Phillies-Cardinals NLDS Game 1 Thoughts

One down, 10 more wins to go.  After a sluggish start for both Roy Halladay and the offense, the Phillies woke up in time to pound the Cardinals, 11-6, and start off the 2011 playoffs with a win.  Here are some of my thoughts on the game:

-Who else had a sinking feeling in their stomach after Halladay gave up the 3-run homer in the first inning and when the Phillies offense looked impatient and inept against Kyle Lohse in the early innings?  You had to figure that Halladay would settle in and he certainly did, retiring 21 straight and looking dominant from the 2nd inning on.  Take out that one swing by Lance Berkman and we'd be talking about another amazing Halladay playoff outing.

-With one swing, Ryan Howard already has more homers and RBI than he did in the entire 2010 playoffs.  We've all seen Howard come up small with runners on in close games before but he stayed patient and waited for Lohse to make a mistake.  If that's the Howard we get for the next few weeks, another title is just a formality.

-The rumors of Raul Ibanez's demise have been greatly exaggerated.  These could be his last few games with the Phillies and Ibanez has already made a huge impact.

-The bullpen still might be something to worry about.  The fact that they had to turn to Ryan Madson just to put the Cardinals away was disheartening.  Although the starters can be expected to go deep in nearly every game, someone besides Madson has to step up and get batters out.

-Albert Pujols is good and all but how about they don't basically intentionally walk him in the first inning?  Berkman and Matt Holliday (when he's healthy enough to start) can really rake so there is no reason to give them extra runners to drive in.

-Hunter Pence looked comfortable in the playoffs, picking up a big hit before Howard's homer as well as the single that put the game out of reach in the 8th inning.  He continues to be exactly what the Phillies needed to add to the lineup.

With Cliff Lee going against Chris Carpenter tomorrow, Game 2 should be a great matchup.  Expect the first team to get to 2 runs to win.

Phillies remain best in NL after sweep of Nationals

The demise of the Phillies offense has been greatly exaggerated. On Thursday, the Phillies finished off a sweep of the Nationals by beating them 7-3. While the Phils continue to get great starting pitching nearly every time out, the offense has awoken after a slow stretch, averaging 5.6 runs per game in their last 7. That's a big improvement over the 2.7 runs they averaged in the 11 games prior to that.

Raul Ibanez, of all people, has led the offensive resurgence, picking up 8 hits against the Nationals in 3 games. Raul, who was hitting an abysmal .154 before playing Washington, saw his average rise 60 points to .214 since Tuesday. He was quite the run producer in the series, hitting 3 doubles, 2 homers and picking up 5 RBI. Ibanez has been a streaky hitter throughout his career so hopefully this is the first step on the way to respectability after a miserable start.

While they looked great in sweeping the Nationals out of town, the Phillies next 9 games will tell us more about them. With 6 against the Braves and 3 against the Marlins over the next week, the Phils will be facing the two teams directly below them in the standings. It will be a nice early test and a good chance for them to create a little breathing room in the NL East.
(AP PHOTO)

Chris Coste released, claimed by Astros

The writing was on the wall. Chris Coste had to know that the Phillies, who were keeping three catchers on their roster for some inexplicable reason, were eventually going to get rid of him. Coste hadn't started a game since June 27th and was relegated to pinch hitting duty, getting only two at-bats so far in July. He had to know that, sooner or later, he was going to be on his way out the door.

And that day has come. To make room for the return of Raul Ibanez, Coste was released by the Phillies and was subsequently claimed by the Houston Astros. Coste will now continue his unlikely career in Houston as a backup catcher.

Coste's story is well-known, how he spent many years in the minors before finally getting his shot as a 33 year old. He was a bit of a fan favorite in Philly because of all he had to overcome to get to the show, but as a player, it's hard to say he will be missed. Coste was having a mediocre season with the bat and clearly couldn't be relied upon behind the plate, hence the Phillies need to bring in Paul Bako. He's the kind of guy you could keep around on a decent team because of his great story, but, with the way he is playing this year, he wasn't going to be a useful player on a team with World Series aspirations.

Good luck in Houston, Coste. Hopefully they have some playing time for you so you can prove that you still belong in the big leagues. Oh, and thanks for helping us win the World Series last year!

