Tag Archives: Vance Worley

Rockies Escape Phils Sweep

22 Jun

Photo: AP

Things looked pretty good for the Phillies chances at a sweep of Colorado.   Jeff Francis on the mound, and the whole 75 pitch count dilemma that faces the Rockies and their starting staff of four.

Sadly it just wasn’t meant to be.

Other then a lead off home run from Jimmy Rollins (the 39th of his career), the Phillies offense couldn’t come through, though they had their chances.

John Mayberry led off the second with a double, and Ty Wigginton led off the eighth with a double, but the Phils couldn’t figure out a way to get either of them home.

Vance Worley went seven innings, allowing two runs on four hits, while striking out two.

Colorado’s Chris Nelson hit a two-run homer in the 7th inning off Worley denying the Phils the sweep.

This team is starting to fade.

Can the Phils to get to 88 wins? They’d have to go 55-36 the rest of way. That would be a .604 run.  Possible? eh…

The Phillies really need to get their act together to make that happen.

The Phillies will welcome the Tampa Bay Rays for a three-game series this weekend.

Friday: James Sheilds 7-4, 3.72 ERA vs.  Cliff Lee 0-3, 3.48 ERA

Saturday: Alex Cobb 3-3, 3.82 ERA vs. Kyle Kendrick 2-7, 5.29 ERA

Sunday: David Price 9-4, 3.08 ERA vs. Cole Hamels 10-3, 3.25 ERA

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Good News/Bad News for Worley

23 May

The good news first?

Vance Worley found out that he does not need Tommy John surgery, after a visit to Dr. James Andrews*.

The bad news is that he will have to pitch with bone chips in his elbow for the rest of the season.

Vance hasn’t even played catch in a week, so he’s not going to be back very soon.  He’s going to have to take a page from Hamels’ book from last year, and find a way to pitch through the pain.

“I don’t know how bad his was, but he basically told me it’s not going to feel good and you’ve just got to go,” Worley said.

He’s done pretty well so far going 3-2 with a 3.07 ERA in seven starts.

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*Andrews is one of the most recognizable orthopedic surgeons in the sports world and performs most Major Leaguers’ Tommy John surgeries.

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Does Ruben Have Oswalt On His Radar?

17 May

The placement of Vance Worley on the DL raised a question with a few members of the national media today…. Are the Phillies keeping an eye on Roy Oswalt?

MLBTraderumors.com had this up on their site last night…

Phillies Not Prioritizing Roy Oswalt

By Zach Links [May 16, 2012 at 9:51pm CST]

The placement of Vance Worley on the disabled list got some talking about the Phillies’ lack of depth and Roy Oswalt potentially returning.  However, General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. isn’t looking to sign the veteran anytime soon, writes Todd Zolecki of MLB.com.

“We think he’s throwing,” Amaro Jr. said. “I guess he is. But right now what I’m worried about is our team playing better. That’s my focus right now. I feel comfortable with the starters we have. If we get to the point where we’re not comfortable with him then that might be something we explore. But I will tell you that right now I’m happy with our guys the way we are right now, unless something changes. I think we’ve got other fish to fry right now.”

The money that could be spent on the 34-year-old could also be allocated towards acquisitions via trade, but the Phillies have yet to determine whether they will be buyers or sellers.  Fellow pitcher Jake Peavy recently gave Oswalt his endorsement, telling Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that he’ll be ready to contribute this year.

Also there was this blurb from ESPN’s Buster Olney…
Some people with the Phillies expected Roy Oswalt to eventually find his way back to Philadelphia, Olney tweets. The Phillies placed Vance Worley on the disabled list today, which could create an opening for Oswalt. However, the Phillies haven’t determined whether to be buyers or sellers this summer.
….
Thankfully Worley found out this morning that he has no structural damage to his arm, but the Phillies will keep him out as a precaution.  He’ll be shut down for the week, and will begin normal activities thereafter.
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And That’s Why He’s the Vanimal…

20 Apr

Well it was a familiar story on Thursday night for the Phillies.

The game was nice and tight all the way through, and again the Phillies pitching was brilliant.  Vance Worley threw 7 scoreless innings, and a career high 11 strikeouts.  Vance, like Lee the night before had to pitch at the top of his game when runs are coming at a minimum.

Again the Phillies offense was bleak.  After loading the bases in the first and only walking away with one run, it wasn’t until the 9th that they would score again on a passed ball.

But alas, A win is a win.

It’s pretty nice to be at Petco Park. The Phillies have won 12 straight games here, dating to 2008, so it’s nice to have a 4 game series here when the offense is struggling so much.

