Game 12: Home, sweep home vs. Marlins

After getting swept by the red-hot Brewers (who have now won eight straight) in their home-opneing series, the Phillies have a chance to sweep the Marlins on Sunday.

Kyle Kendrick (0-1, 3.75), who served up two homers to Ryan Braun last Tuesday, will face a lineup he's much more comfortable with in the Marlins -- Kendrick is 8-0 with a 1.69 ERA in the past three years against Miami.

Chase Utley will look to keep his hot bat going. The second baseman owns a 14-game hitting streak dating back to last season, and he leads the league in OBP (.537), slugging (.778) and OPS (1.314) this season.

Plus, he's batting .522 with four doubles, two homers, eight RBIs and three walks in his last six games.

Jimmy Rollins is also hitting .417 over that same span with three extra-base hits and five RBIs.

Henderson Alvarez (0-2, 4.15) will take the ball for the Fish, who have lost six straight.

Comments

[Ruben Amaro, Jr.]

I decided to offer Joe Blanton a 4 year, $60 million contract. He's not done yet.

[Dickie Thong]

I wonder if he'll retire as a Phillie.

[MG]

No immediate worries for Asche:

Franco is out to a .108/.195/.135 with 0 HRs and a few errors at Lehigh Valley in his first 10 G.

[way too early]

Only one game out of the Wild Card!!

[Phillibuster]

JoeBla doesn't have the stuff to be a major-league pitcher anymore, but he'll always be in rarefied company as one of the few pitchers to ever hit a HR in the World Series.

Sportscasters will be quoting that feat for decades in the event it ever happens again.

[Dragon]

Fish or no Fish, a sweep is always a good thing. Good to be back at .500 going into the Braves series. Also enjoyed Schmidt in the booth today. Thought he did a good job.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Tip of the cap to Kentucky Joe. Never wanted a ticket when he pitched but, he pumped fastballs in the zone and went at teams every fifth day. Also, playoff caliber hitter. Felt sorry for him when he got here as it seemed the guy he fell in with was Brett Myers, resident redneck. But, he got to be the fifth guy in the best four man rotation in recent memory. Probably wear an A's cap on his induction in the Hall of Backend Rotation Guys.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Would like to rank Joe Blanton on th elist of Phils' all-time starter. I have him well ahead of Randy Lerch and Don Carman. Top 100?? 200?

[DPat]

NEPP, Bittel & Conway~ Thanks much. I don't know if the path to healing will be quick, but I know I'm on that path. No doubt it'll take time.

[bullit]

i'd like to add my condolances, DPat. you've been a most interesting poster in my years here, and always enjoyed your insights. may you find peace and continue to add to my BL experience.

[bullit]

jamie moyer just came on morning joe.

[bullit]

he's talking about a grief camp for children he sponsers.

[bullit]

it's called camp erin and is part of moyerfoundation.org

[bullit]

this is the site for the program he flew to ny and back to promote:

http://www.moyerfoundation.org/programs/camperin.aspx

[NEPP]

My favorite non-WS Joe Blanton moment: The press conference in 2011 to introduce "the greatest rotation of all time!!!" starring Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt...and Joe Blanton. You know he felt awkward, they felt awkward and everyone else felt awkward too but that was what it was.

[WSJ]

Condolences DPat, it's wonderful you and your wife got to have such a nice time together during the winter meetings. I've always enjoyed your posts and am looking forward to more of them.

[bullit]

Ha. and here i was, this off-season calling for asche to be traded to play franco. but he didn't show me much this spring, except a loopy swing and questionable defensive skills.

[NEPP]

Fun with WAR:

2014 Utley: 1.2 bWAR
2011-2014 Howard: 0.4 bWAR

So, by WAR standards, Utley's first 10 games this year have been worth more than 3 years of Ryan Howard.

Sounds about right.

[NEPP]

Utley's career SLG in April: .605. That goes along with a career 1.005 OPS for April.

So, he's basically Mr. April for his entire career with an OPS that is 129 pts higher than his overall career line for the month.

[bullit]

the fact that utley is still playing, let alone at such a high level is nearly miraculous. when the patellar cartilage is gone, it's gone for good.

