How much does Rollins mean to this team?

Just got back upstairs from the Phillies clubhouse, and I’ve got to say, that place is positively giddy. I think a lot of times we as sports writers get a little too corny with our attempts to place unwarranted psychological significance on certain events. A lot of times in baseball, it simply comes down to: see ball, hit ball.

But I’m convinced that Jimmy Rollins is one of those rare athletes whose presence really can invigorate a team. It’s why I disagree with those who say he shouldn’t have been MVP last year. By now, I’m sure you all know he singled, doubled and homered in his first start in over a month. But beyond that, I’m convinced his presence made his teammates better. Not in a concious way. Jayson Werth and Greg Dobbs didn’t walk up to the plate thinking, “I’m going to single now because Jimmy Rollins is here.”

The Good Phight: Cohen: Ryan Howard’s Slump

Citizen K...all day!

When talking about early season slumps, it’s a common refrain for analysts to note that the slump is magnified by it occurring early in the season.  After all, if a player goes through a tough month in July, he’ll have April through June numbers to “absorb” the July slump.  But, if a player slumps in April, all he’ll have is April numbers, and he’ll look awful.

With that nugget in mind, I investigated Ryan Howard’s awful start to 2008.  36 games into the season, Howard’s triple-slash numbers are a miserable .165/.285/.331.  His OPS is a Nunez-esque .616.  He’s striking out to the tune of .34 Ks per plate appearance and homering only .040 times per plate appearance.

But has he struggled like this before over the course of 36 games but we’ve just not been able to see it because it’s been in the middle of a season instead of the start?  The very clear answer to that question is no.  What we’re seeing from Howard is a unique slump in his major league career.  Details if you follow the jump....

...Strikeout Rate: Some theories are that Howard’s horrible stretch now is because he’s striking out more than he ever has before.  But that’s not true.  In the middle of last year, from June 8 to July 20, Howard struck out .365 times per plate appearance compared to .338 this year.  During that stretch of striking out last year, Howard hit .295/.377/.664.  His strikeout rate clearly wasn’t too much of an impediment then.

Ryan Howard Can’t Hit Any Longer, Decides to Live in Bubble, Dress As Fat Man

Citizen K is more like it…

Yesterday the Reading Phillies gave away this lovely Ryan Howard snow globe to the first 1,000 boys and girls who showed up for the game against Binghamton. As Dmac says, “I’m not sure why Howard is batting with a french fry there.”

Phils acquire LH reliever

Boots Randolph’s made for Walkin’

The Phillies, who are openly searching for a lefthanded reliever, have acquired Stephen Randolph from the Houston Astros for a player to be named later.
There are reasons to believe that Randolph, 34, could soon join J.C. Romero as the second lefty in the bullpen. He has a 1.23 earned run average for Triple A Round Rock this season and had allowed just 8 hits while striking out 21 in 14 2/3 innings.

There are also reasons to believe he might not be the answer. He has command issues, as evidenced by 11 walks.

egbert and floyd: a tale of 2 sox

i’m tooting my own horn here. i’ve been floyd’s biggest supporter for about 2.5 years now, and i wrote this article late last year, thinking that i really liked the progress floyd had made over the course of the 2007 season, with the spin of looking forward to what he would do in 2008.

he’s taken 2 no hitters into the 8th inning, one of them into the 9th, and i’m ready to jump 100% into his bandwagon, without reservation.

well, maybe with one, OZZIE: PLEASE STOP RIDING HIS ARM.  give him a few starts with about 90 pitches, and let him adjust more softly to being a quality major league pitcher.  i know that a no hitter is a special thing, but he’s not going to last the season if you ride him into the ground every time he has a modicum of success.

Salisbury: For Burrell, the benefits of confidence

The one year I leave Burrell off my team...(sigh).

For years, instructors talked to Burrell about the importance of staying back on pitches. Committing too early caused him to fly open with his left shoulder and made him vulnerable to off-speed pitches on the outside corner.

People told Burrell: Stay back. Recognize the pitch and trust your hands. Use the whole field as you did in college and in the minor leagues.

