Tag Archives: Kendrick

Kendrick, Blanton and The Biggest HD Screen in Town

19 Jan

kendrick.jpgThe Phillies and Kyle Kendrick avoided arbitration yesterday when the agreed to a one-year, $2.45 million dollar deal.  Kendrick was the Phillies only remaining arbitration eligible player.  So does this deal mean that Kendrick is going to be the 5th starter?  Well, no it doesn’t because another interesting bit of news came up yesterday when Ruben Amaro Jr. was asked a few questions about this upcoming season.  Ruben was asked if he expected Joe Blanton to be with the Phillies this season.  His answer?  “I expect that to happen.” 

So will Big Joe be back with the Phillies this Spring?  It seems pretty likely now because the market for him has thinned, and they really wouldn’t get full value for him at this point.  It’s more likely that the Phillies will roll into Spring Training with 6 starters in tow. It probably won’t be much of a competition as long as everyone is healthy.  If that were the case my guess is that Kendrick would take the place of Chad Durbin and fill the long-man in the bullpen as Durbin returning seems pretty unlikely.  They certainly have some options.

So now we’re not trading Blanton?  Well, I wouldn’t be so sure of that.  I think that the Phillies have come to the realization that if they tried to dish Joe now they wouldn’t get his full worth.  I’m sure that a few teams have kicked his tires, but the Phillies won’t do anything they don’t have to.  They could use some payroll flexibility, but it’s not like they need to do anything in desperation.  I’m sure if things are going well at the trade deadline in August the Phillies will dangle him out there again.

sboard.jpgMost everyone knew about this before, but the Phillies are making some technology upgrades around Citizens Bank Park.  They are upgrading their score board to a 7,372 square foot high definition screen.  It’s the largest screen in the National League and one of the largest in the country. This screen is nearly three times the size of the one it’s replacing.  The Phillies are also installing all new HD TVs in and around the ballpark.  These upgrades are expected to be completed by the start of the season. 

Come over and join the discussion on my Facebook!
I’m now part of the PhilaPhans crew.  Four for four, Since 2002. 
I also Twitter if you do that sort of thing.

 

 

Tags: , , , ,

Phils Keep Shuffling the Deck

22 Sep
halladay20.jpg

The Phillies have once again made adjustments again to their rotation for this weekend.

Now it’s going to be Joe Blanton, Kyle Kendrick, and Cole Hamels faceing the Mets this weekend at Citizens Bank Park. Halladay, Oswalt and Blanton will face the Washington Nationals next week in D.C.

It’s pretty likely that the Big Three will still face the Braves next weekend to finish out the regular season.

Initiallly it was supposed to be Blanton, Hamels and Halladay this coming weekend, but since Blanton and Kendrick have had plenty of rest and the Phillies lead in the N.L. East has grown it makes sense to push off the Aces and let our four and five go to the mound.  I’m not overly thrilled to see Kendrick since my Fiance and I are going to be down there on Saturday night.  As long as we get to waive our rally towels, we don’t care.

The Phillies are 15-3 in the month of September after Oswalt’s great performance on Wednesday.  The Big Three are a combined 13-0 in September, so you can figure out how many wins Blanton and Kendrick have put together.  It’s necessary that the Big Three get their rest.

Come over and join the discussion on my Facebook!
I’m now part of the PhilaPhans crew.  Four for four, Since 2002. 
I also Twitter if you do that sort of thing.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Kendrick Denied Sweep

5 Sep

kendrick.jpgSunday saw another rough start for Kyle Kendrick and the Philadelphia Phillies.  Kyle surrendered a three run homer to Prince Fielder in the first inning and the Brewers would lead the game from that point on.  Kyle has really begun to struggle in his most recent starts going 2-4 in his last six and has allowed 24 runs in his last 30 2/3 innings… That’s a 7+ ERA.  As far as fifth starters go that’s not the worst it could be, but when you’re one game back in September and fighting for your playoff lives, you’re going to need a little more. 

Charlie Manuel couldn’t really offer much on Kyle’s performance post game.  “Today he made some bad pitches…It’s command.  The sinker is his best pitch, and that;s the ball he has to be agressive with around the plate… It all comes back to his command” Manuel said.

Kendrick’s fatal pitch to Prince Fielder came with first base open.  Chooch set up outside, but the ball flew right into the wheelhouse of Prince and he blasted it.  Hours after the game Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee was still steaming over the pitch. 

Elementary, Watson,” Dubee told CSNPhilly.com. “Chooch knew. You saw where he was setting up.”  It was a “Bad miss”  Dubee continuted. 