Side Notes -

John Mayberry Jr.  - Oh my.  This kid needs a few days off, or to be sent down to AAA to figure it out.

Jonathan Papelbon - Pap is now a perfect 4 for 4 in save opportunities. He’s likely going to be a discussion point all season as he was the Phillies biggest offseason move, when offense really needed to be addressed.

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Cliff, Vance, Fontenot, and Contreras.

14 Apr

Just a round-up from the last few days…

Last night…

Cliff wasn’t Cliff.  It’s as easy as that.

At least not the whole night.  He missed his spots a couple of times in the game last night, especially in the first inning, and that was all it was going to take for the Mets.  Cliff Lee is a strikeout pitcher, and when you throw a lot of strikes, you’re gonna get hit sometimes.

The Phillies as we know are pretty darn bad when they face knuckleball pitchers.  Last night was no exception.

Today…

Vance Worley gets the start today against the Mets.  Vance is 3-1 (3.00) against the Mets in his career, and pitched nicely last Sunday against the Pirates at PNC Park, allowing just one run in six innings.  Jon Niese is 4-3 (4.07) against the Phillies, but is a better pitcher then that.  Should be a pretty good matchup.  Here’s the lineup

Victorino, CF
Polanco, 3B
Rollins, SS
Pence, RF
Mayberry, LF
Wigginton, 1B
Galvis, 2B
Schneider, C
Worley, P

Other news…

As you know by now, the Phillies have signed Mike Fontenot to a minor league deal.  They had looked at him a bit when he was a FA last season, but the Phillies have been a bit of a revolving door of infielders given all the injuries over the last few seasons, so that’s not much of a surprise.

I wouldn’t say that the signing of Fontenot is telling of what’s going on with Chase Utley, but it may just be that they thing they see a small upgrade over a guy like Pete Orr.  In 2011 Fontenot  batted .227/.304/.377 with four homers and 21 RBIs in 252 plate appearances.  The Phillies will have him report to extended Spring Training in Clearwater, and from there he’s most likely headed to AAA Lehigh Valley.

Galvis will stay put.

Jose Contreras is likely to return to the Phillies some time in the next day or two.  He’s pitched in two consecutive games, and last night retired the side in order, with a strikeout. Likely David Herndon, or Joe Savery will be sent down.  It just depends on how many left-handers the Phillies decide to keep.

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A Little Rain Can’t Stop Us

19 Aug

Thursday’s pitching match up looked like a pretty good one with Vance Worley facing off against the Diamondback’s Ian Kennedy.  Kennedy is having a remarkable season at 15-3 (the same amount of wins as Roy Halladay), with a  3.12 ERA.  He has won his last seven decisions and is a legitimate contender for the Cy Young award this season.

Worley didn’t get the decisison but the innings that he did pitch were very effective.  The Phillies have won each of Vance’s last 11 starts, and they would continue that trend on Thursday.

The the heavy rains washed away the starters, and two hours and seventeen minutes later play resumed with David Herndon taking the ball for the Phillies.  David Herndon got the decision for the Phillies, and he deserved it.  He kept his pitches down and located very well, ending his night with 3 innings pitched, one hit and four strikeouts.  Herndon kept the Diamondbacks off the board long enough for the Phillies to tack on a little insurance.

Herndon hasn’t allowed a run since July 18 and has an 0.73 ERA in 12 1/3 innings with 11 strikeouts since the all-star break, and David has a 1.65 ERA since returning from the minors in early May.  His approach is much better now, as he uses his full arsenal of pitches (slider, change-up) and not just trying to blow everyone away with a 95mph fastball.

John Mayberry Jr. hit a two-run home run, and when I say that he hit it, I mean he hit it.  Mayberry’s shot spun down the line, but it was hit so hard it didn’t have a chance to go foul.  John does not hit cheap ones.

The Phillies also got run support from Wilson Valdez and Raul Ibanez, who both hit RBI doubles.  It was nice to see Raul contribute after his recent slump.

Away for the weekend…

The Phillies are down in D.C. for a three game series against the Washington Nationals.

Friday night has Roy Oswalt (5-7, 3.84) pitching against Livan Hernandez (7-11, 4.21).

Saturday Kyle Kendrick (7-5, 3.25) will throw in place of Cole Hamels against John Lannan (8-8, 3.55)

Sunday Roy Halladay (15-5, 2.53) will face Chien-Ming Wang (2-2, 4.22).