Burrell seems to have made these adjustments, even if data provided by Stats Inc. show that he’s pulling the ball more than he did last year. Hitting coach Milt Thompson said he was seeing a willingness to hit the ball to the opposite field, and believes that has helped Burrell’s overall swing.

“The biggest thing is he’s not consciously trying to pull everything,” said one rival scout, a veteran Burrell observer. “He’s continued what he started the second half of last season. He looks like he’s trying to use the whole field. You don’t know how long it will last, but he’s definitely become a more complete hitter. He’s more intelligent. He got himself out a lot early in his career.”

NY Times: Lessons From Big Leagues Guide a Bassmaster Rookie (RR)

“I’m lost, just lost,” the angler, Billy Brewer, a rookie on the Bassmasters Tour, said Wednesday, a day before the start of the three-day competition on the 71,535-acre lake about 130 miles east of Atlanta. He did not have much more luck Thursday, standing in 78th place.

“This sport is unforgiving, sometimes unfair, but you keep throwing, you compete.”

Brewer had the same philosophy about his previous athletic career, as a major league baseball player. He pitched in 203 games in relief over seven seasons (1993-1999) and toiled in the minors for another 201 games. An unforgiving situation on the lake can be matched with some of his experiences as a member of the bullpen for the Royals, Yankees, Athletics and Phillies and 12 minor league teams.
...
There was the time in 1996, after being traded to the Dodgers from the Royals, that he threw 30 scoreless innings in a row at Class AAA but was left in the minors.

“We were on a conference call with L.A.’s general manager, me and my agent, trying to find out why I couldn’t join the big league team,” Brewer said. “And the G.M. said: ‘We’re being told Billy isn’t throwing that well. We’re not arguing about it — he’s staying where he is.’
...
After 4 of 11 events, he is 33rd among 108 anglers and second in the rookie of the year standings among 11 anglers.

MLB: Lieberthal to officially retire as a Phillie

And word has it that Darren Daulton will zoof in from Planet Quarloop for the ceremony!

Mike Lieberthal never wanted to leave the Phillies, and now he’s going to leave baseball as a member of the organization for which he spent most of his career.

The former catcher, who spent 13 of his 14 Major League seasons in Philadelphia and holds the franchise record for games caught, before playing his final season in 2007 with his hometown Los Angeles Dodgers, will officially retire as a Phillie on June 1.

“Philadelphia has always been a second home to me, so I’m really looking forward to this,” said Lieberthal in a statement. “I spent half my life there and still follow the team closely on television.”

Brett Myers at a loss to explain anemic fastball (RR)

And falling behind in the bloody count ain’t helping either!

The fastball that made Brett Myers a first-round draft pick in 1999 is nowhere to be found. The pitch that hit 95 m.p.h. suddenly cannot break 88 m.p.h. That is a concern for Myers and the Phillies, who finished 5-2 on their seven-game road trip after Myers lasted just five innings in a 5-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates yesterday at PNC Park.

“He’s supposed to be one of our aces,” manager Charlie Manuel said.

“I’m lost,” Myers said. “I’m lost throwing 88 m.p.h. I’m thinking I’m still a fastball pitcher because I usually am. I usually establish my fastball early in the game. I’ve always been that guy. I’ve always done that. But right now I’m going to other crap earlier than I want to.

“Usually if I’m behind in the count 2-1 or 3-1, I’m never pitching backward. Right now I’m pitching backward.”

...Said Myers: “It’s not like I’m hurting. It’s not like it’s aching. It’s not like I can’t throw or anything like that. I’ve had times where it is barking and still go out there and throw 92, 93 [m.p.h.]. But right now it just isn’t coming out. It’s like doo-doo going up there.”

MLB.com: Bastardo makes strong bid for promotion

Get ready for some great headlines, Eastern League!

Clearwater Threshers manager Razor Shines wouldn’t be surprised if Antonio Bastardo moved up three levels and took the mound for the Philadelphia Phillies before the year is over.
The latest evidence backing up assessment was Sunday’s performance against the host Tampa Yankees. The 22-year-old left-hander fanned 13 and allowed just two hits over eight innings in a 5-0 shutout.

“I would be shocked completely if this kid throws another start for me,” Shines said. “He’s good enough to pitch on a much higher level.”

