Game chat: Oswalt, Phillies armed for the sweep

A pair of solid victories has given the Phillies a series win. Tonight, Roy Oswalt (6-13, 3.53) tries to make it all three when the newly acquired right-hander makes his second start beginning at 7:05. Chris Volstad (5-8, 4.71) counters for the Fish. The Phills welcome first baseman Mike Sweeney to the fray. Lineups are posted. The Phils go with Rollins SS, Polanco 3B, Gload 1B, Ibanez LF, Werth CF, Brown RF, Ruiz C, Valdez 2B, marking the 70th different positional batting order used this season and climbing with Howard out of the lineup. Top performers: The Phillies are 16-8 in their last 24 games. Here are their top performers over the last 28 days: Gload: .400/.556/.600 (28 PA); Ibanez: .380/.464/.577 (84 PA); Howard: .288/.398/.630 (88 PA); Werth: .337/.441/.530 (102 PA); Francisco: .275/.356/.575 (45 PA); Ruiz: .329/.373/.529 (75 PA); Polanco: .317/.356/.439 (87 PA). (Courtesy of Sophist)

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[JPB705]

JW - I responded to your tweet, but was off by a day.

from Matt Gelb, Philly.com: "Manager Charlie Manuel used his 68th different lineup combination Tuesday night. He used 68 lineups in all of 2009."

That seems to imply that last night's was 69, and tonight will be 70.

[CJ]

Raul Ibanez is Washed Up™

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Ibanez batting cleanup . . . didn't see that coming. Can't argue with it based on Werth's last few games or season performance with men on.

[Willard Preacher]

Smart money says that Oswalt has a better outing tonight than his debut.

Just have to wonder if the JV lineup can continue to score runs like this.

[NEPP]

****Raul Ibanez is Washed Up™****

Clearly. None of those are real hits, just a bunch of dumb luck on his part.

[seattlephan]

Just read that Medlen has a partial UCL tear, so the Braves sent down Kawakami and brought up Mike Minor to be their 5th starter (starts Monday). Never want to see an injury, but have to think this weakens their staff a bit -- Medlen had been pitching well for those guys

[borders]

nor were they hit very hard. I'll be glad if I never hear the phrase "they are hitting the ball hard" when they are in a slump. If find Wheels I'll take any number of full swings at him with a bat and ask if any of them were not hard.

[Kutztown Fan]

To answer a question from Heather from last thread, pig stomachs are stuffed with smoked sausage and diced potatoes, then browned and baked for about 3 hours. Yum.

Okay, enough of that.

Oswalt tonight. Maybe the debut of Sweeney as a pinch hitter? We'll see.

[denny b.]

The Braves were 13-1 this year, when Medlin started the game.

Very quietly, he was very effective for Atlanta.

That is a tough loss.

[Willard Preacher]

NEPP, did Ibanez inherit Happ's smoke and mirrors?

[GTown_Dave]

RE: Any Injury Suffered By An Atlanta Braves Player

"I weep for you," the Walrus said:
"I deeply sympathize."
With sobs and tears he sorted out
Those of the largest size,
Holding his pocket-handkerchief
Before his streaming eyes.

"O Oysters," said the Carpenter,
"You've had a pleasant run!
Shall we be trotting home again?'
But answer came there none--
And this was scarcely odd, because
They'd eaten every one.

[Noah]

Actually GTown, I don't think the Carpenter owns the Phillies anymore.

[keith]

55 games left. Thoughts on what the Phillies have to go from here on out to make the playoffs?

I personally think Phillies have to win 93 games to win the East. So, that means a record of 34-21 from here on out. Am I way off base here?

[Paul]

Yes, Noah, but I am the Walrus

[Andy]

Line-ups out yet?

[Andy]

Ooops. I should read more better. I hope that Gload's start soothes Heather's troubled brow.

[Noah]

Paul, I thought you were the Pope.

[Andy]

Are you sure that's Oswalt? It reminds me of Dutch Daulton...

[GTown_Dave]

Noah: Touché.

