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Much Ado About Werth

Written by Gino Ferretti | 18 July 2010

 

Shave the beard. Grow it back. Close the batting stance. Open it up. Ponder free agency. Forget about it.

Baseball players are creatures of habit that are sometimes ritualistic and sometimes plain ridiculous. From Ryan Howard crouching down and sizing up opposing pitchers with his bat, to Chase Utley's voodoo triangle of bats, Red Bull and fruit, if it works, then more power to the cause.

But whether its the beard, the batting stance or the weight of pending free agency, Jayson Werth has yet to find a habit that works or a change to alleviate the discomfort at the plate. But one thing Werth needs to start doing is the most fundamental, and may just be, the most rewarding habit.

Swing the freakin' bat!

You surely can't say Jayson Werth has been inconsistent. Especially since July has been consistently bad for the slumping slugger. Besides not hitting a home run since June 23, he's hitting a pungent .196 with 10 hits, 3 RBI and 19 strikeouts in 51 at-bats.

But for a hitter who lead the NL with 4.50 pitches per plate appearance last year, you always expect Werth to take pitchers deep into counts. But what is alarming, strictly this year, is his amount of strike outs that come from window shopping. Out of Werth's 19 strikeouts in July, 11 of them have been "looking strikeouts".

No effort. No swing. Deer in the headlights.

"May I help you Mr. Werth?"

"No. Just looking."

Werth looks unsure and often times knee buckled at the plate. A far cry from the free swinging slugging sensation from the past two seasons.

So what's going on?

Nobody in the Phillies organization is talking outside of the obvious notion that Werth needs to swing the bat.

Maybe its mental?

Werth has been tense lately. From his failure at being a role model to fans in the stands, to his mockery and disrespect toward beat writers in the post game clubhouse, its obvious that it's not only the fans, media, and teammates that are frustrated.

With free agency on the horizon following the 2010 season and Werth's previously stated desire to test the market, it could all be a matter of doing too much too soon. Whatever Jayson Werth is trying to prove is working against him. And as the Phillies, as a whole, continue to lag, Werth may not have to stress about free agency anymore.

At least not on the Phillies watch. At least not on their dollar.

But trading Werth isn't as easy as it may appear to be. The Phillies are said to be mainly interested in picking up a good, middle of the rotation, starting pitcher as well as a strong, consistent arm out of the bullpen. But most teams that are looking to release pitching are teams that have packed away any optimism to contend in 2010. What would a team like that want with Werth when they are trying to burn the barn down and rebuild? The only option would be a tricky three team trade involving an "in the hunt" team that would benefit from a resurrected Werth. Those teams are far and few. Then again desperate times call for desperate measures.

So as the trade deadline nears, and the Phillies' want list gains length, the option to deal Werth could come to fruition. With AAA stud Domonic Brown raking like a November afternoon, and an aging Raul Ibanez offering little to no trade value, Werth may be the odd man out. Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. has made it clear that no position player is currently safe from trade status.

And Amaro is certainly the Frank Rosenthal of the trade deadline.

In the past couple years it's almost been ritualistic for Amaro to make a big trade to tighten up the loose screws on his ship. Trade deadline or off season. Cliff Lee or Roy Halladay. Ruben likes to talk about what he wants, but he LOVES to show he can get it.

The Phillies need help. They have a depleted farm, yet have a golden goose in Jayson Werth to give.

It's almost inevitable what usually happens after that.

And for Rube, trading, is a hard habit to break.

Starters Duel, but their Bullpen gets it done

Written by Mike Mariano | 17 July 2010

(Note: When we did that Q&A with the Cubs blogger yesterday, they also interviewed me.  So to see me avoid accepting trades for Carlos Zambrano and what we might need to do during the deadline, run over there to see my answers: Talking Chicago Baseball)

Blanton and Lily put forth matching efforts through 7, allowing three runs each.  Difference is that Blanton was pitching with the lead on two different occasions and neither time could he hold it -- including walking in a run with TED LILLY hitting. From there it was a battle of the bullpens and theirs did what ours couldn't and threw two shut-out innings to finish the game and get the win.  Carlos Marmol struck out the side in the ninth, something that Phillies fans have more than likely not seen in years from a closer.

Offensively, Ryan Howard and newly found power monger Shane Victorino hit jacks to help the cause, but nobody could find one in the late innings when it was needed.  Marlon Byrd and Aramis Ramirez provided the power for the Cubbies -- Marlon's tied it as a two-run job and Aramis' was the go-ahead winner in the eighth.