Hey, I remember Razor Shines.  And I remember when this guy was on the Phillies, too.

The manager credited Bastardo’s work with pitching coach Steve Schrenk for much of the hurler’s success.

The Phillies almost have a farm system again.

N.Y. Times: Glanville: It Gets Late Early Out There (RR)

Another terrific piece by Doug Glanville...(as Lupica squats out another teen novel).

In theory, I had come to the Yankees ready to play ball “from Day One.” The idea that my history didn’t give me the benefit of the doubt was disconcerting. Because there was this younger kid, who played a little better than I did that spring and who would certainly be less expensive. I’d had a bad week, and he’d had a good week, and that made all the difference.

I understood that I was now entrenched on the other side of the bell curve. I was sliding downward into the “long in the tooth” spiked pit. My competition’s relatively minimal major league experience had become more valuable, in a way, than my library of experience. Somehow I had missed the transition point in my career where my value to a team had intersected with the value of a new kid on the block.

There was a time in Philadelphia when, as a young player, I had replaced the veteran Lenny Dykstra as the new center fielder in town, much to the dismay of the Philly faithful. But I felt I had plenty to offer. Maybe I wasn’t as wise as Lenny in terms of game experience, but I thought I made up for it with enthusiasm, newness and energy.

So I understand the cycle.

Baseball Digest Daily :: Brad Lidge Quiets Amateur Psychoanalysts

This guy needs to have his head examined.

As great as attributing success and failures to the psychology of Major League players, it’s pure conjecture until the players admit to it. Lidge is a perfect example of why psychology is best left to the professionals, and why it means little when it’s in regard to professional athletes of the highest caliber.

Source: Jimmy Rollins Has Broken Bone in Ankle - Off the Record

Can this be true?

Hat tip to http://www.ballhype.com

SportsTicker: Phils place Rollins, Snelling on DL

The Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday placed shortstop Jimmy Rollins and outfielder Chris Snelling on the 15-day disabled list.

Rollins, the reigning National League MVP, sprained his left ankle against the New York Mets on April and has not started since.
...
Snelling, who has inflammation in his left knee, was put on the DL, retroactive to April 17.

The Phillies purchased Snelling’s contract from Class AAA Lehigh Valley on April 14 after outfielder Shane Victorino went on the DL. Snelling, 26, has played in only [three games] for Philadelphia this season.
...
To fill the roster spots, the Phillies recalled infielder Brad Harmon from Class AA Reading and outfielder T.J. Bohn from Lehigh Valley.

N.Y. Post: METS TAKE SHOTS AT PHIL FANS (RR)

Load the Kropatschnek’s, boys!

Much to the dismay of Willie Randolph and Mets closer Billy Wagner, among others, the fans loudly cheered when Reyes collided with the knee of Phillies second baseman Chase Utley in the third inning Friday.

Reyes, who writhed on the ground in pain for several moments, said he blacked out briefly but convinced the Mets to let him stay in the game.

“We live in a culture where the fans are that way, where they love to hate,” Randolph said yesterday. “It’s just sad, it really is. The guy could have really been hurt. But we’ve seen that before. It’s a weird culture we live in.”

Wagner, a former Phillie, who is booed every time he pitches here, was even more critical of the fans in a city that once cheered former Dallas Cowboy Michael Irvin’s career-ending neck injury.

“It’s really sad when humanity comes to the point where somebody getting hurt is fun to watch,” Wagner said. “That just tells you where our society is. This is about the only place I’ve seen that. Shoot, they booed Santa Claus. They’ve taken this to a whole new level when you’re cheering for somebody to get hurt.”

Country Genius: Cobb’s Player of the Day: Rick Bosetti

Ricky Cobb breaks down the career of ‘70s whiz kid Rick Bosetti:

The one factoid everybody seems to know about Rick Bosetti is that he liked to urinate on the field. Perhaps it’s an urban legend, but you will hardly ever find any extensive comment on him that doesn’t gleefully remind you this dude was regularly watering grass and turf across North America. Some stories even say he did this during the games, concealing the dirty deed with his glove. I’ve also seen several sources that indicate his career ambition was to empty his bladder on every MLB playing surface ... Wrigley Field was apparently tops on his hit list. He played in this cathedral only once: September 5, 1977. I shudder to think what happened in left field that afternoon.