[Conway Twitty]

Blanton trying the AJ "retirement" ploy. He knows Rube won't be able to resist.

[awh™]

DPat, sorry for your loss.

My God bless and keep you both.

[awh™]

"May"...

[Jackamac]

My favorite JoeB moment was a presser w/ the four aces, and someone had a question directed at Hamels that included a sentence along the lines of "you're the only one with a ring, etc etc" and Blanton just slowly raised his hand.

[bullit]

beautiful weather for a dollar dog night vs. the braves. it's the first game broadcast by espn.

[WSJ]

Attendance for this Sunday's game was under 35,000. The last time attendnace was under 35,000 for a Sunday home game was on September 9, 2007. The winning pitcher was Jamie Moyer, the losing pitcher was Dontrelle Willis.

[Redburb]

Sorry DPat for your loss.

[NEPP]

Clearly Jamie Moyer is the sole commonality here. They should fire him to get attendance to jump back up.

[NEPP]

On a serious note about Moyer...he's fantastic as a color guy and him and Schmidt were great together yesterday. I'd be okay with them firing Stairs and expanding Schmidt out to a 100+ games a year guy in the booth (if he wanted it of course).

They even make T-Mac a solid play-by-play guy...as shocking as that sounds. T-mac is miles better this year than he was last year. Maybe we all underestimated him and Wheels was the problem all along. Considering how Wheels got Whitey fired and tried to do the same to HK, I wouldn't be schoked if he's kinda hard to work with in the booth. T-Mac seems way more natural with Jamie to work off of .

[NEPP]

Here's another fun thought: Why not bat Dom Brown leadoff? If he is more the guy he has shown so far this year with a high average/high OBP and very minimum power, we might be best served with him hitting leadoff instead of 6th in the lineup.

Might be something to think about when the great Tony Gwynn cools off in a week or so.

Also, is Revere a 4th OF now?

[Cyclic]

Sore ribs for Revere, right?

[NEPP]

Supposedly he was okay to play yesterday but Sandberg went with the hot hand in Gwynn instead.

I have no issue with it as long as Gwynn keeps hitting. Might as well use the bench if they can produce.

[GBrettfan]

DPat - I'm so sorry for your wife's terrible accident, injuries, and your loss of her. May you have many good memories, and may you find peace in them. God bless.

[Iceman]

DPat- God bless you my friend. Very sorry for your loss.

[rellis]

DPat- So sorry for your loss.

[PLM]

Joe B will be back next year with us on a 1 year deal with a option.

[bittel]

Favorite Blanton-related moment: picking up the Daily News during October 2008, with a presidential election looming, and seeing this headline after Blanton had homered the night before:

"Joe the Lumber"

[Mike G]

Jackamac, actually I kinda remember Cole speaking up as soon as the question was asked, and saying " Joe has a ring" in that press conference.

[Phillibuster]

Mike: I think both are correct, actually. Joe sort of tentatively raised his hand, and Cole mentioned him as well.

It was understandable how he was getting left by the wayside as far as "The Phour Horses" talk, but I remember the big four being very adamant that Joe was an important member as well. Even in that SI photo shoot, they asked why Blanton wasn't being included (even though they all knew, obviously, but they were good teammates and every team does need at least 5 starters).

[DPat.]

Bullit, WSJ, AWH, Redbarb, GBrett, Rellis and Iceman~

Thank you all for the kind words and support. It's really gracious of all of you. As much as we all disagree at times, as different opinions will cause that to happen, it's wonderful to know that we all can separate sport and real life. It's difficult to read the posts and hold back the tears. I guarantee that I'll be back soon on a regular basis. I've always said talking Phils baseball with all posters here has been great fun, with me being in the Richmond Va. and no longer being home.

Again, my heartfelt thanks to each of you. Maybe I'll go see Reading play the Flying Squirells here tomorrow and see Reading kick butt.

[NEPP]

Very ironic considering that Blanton was soon hurt and Worley actually pitched like a near-Ace that year in his absence. Worley was actually better than Oswalt that year.

[Phillibuster]

DPAT: Afraid I never interacted with you much, since my active time here coincided largely with your inactive, but - for what it's worth - you've my condolences as well.