First off, who the hell does Marlon Byrd think he is?  He was a marginal player at best as a Phillie and all of a sudden he's all-star caliber and playing his ass of elsewhere around the league.  Not that I'd trade any of our outfielders now for him, but stuff like that always grinds my gears.

Can't afford to start the break on a sour note (well we can, but I really don't want to), so let's see what Hamels bring to the table this afternoon: 1:05 start out in Chicago.

Back from the Break: Spying on the Cubs

Written by Mike Mariano | 16 July 2010

First series after the break:  Chicago Cubs.  Instead of our usual Phillies perspective, let's take a glance in at how the enemy is doing:

Justin Bridgman, writer for Talking Chicago Baseball -- a fantastic writer for a great blog.  Needless to say we were excited to get his insider info.  And what better way to get over our own struggles then to talk to Cubs fans!

WTTTB: I'm a long time Lou Pinella guy, think he's still worth keeping around despite the losing or is time to part ways?
JUSTIN: I love Lou, he's become sort of a caricature at this point though. A lot of people wanted him fired about a month ago, but I never minded keeping him the rest of this season. Sure he just sits there and thinks about when he can leave and start drinking, but nobody else could get this team to do any better.

At the end of the season Lou will leave and go drink himself silly in Tampa. For now he seems to be good enough about limiting his pitchers pitch counts that he can stay for the rest of the year and not destroy anyone's arm.

WTTTB: I keep reading about the "disappointment" Cubs, is that how you see it or did you see this amount of struggling coming?
JUSTIN: On one or two individual players I'm disappointed, as a team I could see it coming. The best case scenario at the start of the season was the Cubs all over performing and being within a game or two of St. Louis. When Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Zambrano started to be bad at baseball that went out the window. It's a shame too because they've gotten some real nice performances from some unexpected places.

WTTTB: Almost 10 games out, Is there any hope for the Cubs at the deadline or is it sell time?  If so, who do you think gets moved?
JUSTIN: It's over. The fire sale will start as soon as Jim Hendry can drug some other GMs and start moving all the bad contracts. Ted Lilly will be moved for sure, probably to the Mets or Twins. Derrek Lee could be traded if the Angels want him. 

Hendry will probably listen to all offers for Carlos Zambrano, Alfonso Soriano, Ryan Theriot, and Kosuke Fukudome. Any team that trades for one of those players, good luck with that. Unless of course you get Hendry to eat most of Soriano's money, then he might give you another year or two of good production. 
WTTTB: F*** one, Marry one, Kill one: Geovany Soto, Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Zambrano?  [you can skip this if you'd like]
JUSTIN: This could get awkward, I'll try to justify it in baseball terms. 
F*** Soriano because he still looks okay now, but you know pretty soon it's going to be bad again.
Marry Soto because it looks like he will be pretty good for quite some time.
Kill Zambrano, simply because a repeat of the Milton Bradley offseason cannot be good for my mental health.

Of course the Cubs front office would marry Soriano (4.5 more seasons!), kill Soto (we have Koyie Hill!), and F*** (over) Zambrano 

WTTTB: What do you/will you possibly tell your kids when they realize that they're going to grow up miserable as Cubs fans?  (Before 2008, I had considered explaining to future Philly fans myself..)
JUSTIN: This is a tough one. I don't think I'll intentionally raise my kids as Cubs fans. My Dad is a Yankees fan, we moved to Chicago when I was young and Sammy Sosa was full of steroids. I can simply tell them that I'm an idiot that in some twisted way enjoys watching a complete train wreck of a baseball organization continually make mindblowingly stupid decisions. 

I adopted the Texas Rangers in April as my team that makes it baseball fun to watch. Maybe I'll make my kids Rangers fans. 

Back To Basics

Written by Gino Ferretti | 15 July 2010

All Star Week makes me miss baseball.

True. Competitive. Baseball.

When batters aren't smiling at pitchers as duels play out at the plate.  When right fielders yell at greedy fans for ruining a chance to make the last out in an inning of a must win game.

This week, I can do without the rock and jock game. I can do without hearing "back back back back" more than a Kim Kardashian photo shoot.

Besides, when its all said and done, does anyone really care about how good Evan Meek's four seam fastball is?

Who the hell is Evan Meek anyway?

