Once Garcia comes back, we'll have something we haven't had in a LONG time, and that's a SOLID ROTATION. Brett Myers had a great showing today, the only thing that lost the game was the one thing that we've had problems with for years.....the bullpen. We've got the offensive and defensive keys for our team, assuming they stick around, I think we'll have a good season. I hope they fix the bullpen. If they do that, I think this year we'll snatch up the wildcard at the end of the season.
Bad news, Freddy Garcia left yesterday's game after 1 inning with a sore arm.
I just can't see this team winning more than 85 games this season with a very weak bullpen and a mediocre lineup.
starting pitching will determine everything for this club... however, i'm unclear on how you can call this a "mediocre lineup." i agree that it is somewhat flawed and they desperately need someone like Polanco in the lineup... still don't understand why they didn't put him at 3rd and tell Bell to go away. however, this is a very strong lineup and if Victorino develops into a good contact/situational hitter that flaw might be dealt with some.
they should provide a ton of runs for the pitchers to work with... it's important that they do so consistently this year, as opposed to last when they got hot and just started to pound everyone.
Once Garcia comes back, we'll have something we haven't had in a LONG time, and that's a SOLID ROTATION. Brett Myers had a great showing today, the only thing that lost the game was the one thing that we've had problems with for years.....the bullpen. We've got the offensive and defensive keys for our team, assuming they stick around, I think we'll have a good season. I hope they fix the bullpen. If they do that, I think this year we'll snatch up the wildcard at the end of the season.
they go into the 9th up a run if Brett Myers doesn't get greedy with a fastball right down the middle to Renteria... Myers pitched great, but Gordon goes to the mound with a save situation if Myers makes a good pitch there. baseball is a tough sport... can do good for 8 2/3 and then one dumb thing ruins it...
starting pitching will determine everything for this club... however, i'm unclear on how you can call this a "mediocre lineup."
Still too many strikeouts from top to bottom.
1 - Rollins is not a leadoff hitter, 3 strikeouts in the first game of the season.
2 - Victorino should be leading off
3 - Utley is a stud and is a great #3 hitter, why Manuel decides on opening day to hit him 4th is beyond me. If he wanted to experiment, the time to do that was spring training
4 - Howard is also a stud and should be hitting 4th
5 - Burrell is a complete unknown, but he should not be hitting 5th as pitchers will pitch around Howard if Burrell has a season like last season
6- Helms is an upgrade over Bell, but has no power and is a career .270 hitter. Was last season's .329 an anomoly?
7 - Rowand is mediocre at best
8 - Catcher du jour
9 - pitcher
Sorry, but it just doesn't impress me.
Yes, the starting rotation appears to be solid, but the bullpen may actually be worse than last season's, which is a scary thought.
1 - Rollins is not a leadoff hitter, 3 strikeouts in the first game of the season.
2 - Victorino should be leading off
3 - Utley is a stud and is a great #3 hitter, why Manuel decides on opening day to hit him 4th is beyond me. If he wanted to experiment, the time to do that was spring training
4 - Howard is also a stud and should be hitting 4th
5 - Burrell is a complete unknown, but he should not be hitting 5th as pitchers will pitch around Howard if Burrell has a season like last season
6- Helms is an upgrade over Bell, but has no power and is a career .270 hitter. Was last season's .329 an anomoly?
7 - Rowand is mediocre at best
8 - Catcher du jour
9 - pitcher
Sorry, but it just doesn't impress me.
Yes, the starting rotation appears to be solid, but the bullpen may actually be worse than last season's, which is a scary thought.
Then there's Uncle Charlie at the helm.
i agree that the bullpen is a potential huge problem... but would hesitate to judge because bullpen play his highly volatile and you never know what you're going to get from year to year with relief pitchers... which is why Boston has adopted the "whatever" policy towards bullpens to an extent.
i dislike Manuel as well, but given the lineup (which i'll address momentarily) his lack of sophisticated thought process isn't that much of a problem.
this lineup very well may lead the NL in runs scored this year, which they did last year. that is NOT a "mediocre" lineup by any objective view, that's a very good lineup. it's SCARY that they managed that with horrible RISP numbers.
i'm baffled that you think Rowand is mediocre at best, his career .781 OPS is very respectable for a CF... and you pair that with the fact that he's a very very good defensve player... and i have no complaints. he's certainly not a problem in the bottom half of the order.
the weakness of this order is, as it was last year, situational hitting. that's going to hurt them in tight games (see yesterday) when they can't manufacture runs. that's a formula for problems against good teams, but this squad should absolutely destroy weaker pitching staffs... the fact that we should have strong starting pitching should allow the offense to create gaps in early innings and stay away from consistent situational hitting rearing its head...
they need to mash the ball... and they need to do so more consistently than last year. this club SHOULD be able to make the playoffs this year if they play with consistency from the beginning of the season through to the end... rather than the spurts of really really good and bad play that we've seen the last couple of years. the question is whether or not Rollins, in particular, can maintain consistency at the top of the order (i agree that he's not a truly ideal leadoff hitter... but i would contend it isn't nearly as important as it used to be... as very few hitters are). Victorino is far from an ideal leadoff hitter either... and Ks more than Rollins at this point in his career, it may change.
