Tag Archives: Kendrick

Phillies Continue to Beat Themselves

22 May

Polanco is out at home. (AP)

Off the top of my head, I can think of at least five games this season where the Phillies lost due to costly mistakes, and boneheaded errors.

Monday night against the Nationals was another one of those nights.

Tonight it was base running.

The Phillies made a bunch of base running mistakes in this game, one more brutal then the next, but the worst one came in the sixth inning when Placido Polanco failed to tag at third on a line drive to center field. Polanco appeared to think the ball would fall in front of Rick Ankiel, who has a great arm.  However, it didn’t, and Polanco was a third of the way down the line when Ankiel made a diving catch. Polanco had to retreat back to the bag, and wasn’t able to score.

Had he read the ball right off the bat, and tagged up, he most definitely would have scored.

Polanco acknowledged this after the game.

“I should have been closer to the bag,” he said. “I didn’t do it the right way.”

He’s right.  He didn’t, and a few moments later was thrown out at the plate.  (See picture)

All these little mistakes continue to pile up.  It’s not necceearly errors, more so not thinking, and getting away from the fundamentals of the game.  AKA Bad baseball.

Charlie seems to be thinking a bit of the same.

“I think it’s a little of everything,” he said. “I definitely think we’re trying too hard. Like I’ve said before, we make mistakes that don’t show up in the box [score]. I think that comes from trying too hard or maybe being a little afraid of messing up. We’re not aggressive when we see something. We need to be more alert. Things like that. We don’t take advantage of things we can.”

He continued.

“We need some guys to get hot, and start hitting the ball for us.  It’s hard sometimes in a Major League lineup if you have just one guy hitting, that’s not good enough. That’s where the consistency part comes in, of your lineup, and your balance. The guys in your lineup gotta pick one another up.  So you have to get some guys hitting regular. You cannot afford to not score runs.  If you’re gonna scream small ball, and little ball, and stuff like that, we got to score those kinds of runs.”

What they need to take advantage of is runners in scoring position, as in their last three losses the Phils are  4 for 31 with runners in scoring position in those games.  They were 1 for 10 on Monday, but the hit didn’t score a run because Mayberry read it wrong, and held up at third.  Although he did eventually score.

And that’s just the thing, they’re honestly not getting beaten that badly, they’re just looking really bad while losing.

This is the second outing that Kyle Kendrick has had this season against the Nationals where he pitched well enough to win, this time his team really owes him one.

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Phils Lose a Heartbreaker

20 Aug

It was a familiar situation with a strange twist on Friday when the Phillies began their series against the Washington Nationals in D.C.  The Phillies had to wait over two hours on Thursday to finish their game with the Diamondbacks when it was interrupted by rain, and Friday was no different…. Sorta.

Why they even started this game, I don’t really know.  With storms in the area it wouldn’t make much sense to start the game if they were only going to get the first three batters to the plate, but of course that’s exactly what happened.  Whether it changed the outcome of the game, I really don’t know, but I really don’t like the situation it presented for our pitchers.

Roy Oswalt was scheduled to start this game, and technically he did.  According to the books Oswalt will be listed as the starting pitcher of this game even though he never even walked out to the hill.  After the rains had passed the Phillies sent Kyle Kendrick out to pitch even though Kendrick was scheduled to start on Saturday in place of Cole Hamels.

The Phillies decided to keep Oswalt out of the game and start him on Saturday, and given his injuries from this season, I think it makes perfect sense for them to treat him with a little extra care.

Now back to Kendrick.  Kyle Kendrick’s versatility is really awesome. This kid has been flying under the radar as far as his importance to the team this season. Kyle pitched six innings and held the Nationals to just two runs.  Whether it be as a spot starter, starter, relief pitcher, long man, or whatever need be that day, Kyle has really played a great role in the successes of the Phillies this season.  At just over 97 innings on the season Kendrick’s ERA is just 3.24.