Andy: (Matt Gelb via Twitter): PHI at FLA: Rollins 6, Polanco 5, Gload 3, Ibañez 7, Werth 8, Brown 9, Ruiz 2, Valdez 4, Oswalt 1

[GTown_Dave]

Are you sure that's Oswalt? It reminds me of Dutch Daulton ...

He looks like a slightly less deformed Quentin Tarantino to me.

[The Truth Injection]

Whoever the producer is for DNL is not doing Amy Fadool any favors in this segment. They actually just had her ask Jim Salisbury what type of "Hose" he was referring to when he used that term to describe Dom Brown's arm last night. He very casually said, "That's an old baseball term."

She had to then say, "So before my time?"

Horrible direction there.

[MG]

Amy Fadool is competent generally but she doesn't add much to the broadcast either. Replaceable commodity if she demands more money or starts to age a bit because let's be honest the younger female TV broadcasters who get jobs at 26 or 27 aren't there primarily because of experience or resume.

[Cipper]

Who is Polanco guy and why is he so consistent? He doesn't fit the Philly mold...

[Souf Phil]

I can't stand Sam Denellon.

[goody]

WP: I had a girlfriend who worked at Fairgrounds Mall. Think it was called the Peanut Shack, out it the corner of the main aisle. When someone came to repair the slurpee machine, and removed the outer panel, it was loaded with cockroaches.

[philwynk]

@keith: "I personally think Phillies have to win 93 games to win the East. So, that means a record of 34-21 from here on out. Am I way off base here?"

I would say so.

The Phillies have to win three games more than the Atlanta Braves in the next 55 games to win the division, assuming that both teams play close to .500 ball and assuming that no other team goes on a tear and overtakes the Phillies and Braves. A record of 29 - 26 could conceivably do it, or 30 - 25. We really don't know. It depends on the Braves.

[GTown_Dave]

Fadool already looks like she forgot to close her eyes when the Ark of the Covenant was opened; I hesitate to even imagine what "aging" will do to her.

[Spitz]

MG: So you are saying Amy Fadool = Kyle Kendrick?

[The_Pope]

Amy Fadool is awesome. I guess I shouldn't be suprised that someone on BeerLeaguer complains at her though. But man she is awesome. There is nothing, and I mean NOTHING, that the BL hoipoi will not complain about.

[gobaystars]

I don't understand "the Phillies have to win ___ games to make the playoffs" statements at midseason. In the preseason it makes some sense as it reflects one's expectations of the competition, but today it is much easier. The Phillies have to win 3 more games than the braves to make the playoffs. Right?

[Willard Preacher]

goody, YEP, that's the Fairgrounds Mall. Vaguely remember the Peanut Shack, but the cockroaches are what make me certain that we're talking about the same place!

[Spitz]

I think 93 wins gets them the east or the wildcard.

[GTown_Dave]

philwynk: More precisely, it most likely will depend on how the Phillies play vs. the Braves. The two teams are set to meet 6 more times, 20-22 Sept. here in Philly, & 1-3 Oct. to close out the Regular Season in Atlanta.

[clout]

MG: Fadool graduated summa cum laud from Georgetown in International Relations, had a couple State Department internships and, when she's not on CSN, writes pieces for Foreign Policy magazine.

The sports gig is just a hobby while she completes her doctorate at the London School of Economics. Someday she'll be U.S. Amabassador to the UN.

[bay_area_phan]

Cipper: Yeah, Polanco obviously failed to read his Handbook for Phillies Everyday Players. One of the first chapters in the book talks about the importance of having at least one 1-for-75 slump each year.

[Jack]

93 wins will get into the playoffs in the NL, for sure.

It would suck to be in the AL, however. The Rays and Yanks are easily the two best teams in baseball and are running away from the pack. Both will most likely win 95+ games. The wild card is basically out of reach for all other teams.

[Spitz]

The only similarity between Georgetown and University of Kentucky (where Fadool really graduated from) is that they have good basketball teams.