Three Phillies named to the 2009 All Star team, Victorino needs our help

The World Champs will be well represented at the 2009 All Star Game. Two Phillies, Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez, were voted in as starters to the game, while Ryan Howard was added as a reserve by NL All Star manager Charlie Manuel.

Utley and Ibanez are certainly more than deserving, but Howard's selection came as a bit of a surprise. The National League will have four first basemen at the game, which is definitely more than enough, but I guess Manuel wanted to make sure he got one of his players in there.

It is unknown as of now whether Raul Ibanez will be healthy enough to play in the All Star Game.

Shane Victorino also has a shot of making the All Star team, but he needs our help! He is in the Final Vote, where the fans get to pick the final player to make the All Star team. Click here to vote and get Victorino to the All Star game!

From bad to worse: Ibanez to the DL

For a team that has been in first place for most of the year, the Phillies haven't exactly been full of good news this season, especially when it comes to injuries. First, the Phillies lost Brett Myers for the season, then Brad Lidge and Scott Eyre were sent to the disabled list. Now, their hottest hitter, Raul Ibanez, will join them.

Ibanez was placed on the 15 day DL today with a strained left groin. He is going to have an MRI on the strain to see if there is any extensive damage, and early word from Ruben Amaro is that Ibanez could be out for more than two weeks. Replacing Ibanez on the roster is John Mayberry, who swung the bat pretty well for the Phillies when he was up last month.

Obviously, losing Ibanez, who was on pace for 60 homers this season, is a big blow to the Phillies, who have already been swinging cold bats lately. We can only hope that the MRI will not turn up even more bad news. Hurry back, Raaauuuulll!

No PED's here: Ibanez's homer leads Phillies to victory

(AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

Couldn't have picked a better guy to be the hero for the Phillies tonight. Raul Ibanez, who had his name smeared by some blogger earlier in the week, was the perfect choice to lead the Phillies to a victory over the Mets. Ibanez broke a 3-3 tie in the top of the 10th inning by crushing a 3 run homer that carried the Phils to a 6-3 win and a series victory over the Mets in New York.

Ibanez has been all over the media this week, with his strong backlash against all of the allegations that he could be using performance-enhancing drugs. His game-winning shot tonight won't keep him out of the news, but at least now he will be talked about for the right reasons. By the way, for those keeping track at home, Ibanez now has 21 homers on the season, just 12 away from his career high. He is on pace for 59 homers and 162 RBI for the season, numbers that would easily win him an MVP award and would absolutely demolish his career highs. PED's or not, and I firmly believe NOT, those are some crazy numbers.

One more thing to note from the game: Ryan Madson saved his second game in a row after a near-perfect bottom of the 10th inning. If he keeps mowing down hitters like this, I see no reason for the Phillies to rush back Brad Lidge. If the Phils can get some steady work from Scott Eyre, J.C. Romero and Chad Durbin in the 8th inning, then they won't miss Lidge at all.

Fun with Phillies Projections, Hitters Edition

Now that we are more than a quarter of the way through the baseball season, the season is really starting to take shape. The quarter pole is the time to start looking at numbers to find the trends and the flukes. Let's take a look at some of the actual projected statistics for a selection of Phillies hitters and see if there is any chance they can meet these numbers:

Raul Ibanez
Current: 17 HR, 43 RBI
Projected: 64 HR, 162 RBI
Considering his career high in homers is 33, there is little chance that Ibanez will continue to be this hot, although he still seems a likely candidate to get a least 40 homers and 120 RBI. Ibanez has to be loving the transition from a pitchers park in Seattle to Citizens Bank.

Chase Utley
Current: 11 HR, 31 RBI
Projected: 43 HR, 121 RBI
While those numbers pale in comparison with Ibanez, Utley is crushing the ball this season. Those totals would dwarf his previous career high's by 10 homers and 16 RBI. Of course, with Utley, it's all about staying healthy. If he can remain in the lineup every day and close to 90%, he should at least get to 40 homers.

Jimmy Rollins
Current: 6 steals
Projected: 23 steals
A lot has been said about J-Roll's slump this season, and he can't steal bases if he doesn't get on them. Rollins hasn't stolen under 30 bases since 2003, and he has already started turning things around (4 steals in the last 10 games), so expect him to get close to 40 again.

