Written by Mike Mariano | 25 July 2010

Today will be J.A. Happ's third start of the year and his first one since April.  More importantly than the outcome of the game, Happ will be on showcase to all trade suitors.  Happ has been rumored to be part of a few different deals and is a valuable piece as a young, MLB ready pitcher.

If Happ comes out and deals today, it could go a long way towards the Phillies upgrading for a top of the line starter.

Also be on the look out, I recorded a podcast today with Rich from FightinPhillies and as soon as he finalizes it I'll send over the link so you can listen in on my oracle-genius-messiah-like conversational input.

Written by Mike Mariano | 25 July 2010

Apparently we live in a world where Kyle Kendrick can get the win against Ubaldo Jimenez.  Anything can happen on a baseball field and yesterday's reverse jinx worked like a charm as Kendrick and the Phillies soundly beat the Rockies 10-2.  Not only that, the Phillies chased Ubaldo after only two innings of work.  Ubaldo allowed six earned on only three hits, but six walks.  From there, Rockies pitchers in general couldn't seem to get anyone out.

Only two of the ten runs came via the long ball, more specifically the bat of Raul Ibanez.  The Cuban Clubber might just be finding his stroke at exactly the right time.  In other news, Ryan Howard continues to pulverize baseballs, yesterday to the tune of 1-4 with a three-run, bases clearing triple in the third inning that sparked the day's run outburst.  Rollins, Polanco, and Werth all added multi-hit games to the effort and it was over nearly right after it started when the Phillies put together a seven run third inning.

Written by Nikki DeMaio | 24 July 2010

Johan Santana put together another brilliant outing for the Mets last night... and this time, he came away with the win.  Santana went 7 innings, allowing just one run on 5 hits.  He was helped by the outfield defense, as Bay, Pagan, and Beltran each made at least one phenomenal catch (including Bay's face-first smash into the bullpen fence, a la Aaron Rowand a few years ago).  The offense showed some signs of  life for the first time since the All Star Break, and that includes Jason Bay who came through with a 3-run double in the eighth inning.

It's amazing to me how the Mets continue to play like two different ball clubs.  Last night, everything clicked:  fantastic starting effort, great defense, and the offense woke up to drive in 6 runs.  These are the Mets we've been seeing at Citi Field for most of the season (I'm glad they took the show on the road, even if it's just one game at this point).  But then, there are the Mets who have been just awful playing away from Flushing.  Those Mets are the ones that dug themselves into a 7.5 game deficit prior to yesterday.

Another thing - I was relieved to see some fight in the team last night.  Maybe Santana affects the mentality of the guys playing behind him more than we realize.  It seemed like last night was the first game in the second half where the Mets actually came to play baseball, and it showed in all aspects of the game.  It was important to get things moving in the right direction, but now they have to continue to play like that.  Tonight would be an excellent time for Mike Pelfrey to rediscover his ace form of the first half.  After starting out 2010 looking like a completely different pitcher, we've seen Pelfrey regress back to some of his bad habits from 2009.  He doesn't work at a quick, efficient pace anymore, and you can see in his body language that he's just not in the groove he was in to start the season.  I like Big Pelf, and he was so easy to root for when he was dominating line ups... but now he's getting frustrating again.  A win tonight would go a long way in helping Pelfrey - and the Mets as a whole - get back on track.

Written by Mike Mariano | 24 July 2010

Tonight the Phillies pulled to within six games back in divisional race due to a fabled occurrence: for the first time in months (or so it seems) the Phillies won a game and the Braves lost a game -- on the same day.  They said it couldn't be done, but somehow someway we did it men.  It took:

Roy Halladay throwing 8 scoreless, allowing 5 hits and k'ing 9.

3 hits, 3 RBIs from Raul Ibanez who has aged ten years in the last one.

a 5 run inning to ignite the offense.

Stealing signs from the outfield with binoculars.

Just kidding about the last one (hey the scandal did start against the Rockies last time), but it was a sweet win.  A decisive, earned victory for the first time post-break.  Roy Halladay was superb, unhittable the majority of the night.  Also, very happy for Raul.  It's been a long season for him and it'd be nice to see him silence some critics (me included) and put up a strong second half.  One more note on why this is a sweet win, the Rockies are ahead of us in the wild card -- which is something to start taking seriously if you haven't been yet.

Tomorrow, Ubaldo Jimenez v. Kyle Kendrick.  I'm going to chalk that one up as a loss and not because I'm trying to reverse jinx it (yes I am), but because well there's no good reason not to.  Wish Kendrick the best, but it's going to be a tough one for the kid.

