Tag Archives: St. Louis Cardinals

Theriot – A Fit the Phils?

24 Mar

According to ESPN’s Jayson Stark The Giants are said to be shopping utility Ryan Theriot.

I know my interest is peaked. Theriot plays both 2B and has seen time at SS, starting more than 100 times at each position in the last two seasons.  Defensively he’s more fit for second.

Theriot is a lifetime .282 batter, going .271/.321/.342 last season.  He’s going to earn $1.25MM this season which makes him an affordable fit for the Phillies, and with Chase Utley, Michael Martinez, and Ryan Howard starting the season on what I think will be the 60 day DL (Not sure about Utley), we’re going to have plenty of space on the roster to carry an extra infielder, and we could use a veteran.

Theriot spent five seasons with the Cubs but became expendable with the emergence of Starlin Castro, and played well for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2012, but was not part of the plan for the future there either.

The Phillies have some questions to answer in the infield, and Theriot may just be what they are looking for.  Galvis will get a shot at second base to start the season, but he has only played in 33 games above AA, so I’m not totally convinced he’s ready to play second everyday.

A fit for Philadelphia?  Maybe.

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Laying the Blame

10 Oct

Now that a few days have passed I’m ready to start dishing the blame.  I’ll have to say that despite what everyone is saying about Ryan Howard I think that it is more of a collective issue.  Let’s start at the top.

Charlie Manuel – Sorry Chuck, but I think a lot of this one is on you.  I like that the players like to play for you, but this time things just went horribly wrong.  After three games in a row where we couldn’t by a hit you leave the same lineup in?  Polanco stays at third when he can’t even buy a hit?  Did you even leave the dugout at all?  Throw some things around and try to fire these guys up?  I have always stuck by your side, but this time I honestly feel like you just stood by and watched.  You’re the so called hitting guru, but you can’t seem to get these guys to hit.  Maybe consider asking them to take a few pitches here and there.  Crossing your fingers isn’t working.  Next Spring better bring some answers because we’re all feeling pretty empty.

Cliff Lee – Cliff is honestly the player that I have the biggest issue with.  Before his start last Sunday Cliff was 94-1 in games where he was handed a 4 run lead.  That is huge, you have to hold that.  For the average starter a 4 run lead is tough to hold, but for Cliff it is practically a mortal lock for a win.

Cliff was brought to Philadelphia to win in the Postseason, and that didn’t happen. So far he is 0-1 in his new tenure in Philadelphia.  That can’t happen again.  I’m glad that he took “Full responsibility,” but that does nothing for me as I sit here and watch the Cardinals lose to Milwaukee. Had he pitched like we expected him to do so we would have swept St. Louis right out of the playoffs.

“I take a lot of responsibility for this,” Lee said after the Game 5 loss. “I had a 4-0 lead and wasn’t able to keep it. If I did, we would have swept the series. I wasn’t able to keep a four-run lead and now it’s over.”

Cliff choked.  No doubt about it.

Ryan Howard - I stand up for Ryno in many instances, but during a series is not time to mess with your mechanics.  After game one I was expecting Ryan to just destroy the Cardinals, but he fell right into their trap.  If they are going to throw you junk, then you need to just stand there and take that walks.  That was something that I always admired about Pat Burrell.

I get that he was hurt, but he did himself, and the team zero favors by swinging at the crap they threw to him.  I can’t even count at how many balls that were tight and inside that he swung at.  You have to make them pitch to you.  I have mixed feelings about him swinging at the 3-0 ball that he got towards the end of game 5.  I know that people wished that green light had taken away from him at that point, but in a one run game one swing from Ryan can change the course of the game.  It was a half decent pitch, so anything could have happened.

But Howard wasn’t the only one that didn’t hit.

Placido Polanco – Really when it comes to Polly the problem starts with Charlie Manual.  I don’t get why we think that an injured Polanco is any better then Wilson Valdez or Michael Martinez.  Polly went 2-19 (.105) in the NLDS… You have to think that Valdez could have done better then that.  Polly is the best defensive choice we have at third, but with his injuries, his bad speed is gone, and he can’t run worth a damn.