Jayson Werth
Current: 8 HR, 8 steals
Projected: 31 HR, 31 steals
Werth was a 20/20 guy last year, can he make the leap to a 30/30 guy? I say doubtful, especially when you factor in that half of his steals came in one game. Werth has a shot at 25/25, which is still a darn good season.

Ryan Howard
Current: 51 strikeouts, 2 steals, 0 errors
Projected: 192 strikeouts, 8 steals, 0 errors
Howard had 4 career steals entering this season, he's absolutely tearing up the base paths this year. Those strikeouts are in line with his career averages, so expect the big man to continue K'ing at least once a game. The fielding seems like a legit turn-around, he had 19 errors last season and has made a concerted effort to become a much better fielder.

John Mayberry
Current: 1 HR, 3 RBI
Projected: 61 HR, 183 RBI
Small sample size be damned, those numbers seem about right!

Check back later for a look at projections for the Phillies pitchers.

Ibanez, Phillies power past Reds; bring on the Yankees!

(AP Photo/Al Behrman)

Who needs good starting pitching when you have an offense like this? The Phillies got a poor outing from Joe Blanton, who gave up 5 runs in 5 innings, but they managed to destroy the Reds with their bats and pick up a 12-5 win. The Phils offense was paced by four homers, one each from Greg Dobbs, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and the red-hot Raul Ibanez. They still aren't getting the performances they need from their starting pitchers, but that offense, which is 2nd in the NL in runs scored, could very well carry them right back into the playoffs.

Ibanez has been the story of the season so far as he now is hitting .349 with 15 homers, 40 RBI. Those numbers put him in Triple Crown contention now that he is first in RBI, tied for first in homers and 7th in the NL in batting average. It's even more eye-popping when you look at his projected numbers for the season. If Ibanez keeps hitting at his current pace, he will finish the season with 62 homers and 166 RBI. We know that won't happen, but Raul is still likely to finish with around 40 homers and 110+ RBI. Is there anyone out there that still misses Pat Burrell? (1 HR, 17 RBI)

Up next for the Phillies is a trip to New York to play the Yankees. Can you believe it's already time for Interleague play? Much has been made about how easy the Phillies schedule has been so it will be interesting to see how they do against the powerful Yanks. The pitching matchups favor the Yankees, as they will be sending out their two lefties Andy Pettitte and CC Sabathia to counter the Phils lefty heavy lineup. J.A. Happ will make his first start of the season for the Phils, he will have a tough time trying to slow down the potent Yankee lineup. The marquee matchup of the series is Sunday when Cole Hamels faces off with Sabathia. That is a must-watch game and it should be a hell of a pitchers duel.

The Phillies are still relying on their bats to bail them out because their pitching isn't coming through. The Yankees are pretty much in the same boat, so expect to see some high-scoring games in New York this weekend.

Phillies overcome Hamels injury with home run barrage

(AP Photo/H. Rumph Jr)

Cole Hamels just can't catch a break. In his first start since Prince Fielder hit a line drive off his shoulder, Hamels was cruising against the Nationals, pitching 4 and 1/3rd scoreless innings. Then, as luck would have it, Hamels was the victim of another freak injury when he rolled his ankle trying to field a bunt. The early word is that Hamels sprained his ankle but there is talk that he won't miss his next start and it's very unlikely he will go on the disabled list.

You have to feel for Hamels, he just can't seem to get his 2009 season going. After a dominating playoff performance last year, Hamels hoped carry some momentum into a possible Cy Young season this year. Due to a stretch of bad luck, instead he has already suffered his third injury of the young season.

The Phillies would not be denied in this game, however, and beat the Nationals 7-1. After crushing 2 grand slams yesterday, the Phils continued their homer party with 4 dingers tonight, 2 from Chase Utley and one each from Pedro Feliz and Raul Ibanez. The man rapidly becoming a fan favorite, Ibanez, continued his torrid start to the season and now has 7 homers on the year to go with a .355 batting average. He has made everyone quickly forget about Pat the Bat, who is not hitting much with the Rays this season.

The Phillies offense has repeatedly bailed the pitching out. While it is nice that the offense is capable of exploding on a nightly basis, eventually the Phils will need to get something from their starting pitching. Hamels' start tonight was progress, let's hope he can heal up and avoid a stint on the DL.