Written by Mike Mariano | 24 July 2010

There's always a fall guy, it's the law of sports.  To date the Phillies have been so surprisingly bad offensively that it cost Milt Thompson his job.  I'm categorically against firings of this nature and here's why.  Unless said coach evidently lacks the skills necessary to be an assistant coach or causes problems/issues on the side, how is it his fault that Raul Ibanez can't hit his weight this season?  On a team full of veterans how much does an assistant coach even matter?  Does Greg Gross (his replacement) bring new knowledge on the game of baseball to the table?  What was Milt doing this year that was so wrong, compared to the last six seasons?

I understand that the point of coaching is to get the very best out of your players and that for underachieving you, as coach, should assume some of the blame.  However mid-season firings of bench/assistant coaches are media moves.  Making a change to make it appear as if a problem is being solved and frankly it's unfair to Milt.  If the hitting coach is this important and has this much affect, why are we running the guy out of town who nurtured Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth, Shane Victorino & Jimmy Rollins into stardom?

Written by Mike Mariano | 23 July 2010

It was bound to happen sooner or later.  The Phillies managed not to get swept by the NL Central first-place Cardinals, but it wasn't easy.  Cole Hamels was superb and the Phillies needed every ounce of him to survive.  King Cole only allowed one hit over his eight innings and the bullpen combined for three scoreless, hitless innings of their own, including Brad Lidge coming on for the save.  Sadly for Cole he didn't even get the win in such a dominant performance - Hamels has gone seven innings or more in his last five starts with a 1.72 ERA, only to be 1-1 over that series of outings.  Regardless of the W/L record, this is the kind of pitcher that Cole Hamels needs to be and making it happen more regularly like this is a great start.

It took 11 innings to scratch across some runs, but Placido Polanco connected on a two-run shot in the top of the 11th to win the game.  Lost in the refreshing feeling of victory is the fact that we could/should be 0-8 after the All-Star break as of now.  Things are as bad as they've been in the last three years and something has to change.  Whether it be via trade or the farm or the clubhouse, this team starves for a spark to get it going.

Oh yeah, and Ryan Howard had another three hits to boot.

Written by Gino Ferretti | 22 July 2010

On October 8th of last year, thefightins.com posted an article based on a picture of Charlie Manuel in the dugout with his hands down his pants. He was caught on MLB.TV's "home dugout cam" prancing around the dugout blowing gum bubbles. After winning a World Series and then returning to the Fall Classic the next year, swagger makes it acceptable to manage games with your hands down your pants. Having faith in the Phillies has been easy over the past couple years and Charlie is the most loyal.

The other night, in the midst of a losing streak, Charlie let his heart decide the game. He didn't manage with his hands down his pants. Maybe if he did, it would have shown his balls.

In the top of the seventh inning Ryan Howard flew out. Jayson Werth drew a walk followed by a line drive single by Jimmy Rollins. Cody Ransom struck out and with two outs Carlos Ruiz was walked intentionally to load up the bases. With the game tied one to one, in a must win game, Joe Blanton was due up. Wilson Valdez was certainly gonna be up by the time you returned to the sofa with a fresh beer, right?

Wrong.

The ever loyal Charlie Manuel decided to bat Blanton. He struck out on three straight pitches and just like that, the Phillies' tease was over. Blanton, at that point, had only surrendered one run on six hits through six innings. But he was up to 74 pitches. Not bad for any other pitcher NOT named Joe Blanton. Because after 74 pitches, Joe Blanton has a loathsome 9.18 ERA. So as Blanton waddled out to the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning, you couldn't help but feel like this was a bad idea. And just like that he gave up a first pitch home run to Matt Holliday giving the Cardinals the go ahead lead and eventually earning their third win out of the four game series.

Loyalty is certainly a double edged sword. And what makes Charlie Manuel one of the bests at what he does is his trust and faith in his team. And why not? They've been the best team in the NL the past two seasons and he maintains a peaceful, drama free clubhouse. But the other end of that sword cuts you when your loyalty gets in the way of rationality. And in many times this season, Charlie Manuel turned away from the panic button.
 