Hunter Pence – Hunter had 4 RBI, but still only hit .211 in the series.  He’s a .300 hitter all season long, and went cold by his standards in the playoffs.  Offensively he’s a fine player, but defensively he leaves much to be desired in the outfield.  I hope that we can make some end-roads with him over the winter and into Spring Training next year.  I love the hustle, but he came up short in the end.

Carlos Ruiz – Behind the plate Chooch is always an All-Star, but standing at it, he had a terrible series.  1-17 (.059) in the NLDS is just terrible.  Carlos had a really tough October.  He needs to keep the ball out of the air, and work on going the other way a little more.  He pulls the ball far too much.

Roy Oswalt – Roy had pitched to the Cardinals hitters more then any other pitcher on the Phillies staff from his time in the National League Central, but didn’t look like it at all.  He’s likely never to pitch another game for the Phillies again, but I expected much more from him than we got.

I’m wondering what everyone else is feeling.  Shoot me an email, or comment below.

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Phils Take Game One

2 Oct

So far the NLCS belongs to the Phillies, who blasted the St. Louis Cardinals 11-6 on Saturday night in game one of the best-of-five contest.

Roy Halladay hit a little bump in the road named Lance Berkman in the first inning, but after that settled in nicely and cruised through the next seven innings before turning the game over to the bullpen.  Though Berkman’s homer was a big one Halladay only allowed just three hits in his eight innings of work.  Berkman’s homer got to him, and Roy put it into overdrive.

“He was kind of like a Rocky movie,” Charlie Manuel said. “He got mad after he gave up the homer. That ticked him off and he hung in there and kept going. But he’s special. He’s everything that people talk about.”

Roy put up enough zeros for the Phillies offense to stage a comeback.  And that they did.

As many people remember, the 2010 Postseason ended with Ryan Howard standing at the plate with the bat on his shoulder.  2011′s Postseason run started differently for the big man when Howard blasted a monster 3-run homer off of Kyle Loshe in the bottom of the 6th to give the Phillies the lead. Two batters later Rual Ibanez sent one over the right field fence too, ending Loshe’s night.

The Phillies hitters 1 through six went 13-25, (.520 average) scoring 11 runs.  With that kind of production you have to like our pitchers chances in any match up.

Game Two is tonight with Cliff Lee going against Chris Carpenter. See you there.

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It’s Here

1 Oct

Finally.

The day that we as Phillies fans have been waiting for is finally here.  It’s October.  The leaves have begun to turn, the air is a little crisp, and the Philadelphia Phillies are back in the Postseason.

At 5:07 tonight Roy Halladay will take the hill at Citizens Bank Park.

I hope you all enjoy the game.

Happy Doctober.

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So Long J.C.

17 Jun

J.C. Romero was pretty instrumental in the success of the Phillies success in 2007, and in the World Series title in 2008. Since then it has been pretty much a downward spiral filled with walks, hit batters, and PED allegations.

On Thursday the Phillies cut their losses after almost four years with the left hander and designated him for assignment.

Statistically Romero ranks in the bottom 10% of all relief pitchers. , but there are some teams that have already shown some interest in Romero.

The Cardinals, who had looked at Romero over the winter might just be a potential suitor for his services. St. Louis has two lefties in the bullpen at the moment: Trever Miller and Brian Tallet. Miller has done the job (2.92 ERA in 12 1/3 innings), but Tallet’s 7.15 ERA in 11 1/3 innings is not cutting it.

J.C. is a great guy. Really charitable, and fun to have in the clubhouse, but Antonio Bastardo has been brilliant this season and has outplayed Romero in every way possible.

Thanks for the memories J.C. Good luck.

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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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Phillies Rumor Mill Vol 4.