[CJ]

So you assume that Amy Fadool is a woman?

Interesting.

[CJ]

Oliver Perez hit the waiver wire today. Should the Phils claim him? Lightning in a bottle?

[MG]

"Amy Fadool is awesome. I guess I shouldn't be suprised that someone on BeerLeaguer complains at her though. But man she is awesome. There is nothing, and I mean NOTHING, that the BL hoipoi will not complain about."

Everyone is entitled to their 2 cents. I like Gudel.

[The_Pope]

@MG -- pls wait 5 minutes for proper complaining about Gudel to commence....5, 4, 3, ...

[philipbusters]

Yeah Fadool most likely cannot locate Georgetown on a map. She is a wannabe Erin Andrews in a town full of ugly sports reporters. Her smugness rivals RBJs.

[toddzilla]

lol @ cj

[The_Pope]

@philipbusters -- I'd bet more than 75% of the general population would not be able to locate Georgetown on the map. Not sure what that proves except maybe americans don't like maps..

[The Truth Injection]

Agree on Leslie Gudel. I think Fadool is fine as the host here but she definitely doesn't have the rapport with the guys that more regular hosts do.

From that segment though I gather she is about 32 or 33. They referred to Oswalt as getting old and she said, "He's only about in his mid 30's. That's not old." Donnellon than said something about him being 32 and she made a face like, "I hope that's not old yet."

[NEPP]

Maps are for commies.

[Call me Ishmael]

Wait, what's all this baseball nonsense doing here?

Last comment - GTown - you ruined my dinner (from the last thread), I was just about to enjoy a BLT. You owe me one BLT.

[clout]

CJ: Strychnine in a bottle.

[CJ]

Anyone notice the Metsblog confidence rating is down to 9%? I'm fairly certain that's a new record low.

[NEPP]

Does anyone even post there anymore? Ever since he made it a requirement to register and have the posts screened, that site totally collapsed.

Why did he ever do that anyway? Quickest way to kill a blog like that.

[NEPP]

The funny thing is that their confidence never even went that low last year during all the injuries.

[denny b.]

Ollie Perez?

I wouldn't want him on my rookie league team.

[G-Town Dave]

Ishmael: I told you, the bacon tasted fine. You just had to catch it first. Luckily, it was slow-moving.

[NEPP]

Jason Bay: 102 OPS+. Just 3 short more years of that for them...possibly 4 if his 2014 option vests.

Just 6 HRs so far too.

[Spitz]

How about Ollie Perez as a LOOGY?

[NEPP]

I wouldn't put Ollie Perez on a slow pitch softball league.

[dlhunter]

@NEPP

All Mets fans are fundamentally insecure (why wouldn't they be? They're freakin' Mets fans!). Figures he would run the blog into the ground by closing it off from outside contaminants.

[Spitz]

NEPP, would you trust Antonio Bastardo in a slow pitch softball league?

[NEPP]

Its funny, even when the comments were open, you rarely saw Phillies fans posting on there with the crap we get here on the rare times the Mets have a good streak.

I wonder if Bay is having a crappy year as a fluke, or does he simply hate playing in NY (remember how much he dragged his feet before signing there?), is trying too hard in a "pitchers park", or is he pulling a Geoff Jenkins and getting real old, real fast.

OPS:
Jason Bay - .749
Raul Ibanez - .786

Anyone have that before the year started?

[Sophist]

Why would anyone want to take on Ollie's salary? Unless he's DFA's or you work out a deal with the Mets, you take on his contract. Makes zero sense.

[NEPP]

****NEPP, would you trust Antonio Bastardo in a slow pitch softball league?****

I'd probably trust him more than Perez.

[NEPP]

****Why would anyone want to take on Ollie's salary? *****

How about a Ollie for Zambrano deal? I could see that if they evened out the salaries maybe.

[Spitz]

Sophist, I thought they tried to designed Perez to the minors, and he refused the assignment. What options are left for the Mets, except to release him outright and eat his salary?