I know it can be difficult to lose a loved one, especially one you had thought you'd have a chance to cherish much longer, and you seem to have handled it with more than the modicum of dignity and understanding than many are able to muster.

[Lake Fred]

No comments today? BL is really seeing bad times. We need a new thread header every day. There should be a thread header recapping Sunday's game. It is sad.

[Lake Fred]

When I wrote the above comment there was no arrow appearing saying "Next >>". Now there is. I guess my computer is haunted.

[Lake Fred]

NEPP, I'm confused. You wrote, "Considering how Wheels got Whitey fired." Didn't Ashburn die on the road, while still working for the broadcast team?

[Lake Fred]

DPat - my sincere condolences to you on your great loss. I've always enjoyed your comments.

[Phillibuster]

In more baseball-related news, I think that Gwynn's making a pretty good case for being the 4th outfielder instead of the 5th. That's not super-important yet, but when Ruf comes back (if he doesn't get sent to AAA long-term), I see no other roster slot for him to fill than 5th outfielder.

Gwynn's LHB works in his favor too, since Ruf/Mayberry would be somewhat redundant (although obviously their defensive skill sets wouldn't be) as the RHB off the bench as a result.

I also feel like Gwynn is faster than JMJ, but that may just be because Mayberry rarely tries to swipe a bag (and doesn't have a great success ratio either).

[NEPP]

Sorry, I should clarify a bit...Whitey was gonna retire at the end of the year that year prior to his death. It was already announced at the time and it came out afterwards that he was basically forced out by Wheeler.

[Cyclic]

Didn't think I would ever care to ask this, but how's Burnett's groin doing?

[NEPP]

I believe he was supposed to get an ultrasound today...

[Lake Fred]

NEPP, Thanks. I left the Philly area when Chris Wheeler was just a fill-in type guy. He never impressed me. How did he get so much influence power? Goat photos?

[NEPP]

I'd imagine so...he tried to force out HK too but HK had too much pull thankfully.

[bay_area_phan]

Philli: The problem is, Gwynn being left-handed doesn't make him good against RH pitching -- which is the whole point of having a LH hitter on your bench. In fact, as horrible as Mayberry is against RHP, his career OPS is still slighter higher than Gwynn's. And, unlike Gwynn, he actually brings something of value against LHP.

Gwynn's only real value is that he's a superior defensive outfielder. But that defensive ability doesn't do much for the Phillies (even if RAJ thinks it does). We've already got 2 good defensive outfielders who are much better hitters than Gwynn. That leaves only Dom, whose offense is good enough that you'd almost never want to remove him for a late-inning defensive sub. Given the poor fit between Gwynn's skill set & our bench needs, I'd rather have the admittedly horrible Mayberry on the roster, and Gwynn waiting in AAA, to be called up if Revere should get injured.

[DPat.]

Philli & Lake Fred~ Thanks so much.

I'm trying to handle as best I can. Even though I've bbeen through a lot in my life, losing my mother as a youngster, dealing with cerbral palsy and the surgeries and such, this is by far the most difficult situation I've ever come across. Patti's death was so unexpected and we could not have prepared for it. It's was so unfathomable. If anyone would like to look me up on Facebook just search for me. I'm there and could really use more friends to talk to.

[Phillibuster]

BAP: I think you do have to factor in "lately" a bit there, though. 2013's JMJ vs. RHP was a .646 OPS, and 2012's was a .626.

Gwynn's 2012 was a .598, but his .770 MiLB OPS vs. RHP in 2013 (.793 at AAA) probably translates to better than a .646 at the MLB level.

Overall, I think the functional difference is very slight, but his superior D and even just the possibility for a better split vs. RHP - plus his better speed and lower K% - probably make enough of a case to keep him over JMJ once (if) Ruf returns.

[Cyclic]

Ruf is going to AAA. This is 100% certain.

[Phillibuster]

Cyclic: At least at the start, sure. Over time, however, I imagine he'll have an opportunity to come up (even if just to cover an injury), and eventually the decision will have to be made.