The Phillies held a 4-2 lead going into the bottom of the ninth thanks to some offensive efforts from John Mayberry Jr, Ryan Howard, and Carlos Ruiz. Still it wasn’t enough for Ryan Madson who had an off night.

Madson surrendered six runs on five hits in the ninth inning.  The nail in the coffin was the walk off grand slam hit by Ryan Zimmerman.

It’s hard to pin this loss on someone.  Madson has been pretty busy out of the pen, pitching in the Phillies last three games.  The bats fell silent after the third inning, but given that the Phillies lost by four runs it may not have mattered.  Regardless of who’s fault it may be, it was a pretty tough loss, but today is a new day.

Side Notes - 

Holds - Before Ryan Madson came in for the save Brad Lidge, and Antonio Bastardo each earned holds.  Lidge needed just seven pitches to get through the 7th.

The 9th – Before this week the Phillies were 66-1 going into the 9th with a lead, but this week they are just 2-2.

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Phils Have Work Cut Out for Them in Trade Talks

18 Jul

Trade talks are heating up around MLB, and you’re going to hear a lot of stuff out there about what the Phillies may, or may not do.  Even from me.

Charlie Manuel told Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com that he’d like to see the Phillies add a reliever and a bat this month. The skipper makes it clear that he’s looking for an upgrade, not just a lateral move. “If we’re going to get somebody, I want somebody good that will help us,“ Manuel said. “I don’t want someone we’ve already got.”

I’m trying not to read into this too much, but one thing that I think needs to be said is that no matter who the Phillies can trade for, reliever or bat, it’s not going to make a difference if the guys that we have in the lineup don’t do what they are supposed to do.

If Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and Jimmy Rollins can’t find a way to get runs on the board then it won’t matter.

In my weekly column for PhilaPhans.com this week I said that I keep hearing all this “We don’t need to worry, we have the best record in baseball” stuff, but look where that got us last year.  I’d like our team to get past that.  The Phillies are batting .254 against righties and .234 against lefties.  It’s something that needs to be addressed if we want to make a deep run into the playoffs.

A trade could help this team for sure, but there are 25 other guys on this roster already that could make a big difference, too.

Tonight’s game in Chicago show some of the holes.  The back end of the bullpen is still pretty solid, but the middle relief is just plain bad.  I’m done with David Herndon and Andrew Carpenter. Some of this stress is coming because our long man, Kyle Kendrick, is starting because Roy Oswalt is on the disabled list.  I might just be leaning towards an arm over a bat.

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Phillies Weekly Report

12 Jul

Here’s a look at my column I write for PhilaPhans.com.

I’m posting it here so you can check it out, but if you want to read this in the future, I have a new addition every Monday morning on PhilaPhans. Consider popping over to PhilaPhans and even becoming a member.  I’m usually hanging around in the Game Day Thread during Phillies games.  Come join in!

The Phillies Weekly Report

By The Phanatic Addict

It was another 4-2 week for the Phillies. Two more series wins. One against theMarlins, and one against the hotAtlanta Braves. The series win over the Braves sure felt good with them right on the Phillies tail, and the 14-1 pounding we handed them made it that much better. .666 Baseball is nothing to be sorry about.

I do worry a little about the Phillies second half schedule. They played plenty of teams with losing records in the first half, and a lot of their second half games are on the road. The Phillies are 34-15 (.693) at home, but just 23-19 (.547) away from Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies have recently been known as a second half club, but it would be nice not to have to

The Offense – The Phillies offense showed up for five out of their six games this week. I can’t explain what happened on Saturday, but we do have to give a little bit of credit to Tommy Hanson, who pitched well. Cliff Lee managed to hit a homer off him, why didn’t anyone else? A head scratcher indeed.

As much as I see everyone complaining about how bad this offense is, the Phillies scored 39 runs this week. Yes, 28 of them came in two games but we scored these runs off of some pretty good pitchers.