27 Jul

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Roy Oswalt is now the main focus of the Phillies and their trade deadline plans.  With Danny Haren off the market the focus is entirely on Oswalt.  It probably had been the entire time, but does he want to come here?

It looks like he doesn’t.

Early yesterday it was reported that Roy by Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that Oswalt does not want to play for the Phillies. Then a few hours later Oswalt told MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart that “location doesn’t matter.”  He was also quoted in a local Houston paper saying that he would accept a deal to the East Coast under the right circumstances. “That’s not an issue,” he said. 

The issue is money, duh Roy, we got it. 

What I think will make this deal strange is that Roy is regarding himself as a staff ace, and we all know that in Philly this guy is gonna be our third starter.  Does he want to go to a team to contend or does he want to go there to be the ace?  He’s been the ace in Houston and I’m sure he’s had fun there.  They have been in the basement of their division for years.  I look at a guy like Zack Greinke, he won the Cy Young in Kansas City but that’s all he’ll ever do there.  Do you think that’s what Greinke wants?  What’s wrong with Philly Roy?  I’m not even sure if I want a Prima donna like that.

Word out of the Philles camp is that it’s a possibility that Oswalt can be had without having to deal Jayson Werth.  The Astros are apparently seeking Major League caliber pitchers, for us that likely means J.A. Happ.

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Hamels Solid – Thompson Released

23 Jul

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Cole Hamels has really proven that 2009 was a fluke.  2008 Hamels still exists.  Through eight innings Cole struck out seven but earned the no decision.  It’s become the norm for Cole to receive no run support, but he doesn’t care, he just wants to win.

“Look at my whole career,” Hamels said, with a laugh, about the lack of
run support. “That’s part of the game — go for it and try to pitch the
best you possibly can. If I just plug away, good things will happen.
It’s something where you can’t really affect (the offense). The only
thing you can affect is making one good pitch after another.”

Minimal run support is nothing new for Hamels, who, in his last three starts, has
given up only one run in 22 2/3 innings for an ERA of 0.40. Yet, he has
one win and two no-decisions to show for it… pretty sad, but still it’s good to have Cole as a Phillie.

It took 11 innings but the Phillies got the win.  Placido Polanco homered in the top of the 11th (His first since May 9th) and Jayson Werth had an RBI double to tack on some insurance.  Brad Lidge got his 8th save.
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Hitting is no doubtingly the Phillies biggest problem.   The organization chose Milt Thompson to be their fall guy.  I find it difficult to blame a guy that has been behind what was the most potent offense in the majors for the past 3 years.  Thompson told reporters in a phone interview that the Phillies told him they wanted “A new voice.”

“It’s part of the business,” Thompson said. “I ain’t even mad. If somebody else can get them going and
they can get in the playoffs this year that would be great.”

I hate to agree with him but if someone can get these guys to hit right now, they deserve the job.

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Phillies Rumor Mill Vol 2.

22 Jul

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As it appears right now there are other teams that are becoming a factor in the Phillies quest to land right hander Roy Oswalt.  Buster Olney reports that Oswalt would like the chance to pitch in St. Louis, and that preference may become a factor. He may even consider going to St. Louis without having his option picked up.  The difficulty for St. Louis is that their farm system is fairly depleted and Huston is not as impressed with their offer.  Philly is still talking with Huston, so it’s not entirely over for the Phillies.  Brad Lidge told Paul Hagen of the Philadelphia Daily News that he would call Oswalt, a former teammate, if it helps bring him to Philadelphia.  Ha!  Will that really do something?  Well, it’s at least a nice gesture.

Some reports have also surfaced that the Tampa Bay Rays and the Phillies have talked about B.J. Upton and Wade Davis.  Still more then likely the Phillies would like prospects.  The further they dig themselves into a hole the more and more likely they will be thinking about 2011 rather then 2010.

Philadelphia had scouts out to watch Dan Haren last night and reportedly so did some other teams.  Apparently the Yankees, Tigers, and Cards are also kicking Haren’s tires.

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