John Marzano Found Dead In South Philadelphia

John Marzano…

Former Major Leaguer and sports broadcaster John Marzano has died at the age of 45.

Marzano, a native of South Philadelphia, was found dead inside his home on Passyunk Avenue.

A family member called police to break down the door shortly before noon, officials said. Marzano apparently fell down the stairs, but it is not known whether he suffered a heart attack or simply fell.

MLB: Hamels ready for marquee matchup with Santana

The Mets landed Santana in the offseason, putting two of the game’s best left-handers in the same division, and in the center of a passionate rivalry.

“[Santana is] someone I followed for the past couple years and when I was in high school,” said Hamels. “When I played fantasy baseball, I wanted him on my team because he’d get tons of points. He stays healthy and puts up great numbers. That’s somebody you definitely aspire to be. Now that he’s in the [National] League, it makes it more entertaining for the fans with the rivalry we’ve developed.”

Having already outdueled Roger Clemens in his young career, Hamels said he won’t be affected by the magnitude of facing Santana.

“I don’t even care,” Hamels said. “The guy could have eight arms and it’s not going to bother me.”

Hmm...so Hamels was a gamblin’ Veruca Salteen! 

Fangraphs: Seidman: Appreciating Pat Burrell

Much like Pat Burrell on the prowl at Club Fluid/Flow...Eric Seidman is everywhere!

Already off to a great start Burrell has really been the glue so far holding this injury-plagued Phillies team together. As of right now Burrell ranks 1st in all of baseball in WPA/LI with a 0.98; his 0.98 is a full eighteen percent ahead of closest competitor Mark Reynolds. Burrell also ranks 1st in BRAA and REW, ahead of Joe Crede in both; in BRAA he is a full half-run ahead of Crede. Much of the talk surrounding the Phillies this season has pertained to whether or not Chase Utley would be the third straight Phillie to win the MVP award. If the season ended today, for whatever reason, Burrell would be the Phillies frontrunner.

His 6-yr/50 mil contract expires at the end of this season and Burrell has made it adamantly clear he wants to stay in Philadelphia. This raises an interesting question: Should the Phillies re-sign him? As that article states Burrell is no longer the franchise-savior and he is 31 yrs old. Being a devout Phillies fan my initial reaction is “heck yes they need to re-sign him!”

AP: Cubs take advantage of Utley’s throwing error to beat Phillies in 10

[Charlie] Manuel earned his first ejection of the season for arguing DeRosa’s homer off Jamie Moyer in the sixth that gave Chicago a 4-2 lead. DeRosa hit a high drive down the left-field line leading off the inning.

Third-base umpire Adrian Johnson called it fair, though replays showed the ball was just foul. Left fielder Pat Burrell immediately trotted in to state his case and Manuel ran out to express his opinion.

After the umpires refused to overturn the call following a brief meeting, Manuel continued arguing and was tossed. “I thought it was foul,” Manuel said. “I saw the replay.”

Cubs manager Lou Piniella had a different view. “It looked fair to me,” he said.

Told by reporters the ball was foul, Piniella replied: “Really? You mean the umpires were wrong?”

MLB.com: [Geoff] Jenkins bats leadoff for first time

The lineup had the look of a manager searching: Geoff Jenkins leading off, followed by Jayson Werth… “Of all the lineups I projected in my head, Jenks leading off was not one of them,” Werth said. “That’s why I love Charlie (Manuel). When I stopped laughing, I thought, ‘That might work. That might really work.’”

It would have to Sunday, or at least until Rollins’ expected Tuesday return. Jenkins had never led off in his 11-year Major League career, and had just four at-bats in that spot in the batting order.
...
“I told (Manuel) I had to have the green light. He said, ‘Hey… no,’” said Jenkins, who stole a career-high 11 bases in 12 attempts in 2000. “They say you can see something in this game you’ve never seen. I just saw it. But hey, we have a glitch in the system right now. A few guys are banged up and we have to pick up the slack. That’s what good teams do.