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Phillies Make History On The Road

11 Aug

The Phillies capped off the best road trip in franchise history yesterday with a wild comeback against the Los Angeles Dodgers.  It was the biggest comeback of the season for the Phils who trailed 6-0 after the third inning, as they climbed all the way back to a 9-8 victory.

Not to pat myself of the back, but anyone that was chatting with me on Facebook yesterday will tell you that I said “it’s early… Don’t change the channel,” after the second inning.

After a rough four inning start from Vance Worley, the Phillies bullpen stepped in and held the Dodgers to just two runs over five innings. Vance just couldn’t seem to find himself until the second inning, but at that point it was already too late. He threw 81 pitches in four innings, before giving way to Kyle Kendrick.

The Phillies offense picked Worley up, and scored nine runs over the 4th, 5th and 6th innings.  Hunter Pence hit a two-run homer to dead center field in the 4th.  Then in the 6th Chase Utley hit a two-run, two-out RBI double, that Ryan Howard followed with a two-run home run.

Ryan Madson notched his 22nd  save of the season.  He recorded saves in all three games against the Dodgers.

The Phillies 9-8 win yesterday was marked their first sweep at Dodger Stadium in 16 years.  Not a bad way to cap off a stretch where they played 20 games in 20 days.

In their last twenty games…

• The Phillies went 16-4 sweeping the Dodgers, Rockies, and the Pirates.

• They increased their lead in the National League East from 4 games to 8 1/2 games.

• They batted .266 with a .331 on base percentage, and hit .275 with RISP.

• They hit 28 home runs, and scored 100 runs.

• They held opposing batters to a .238 batting average.

Still… I’m glad their coming home.

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Phillies Players Getting into Twitter

3 Aug

I have a Twitter, and chances are, you do too.  Now a few of the Phillies are joining in on the game.

It’s kind of annoying but at the same time it’s a pretty fun thing that these guys will actually respond to some of the stuff you sent them.  Here are the Phillies that are active on Twitter.

Mike Stutes 

Vance Worley

Hunter Pence

On a Twitter side note, I got a pretty smart ass response to a tweet I sent to ESPN’s Buster Olney last night.  I called him out for being so infatuated with the Braves.  Check it out.

Enjoy the day game today.

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Phils Poised for Second Half?

15 Jul

The Phillies are ready to make their run for another championship. They currently have the best record in baseball and are 3 1/2 games up in the National League East. I wish I could say that they are healthy, but they are getting there. So what if any thing stands in there way? I thought that we could take a look at these things and then I would give you my predictions.

The Bullpen – This seems to be where a lot of the questions lie, so I figured I’d talk about this first.

It looks like Ryan Madson is ready for his return. Ryan has made some appearances with the Clearwater Threshers and has had success and feels good. Madson was a huge part of the Phillies first half and is pretty vital to their continued successes.

Brad Lidge appears to be progressing. He hasn’t had a lot of work, and his outings so far really havn’t been all that spectacular. On Thursday night Lidge made a rehab appearance with the Reading Phillies in Trenton and gave up two runs in 2/3 of an inning. Lidge allowed one hit, one walk, hit two batters and threw three wild pitches during the seventh inning before being taken out of the game. However, his outing on Monday was a perfect outing. Lidge was unhappy with his control, but said that his arm strength is getting better and that he thinks he’s feeling well enough that he could return to the Phillies pen during the Phillies next home stand which is next Friday when the San Diego Padres come to Philadelphia.

Jose Contreras is expected to return to the bullpen at some point this season, but it is unknown at this point when exactly that will be. Currently Contreras is not partaking in any baseball activities.

The rest of the pen seems to be healthy and you just have to hope that the Young Guns can continue to find success. It cannot be overstated how big Antonio Bastardo and Michael Stutes have been for the Phillies.

The Rotation – Charlie Manuel at the request of pitching coach Rich Dubee has shuffled the cards in the Phillies rotation to give Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee a little extra rest after the All-Star game which both of them participated in. The Phillies have activated Vance Worley, and will start him against R.A. Dickey and the Mets tonight in New York. Cole Hamels will go Saturday against the Jon Niese, and it hasn’t been said yet formally, but I’m hearing that Kyle Kendrick might start, and face Mike Pelfrey on Sunday. So Halladay and Lee have been pushed back.

Joe Blanton is still sidelined with an elbow injury and no timetable has been discussed for him to this point. If Blanton returns, don’t be surprised if it’s in a different capacity like the bullpen if Worley continues to progress as he has. Kyle Kendrick might just get a shot to stay in the rotation for a while, but there are a lot of “If’s” there.