[bay_area_phan]

Philli: Mayberry also has the ability to hit a homerun, which is surely worth something. There's also the fact that Mayberry is out of options and would have to clear waivers if he were optioned. I'm not sure if that's true of Gwynn or not. Does signing a minor league contract supersede the normal option rules?

I can't stand Mayberry, so I really don't have strong feelings on the subject. I would keep Mayberry over Gwynn but I wouldn't be offended if the Phillies did it the other way around. I WOULD be offended if Ruf ends up at AAA.

[Cyclic]

Ruf will be in AAA as long as Howard is not on the disabled list.

[WSJ]

Amazing that the Mets are now the 3rd most hate-able team in the NL East, behind Atlanta and Washington. Nats' GM Rizzo spouting off again about how the Nationals are better than the Braves, even though they just got swept by them.

“Mike Rizzo on the Braves: ‘We feel that we're better than this team. We respect them & respect the organization. We don't fear them.’

Over the past two seasons Atlanta is 18-7 against the Nationals and won the division over them by ten games last year. One would think that, eventually, someone on that club might at least be open to the possibility that they’re not quite as superior as they fancy themselves."

[LorecorE]

I agree with Cyclic - I don't think Ruf sniffs the mlb roster until someone is injured.

[LorecorE]

to be clear, I don't agree thats the right thing to happen, its just what I think will happen.

[bullit]

does rizzo know phils castoff, kevin frandsen will be manning 3rd base alot? good luck with that. actually i hope kev has a good year, since it won't, by-and-large, impact us.

[Phillibuster]

The only thing I'd be upset about in re: Frandsen is if he somehow discovers a gold-caliber glove at 3rd this year.

I peg the odds of that at slightly lower than Howard setting the single-season HR record this year, but on the probability continuum from "The Sun Will Rise Tomorrow" and "It Will Rise In The West," it isn't quite at the right-most extreme.

[Phillibuster]

BAP: Yeah, it counts for something, but he can pretty much only do that vs. LHP, and if we've already got Ruf on the bench for that very purpose JMJ's necessity is far more nebulous.

As mentioned, the question definitely is if Ruf is on the bench, since if not there's no need for the discussion... But I feel like Gwynn's shown enough (dare we say it) versatility - and effective versatility - that he might be the better choice over JMJ given the situation this team is in.

[bullit]

buster: i forget. who is the other Diplomat in here? is it awh?

[Phillibuster]

Also, Mayberry's much lower BA vs. RHP is something to take into account.

If you're hitting for the pitcher, sometimes you want to get the guy on-base more than you care about the power, and Gwynn's OBP vs. RHP is close to .030 points higher than JMJ's.

I actually don't dislike JMJ significantly, and think he can be a fairly useful 4th outfielder/anti-LOOGY bat, but if we're really going to roll with only 3.5 legitimate outfielders (Brown counts as a half) in order to make room for Ruf's bat, I think JMJ is looking more like the odd man out.

Options do come into it, though. I think the MiLB contract overrides, but I might be wrong.

[Phillibuster]

Bullit: Good memory! Yeah, AWH and I are the fummers (Sons and Daughters true), unless we've added 1+ with any newer arrivals.

[Montgomery Out!]

Home sweep of Marlins, t-shirt launch, dollar dog night, bobbleheads-- it's all one big smoke screen.

But you know, we'll never actually be able to have an intellectual discussion about David Montgomery or John S Middleton here. No one wants to talk about them.

Beerleaguer is owned and operated by Comcast.

Sports radio is owned by Greater Media and Clear Channel.

Television is owned by News Corp.

The fact that all of the popular commentators on here (NEPP, lorecore, cyclic, BAP, awh, Phillibuster, MG) won't even TEASE THE IDEA of this discussion is a product of capitalism. They were never told that this conversation could be had in the first place.

Instead, we'll talk about Howard's fielding errors and Gwynn's playing time.

#montgomeryOUT

[nokwurst]

bullit: from what I've seen so far, the Nats' plan is to move Rendon to 3B and play Espinosa @ 2B. Occasional start at 3B to go to a youngster they just called up, w/ Rendon sliding back over to 2B.