On top of that, my own all star team is hot right now. Winning four straight games entering the all star break, this little interlude could cause a shift in momentum. For a team that sits 4.5 games out of first place in the NL East, these are hopeful times that need no interruption. But who am I to argue with baseball history.

So as I watch that band, that sings that annoying song about calling on angels, I will be saying my own prayers as the day dies down. Please please please keep the Phillies hot!

After an up and down first half of the 2010 season, the Phillies entered the All Star break coming off of a sweep of the sizzling Cincinnati Reds in four games. Three of those games were won in extra innings, and the last two games of the serties were won 1-0. With a lineup full of hefty hitters, you expect to see this team outscore opponents massively. But they haven't been doing too much of that. In fact, they're manufacturing wins.

And that's something new for Phillies fans to witness. But something well needed for the better of the team.

The usual suspects have become victims to their unusual injuries and surprisingly inconsistent plate appearances. The Phillies so far have relied on stellar pitching and sometimes sheer luck since starting off the season rather hot winning 8 out of their first 10 games.

At times the team has been frustrating for the fans. And the fans have been frustrating for the team. Between Shane Victorino's disdain for booing and Jayson Werth's fondness for the F bomb, its been a trying first half of the season for those preserving the current Phillies legacy and those who pay to witness it. We as fans are not use to the clean up hitter hitting .294 and in the top 20 in both doubles and triples. When he's suppose to be hitting home runs. Damn sure not used to Shane Victorino having 14 home runs at the break when he only hit 10 all of last season. When he's suppose to be getting on base with singles and doubles.

But even with Chase Utley on the disabled list until Labor Day and Placido Polanco expected to return this weekend, the big dogs like Werth, Rollins and Ibanez have lost all their bark and bite. These are weird times for those in the line up with roles.

Jimmy singles. Chase doubles. Howard homers 'em all in. That's how it goes. But that just hasn't been the case.

But you know what? They're winning again. And right now, they're hot. With those extra inning game heroics, the Phillies are starting to show flashes of a team determined to win by any means necessary.

Hard working miracle workers grinding through steel tight games, stringing together wins and weaving their way through the ranks of the division. And in a division where the competition is now more firm than in the past three years, the time is now to start pulling rabbits out of their batting helmets. 

Even if the fireworks and ass kicking isn't there.

As a true Phillies fan, you know this team is more capable of winning by owning the opponent opposed to squeaking by rigidly. Hell, they've done it before.

But right now, for a team trying to piece together some inspiration, a win is a win.  By 1 run or 10 runs. In 9 innings or 19. Just win baby.

And come hell, high water, or 17 games down and out, this Phillies team has the second half domination to run away from the playground with the competitions ball.

So as the four game series at Wrigley begins vs. The Cubs tonight, I'm reminded why at least the All Star Game may have not been so bad after all. Especially since now the Phillies own home field advantage for this years World Series.

Wink, Wink.

For what it's Werth...

Written by Benny B. | 13 July 2010

I missed a lot of opportunities to Phillie bash while I was away, but I don't want to let this one slide:

Jayson Werth was caught on camera cursing out a Phillie fan while his son looks on in stunned disbelief.  Now, there will be a lot of "heat of the moment"defenses.  But you know what, Werth should know better.  That's foul territory my friend--outside the boundaries of fair play.  That's something that every player has to deal with.  When a player dives into the stands and crashes into a fan, does the fan start cursing out the player?  No, they are usually applauded for their hustle.  Maybe the father was distracted by looking out for his Son's well being?  Maybe he's never gotten a foul ball in his life (I never have).  Either way, what Werth did was wrong...and as he was walking back to his position, apparently he didn't dish out enough embarrassment for that father because he kept jawing in his direction.

I never thought I would ever say this, but I truly feel bad for that Phillie fan.   Perhaps Werth knows this is his final year as a Phillie and doesn't give a rat's ass for his home fans.  One thing is for sure, if that was me, while I would feel bad that my team didn't get the out that maybe would have been caught, the Player who cursed me out in front of my son would have gotten a piece of my mind.  You suck Werth.  Maybe if you didn't have such a disgusting scraggly beard weighing you down, your would have gotten there earlier and made the play.  Don't blame the fans.

UPDATE:

Speaking of indiscretions by Werth, there is a rumor going around that he banged Cole Hamels Chase Utley's wife.  That could explain some of the disharmony....

http://www.phightinphils.com/2010/07/jayson-werth-and-jennifer-utley-having-an-affair.html

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