Being agressive is one thing, but with Prince in the box it was really the situation where you don’t want to give him anything that he can get the fat part of the bat onto. 

“It’s all my fault,” Kendrick said. “I was just trying to stay aggressive and minimize the damage. It’s my fault. You learn.”  Only September is not the time for him to be trying to figure things out. 

vanceworley.jpgKyle Kendrick is not soley to blame for the Phillies 6-2 loss to the Brewers as the offense did very little after the second inning. 

The Phillies failed to capitolize on the Braves loss to the Marlins which would have given them a share of the Division lead.  The one bright spot is that they didn’t lose any ground.  Taking the doubleheader tomorrow will bring them one small step closer.  Game one is still rumored to have call up Vance Worley as the Phillies starter.  It seems like a done deal to me. 

 Side Notes –

Baez – Should rehab in Triple A Lehigh Valley tomorrow.  Do you care?

Join the discussions on my Facebook!
I’m also Blogging with the great guys over on PhilaPhans so check em’ out!
Get my Twitter  updates when I remember! 
  

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Bat Attack!

1 Sep

_aug311.jpg

It’s been over a month but we finally got to see Ryan Howard blast one!  Ryan is notoriously hot in September, but this year he decided to start a couple hours early.  Howard’s 3-run smash to center was very important as the Dodgers kept trying to crawl back into the game. 

No better time for him to get hot with the way things are going.

Kyle Kendrick labored yet again and was pulled after six innings.  Kyle still got a victory because the bullpen closed the door.  Durbin, Romero, Madson and Lidge.  The only 4 bullpen guys I even want to see for the rest of the season. 

The best part of the night was when Carlos Ruiz was called up to pinch hit and Joe Torre called Jonathan Broxton from the Bullpen.  At this point in thier history Chooch had been 3 for 3 against Broxton so Torre made a pretty great choice.  What an idiot.  Chooch slapped one into left field and two more runs scored.  Something isn’t right with Broxton.  He went from being nearly unhittable to serving up beach balls.

_aug302.jpgBrian Schneider served up a nice 3-run homer of his own early in the game to get the Phillies going.  It’s really great to see guys who aren’t everyday players step up and make a big impact.  Brian has done this on more than one occasion.

I don’t want to sound like a broken record but winning 2 of 3 the rest of the way is going to be critical to the Phillies success.  The occasional sweep would be nice.  The Braves are not going to roll over. 

Speaking of rolling over.  Have you seen the Mets most recent attempts at beating the Braves?  Jeez.  Throw in the towel a month early.  It’s become pretty stinkin’ obvious who the Mets want to see win this division. 

Join the discussions on Facebook!
Get my Twitter  updates when I remember!
 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Weekend Recap

25 Aug

camp1.jpgIt’s been a couple days since I’ve been at the computer and there has been no shortage of things to talk about.  I was up in the Catskills camping and hiking with some guy friends for my bachelor party, and other then a crazy bit of rain on Sunday it was a great trip.  If you had three guesses would you be able to figure out which one of these guys is me?

Alrighty, so I missed getting to talk about Roy Halladay‘s great game on Friday night.  Minimal runs for the Phillies, but the pitching was excellent. 

Saturday was a bust.  Kendrick and the Phillies fell behind in the first inning and never recovered.  The bullpen got to get some work in.  Kyle seems to be having a good start every other time out, so his next one on Thursday will be one to watch.  It might be the deciding game for this current series with the Astros.

Sunday was the only game in recent memory where the Phillies scored more then 2 runs.  In support of Oswalt’s stellar seven inning performance the Phillies posted a six run win with a rain delay in the middle.  Roy got his payback for his last loss in D.C and the Phillies got another shut out.  He also added to his win streak at Citizens Bank Park, which is now up to 7-0 in his career here.

The Phils are going to really need to turn it up against these lesser foes and stop playing down to everyone. Score some flippin runs!

Hey, YOU friend me on Facebook!
Get my Twitter  updates when I remember!

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Rollins Steals the Show

16 Aug

_aug152.jpg

Beating the Mets is still so grand.  After a night of domination from Roy Halladay the ball was passed to Kyle Kendrick who was looking to bounce back after a rough start against the Dodgers on Tuesday. Sunday night’s performance from Kyle was much stronger then I think anyone expected.

Kendrick went 6 2/3 with 1 earned run and 4 strikeouts.  Kyle did allow 6 hits but his sinker and cutter were in full effect.  Kendrick induced 7 groundouts and 7 flyouts. Citi Field is a good park for Kyle because it’s stinking huge.  That enormous outfield keeps fly balls in the park.   Kyle was pulled after 101 pitches when Jeff Francour was announced as a pinch hitter.  Francour is hitting over .400 lifetime off Kyle.   Durbin retired Francour on a looooooong fly out from to end the inning….  It would have been about 10 rows deep at Citizens Bank Park.