Which begs the question: were the Nats that hard up for a backup 1B? B/c apparently they only intend to play Frandsen there (maybe also a little 2B), and not at all at 3B.

Maybe so, since the primary 1B available on the trade market this offseason, Ike Davis & Ruf, are both in the same division.

[Cyclic]

Gwynn
Rollins
Utley
Howard
Byrd
Brown
Ruiz
Asche
RHernandez

[Phillibuster]

Actually, I may be back up in LNC on Friday to have lunch with one of my old bosses (and to say hello to a few more). I'll also probably hit Central Market, since we haven't been back there since we moved out in September of 2012.

The Baltimore farmers' markets are big, but they don't have he same variety of vendors, and most of them aren't more than 2 days a week (and generally not year-round).

Between Market and growing up a few blocks from the Reading Terminal, I've been spoiled with produce all year long.

[Phillibuster]

Montgomeryout: We don't have next to no information about the ownership situation. We have functionally no information about the ownership situation.

The only conversation we'd be "teasing the idea" in would be so far based in speculation that it would have no meaning.

It's like trying to glean meaning from a sign in Moscow when you've only ever seen Cyrillic text once in your life, and you didn't know what it said even then.

[Phillibuster]

If Chase follows his usual trajectory, we could be in for a somewhat disappointing May, and a potentially rough August.

[bullit]

nokwurst: thanks for the info.
Montgomery Out: i'm perfectly willing to talk about that peter principle poster-child. that the posters you name engage in some kind of self-censorship because of comcast is ridiculous.

[Montgomery Out!]

Phillibuster: Great analogy. How do we go about getting information, then?

[Montgomery Out!]

bullit: I wouldn't say "self-censorship", but rather a lack of enlightenment maybe.

[LorecorE]

Montgomeryout: We all agree with you. You are right. We want Montomgery out.

Sine we all agree with you, there's no need for debate about it. Carry on.

[Phillibuster]

Fun fact of the day: BJ Upton has more Ks in 6 fewer PAs than Howard this year.

He also has 89% fewer BBs.

[Phillibuster]

Montgomeryout: Since it's not a government organization, you can't file FIA requests. If you could buy in you could demand information as a shareholder, but I don't believe they're a publicly-traded business, so you're out of luck there, too.

Short of cornering one of the partners in a dark alley and demanding info, you're pretty much SOL with finding anything out, unless they happen to say something directly to the media.

I guess you could follow them around all day and hope you overhear something?

[bullit]

speaking of the phantom owners, i wonder what will happen to clair betz' 1/3 share of the team. and will middleton have the opportunity to acquire it?

[Cyclic]

[[[*** POST CONTENT CENSORED BY COMCAST ***]]]

[NEPP]

They've actually been playing Rendon at 3B (his natural position) and having Frandsen play 2B (his natural position).

[Cyclic]

... what the hell?

[bittel]

But you know, we'll never actually be able to have an intellectual discussion about David Montgomery or John S Middleton here. No one wants to talk about them.
***********
I want to talk about them. I don't agree with Philli: there's plenty of relevant, publicly-available information about most sports owners. Look up Dave Zirin's work on Dick DeVos, Charlie Monfort, Donald Sterling, and others, for instance. But most every one has shady dealings in their background.

So let's talk.

[awh™]

"The fact that all of the popular commentators on here (NEPP, lorecore, cyclic, BAP, awh, Phillibuster, MG) won't even TEASE THE IDEA of this discussion is a product of capitalism. They were never told that this conversation could be had in the first place."

MO, easily the dumbest f8cking comment you've made here.

You obviously haven't been around very long.

Montgomery has drawn his share of fire here, from all of the guys you listed above, and particularly from me. He's even been labeled a Bill Giles' puppet here.

Go search the archives if you need to get some jollies.

As far as your favorite topic is concerned, as LorecorE posted above - "...we all agree with you".

So, WTF is your point?

[bullit]

the story, as related in the phillymag article of 2008, is that when giles put together a group to buy out the carpenters in 1981, he pitched that monty could be the owners' spokesman, serving their desire for a firewall. giles put in $50K to acquire 10% (now worth $100M). the story i want to hear is how and why did monty go from this role to president?