The Phillies are also staying mum when it comes to Roy Oswalt. If Oswalt returns and can pitch well it would be a huge boost to the Phillies. I’m not high on Oswalt right now and if things don’t progress for him then I wouldn’t be surprised if he asks for his walking papers after the season ends. It’s pretty well documented that Oswalt has had strong feelings of an early retirement, but a deep run in the playoffs may just give him the itch to give it one last shot. Right now there is no timetable for Oswalt’s return either. I’m thinking that the end of August would be a fair guess.

The Lineup – Shane Victorino should be activated as soon as he is eligible. One could argue that Shane was the Phillies first half MVP, and his healthy return will be vital to the Phillies second half run.

Protection for Ryan Howard is another big issue for me. Ryan has had a pretty decent season despite little protection from the revolving door that is the 5-hole spot. I’m still pretty convinced that adding another bat to the lineup, in the form of a right-hander. I have some feeling that that spot may get filled through a trade, but for now Raul Ibanez and Shane Victorino will need to find a way to offer Howard some help. Ibanez had a great series against the Braves, and let’s hope that that continues. Our corner outfielders have not have the seasons we expected.

Placido Polanco is a HUGE question mark for me. I think that Polanco can play through his injury but it’s not going to be pretty. Polly is dealing with a bulging disc in his back, and hasn’t been productive in over a month. It’s likely that he’s going to have to get a cortisone shot to help him manage his pain. Polanco has been a very productive hitter in his career, but as for as this season is concerned it’s going to be a daily question for him.

Ben Francisco and Domonic Brown have both had fairly disappointing seasons. Though they both come pretty cheap, the Phillies are going to have to try and procure some help in the outfield because I’m not fully convinced that John Mayberry Jr. is the answer. If they do make any sort of move it’s going to have to come in the form of a trade. The Phillies have next to no money to work with so Ruben Amaro Jr. is going to need to be creative.

With Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Madson’s expiring contracts the Phillies are going to want to use some of the money that is coming off the books in 2012 (Ibanez, and Lidge being the two biggies) to try to resign these two. The Phillies are also going to look into negotiating a long term deal with Cole Hamels. These things will make it hard for them to work something out this season.

Let’s not forget that Chase Utley is still playing with an injured knee. Proper rest is necessary for Utley because he really needs to step up his game and have a great second half.

Predictions - I don’t think that the Braves are going to go away quietly, but I do think that the Phillies have what it takes to fend them off until the end of September because they have plenty of question marks, too. My best guess is that the winner of the National League is going to come from the N.L. East, and that the two teams that will compete for a spot in the World Series are the Phillies, and the Braves.

Have a great Friday.

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Do We Really Need to Make a Trade?

1 Jul

Ruben Amaro has obviously made a few splashes in the the trade and free agent markets, but some of the trades I hear people talking about are just getting a little ridiculous.

There is so much talk about making a trade for a right handed bat, and I get it. We sure could use a few more runs every now and then, but I’m not quite convinced that it needs to happen with the urgency that so many need to seem to be crying for.

When I talk to people about winning in the playoffs I like to point out that most of the time it doesn’t matter how good your lineup is, it just matters whether you’re team is hot or not. In 2007 the Phillies were cut up by the buzz saw that was the Colorado Rockies. In 2008 the Rays were the hot team all season long but they ran out of gas by the time they got to the World Series and met a Phillies team that was hitting their stride. The 2009 Phillies were surely a better ball club then the Yankees, but they seemed pretty taxed and fell to a team of veterans that at the time were playing great baseball. I think we all can agree that we were a better club then the Giants last year, but again the Phillies went cold and we were beat by good pitching.

The regular season record means almost nothing when you get to the playoffs, but right now the Phillies are still the best team in baseball, and are 20 games over .500. We just won 17 games in the month of June, which is the most they have won in the month since 1993. They lead the Braves by 4 games, and even thought that will fluctuate a little bit before the end of September we are still, in my mind, a lock to win this division.

Sure, I’d love for the Phillies to find a bat that can add a little bit more run support in the lineup, but I don’t want them to make an unnecessary trade that might cost them in the future. How anyone can be saying that they would be willing to trade Vance Worley or Domonic Brown in beyond my comprehension. Right now Vance Worley is pitching great and showing that he’s worth keeping up here, and the little bit we have seen of Dom Brown is not enough for us to be deciding his future.

I’d imagine that a deal finds a way of getting itself done, but I wouldn’t expect anything of the caliber that we have grown accustomed to.

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