opinion on his chronic elbow condition to his non-throwing elbow, and if the prognosis is good and allows him to come back soon after his 15-day DL stint is complete, then Ruben Amaro, Charlie Manuel, and company have a choice to make.

Do you go out and get a 3rd baseman in FA or via trade, and spare  Polanco to the extent that you can and play him at 2nd?

Do you go out and get a 2nd basemen in FA or via trade, and let Polanco resume his normal duties as the everyday 3rd basemen?

With Castro and Valdez being middle-infielders by nature, I would say to the capacity that you can, keep in Polanco at third. Sure, Hank Blaylock and Garrett Atkins are both on the FA market and are naturals at the hot corner, but they are on the FA market for a reason. Neither are close to the level of Polanco, even at his present injured state, and with him semi-healthy at 3B along with the surprise-of-the-season Wilson Valdez at second for the next month or two to fill in for Utley, the Phillies may actually be able to survive this disaster.

That is IF Polanco can come back healthy. A Big IF.

And Utley of course..

Other Phillies News

: ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reported Thursday that the Phillies have Dan Haren on their “radar”. Arizona is looking to deal him, along with the 12+ million dollars that he is owed next season. If  this is true, then is shows that the Phillies are seriously interested in adding a pitcher, and that money isn’t as much of deal-breaker than we think. If that’s the case, my question is why don’t you bring back Cliff Lee instead?

: Along with Blaylock and Atkins, here are a couple other names to look at as potential replacements for Utley via trade. Seattle’s Jose Lopez and Baltimore’s Ty Wigginton and Miguel Tejada.

: Surely some Philadelphia  fans were a bit perplexed when the Phillies promoted SS Brian Bocock (.179 BA in 65 games)  from Triple-A Lehigh Valley instead of INF Cody Ransom (International League All-Star selection, 15 HR). Reportedly, Ransom has been dealing with a knee injury which is why he wasn’t called up.  So hitting .238 with a team-high 15 errors at Lehigh Valley, and not being on the 40-man roster at the time of the callup had nothing to do with it?

: Bring back PEDRO FELIZ!

PHILLIES: Polanco and Utley to the 15-Day DL

Some interesting news out of Cincinnati to report.

Looks like injuries to Placido Polanco’s elbow and Chase Utley’s thumb are a little bit more concerning than Philadelphia baseball fans would hope. Early Tuesday afternoon, both Utley and Polanco were placed on the 15-day DL according to Phillies Beat Writer Todd Zolecki. For Polanco, this stint may have been a long time coming as he has reportedly been dealing with a chronic elbow condition for the last six weeks or so. On the other end, it’s not like the injury has been affecting his performance, as he will go on the disabled list with the NL’s second best BA at .318.

However, for Utley, it truly could have been a lot worse. Injuries to fingers, especially the thumb, can be tricky when it comes to baseball players, when gripping and bat and throwing a ball are obviously integral parts of the game. The difference between a break and a sprain is HUGE. In this case, according to an MRI, with Utley it’s the ladder, and the likelihood is that he will only be out until the All-Star break, not September. However, according to Zolecki, there are still more tests that need to be done, so he is not completely out of the woods yet.

Pheww ….(for right now)

To account for the absence of Polanco and Utley for at least the next two weeks, the Phillies brought back up Greg Dobbs from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. I know I said last week after he was DFA (Designated for Assignment) that Dobbs’s career was probably finished in Philadelphia, but injuries in sports make the impossible, well, possible. Joining Dobbs on the plane ride to Cincinnati will be  Brian Bocock, who will also have his contract purchased from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. A slick fielding SS who was hitting .179 in 65 games with the Iron Pigs before his promotion to the big leagues, Bocock should be nothing more than a defensive replacement, even with Utley and Polanco out of action.

The fact that Brian Bocock is now on the Phillies 25-man roster means that that Ruben Amaro and company will most likely be in the market for a utility infielder in the coming days, even hours. One name that will pop up will certainly be the recently released Garrett Atkins, being a former 20+ HR hitter with the Rockies just a couple years ago and Chase Utley’s former college teammate at UCLA. In addition to this, Atkins has spent time over the past four seasons at both 3B and 2B, ironically the two positions that Polanco and Utley play respectively.