On Monday night, Charlie allowed the easily flustered Kyle Kendick to dig himself a hole the young pitcher wasn't experienced getting out of. In a 4-3 Phils lead, he allowed Kendrick to pitch to Albert Pujols with a runner on second and one out. Pujols took a sinker left over the plate and jolted it out into the left field night. With Kendricks inability to stay focused after losing it for a bit, Charlie should have put out the smoke in the brush before it spread to the three alarm fire it did. After Pujols' smack, Allen Craig and Skip Schumaker went yard back to back and along with the game lead went Kyle Kendricks night and possibly the rest of his Phillies season, as he was optioned to triple a lehigh valley the next day. Kendrick finished the night with an ugly tattoo on his pride as he gave up 7 runs over 5 innings and, oh yeah, that back-to-back-to-back thing in the 5th. The idea of teaching Kendrick to fight his own battles and finish them is the only way he is going to learn to keep composure when the balls start flying far and deep. But not when you're severely slumping, and coming off of a 1-3 start to the second half of the season. It's hard to understand why Charlie is chosing to gamble when lately, the Phils' money has been funny. It's either a lack of confidence in his bullpen or, in the case of Joe Blanton, a lack of confidence in his pinch hitters. Either way, now's not the time to wear his heart on his sleeve. 
 
Like any other night I went to bed to the moans and groans of Philly sports fans on the radio. Because it helps me sleep better knowing there's a belly ache for reasoning that stretches across the pits of thousands of Delaware Valley stomachs.

This concoction of sour offense and choking pitching is leaving Phillies' fans with daily morning hangovers. When a team that's only peeled off three runs since Monday has a chance to grind out a close momentus win, Charlie's loyalty cannot interfere with that. Managing a popularity contest doesn't win baseball games. Sometimes feelings need to be hurt, names need to be called out and chairs need to be tossed. Especially when this team has been spoiled by not only their manager but by their success.

And that takes balls.

Written by Matt Ryan | 22 July 2010

The Mets have dropped 10 out of their last 13 games, and 6 of 7 since the all-star break.  If not for a gift from umpire Phil Cuzzi, the Mets would still be searching for their first second half win.  They haven't won a series since the last weekend in June, which means 6 straight series losses or ties. And all of this with the return of Carlos Beltran.

It's difficult to pinpoint exactly what is causing this train wreck.  Clearly, it all starts with a lack of offense.  They've gone 12 straight games without scoring more than 4 runs.  With Jose Reyes, Angel Pagan, David Wright, and Carlos Beltran at the top of your lineup, this is flat out unacceptable.  And then there's the starting pitching.  With all the talk about Johan's "diminished stuff" he has been absolutely brilliant during this recent skid.  Niese has been solid, and the future is bright for him.  RA Dickey has been a godsend, an absolute lifesaver for this team right now. But how long do we really expect this to last?  More importantly, Takahashi and Pelfrey are taking the Mets out of games right now, and taking them out early.  If Pelfrey doesn't improve, this team is in serious trouble.

Given all of this, we've seen how capable the Mets are of catching fire, and I still have hope that they can.  In order to do so, they're going to need a spark, and as far as I'm concerned there are four possible ways to do so:

1.  Go out and acquire a big name, front of the rotation starter -  I hate to admit it, but this scenario is highly unlikely.  The market for pitching is weak, and the price tags are just way too high.  But the Wilpons need to do everything possible to remain competitive, or this ship will sink fast.  If you bring in a guy like Roy Oswalt, the fanbase will be re-energized, and you take a ton of pressure off of Mike Pelfrey, RA Dickey and Jon Niese.  Then by sliding Takahashi to a bullpen role, where he is much more effective, you essentially add another reliever.  It makes too much sense.  Which is exactly why I have zero confidence in the Wilpons/Minaya to pull the trigger.

2.  Infuse the roster with a big time call-up from the minors - Remember the impact Ike Davis had on this team from the minute he came up? He lit a spark when the Mets were completely lifeless.  Similar to where they are right now.  Unfortunately, the Mets are lacking in major league ready prosepcts right now.  And the big league lineup is pretty much a logjam right now, to the point where any other position besides 2B is on lockdown.  If not, I would suggest giving Fernando Martinez (I know he's struggling), Lucas Duda or Kirk Nieuwenhuis a shot.  But there is one guy who I think can help them right away:

Dillion Gee - If the Mets are unable to acquire another starter, why not give Gee a shot, and move Takahashi to the pen?  Gee has been hot and cold all season in AAA, but when he's on, he's on.  And so far in July, he's been on.  So far in July: 21.2 IP, 14 H, 2.49 ERA, 7 R, 2 HR, 2 BB, 25 K.  That's something to get excited about, and maybe the Mets could catch lightning in a bottle with Gee.