“I’m Rickey Henderson.”

Comcast: Salfino: Phils Pitching by the Numbers

Live from the Bowl-O-Rama-Slamma-Lamma-Ding-Dong Lanes...the latest from Salfino!

Cole Hamels

ZiPS says, 14 wins, 192 innings, 185 K’s and 50 walks. He’s great. 4:1 K:BB ratio. Only 2:1 this year, but it’s early. At age 24, he should get better. The homer rate has been high, but there are park factors at play. Hamels threw more changeups (34 percent of all pitches) than any starter in the league last year other than Tom Glavine. A number of scouts I’ve spoken to this year consider the changeup to be the most effective complementary pitch, all things being equal. Hamels is clearly one of the top 10 pitches in the sport and reasonably can be grouped in the top half dozen.

Kyle Kendrick

ZiPS only gives him 60-something innings. So we’re going to have to fly solo here, too. I hate to keep beating the same horse here, but when you strike out less than 4.0 per nine innings like Kendrick in ‘07, you are swimming upstream against a swift current. He’ll survive that only if he continues to flash the great control he showed in 2007: (just 2.0 walks per 9 innings). But this year, he’s walked eight guys and K’ed one. Hitters are also crushing liners off him (well above average rates of 21.1 percent in ‘07 and 27.3 percent this year). Oh, and his K-rates were terrible in the minors, too.

MLB.com: Victorino on DL with right calf strain

Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday night with a strained right calf, the same injury that curtailed his 2007 production. Outfielder Chris Snelling’s contract was purchased from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to fill Victorino’s roster spot.
...
Without Victorino and Rollins, Phils manager Charlie Manuel will juggle his lineup, with Werth and So Taguchi sharing time in center field. If the injury keeps Victorino out for an extended period, the Phillies may dip into their Minor League system for reinforcements, namely center fielder Greg Golson, who is off to a blistering start for Double-A Reading.

Spector: Nine Innings: Ryan Howard

Spector and Howard...both producing Philles records.

TB: Who did you watch growing up?

RH: I grew up a Cardinals fan. Just all the different teams through the ’80s and early ’90s. I had seen some Phillies games and obviously some of the other games in the World Series and stuff like that, but I was mostly a Cardinals fan.

TB: Ozzie, Vince Coleman, Willie McGee. You don’t see teams built like that anymore because they had the AstroTurf. Built with speed that way.

RH: Yeah, back then, the game was built with a lot of speed, and the teams that played on AstroTurf, it was a lot quicker game that way. Now, more so, it’s built around power with some speed in there. You still have a little bit of that in there.

TB: That works to your advantage, the way the game has changed. I mean, do you feel fortunate to be the type of player that you are at the right time?

RH: I mean, really, regardless of which time you’re playing in, it’s about going out there and doing the job. Obviously, back then, when the game was more around speed, even if you had a guy that could hit 40-plus homers, they’re not going to say, hey, we’re trying to build around speed.

N.Y. Observer: Megdal: It Was Jimmy Rollins … In the Stadium … With a Bat

and remember...the object of the baseball game is still to be the first to make the correct accusation.

It’s early, Rollins pointed out. “The fans remember everything,” Rollins said. “They remember things from 1950-something. It’s just one game, and we have a lot more to play.”

But if the Mets keep playing like it’s September 2007, the number of games is irrelevant. So Jimmy, have you killed the Mets?

“I never count them out,” Rollins said. “If you do count them out, you’re overconfident or not too smart.”

He added, “Last year, I said what I said. This year, I’ll play and let them do the talking.”

Deadly stuff.

Salisbury: Once more, Mets blow game to Phillies

Having trouble deciding whether to use self-help or professional help? Let Dr. William Edward Von Wagner (Basal Ganglia University) take a look inside your head.

Billy Wagner was seething because he had just watched a talking head on TV try to psychoanalyze the Mets after their ninth straight loss to the Phils, dating to last season.

“Some kid just out of high school,” fumed Wagner, shaking his head. “The stupid [crap] we deal with.”