The biggest blow to the team was losing Shane Victorino after it appeared tat he would be coming back pretty quick. Shane should return as soon as he is eligible when the Phillies face the Cubs next week.

Starting Pitching – Heading into the All-Star break things are looking really good. Sure, We’d like to have Oswalt up and pitching well, but the guys that are here are pitching like studs. The Phillies have three of their starters heading to the All-Star game in Arizona. It is the first time in the last 25 years that a team has had three pitchers with more then 9 wins, and ERA’s below 3.00 at the break.

I’m sure that Cole Hamels enjoyed the 28 runs of support that he got this week. It’s probably more then he got in 2010.

The Pen – I’m excited to see that Ryan Madson is closer to making his return. Antonio Bastardo has been just brilliant in his turn as the closer for the Phillies, but the possibility that Madson could be back next weekend is really big for the bullpen.

Brad Lidge has had some rehab appearances this week in his road back, and all have been rather positive. I’ll take a healthy Lidge over Andrew Carpenter any day.

Two straight scoreless appearances for Juan Perez have earned him the right to hang around a little longer in my book. He’s made the Braves hitters look just silly on Friday night, and you can never have enough lefties in your pen.

The Bench – This bench seems to become more important to the success of the Phillies every single game. With Shane Victorino, and Placido Polanco on the shelf the bench players have stepped onto the field and have almost flawlessly filled in.

Michael Martinez turned in seven hits in his last five games. Not to mention four runs, four RBI and a couple of really great catches. John Mayberry Jr. has also been really great in his last few starts. Six hits, Seven RBI, and three runs score. His three doubles on Sunday are proof that he may just have the tools to be considered for a starting job, if not at least as a platoon player in 2012.

Managers- I’d say that my only surprise of the week from the managers would be their decision to pull Kyle Kendrick out of a game that he was winning after just five innings. They turned the ball over to the bullpen and the game was over. The Phillies committed three errors in this game which cost them, and Kyle was the scapegoat.

After a 14 run game, you want to get right back out on the field and keep playing, but let’s be real. This team needs some rest. With the injured players we have sitting, and Chase Utley’s knee problems I think that a four day rest is just fine and dandy.

Again, the Phillies ended this week with two more series victories, and you can’t ask for too much more then that.

On a personal note, I’ve kept this a little shorter then usual, but with a wild work week, and a new addition to our family, I’m pretty spent. Congratulations to my sister and her husband on the birth of their new daughter. Welcome to the family Erin.

If you have time stop by my blog The Phanatic Addict, and I’ll see you in the forums.

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Errors Cost Phils in Florida Finale

7 Jul

Things looked good with a 4-0 lead early in the game but a collection of mishaps cost the Phillies dearly in a 7-6 loss to the Florida Marlins.

The Phillies, who before tonight were the best defensive team in the league, committed three errors in Wednesday’s game. The series sweep continues to elude the Phillies who have now won 5 straight series.

Kyle Kendrick’s shortened outing didn’t help much either. Kendrick went 5 innings, but only allowed one earned run. You can’t expect miracles from Kyle, but with a start like this one and the Phillies beleaguered bullpen you could smell a walk off win coming for the Marlins.

Before tonight the Phillies were 21-0 in games where they scored more then 6 runs.

After the game Domonic Brown did one of the most respectful things he’s done since he came up to the bigs, he admitted a mistake. It was really hard to tell from all the angles that the tv networks showed, but Domonic said that he never touched second base in the 6th inning on his way to third legging out a would be triple. It was the reason he didn’t argue after the umpires called him out.

“Right there it cost us the game.”

It was probably a little more then that, but it sure shows a lot of maturity from the rookie right fielder.

It’s a shame that a big night from John Mayberry has to be overlooked. Mayberry hit two big time home runs for the Phillies in the second, and sixth innings.

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44,906 Wet and Disappointed Fans

10 Jun

Well, it was bound to happen eventually. Ryan Madson blew his first save.

But there was a lot more to the loss that the Phillies suffered then that.