The one thing that might prevent this.

Atkins was only batting .214 with the Baltimore Orioles this season before being released just a week ago. If he can’t play for the Orioles, the worst team in all of baseball, then why should he play for the Phillies?

PHILLIES: Jayson Werth´s Beard

After a month-long hiatus (sorry readers), there is just so much to write about regarding the Phillies, I don’t even know where to start.  Predictions for the season, spring training subplots, Roy Halladay, Jamie Moyer applying for his AARP card, Charlie Manuel´s weight loss, the health of the Phillies bullpen, the quest of a comeback season for Cole Hamels, the list could go on for days. Don’t worry, the majority of those topics will be touched upon in due time, but in the mean time, if you want to read about the stuff mentioned above right now, look at David Murphy´s ¨High Cheese¨ blog, Andy Martino and Matt Gelb´s ¨Philly Zone¨ blog, or follow Phillies’s beat writer Todd Zolecki “Zo Zone” blog on mlb.com. They are all are great resources of up-to-date Phillies information that is tough to get out here in Barcelona, Spain.

Jayson Werth sporting his infamous beard

However, while I do have a great deal of respect for all of them, I believe I know something that they all don’t. I think I know something that is more important to the Phillies success than Roy Halladay, more important than the health of the Brad Lidge and the rest of bullpen, more important than the five or so all-stars that make up the middle of the lineup.  Believe it or not, the key to the Phillies season and their quest for a third straight trip to the World Series resides with meaning behind Jayson Werth´s beard.

If you haven’t looked at pictures from Spring Training, or have refrained from looking at the picture to the left of this page, Werth came to Clearwater sporting the long hair and facial hair that would fit the part of a ¨Cast Away¨ sequel.   I mean, there have been plenty of facial hair faux-pas´s in the Phillies clubhouse in recent memory, so the concept is not totally new. For instance, Eric Bruntlett was sporting one for the majority of last season, but it’s not like the beard was a good omen. Bruntlett hit well under .200 while playing sparingly in 2009, was released by the Phillies at the end of the season, and now is battling for a roster spot with the Washington Nationals, a team that has not come within 15 games of .500 since playing their games in the Nations Capital. So, like myself, you may ask yourself a daunting question. Why would he challenge superstition and do such a thing?

Well, there could be a couple of reasons. For one, what better way to come into a season (one that he will be playing for a new contract for that matter) after a career year then looking like a homeless guy? Seriously though, this totally could be a publicity stunt for Werth. Not only will the look bring him attention from the fans, but from other teams as well who are looking for a corner outfielder in the near future. The combination of the beard, along with evidence that his 36 HR´s last season (good for 7th in the NL, 9th in the MLB) was not a fluke, attention will be coming at Werth from all angles, the type of attention that could lead to a heck of a payday for the 30 year-old ex-catcher once he signs the dotted-line for his next contract.

Another reason is that he might be making a statement. Yes, the growth of his beard could be insinuating that he can’t afford the needed shaving cream and razors because he’s poor and not getting the type of money that he deserves, but I doubt that Werth is that egotistical of an individual to take such a drastic measure for something that is so far from what Werth has stood for to this point of his career. From the success that comes of being first-round draft pick, to hitting rock bottom after a position change, career threatening wrist-injury, and bouncing in and out of 3 organizations (wow, I bet the those in the front office for the Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Toronto Blue Jays feel must be shaking their heads), and back up to cloud nine by winning a World Series and making his first all-star team with the Phillies, Werth fills the quota for comeback stories in Major League Baseball.  Currently, he’s a symbol of all that is good in a sport that has seen so much bad in the last decade. A natural (non-steroid aided) 5-tool player that plays the game of baseball with extreme effort, surprising fluidity and grace, in which his hard work and natural god given talent is finally coming together at the most opportune time of his career. With that said, Werth´s new look could definitely be coinciding with the crossroads that he is going through in his life, with meanings ranging anywhere from  ¨You can’t get rid of me, I’m here to stay¨ to ¨I don’t give a **** what you think¨ and even the ever-cliché ¨Looks can be deceiving¨.

Last but not least, my thought is that Jayson Werth´s off-season beard will serve as the most accurate summation to the Phillies season.  Here is my proposed idea of the train of thought behind Werth´s beard.