i'm not saying this team is perfect... i wish they'd found a good situational hitter. however, this offense will produce a LOT of runs this season and the pitching staff should be able to keep runs down on the other side. it will also be a very strong defensive team behind the pitching staff to boot. the bullpen is an issue, but i don't think we'll know about that until we get healthy and see about 2 months of play...
the stat of the year? RISP hitting... if Manuel can get it into guys heads to just put the ball in play with 2 strikes, they'd probably score 50 more runs (at least) over the course of the year.
the stat of the year? RISP hitting... if Manuel can get it into guys heads to just put the ball in play with 2 strikes, they'd probably score 50 more runs (at least) over the course of the year.
If you are relying on Manuel to drive home this or any other point, then the season is lost.
So, what's the over/under on Manuel getting fired this year?
i doubt they'd do it in season unless they completely go in the tank, which should be difficult if the starting pitching performs to expectation. if this group doesn't make the playoffs this season by a few games yet again... i would expect Manuel to get the boot.
simply put this is a better offensive team than we had last year... a team that would have made the playoffs if the starting pitching had been better throughout the year. Myers, Hamels, Garcia, Eaton, Moyer, and Lieber... with that offense, should be a playoff team in a decidedly weak NL.
i think they'll struggle against better teams due to their lack of quality situational hitting and the potential for a weak bullpen... a bad combination once you reach the playoffs.
if you look at it in raw expectation numbers:
Myers, Hamels, and Garcia could account for 50 wins if healthy.
Eaton, Moyer, and Lieber (spot duty for injuries... if he isn't traded) could account for 30 wins rather easily.
i don't think those expectations from the starting pitcher are that ridiculous... if they get 10-15 wins from the bullpen they're right there. if the bullpen is stronger than expected and we get particularly good years from a couple of the starters, then you've got some real potential there.
it's not a perfect team, but you don't have to be in the NL. they're built to win in their own ballpark and you gotta pray a bit when they get into a pitchers ballpark that doesn't play to the strength of the offensive character of the club... however, they appear to have the starters to play in those types of parks a bit better than recent years.
long answer... but i think it outlines the expectations and the issues that Manuel is going to have to deal with this year. this team SHOULD be able to seriously contend in the NL if he gets what's expected from these players out of them... that's good for a manager, but it also creates a hot seat quickly if expectations are not being met... ask Larry Bowa.
In response to the person who didn't understand flip-flopping Howard and Utley, its obvious you aren't paying attention. You have two capable run producers. Both are left-handed. One has amazing power, and the other has very good power. Flipping them almost makes sense, as they both have the ability to get the run home. Pitchers don't want to pitch to Howard? Fine. Deal with Utley, not Burrell.
In the beginning, I didn't like the move, but after some thought and deliberation, I thought it was a shrewd baseball move, especially if the top 2 guys can get on base. Not to mention, Utley might have more chances to run now, and we know the kid has some definate wheels.
In response to the person who didn't understand flip-flopping Howard and Utley, its obvious you aren't paying attention. You have two capable run producers. Both are left-handed. One has amazing power, and the other has very good power. Flipping them almost makes sense, as they both have the ability to get the run home. Pitchers don't want to pitch to Howard? Fine. Deal with Utley, not Burrell.
In the beginning, I didn't like the move, but after some thought and deliberation, I thought it was a shrewd baseball move, especially if the top 2 guys can get on base. Not to mention, Utley might have more chances to run now, and we know the kid has some definate wheels.
Ryan Howard is a clog on the bases... Utley's ability to run the bases is actually the biggest reason i wouldn't do that move. Utley can swipe some bags, but his greatest ability is going 1st to 3rd/home and 2nd to home... he's actually one of the best base runners in the league statistically.
Howard.... yeah, not so much. Howard should be in the 4-hole, it didn't hurt him last year... hope that Pat the Bat has a better year this year and they'll be fine. i'd rather have Utley scoring on Howard's hits than waiting behind him on the base path.
I'll be in Philly within the end of the month, mostly April 28th and 29th. I want to go to the Citizens Bank Park for a Phillies game (vs. Mets). Usually, are there any tickets available at the gate, or I'm better to buy them now?
I'll be in Philly within the end of the month, mostly April 28th and 29th. I want to go to the Citizens Bank Park for a Phillies game (vs. Mets). Usually, are there any tickets available at the gate, or I'm better to buy them now?
usually you can grab a ticket somewhere... if you're DEFINITELY going to the game, i'd grab 'em now just so you can pick a seat.
And against the Mets, if the Phils are playing as well as they should this year, they may end up selling out. Probably not, but I'd get them now like Jester said.
And against the Mets, if the Phils are playing as well as they should this year, they may end up selling out. Probably not, but I'd get them now like Jester said.
yes, especially the Mets given the ease of travel and the probability that a lot of Mets fans will make the day trip.
