May 31st, 2013 at 10:44 PM
By Andrew Waltz
The Philadelphia Phillies are now 1-11 in games started by Cole Hamels. The same Cole Hamels that’s currently being paid like he’s an ace, but is probably better served as a middle of the rotation man. The Phillies are struggling and when they lose like this to the Milwaukee Brewers, I have to think that their record will start reflect the product their putting on the diamond.
Dominic Brown continued his tear through May as the one shining star for the Phils. He hit two more home runs, bringing his monthly total to 12 and his season total to 15. He currently leads the National League in long bombs and he’s making a serious push to start the All-Star Game in a couple months.
Hitter | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG |
Ben Revere, CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .251 | .294 | .281 |
Cesar Hernandez, 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .200 | .200 | .200 |
Jimmy Rollins, SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .257 | .316 | .395 |
Ryan Howard, 1B | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .254 | .288 | .438 |
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 31st, 2013 at 7:58 PM
By Andrew Waltz
It’s time to tackle perhaps the most depressing position – first base. The official Philadelphia Phillies web site lists Ryan Howard, Kevin Frandsen, and Michael Young on the depth chart at first base. Kevin Frandsen is the starter at second with Chase Utley on the disabled list and Young is the starter at third base. Outside of Howard, “platoon” is probably the best way to describe the backup situation at first. We’ll cover all those guys throughout the rest of the week. Today, the focus is going to be on Ryan Howard.
Ryan Howard, 49 G, .258/.289/.445, 7 HR, 26 RBI, 0 SB, 9 BB, 60 K, 96 OPS+, 0.0 WAR
If you’ve been a loyal Phillies 101 reader, you know that I have strong opinions about Ryan Howard’s status with Philadelphia. Those opinions seem to be widely agreed upon, but no one seems to know where the Phillies can turn if they ship Howard to another team. Howard is on pace to hit about 21-24 home runs, a far cry from his 162-game average of 43. He’s on pace to drive in about 80 runs, a far cry from his 162-game average of 134. He’s on pace to strikeout 180-190 times, which is unfortunately similar to his 162-game average.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 31st, 2013 at 1:17 PM
By Andrew Waltz
The second installment of Phillies 101’s position breakdown and trade talks will feature perhaps the most interesting position on the diamond. The Philadelphia Phillies have featured three different starters at catcher. Carlos Ruiz, the incumbent, missed 25 games at the beginning of the season because of a suspension and he’s currently on the disabled list with a strained right hamstring. The Phils are reporting a mid-June return. With Chooch only playing in 16 games thus far, the majority of the burden falls to Erik Kratz with Humberto Quintero playing the backup role.
Carlos Ruiz, 16 G, .235/.286/.275, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 1 SB, 3 BB, 9 K, 54 OPS+, 0.1 WAR
At the age of 34, Carlos Ruiz just doesn’t look like himself anymore. Coming back from a suspension during a contract year seemed like good ingredients for another great season. Ruiz struggled mightily in his first week or so, finally picked up the pace a little bit, and immediately hit the DL.
If the Phillies were looking to make a big trade, Ruiz would serve as a good bargaining chip. He’s not making a ridiculous amount of money for a guy who’s a year removed from being the third best catcher in baseball. Ruiz is a great locker room presence and would be an immediate upgrade to most catchers in the league.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 31st, 2013 at 5:27 AM
By Andrew Waltz
After a little more than one third of the season, it’s time to break down the Philadelphia Phillies by position. I’ll talk about their performance so far this season, but we won’t stop there. The Phillies are not contenders this season, no matter what Charlie Manuel tells you. They should be big sellers at or before the trade deadline. There is no better time than the present to talk about which of these players we could see shipped out. We’ll start at the one and move all the way around to the nine (and the bench!).
Statistics are through games completed on May 28, 2013.
Starting Pitchers
The Philadelphia Phillies have had seven different pitchers start at least three games so far this season, let’s take a look at them all from best to worse.
Cliff Lee – 6-2, 2.34 ERA, 1 CG, 1 SHO, 80.2 IP, 13 BB, 63 K, 167 ERA+, .967 WHIP, 3.0 WAR
Cliff Lee has been, by a relatively big margin, the best pitcher in the rotation. He has been roughly the same guy he was last season, but he’s managed to get good run support and stack up some wins early this year. His 167 ERA+ is, by far, the best among any starter on the team. His 3.0 WAR is fourth among all pitchers and 13th overall in baseball.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 31st, 2013 at 2:29 AM
By Andrew Waltz
Even the Philadelphia Phillies had to appreciate the history that was made when the Boston Red Sox beat them 9-2 Thursday. Jacoby Ellsbury stole a franchise record five bases during the 9-2 Red Sox victory. To commemorate the historic night, the Phillies presented Ellsbury with one of the bases from the game.
For the Phillies, though, it was just more of the same. I don’t know how this team, with a staggering -47 run differential, is only two games below .500. They had more strikeouts than hits and went 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position. That makes them…sit down for this…1-for-20 with runners in scoring position in four games against the Red Sox.
Hitter | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG |
Ben Revere, CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .256 | .295 | .287 |
Cesar Hernandez, 2B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .333 | .333 |
Jimmy Rollins, SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .251 | .308 | .377 |
Delmon Young, RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .224 | .292 | .412 |
Dominic Brown, LF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .267 | .302 | .518 |
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