[Sophist]

NEPP - I've read that he's a pull HR hitter and Citi simply zaps that possibility to a large extent. He's hit three all year there and none to left. Of course, he's only hit 3 on the road (2 in Puerto Rico).

But just compare his HR last year:

http://www.hittrackeronline.com/detail.php?id=2010_551&type=hitter

all out to left. Maybe it's the parks in the East as well.

[The Truth Injection]

An unknown team has placed a claim on Adam Dunn after he was placed on waivers. You have to think it's a team out West somewhere and I could see it being the Giants.

[CJ]

Ollie Perez is as big a disaster as there is out there. We can complain about an extra year here or there to an aging vet, but Perez was signed to a 3-year, $36M deal when there was ZERO competition for his services.

Since then? Here's what the Mets have gotten:
3-8 W-L, 28 G, 21 GS, 109 IP, 82 ER, 6.77 ERA, 61 ERA+, 119 H, 95 BB, 1.963 WHIP

I'd imagine they won't get much more than a few more innings out of him this year so they've paid $24M for 3 wins and they're on the hook for another $12M.

How about this... he got signed to the big contract in the off-season after he lead the league in walks. You tell me how that happens.

[NEPP]

****NEPP - I've read that he's a pull HR hitter and Citi simply zaps that possibility to a large extent. He's hit three all year there and none to left. Of course, he's only hit 3 on the road (2 in Puerto Rico). ****

The funny thing is that he seemed like it wouldn't affect him based on his HR charts from previous years...he didn't exactly have a ton of wall-scrappers.

I totally see why he didn't want to play in Citi-Field...or why any RH pull hitter would want to play there. It is a terrible park to play in for that type of hitter.

They need to build on speed/defense.

[NEPP]

****Perez was signed to a 3-year, $36M deal when there was ZERO competition for his services.****

I remember when that deal happened. Everyone was flabbergasted when they heard the terms. There was talk that he'd be lucky to get a one year contract at that point and he gets 3 years, $36 million from Minaya. No one else was even bidding on him. People bashed teh Ibanez deal but at least there were other clubs gunning for him and he's been productive in the first 2 seasons of his deal.

[Andy]

I wouldn't mind Ollie on my slo-pitch team. As long as he was willing to be the catcher and bat tenth.

[MG]

You wonder if the Mets go into the tank again and finish sub .500 if they won't be forced to fire Minaya this year even though he has 2 years left on his deal.

[Mr. Mack]

Just got in from work and happy to see that my soda topic carried over all day.

A guy at work refers to sada as 'pop'. That's what they call it in the midwest (he's from Michigan), he tells us. Anywhere west of Ohio, soda is referred to as soda pop or just pop, for short.

I liked learning about the A in A-Treat standing for Allentown. Interesting. I have to admit though, I am partial to Franks, which has great flavors, but almost nobody outside of the Delaware valley has ever heard of Franks. Remember the old commercials, "I'll have a Franks...thanks!!"

[MG]

TTI - That is one guy I wouldn't want the Giants to get. One thing they have lacked since Bonds retired was a guy in the middle of the lineup with real power.

Giants got Dunn and they might just be the best team in the NL.

[p. Red]

I guess Fadool is alright to look at... but damn thems some ugly knees!

[The Truth Injection]

MG: Tell me about it. I was trying to think who would want Dunn. He is owed a little less than 4 million the rest of the way. i thought maybe the Braves if they were concerned about Glaus who is starting to wear down.

it's not Florida, the Mets, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Houston, Chicago, San Diego (unless they plan to make him an outfielder) or probably Pittsburgh.

I can't see it being the Dodgers either or the Diamondbacks.

That leaves the Phillies, Giants, and Rockies.

i would imagine it's not us unless they are really concerned about The Big Piece.

From there I could see the Giants really coveting him because they could use some offense and he would really bolster their lineup. I would think though that maybe the Rockies claimed Dunn to block the move.

This would all change though if someone planned on picking up Dunn to be an outfielder, instead of his natural first base position. If it's as an outfielder- all bets are off.