Sweep averted: the sky isn't falling in Philadelphia

(AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

If baseball games were only 7 innings long, this would have been a very different post. The Phillies appeared on their way to their third straight loss as they entered the bottom of the 7th inning trailing 10-3 to the Braves. The starting pitching had once again put the team in a first inning hole and the Phillie bats remained cold despite Raul Ibanez's first homer with the team. Hopefully everyone stayed tuned into the game, or was following it online like I was, because what happened next was reminiscent of the magic of the 2008 Phillies. They won!

The Phils sent 13 batters to the plate in the bottom of the 7th inning and exploded for 8 runs to lead them to a 12-11 win. What was even more surprising about that output was they only had four hits in the inning and none of them were more than a single. In fact, the Phils managed four singles, five walks and to get hit by a pitch in the outburst. Four of the walks scored runs when they happened with the bases loaded. Talk about a meltdown by the Braves bullpen, Atlanta needed four pitchers just to get through the inning!

Heroes for the Phillies included the aforementioned Ibanez, who went 2 for 3 and had 3 RBI, 2 walks and 3 runs scored. His homer was the first for the team this season. Despite giving up a homer in the 9th, Brad Lidge also continued his perfect streak of saves in a Phillie uniform.

So now the Phillies put a win on the board, moving their record to 1-2 on the season. Not a great start to the season, but it sounds a whole lot better than 0-3. With Cole Hamels pitching on Friday in Colorado, it's safe to say the Phils have an excellent shot at moving to .500.

Phillies drop Spring Training Opener

Thank goodness it was a completely meaningless game, otherwise we would all be worried that the Phillies lost to the Pirates 8-2. Jamie Moyer started for the Phils and pitched two scoreless innings, but two pitchers not likely to be on the major league club this year, Joe Bisenius and Scott Nestor, gave up 7 of the runs.

The batters didn't fare much better, accumulating only 7 hits. New Phillie Raul Ibanez had an RBI single in the third inning, providing the only highlight for any every day player. Outfielder Jeremy Slaydon was the only Phillie with two hits.

While the outcome wasn't great, the fact that baseball is starting up again is what matters. As we all know, you can't take anything from these early Spring Traning games, especially considering the 11-6 loss the Phils had last season to kick off Spring Training against these same Pirates. And we all know how last season turned out!

Pat Burrell signs with the Rays

We knew this day was coming ever since Raul Ibanez signed with the Phillies. Pat Burrell, who spent 9 years in a Phillies uniform, signed a 2 year deal with the Tampa Bay Rays, the team the Phils vanquished in the World Series. Burrell signed for a relatively cheap 16 million dollars over the two years and will be the Rays designated hitter. That's a great deal for someone who will give you 30 homers and 90 RBIs a season.

Burrell's Philadelphia career is now officially over and it ended on the highest note possible. He went from longtime goat to World Series hero this season and will always be remembered for helping the city break its long championship drought. It's sad to see Burrell go even though we knew this day was coming. I personally am surprised at how little money he settled for, I would have thought the Phillies would have easily matched that amount. Burrell's replacement, Ibanez, signed for 10 million a year and he's four years older than Burrell.

So long, Pat the Bat, you went out a winner. Expect a huge standing ovation for Burrell when the Rays visit the Phillies on April 3rd and 4th for the final Spring Training games at Citizen's Bank.

Thanks for the memories Pat Burrell: Phillies sign Raul Ibanez

Pat Burrell's career in Philadelphia is over. The Phillies signed corner outfielder Raul Ibanez, formerly of the Seattle Mariners, to a 3 year, 30 million dollar deal today. He will replace Burrell, a free agent, in the everyday lineup.

Ibanez, 36, will add another lefty bat with some power to the lineup. He has topped 20 homers and 100 RBIs in each of the last three seasons. He also hits for solid average, hitting between .280 and .304 in the last two seasons. While his age concerns me, he's a professional hitter who was signed to a reasonable contract. The only issue I have with the signing is that Ibanez is yet another lefty. With Burell likely gone, the Phillies lack a big right-handed bat in the middle of the line-up.

Burrell ended his tumultuous Philadelphia career on the highest note possible. He's gone from one of the most heckled players to one of the cities most loved. Wherever he ends up next season, Phillie fans will be rooting him on and they will give him a standing ovation when he comes to town.

Good luck Patty B, thanks for helping us win a championship. Now we are going for the next one with a hitter that brings a little more to the table.