Game 24: Time to save the series, Cliff

Following an utterly disappointing 5-4 loss to the Diamondbacks in Friday's series opener, Cliff Lee takes the ball Saturday night with a chance to get the Phillies back to .500.

Of course, the Phils followed up their strong series win over the Dodgers with a clunker Friday night.

That headscratcher of a move pinch-running for Ryan Howard with John Mayberry Jr. in the eighth proved fatal in the ninth when JMJ struck out looking on a pitch right down the middle to end the game. And the D'Backs improved to 2-11 at home.

No matter -- the Phils can still salvage the series with Lee pitching tonight and A.J. Burnett tomorrow and finish their West Coast road trip a respectable 6-4.

Lee (3-2, 3.09) squares off against Bronson Arroyo (1-2, 9.50) at 8:10 p.m.

OF NOTE...

• Lee has a chance to get four wins in April for the first time since his Cy Young season when he went 5-0 in April 2008. 

• Freddy Galvis is 1 for 25 and starting for the fifth time in six games. At least he's batting eighth tonight, although he'll offer zero protection for Carlos Ruiz, who's batting seventh.

• Key matchups for Lee: Martin Prado (6 for 29), Aaron Hill (7 for 23), Cody Ross (3 for 14)

• Key matchups for Arroyo: Marlon Byrd (10 for 27, 2 HR), Chase Utley (7 for 23, 2 HR), Domonic Brown (6 for 12)

• The Phillies haven't lost a series to Arizona since April 2011.

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Comments

[Curt]

Galvis starting for the 5th time in 6 games, with everyone healthy, is malpractice.

[If the Schu fits]

Abreu 2 run HR for the Mets in the first inning tonight.

[NEPP]

Wtf is it with Galvis? Worse than mini mart right now. Please stop starting him.

[Curt]

So Abreu provided more "production" with one swing than our bench has all year. Well done, Rube.

[NEPP]

Abreu 2 run HR for the Mets in the first inning tonight.

Posted by: If the Schu fits | Saturday, April 26, 2014 at 07:29 PM

Our bench doesn't have room for guys like that...you know, guys that can actually hit.

[bay_area_phan]

Asche has been awful, but it's pretty difficult to justify what Sandberg is doing with him.

[If the Schu fits]

Can't wait to see Abreu go back on a ball close to the wall.

[Curt]

Asche has been pretty useful these past 2 games. Hard to figure why he isnt getting a shot.

[clout]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Asche make a boneheaded play on the basepaths last night?

And, BAP Day 5, no mention of the pitching as a concern.

[NEPP]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Asche make a boneheaded play on the basepaths last night?

And, BAP Day 5, no mention of the pitching as a concern.

***********

Yes he did...and that along with a LHP is probably why he's sitting. Still, Galvis has been just awful so far.

[NEPP]

Wait, we're not facing a LHp, we're facing a garbage RHP....makes no sense

[jr]

What does Hill have to do to get a shot? .395
Why is Mark Leiter still at Lakewood? SSS

[clout]

NEPP: Right. Unless he's being punished.

[NEPP]

Which it almost certainly is. Sad as this is an ideal matchup for him to start hitting.

[Iceman]

Is there any doubt that Arroyo is going to shut them down for 7 innings tonight?

[NEPP]

Yes...it'll likely be 8-9 innings.

[kuvasz]

Half an inning gone and they're already $hitting in the britches.

[bay_area_phan]

Great. We get bad Cliff Lee tonight.

[Five-4-One]

This is brutal.

[NEPP]

Is anyone even remotely surprised? This series had "massive let down/sweep" written all over it.

[Five-4-One]

Lee looks so unbelievably flat. No cut whatsoever.

[Allen Thornberg]

Galvis now batting .038; let's see if he get it down to .30 by the end of the night.

[Five-4-One]

Lee is toast. So is this team.

[StairsNeedsToShutUp]

How was it a "headscratcher" to pinch-run for Howard in the 8th inning? It was the right move.

More stupid reporting from our new BL staff of experts.

I wish Mayberry or Gwynn could play 3B, so we wouldn't have to see Galvis every night. Mayberry and Gwynn need some AB's. Soon.

[bay_area_phan]

Shame on me for going to all this trouble in response to a poster who has become such a parody of himself that nobody takes his commentary seriously anymore. But here goes:

"Diekman should not be pitching more than 1 inning and he should not be facing any halfway decent RH hitters. Then again, maybe it's not that Sandberg doesn't learn. Maybe it's just that his other options are no better." 4-26-14, 12:43 a.m.

"Alright, I've given up on the Warriors debacle. Now I'm here to watch the Phillies bullpen debacle." 4-25-14, 12:31 a.m.

"I could easily see [Giles imploding]. Then again, that wouldn't be all that different from the implosions we're already witnessing on an almost nightly basis." 4-24-14, 9:47 p.m.

"Good work by the bullpen tonight." (Written sarcastically after Manship & Hollands stunk up the joint) 4-23-14, 12:42 a.m.

"Have you no faith in the Camp, Manship, Hollands, Rosenberg (and whatever else is at the disposal of the Esacalona Express) pipeline?"