[NEPP]

***speaking of the phantom owners, i wonder what will happen to clair betz' 1/3 share of the team. and will middleton have the opportunity to acquire it? ***

I imagine she had heirs and/or a very detailed will. Its likely being dealt with in probate court actually (which you probably could go FOIA if you really wanted to as its likely considered a public record). Odds are the other 4 owners will buy out that portion equally. None of them can act independently on it given the nature of their limited partnership (ie Middleton couldn't buy it unless the others let him, etc etc).

[bay_area_phan]

Can we please stop talking about Monty? We are not permitted to have this conversation.

[Cyclic]

[[[*** POST CONTENT CENSORED BY COMCAST ***]]]

[bullit]

monty is a 1970 graduate of the wharton school, whose most famous alumnus remains donald trump.

[clout]

Lake Fred: "NEPP, I'm confused. You wrote, "Considering how Wheels got Whitey fired." Didn't Ashburn die on the road, while still working for the broadcast team?"

It's pretty much an open secret that Wheels poisoned him. Phillies covered it up.

[bay_area_phan]

"If Chase follows his usual trajectory, we could be in for a somewhat disappointing May, and a potentially rough August."

I take this as a given. The Baseball Gods long ago decreed that, if a Phillies player has an outlandishly good April, he must be completely hideous for the rest of the season.

[awh™]

bullit, go to b-r.com and look at the history of WHO was the GM of the Phillies.

Bill Giles, the managing partner before Montgomery, dumped Paul Owens - the architect of the late-70's/early 80's team, and installed HIMSELF as GM in 1984 - despite very little (if any) history in making on field personnel decisions. Hubris supreme.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/execdb/?show=team&fid=phi&year=1984

He then replaced himself with Woody Woodward after the 1987 season because he stunk at the job - the Phils had 1 winning season in the 4 that he was GM.

Woodward was fired after less than 1 year (June 1988) and replaced by Lee Thomas.

Giles was replaced as managing partner after the 1996 season by Montgomery.

Whether there was a "revolt" by, or pressure from, the limited partners who had funded the purchase of the franchise is not known, but under Giles stewardshit[p] through 1996 they obviously did not do well.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/PHI/

Also, circa 1994 he had labeled Philadelphia a "small market", and was the lightning rod for all of the disgruntled fans - and rightly so.

Montgomery was installed as the managing partner IMHO to do two things:

One, take the heat off of Giles and the other owners, and two, actually turn the club around because Giles had proven, empirically, that he was up to the task of running the entirety of a major league baseball franchise - most particularly the baseball operation.

Has Montgomery been better than Giles?

The track record appears to indicate that, but as I and other have discussed here, it's quite possible that the recent run of success was just a matter of luck - they got lucky that they hit on a bunch of top draft choices - Rollins, Burrell, Utley, Hamels at the same time - and got damn lucky that a 5th Round draft choice named Ryan Howard wildly exceeded the most optimistic projections for him and became the most feared slugger in the game for a few seasons.

So we'll see if Monty was just lucky, or if he's actually good at this.

The next several seasons will tell the tale.

[Montgomery Out!]

Great post, awh™. Thank you for that.

[Phillibuster]

Well, Chase is generally not hideous in any month but August is his worst, and May his second-worst. April is certainly the best, but he's got a career .900 in June and a .934 in July.

I imagine his August was hurt considerably by his 2011 when he faded hard after coming back pretty strong in June/July.

[bullit]

thanks for the info, awh. i appreciate that.

[awh™]

Ouch. In my post above it should have said:

"...Giles had proven, empirically, that he was NOT up to the task of running the entirety of a major league baseball franchise - most particularly the baseball operation."

[Phillibuster]

"According to Bovada.lv sportsbook manager Kevin Bradley, Utley's NL MVP odds before the year would have been 75-to-1 upon request.

How has the best two-week stretch of Utley's career affected those odds?

"If I reopened today he would be in the 20-1 range," Bradley said."

[Phillibuster]

Charlie Manuel sighted in Lakewood, working with the Blue Claws.

I wonder if he's the de facto "fill-in" manager if someone at one of the lower MiLB levels gets an offer somewhere else mid-way through the season.