The game started off pretty well for the Phillies when Jimmy Rollins blasted a three-run homer in the bottom of the second. It looked like the Phils had figured out Cubs starter Randy Wells.

Then the rains came.

After a one hour and seventeen minute rain delay the game resumed and both starters were pulled out.

Kyle Kendrick held the Cubs to just two hits in the three innings he pitched. It hurt the Philles because Kendrick didn’t get a chance to stretch himself out, and he was pitching well before the delay. Then the Phillies proceeded to use every pitcher in their pen.

Madson may have lucked out after giving up the home run to Geovany Soto when a fan reached out over the fence and caught a ball off the bat of Tyler Colvin. The hit was originally ruled a home run, but that was overturned when a replay showed that the fan caught the ball below the fence, and Colvin was sent back to second, keeping the score tied at three.

But Colvin would eventually get to score. The game went to the 11th and with David Herndon on the mound and Colvin at second after singling off Herndon, Placido Polanco made a rare throwing error and Colvin scored the winning run.

Again, the Phillies had their chances. In the bottom of the 10th Shane Victorino was stranded on third after the Cubs walked Domonic Brown because Herndon was on deck. Charlie had no choice to let Herndon bat because he was the only pitcher left. He struck out.

Again, you have to look to the Phillies offense and wonder what the Phillies are going to do. Sure, there are some questions about the Phillies defense who committed their 7th error in seven games, but the Phillies only managed three hits after the rain delay. Considering how poor the Cubs bullpen is, it’s pretty startling how bad the Phillies bats looked against them. The Phillies went just 1-7 with RISP.

The Phillies have scored 3 runs or less in eight of their last nine games. That just isn’t getting it done.

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More Questions Than Answers

5 Jun

It’s been pretty tough to stay positive this season. The Phillies can’t seem to get anything going for long enough to make us feel good about them. After suffering their 4th straight loss on Saturday night I’m not really sure where to begin.

• Ryan Howard going 0-4?

• Jimmy Rollins fouling a ball off his knee?

• Raul Ibanez taking a poor route to a fly ball and tripping over his own feet?

• The Phillies scoring just 7 runs in their last four games?

We’re all getting sick of talking about it, and frankly I’m getting pretty tired of writing about it.

Roy Halladay can’t pitch every day. Thankfully he IS pitching today. Let’s see what the Doctor has ordered today.

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You Gotta Go Joe

20 May

Now Joe Blanton will likely be placed on the Disabled List for the second time this season. Joe shut down his second go around after 20 pitches with serious discomfort last night in the bullpen.

Blanton had been known as an innings eater, and prior to last year, Blanton had never been on the DL. Now he’s hit the DL three times in two seasons.

So why was he still pitching if there was some discomfort. We hear the Phillies far too often remove one of their players for “precautionary reasons.” Why weren’t they cautious with Joe? It’s because he wasn’t entirely forthcoming about the discomfort he was feeling. Blanton admitted last night that he was pushing himself a little too hard and really wasn’t ready to return. He let the Phillies throw him back out there with that “cranky” elbow, and probably made things worse.

“I probably rushed back too quick the first time,” Blanton said. “Every pitcher has to pitch through things at times. I thought I could manage it until it got better but it kept getting worse. It was my choice. It was my fault. I didn’t want to miss anything. I guess it wasn’t the best decision to make.”

The Phillies brass followed with the same.

“He felt like he was fine,” GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said.

“He always told us he could go,” Phillies skipper Charlie Manuel said.

He surely didn’t do himself or the team any favors.

Scott Mathison has been optioned to Lehigh Valley in favor of David Herndon. Scott pitched last night and is likely being swapped to keep a fresh arm in the pen for the weekend. The Phillies will likely send Blanton to the DL later and make his date retroactively so they can call Vance Worley back up to start on Tuesday.

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I Prayed For A Rainout

19 May

I’m sorry for any of the unlucky people that had tickets for Thursday night’s game. The weather was terrible, and so were the Philles.