The Mets closer, whose services were not needed after his teammates coughed up a two-run lead in the seventh, transforming the final Shea Stadium opener from a happy event into an angry boo-fest, went on to strongly express his displeasure with how the Phillies’ recent dominance of his team was being portrayed.

In short, Wagner doesn’t believe the Phillies are in the Mets’ heads - even if it’s starting to look that way.

“I’m tired of this ‘meltdown, psychological’ crap everyone hears about,” he said. “It’s still a game. We don’t even think about that crap. We’re baseball players. See the ball, hit the ball, pitch the ball. It’s the same thing for them.

“We’re all tired of hearing how the Phillies have our number. The Phillies don’t have our number. We keep shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Breaking Down Phillies Prospect Carlos Carrasco

Scouting Carlos Carrasco…

He has the potential to have two plus pitches and another above average offering. But much work needs to be done. Let him develop his pitches, continue to tweak his mechanics, and don’t rush him before he is ready.

The most realistic scenario for Carrasco is as a #3/4 starter, but the capability to breakout in a big way is still a possibility.

He got off to a good start last night:

5 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 Ks

NBC: Celizic: Tigers winless? Mets in last? Time to panic!

Panic in Year Zero Mostel in Panic in the Streets!

We are all doomed. Doomed, I say. Doomed.

The world is turned upside down. The Red Sox and Phillies are struggling. The Brewers and Royals are in first place. The Tigers have yet to win a game. What’s next, C.C. Sabathia winning the Olympic marathon?

This is in Revelations, isn’t it? It’s in one one of those passages that begins “Yea, verily, I say unto you” and then goes into gory details of death and disembowelment and pestilence and weeping and lamentation and running sores and eyeballs exploding and suffering such as has not been seen in the history of creation — or at least since Bartman grabbed that foul ball.

And the signs shall be the Red Sox and Yankees trailing Baltimore and Kansas City rising and Philadelphia and the Mets struggling and even unto Milwaukee, where victory rules. Right after that the world ends. I’m sure of it.

AP: Phillies top Mets again, 5-2, in final opener at Shea Stadium

Carlos Delgado and the New York Mets botched the final Shea Stadium opener the same way they squandered that big lead in the NL East last year. April or September, doesn’t seem to matter. The Mets can’t find a way to hold off Philadelphia.
...
“There’s none of us in here going, geez, the Phillies are coming to town, we’re probably going to lose,” Mets closer Billy Wagner said. “I think all of us are tired of hearing the Phils have our number. The Phils don’t have our number. We shoot ourselves in the foot every time we go out there.”
...
Chase Utley tied a major league record by getting hit by a pitch three times for the Phillies, who won despite stranding 13 runners on a chilly, 50-degree afternoon.
...
NL MVP Jimmy Rollins was booed loudly, as usual. Mets reliever Scott Schoeneweis (0-1) also heard it from the crowd of 56,350 after he and Delgado let the Phillies come back from a 2-0 deficit in the seventh.
...
New York LHP Pedro Feliciano didn’t arrive until the seventh inning because his flight from Puerto Rico was canceled, then another flight was delayed. Feliciano was given permission to return home on the off day Monday because of a family emergency, but he said everybody is fine

The Good Phight: Time to resign Pat the Bat

“Generally speaking, we do not seek out information that might be contrary to our existing views”...until now.

Looking over the data I see pretty good consistency.  In only one month out of 18 did he have an OPS below .700 and that was June of last year (a horrid month).  In only 2 months did he have an OPS of under .800, that was June that I just mentioned and May of the same year.  Other than those two months, Pat’s lowest OPS had been .826 of June 2006.  I can’t imagine expecting more consistency than that.

People (especially those who are paid to write and talk about baseball) often spend too much time looking at batting average.  Even so, Pat had 3 months where he had a truely poor batting avergage.  Those were the 3 months I had mentioned, June of 2006 and May and June of last year.  To even it out, Pat has had 3 months of OPS of over 1.000.  April of 2006 and July and August of last year.  Funny how last year was his most inconsistent year, yet was likely his best (well, behind this year so far).  If you aren’t convinced that Pat has been an extremely consistent hitter over the last 3 years either you are unable to read and Pat’s play is the least of your problems or you choose to ignore the truth.