¨A baseball season, while it may get a little ugly and hairy at times, is something that if it’s judged in its entirety, rather than on a day-by-day basis, then the ultimate result, like the recent past, will be positive. ¨

The female following of Werth tells much of the story

Profound, I know, and who knew Jayson Werth could impersonate Socrates so well?  In reality, I think every male would rather have their Fumanchu beard judged at its full potential people rather than in its stubby, patchy, discolored and awkward stage (yes, I am speaking from personal experience). All jokes aside though, it makes sense. The ultimate example of this is the attention that Werth has gotten from, who else, women.  No matter how bad his landing strip beard or homeless look may be, over his past 3-plus seasons in Philadelphia, the attention Werth has gotten from the opposite sex is un-parallel by any member of the Phillies. While male Phillies fans wear their Howard, Rollins, Victorino, Raulllllllll, and now Halladay jersey’s and player t-shirts with pride, the majority of female baseball fans in the City of Brotherly Love can be seen sporting a #28 Phillies shirt  (along with some Chase Utley and Hamels shirts), whether they are at the park or just hanging around the house.

While this analysis may be far-fetched, I truly believe the 2010 Phillies season should be viewed in the light of message that coincides with Jayson Werth´s beard, especially to the ladies. A baseball season is, believe it or not, 162 games, and no matter how bad it may look at times, if the Phillies stay focused on the season in its entirety and take advantage of there rare talent and depth that is far superior to every other team in baseball not named the Yankees, then the success of another division title with a third straight World Series trip will be not only possible, but likely for Werth, his beard, and the rest of the Phillies.

Hope you enjoyed that one. Once the Spring Training games start, the posts will not only be more regular, but more traditional.

Until then, enjoy.

PHILLIES: 2009 Winter Meetings Recap

For the first year in my young life, I was able to attend the baseball winter meetings.

Sure, I may not have had press credentials, but walking through the lobby of the Marriott Hotel in Indianapolis and seeing Peter Gammons, Ken Rosenthal, and Buster Olney huddled in a corner exchanging information while across the hall Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox, Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona, and Cleveland Indians manager Manny Acta were at a table eating breakfast together, you can imagine what a prospective sports journalist like myself was feeling.

In the three days I was there, while looking for jobs, I got to talk to some members of the Philadelphia media regarding the moves of the Phillies at the Winter Meetings. Thanks to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Paul Hagen and Andy Martino, and MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki, I was able to find out that this was the most boring Winter Meetings for the Phillies in recent memory.

Great.

However, there is still some news regarding past, present, and possibly future members of the Phillies organization.

: Phillies have agreed to terms with Ross Gload, who led the MLB in pinch-hits in 2009 with the Kansas City Royals. In a strange coincidence, the Phillies also have Greg Dobbs on their roster, who led the league in pinch-hits in 2008.

: Former Philles 3B Pedro Feliz has agreed in principle to a 1 year, 4 million dollar deal with the Houston Astros.

: Soon-to-be former Phillies P Brett Myers has been in contact with both the Texas Rangers and Cincinnati Reds. Both Martino and Zolecki hinted that Myers could find a job with couple NL teams that would at least give him the chance to compete for a spot in the starting rotation.

: After getting in touch with the agents of both RP Latroy Hawkins and RP Brandon Lyon, both players signed with different teams. With them off the market, look for the Phillies to contact Jose Contreras.

: Phillies, as expected,  have been in contact with the Toronto Blue Jays in regards to trading for SP Roy Halladay. However, the Angels have emerged as the front-runner to obtain the rights of the former Cy Young Award winner.

: Phillies have been in contact with agents of both RP Chan Ho Park and SP Pedro Martinez in talks to bring them back to Philadelphia next season.

: If the Phillies cannot reach a deal with Martinez, they will fill the role of 5th starter in the rotation internally (Jamie Moyer or Kyle Kendrick) or sign someone else to a 1-year deal, in which John Smoltz is the name that keeps on getting brought up.

: Nothing new to report on the statuses of RP Chad Durbin and RP Scott Eyre. Both are free agents and are seeking 1-year deals with exclusively the Phillies.

As people come and go, updates will be given on this blog.