3.  Someone needs to put the team on their back - Jason Bay, I'm looking at you.  Give us one of those incredible hot streaks Boston fans became accustomed to last year.  Come up with some big hits, and maybe even start hitting it over the fence?  That would be nice.  If Bay isn't up to the task, we know that David Wright, Carlos Beltran, or Jose Reyes are more than capable.  A bigtime hot streak from one of them could propel the Mets lineup.  And if more than one guy gets hot at the same time, forget it. 

4.  Fire Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya - I have always defended the two of them, even when no other Met fan would.  But if the Mets don't drastically improve by the end of this roadtrip, I would be all for it.  They're struggling mightily and not making adjustments.  It's basically same old same old for Manuel.  And if Minaya doesn't improve this team by July 31st he needs to be run out of town.

I don't want it to come to this, but if all else fails and the team does not improve, it needs to be done.  This roster is way too talented to fail, and this fanbase is sick of this garbage.  I'm as optimistic of a Mets fan as they come, but it's looking pretty bleak right now. 

Written by Nikki DeMaio | 22 July 2010

Here's the question running through every Mets fan's brain right now:  are we really THIS bad?  Sure, expectations were kind of low coming into the season - I mean, anything would be better than 2009.  But now we're getting swept by the Diamondbacks.  They haven't swept anyone since last August!  The Mets sparked enough hope in me last night that I fought sleep all the way to the bitter end at 2:30 in the morning, and that might be the most depressing aspect here.  That and the fact the offense could accomplish nothing during 7 innings facing the worst bullpen in the history of the league.  I feel as if the team's "spirit" and "intensity" just disappeared.  I refuse to blame Carlos Beltran for this, as some people feel he's the problem.  If anything, Beltran is part of the solution... maybe not in the outfield, as I have my doubts about his physical capability to play center field on a regular basis, but absolutely at bat.  It's not his fault that Jason Bay hasn't hit all season, or that David Wright and Ike Davis are going through an expected slump after tearing the cover off the ball.

Speaking of Bay, his performance is being targeted for what is really the first time this season.  He was flying under the radar while his teammates were hot and carrying the offense, but now EVERYONE is cold.  If there was ever a time for Bay to step up, it's now, for both his own sanity and the team.  I did read something interesting today that changed my criticisms of Bay (or at least put them on hold).  There have been several star-caliber players that struggled in their first season as Mets, namely Mike Piazza and Carlos Beltran.  Piazza went on to become a fan favorite, and I personally feel Beltran has been underrated during his Mets tenure.  I know Jason Bay is not as bad offensively as he's seemed this year, now I'm just waiting for him to prove it.

I can't even talk about this series anymore.  Looking ahead, the Mets take on the Dodgers tonight.  Hisanori Takahashi takes the mound in the opener of a four-game set.  Starting Takahashi is a bit of a crapshoot at this point in the season, as most teams seem to have the book on him.  He's either been lights out or awful.  Since the offense has declined to show up to any game post All-Star Break, I'm praying for a good start from him tonight.

Written by Mike Mariano | 22 July 2010

(here's the final snippet from my interview over at TCB the other day.  This part is particularly interesting with all the recent Oswalt-Werth trade rumors)

TCB: What is the Phillies biggest need at the trade deadline?

Pitching is an obvious need for the Phillies right now, but I don't know who available fits exactly what we need. A starter would be nice, but we already jettisoned Cliff, so why would turning around and giving up prospects for Roy Oswalt make sense? Ruben Amaro doesn't look likely to bring Pedro in again and there isn't any readily available talent down on the farm. I'm not sure if the price is right for the Phillies in the SP trade market.

Offensively however, I think the bench needs to be fixed up and another infielder needs to brought in. With Utley out indefinitely, it makes more sense to bring in a super-utility type guy to patch up holes for him, Polanco, and inevitably J-Roll if he goes out again. The best defense is a good offense, or maybe it's the other way around, but I think keeping our biggest strength (the offense) going is more important that trying to patch-work the pitching.

TCB: Jayson Werth has been a steal the past three seasons, will he be let go in free agency?

Sadly I think so. Domonic Brown is killing people in the minors and he's the future in the outfield. Also, I don't know if the team is willing to eat Raul's 10 million and put him on the bench. I would love to have him back, however I don't know if his price tag is going to be affordable over the long term. He'll be over-30 when he hits the market and if he turns it around in the second half, the offers will be very, very high. Love the guy and will definitely miss him.