_aug151.jpgThe homers were absent again in Sunday night’s game against the Mets.  Small ball again was going to be the key to victory.  In the top of the third Jimmy Rollins slapped a single to left field with 2 outs. Jimmy proceeded to steal second, then third and finally scored when Victorino doubled down the first base line.  Victorino also had a stolen base that turned into a run.

Making moves on the base pads is how you’re going to win games in a big park where homers are hard to come by.  The Phillies are a long-ball team but sometimes they’re gonna need to adapt to the surroundings to get the win, and that’s just what they did. Although I just like to think that Jimmy just wanted to show Jose Reyes how it was done.  Reyes was caught stealing in the first although a replay showed later that he was safe. 

Thank you Joe Morgan and ESPN for the 400 replays of the Reyes steal.  You’re doing a great job making the umpires look bad.  Continually showing statistics of how how many calls they miss and replaying them nightly on your borderline tabloid news program SportsCenter right between Favre updates and LaBron highlights.

Side Notes –

Polanco – Polly was hit in the had in Sunday nights game by Mike Pelfrey but so are there are no reports disputing that he’s fine.

Chase – Chase is expected to play again in Clearwater today.  He want 0-3 with an error on Sunday.  The Phillies want chase to “Swing the bat with authority”  before he returns to the big team.  I wouldn’t quite count on him being in the lineup on Tuesday… but who knows with Utley.

Howard – Howard was noticed limping after fielding some ground balls on Sunday.  Charlie Manuel said that a Tuesday return might be a little premature and that Howard might need a couple extra days. 

Oh yeah… Percentage wise the Phillies are the Wild Card leaders!

Friend me on Facebook!
See my rants on Twitter!

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Phils Take Two

18 Jun

216-309Phillies_Yankees_Baseball.sff.standalone.prod_affiliate.81.jpg

Normal
0

false
false
false

EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE

MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:”";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}

Last night
was probably the most promising and uplifting win the Phillies have had to
date.  Kyle Kendrick silenced the Yankees
and critics alike with a strong pitching performance, lasting 7 innings and out
dueling Andy Pettitte.  Kendrick held the
Bombers to just one run and worked his game; Keeping pitches down and moving at
a quicker pace.  Kyle did allow some base
runners, but didn’t let them affect his game. 

Defense and offense
showed themselves in the same game.  It
was very good to see the return of the Phillies that we have grown to love so
much over the past few years.  Strong
plays in the field from Jayson Werth, Ryan Howard, and Placido Polanco.   If Polanco’s catch that he made over the
tarp last night wasn’t ESPN’s Top Play I’ll be blown away.  It was amazing.

151-Phillies_Yankees_Baseball.sff.standalone.prod_affiliate.81.jpg

The Phillies pulled away with a
four-run ninth. The inning came to a strange end when Ben Francisco’s bid for a
two-run single deflected off the leg of Raul Ibanez and skittered past Jeter at
shortstop. The Yankees ran off the field while Francisco stood at first base,
and it took the umpires a couple of minutes to confer and call the out.  The ball obviously redirected after it hit
Raul.

 

We can only hope this is where things
turn around… If there was a moment to do it, now is as good as any.

 

Side Notes -

 

Jimmy – Jimmy is scheduled to play all
nine innings tonight in Clearwater and could return to the Phillies lineup by
Sunday.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Back to the Bronx

15 Jun

Philles-Chase-World-Series-590x393.jpg

Normal
0

false
false
false

EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE

MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:”";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}

It’s time for a rematch, and this time we’ve got a new
weapon, Roy Halladay.  Tonight at
7:05 the Phillies will again take the field against the New York Yankees in their
only meeting this year for a  little bit
of interleague play.   It was Cliff Lee who dominated the Yankees in
the World Series last year, and was the only Phillies pitcher to actually
record a win.  Halladay, who is 8-4 this
season with a 1.96 ERA, is looking to step into that role.  He’ll face C.C. Sabathia, who as everyone
knows seems to struggle against the Phillies. 
Sabathia is 6-3 this year with a 4.01 ERA.  His most recent win came against the lowly
Baltimore Orioles.

The biggest variables of this upcoming series will be Chase
Utley and the pitching of Kendrick/Moyer.