[Jack]

If the Giants get Dunn, they are definitely the NL favorites. Still, the Nationals aren't just going to let Dunn go for nothing, and the asking price was supposedly very high before the deadline.

Just because the Giants put in a claim would be no guarantee they would get him. It's probably unlikely.

[MG]

Speaking of terrible deals:

Giants still have to pay Rowand $24M over the next 2 years for a guy who has lost his starting job to Torres.

$24M over the last 2 years for a total 1.7 WAR and on pace to give them 2.2 for $36M.

Yet another positiona player contract signing by Sabean. No GM has had more crappy FA positional signings than Sabean the last ~10 years who still has a job with the same team.

Litany of them.

[MG]

Just for comparison's sake, the semi-maligned Francisco's WAR over the past 3 years is 2.1.

He will have made roughly $1.4M compared ot the $36M the Giants paid Rowand.

[Lake Fred]

I wonder if Cholly's gut feels like mine, very uncertain about the big "O" tonight.

[Sophist]

You'd think Dunn would get blocked from the Giants before they could claim him. Maybe not.

[NEPP]

Who would block them though other than us? The Padres are behind them on the claim list...If Rube was smart, he'd have made a blocking claim to prevent ATL & SF from getting them but I doubt he did.

[Sophist]

blocking him is a no risk move since we already "know" they passed up some offers before the deadline. It would be odd if they let him go for nothing on waivers.

[Sophist]

NEPP - the Rockies and the Dodgers could have claimed him as well.

[goody]

LF: Maybe your gut is feeling all that rat hair, cockroaches, and grade D meat?

[NEPP]

Good call on the Rockies and Dodgers.

Rube should have blocked him though. Worst case, they pull him back. They weren't about to give him up for free with those 2 picks available. Its a no risk move for any team to do.

[The Truth Injection]

Jack: true about the asking price. However, you are only allowed to trade with the team that claimed him so it does mess with your bargaining ability a little bit. You would almost have to just pull him off waivers then.

[Sophist]

Yeah, if a team is claiming solely to block, he'll just get pulled back. Nats seem intent on keeping Dunn unless they get blown away by an offer. A blocking team won't do that.

[The Truth Injection]

It could be the Dodgers but I just don't see them with him in left. Maybe they would do it just to block the Giants.

[NEPP]

So do the Giants move Huff to RF if they acquire Dunn?

[jt]

jaysonst A name guaranteed to go unclaimed hit waiver wire today -- Oliver Perez. Mets can spend next 48 hours praying someone claims him by mistake

-stark from twitter

hahaha perferct

[bay_area_phan]

To me, the Ollie Perez contract is sort of like the Lidge contract. At the time it was signed, it seemed like a fair deal for which the teams would get fair value; it just hasn't turned out that way. The Aarond Rowand deal, on the other hand, looked bad from Day 1.

[The Truth Injection]

Great start by Jimmy and Polly

[The Truth Injection]

BAP: Every writer, and every fan questioned the Perez deal. They all basically said he was too inconsistent to deserve the contract and that the Mets were basically bidding against themselves.

[Meyer]

Jimmy with the happy foot.

[The Truth Injection]

Great at bat by Ibanez. He is seeing the ball so much better lately.

Of course that brings up Werth.

[NEPP]

If there's a single guy I want up with the bases loaded, its Jayson Werth.

[NEPP]

So, popup or strikeout on a high fastball?

[NEPP]

What a shock.

[bay_area_phan]

Truth: I don't really remember the deal being questioned. Perez was coming off 2 good seasons in a row. He'd been inconsistent in the past but he was still young. The conventional wisdom, as I recall, was that he had turned himself into a reliable starter. Kind of like the conventional wisdom was that it was absolutely essential we lock up Brad Lidge.

[NEPP]

Its not even funny anymore. He just cant hit with RISP. Bat him leadoff or something...stop having him in the 4 or 5 hole.

[bay_area_phan]

Grand slam coming up.