Joe Blanton’s elbow has done him in. Big Joe was scratched from the game roughly 20 minutes before the start of the game. Kyle Kendrick was quickly whisked to the bullpen to begin warming. I’m not sure why exactly the Phillies rushed Joe back to the big club so quickly after his stay on the disabled list. More on this tomorrow.

Jason Giambi single handedly knocked the Phillies out of the in the first inning when he crushed a pitch from the hand of Kyle Kendrick into the second deck. 3-0 Rockies.

Then in the third Giambi murdered his second ball off Kendrick. 5-0 Rockies.

With the crowd booing like crazy, and the “You took steroids!” chant ringing from the crowd, he blasted another homer off Danys Baez. 7-1 Rockies.

Kyle just didn’t have it on Thursday. Three innings and 73 pitches. We don’t know when exactly Kyle found out he was going to start, but he was obviously not ready for it. Charlie Manuel said that he only heard about Blanton’s issue about 20 minutes before game time, so we can only assume that Kendrick warmed up pretty quickly.

Thank goodness Roy Halladay is pitching on Friday because the bullpen is going to be pretty taxed tomorrow. Hopefully the other eight guys in the lineup will show up, too.

Side Notes -

Vance Worley - Could Vance be packing his bags for Philly again? Jeez, he should be.

Shane Victorino – Shane is headed to the disabled list. That’s what I got from Ruben tonight. He was pretty short, but it seemed pretty clear. I’m unsure of who will be called up in s place, but Ruben said it won’t be Dominic Brown.  My best guess is Delwyn Young who is playing right field for the IronPigs right now.

Chase Utley – Chase started again for the Clearwater Threshers on Thursday, and went 0-2 with two walks. Chase will not be coming back to Philly despite a few roster spots opening up. Chase could be back up with the Phils before the end of the home stand.

Hey, you’re ugly! – Could Jason Giambi possibly be the ugliest player in all of baseball? I think it’s pretty possible.  Your beard is weird.

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The Struggle Continues

18 May

The Phillies have now dropped four games in a row.  The issues continue to mount as the team struggles as a whole to hit, and score runs.  The pitching continues to be strong, but the offense is killing them.

There is plenty of chatter this morning about Charlie Manuel‘s use of the bullpen last night.  I’m totally displeased with the end result, but let’s remember that there were not too many options left in the shortened bullpen.  Danys Baez should have been left in the game since we’re begining to see that J.C. Romero is pretty much the same player he last season.  Ryan Madson was not sent into the game because he was being held for a possible save situation.

I keep saying that when you’re not scoring runs every other aspect of the game needs to be perfect, and it hasn’t been.  John Mayberry’s throw home was a good one, and Dane Sardinha miss played it.  Once that ball lands in his glove he needs to be in front of the plate.  He most definitely could have tagged Lance Berkman, he just didn’t.  Chooch, and Brian Schneider would have made that play, and that’s why Dane is a third stringer.

The Phillies need to score runs.  It really is that simple. Their last two games were both very winnable games, but the Phillies haven’t been able to make it happen.  The offense is putting a heavy strain on the bullpen similar to the way they did in 2010, and we all know how that turned out.

Bright Side- 

Kyle Kendrick - After a loss like that it’s easy to overlook what a great job Kyle Kendrick did out of the pen.  Kyle came in after Michael Stutes left the game with a muscle strain.  Kyle pitched two innings and allowed just one hit, and one walk.

Roy Oswalt - Roy Oswalt threw more pitches then expected on Tuesday.  He appeared to quickly establish himself, and was effective.  There was a little issue with the radar gun in St. Louis, so his velocity is still kind of a question, but his fastball appeared to have a little bit of it’s “zip” back. It’s a very good sign.

John Mayberry - John continues to show his versatility as a player.  He only had one hit last night, but he managed to steal another bag, and his throw home in the bottom of the 4th should have been an outfield assist.

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