Chase Utley is struggling, really struggling. Chase is 7 for
42 in his last two weeks of play, going 0 for 3 in his last appearance Sunday.  Chase is a career .293 hitter but is
currently batting just .256.  Will this
be the series where he turns it around? 
Chase owned the Yankees in the post season last year.  It was unfortunate that we only had one of
him in our lineup.   If the Phillies are
going to come out of this series as winners it’s going to take the strength of
Chase.  Nobody knows what it is that is
keeping Chase down, but it’s crucial that he bounces back, and soon.

Tuesday Roy Halladay will take the hill, but on Wednesday
and Thursday we will have Kyle Kendrick, and Jamie Moyer.  Kyle and Jamie have both been hit hard in
their last appearances on the mound, especially Jamie who was tagged for 9 runs
in 1 inning.  Jamie has struggled with
veteran offenses and feasted on younger less patient ones, and the Yankees know
this.   Kendrick is still battling to keep
his head above water.  Kyle usually
sandwiches a bad start with two good ones, so let’s hope that Wednesday turns
out to be a poppy seeded bun. 

Side Notes –

Jimmy – Will make a rehab start today in
Clearwater.  Good news.

Let’s be friends!  Follow me on Facebook!

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Kendrick Roughed Up But Bats Prevail

9 Jun

64521360-08175503.jpg

Normal
0

false
false
false

EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE

MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:”";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}

Two batters into the game and the Phillies were back in a
place they have gotten pretty familiar with.  Behind.  Last night
however was different. 

The Phillies battled back from a 4-0 deficit and a 6-3 deficit over the past
few weeks but the 10 runs they put up last night were the most convincing that
this team still has Phight.  There were four lead changes in Tuesday’s
game at Citizens Bank Park, but the last one was probably the most
exciting. 

With the end of the game approaching I was getting a little worried that
another loss was on the horizon… Then Ben Francisco singled to center,
scoring two runs to give the Phillies the lead in the eighth inning.  I
hate to be so negative so often, but I have not seen too much out of Ben since
the trade last year that netted us him and that other guy, whose name I try not
to say.  In the top of the 8th Wes Helms (yuck) smacked a triple that Ben
misplayed.  I don’t really know if it would have made a difference if it
had been played cleaner but it was terrible to look at.  So when
Francisico was back at the plate in the bottom of the 8th I wasn’t too
optimistic.  Thanks for proving me wrong… I actually did appreciate it.

Kyle Kendrick, who has been battling lately, had a rough start giving up a
handful of homers.  He only walked one, but allowed runs.

Brad Lidge got the save, and it was another good one, two strike outs and
a pop-up.  Lidge loaded the bases, but was very close to getting the third
out on a ball that he deflected to Utley, just not fast enough. 

This game was a much stronger effort all around.  There were a few miscues
in the field (Howard and Kendrick received errors) but the bats made up for
that.  Howard and Victorino homered. 

Tonight – A rematch from “The Perfect Game” 

Roy Halladay (8-3) 2.03 vs. Josh Johnson (6-2) 2.10  – Should be a good
one

Side Notes –

J.A. – Happ allowed three hits and two runs and struck out two in three innings
in his first rehab start.

Jimmy – Yep, at least another week to 10 days.

Werth – Jayson sat this game out.  Charlie Manuel apparently thinks that
Jayson is trying to do too much.  He sighted his stance and said that
mentally he thinks Jayson is battling with himself and with thoughts
surrounding his contract.  Jayson denied that his contract is an issue
with him.  I think these two just need to hug it out.

Follow me on Facebook!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Gimme a Penny, We’ll give you some Homers.

5 May

kendrick1.jpg

Kyle Kendrick appears to have secured himself another start. Not that there are really that many options….

Kendrick pitched 7 innings allowing 6 hits, 3 Strikeouts and 2 Walks.  The hits are nothing new as Kendrick is known as a ground ball pitcher but he kept the walks to a minimum and got out of trouble. 

Brad Penny, who wore really ugly socks tonight, earned himself a qualitly start, but a loss.  One of the stupider statistics in Baseball, a quality is a start where a pitcher allows only 3 runs over six innings.  My criticisim of this is that a pitcher could conceivably meet the minimum requirements for a quality start and record a 4.50 ERA, which in most cases is considered pretty sucky.

Homers from Polanco and Victorino, plus a 2 out RBI from Greg Dobbs powered the Phillies to a win over the N.L. best Cards.

  • Side-note- Juan Castro appears to have pulled a hamstring while running to first base.  This is NOT good news since Castro is filling in for the injured Jimmy Rollins.  Likely substitutes are Wilson Valdez and possibly Cody Ransom who’s playing with the Iron Pigs up in Allentown.  Say a prayer
  • Jimmy Rollins is going down to Clearwater to begin a rehab program.

Tags: , , , ,

Newer Entries →

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.