I do have faith in them. I have faith that they're going to suck." 4-23-14, 3:26 p.m.

That represents a mere snippet of what I've said about the bullpen in the last 4 days alone. Now I'd like to see the last post in which clout said something critical about the offense. It certainly hasn't happened since I've been posting on Beerleaguer.

[bay_area_phan]

Is it my imagination or have the Phillies lined into a zillion DPs this year?

[NEPP]

We're actually 26th overall in GIDP with just 12.

[NEPP]

Well, 13 now I suppose though that wasn't technically a GIDP as it was a liner and then double off.

[bay_area_phan]

NEPP: I don't think line drive DPs count in GIDP stats. And it feels like there have been a ton of plays this year where a Phillie batter lined out and the runner was doubled off. Probably a combination of bad luck & bad baserunning.

[Five-4-One]

Unreal. Id say pull him, but why? Go to arizona and get clobbered. F this team.

[clout]

BAP: That represents 5% of your output. The other 95% is about how terrible the offense is.

[GBrettfan]

This game sucks early.

[bay_area_phan]

As good as Lee has been in the bulk of his starts, it's sort of troubling that we're only in April and this is already his 2nd start of the year in which he has been absolutely terrible. The reason it's troubling is because one suspects that this is exactly what an aging Cliff Lee is going to look like: quite a few brilliant starts, but an increasing number of really terrible ones.

[MG]

Lee's been utter crap tonight. Time to turn off and just listen on radio.

[bay_area_phan]

"That represents 5% of your output. The other 95% is about how terrible the offense is."

Assuming that's true, that's 5% more than your output of posts which are critical of the offense.

[NEPP]

BAP: That represents 5% of your output. The other 95% is about how terrible the offense is.

Posted by: clout | Saturday, April 26, 2014 at 09:04 PM

[Conway Twitty]

Anyone else lose the radio, or is it just Reading?

[NEPP]

Opposing teams were batting 1.036 OPS against Arroyo coming into tonight.

Totally shocked that he is in shutdown mode tonight.

[GBrettfan]

Don't the D-backs always beat up on us when we go there? And I guess we'll make Bronson Arroyo look amazing again.

[clout]

BAP: Speaking objectively how would you say the pitching is tonight?

[NEPP]

This one is clearly 100% on the bullpen.

[bay_area_phan]

clout: Well, let's see. I think I've covered that topic in my posts of 8:27 & 9:07. Now my questions: (1) Is Cliff Lee part of the bullpen; (2) How is the offense looking to you in this series?

Come on. Let's hear your opinion about the Phillies' offense tonight & last night. Just give it the old college try and see if you can share your opinion on the subject. I'm confident that you've got it in you.

[NEPP]

Last I checked, our vaunted offense was 10th in wOBA in the NL and 21st overall in baseball.

Hardly a juggernaut.

Basically the offense is Meh and the pitching has been poor to atrocious...just what you'd expect overall from a mediocre club really.

[NEPP]

Correction: We are 9th in the NL, not 10th. My apologies.

[clout]

BAP: I've commented on the offense just about every day. It is 8th in the NL in OPS+. The pitching is 14th in ERA+. Yet, because of your preconceived notion, you are in denial about that reality.

[clout]

At least it is beginning to dawn on NEPP that the pitching has been "poor to atrocious."

This is progress.

[bay_area_phan]

clout: And you seem very impressed by that league average OPS+. How's the offense looking tonight, in your estimation?

[NEPP]

LOL...right, because I've never said anything negative about the pitching before.

Keep fvcking that chicken, clout.

[NEPP]

When a guy like Bronson Arroyo is on his game, sometimes you just have to tip your cap.

[clout]

NEPP: Count your posts about the offense and then count the ones about pitching. 3:1 blasting the offense.

But, as I say, your earlier comment wsa on the money.

[clout]

BAP: Speaking objectively, I would say the offense has scored 0 runs so far this evening.

[NEPP]

I just collated my comments for the past 5 years:

98%: Sarcastic comments/not-serious joking comments about some aspect of the club
2%: Actual constructive comments regarding something stat related.

[Iceman]

I know that Sandberg is taking a lot of grief...a good bit of which is undeserved, when it comes to personnel decisions, because of the awful options he has been provided in the bullpen and off the bench.

But one thing that's definitely under his control is lineup construction. And there is just no reason- absolutely none- that Ruiz should be in the bottom half of the order. Burying him at 7 with Byrd, Revere, and Rollins getting more ABs is just atrocious.

[clout]

Arroyo is actually a pretty good mid-rotation SP. 105 OPS+ past 2 seasons, about his career average. Better than our #3.

[clout]

If it were me, I'd bat Chooch 1st or 2nd.

[bay_area_phan]

Isn't Burnett our No. 3?

[NEPP]

Arroyo had a 94 ERA+ the last 3 seasons (the standard split used) and he's been atrociously bad so far this year (9.50 ERA in his first 4 starts this year).

This is just embarrassing.

[NEPP]

Burnett: 97 ERA+ last 3 years (8.1 fWAR), 107 ERA+ (7 fWAR) the same last 2 years clout referenced. Arroyo had 1.7 fWAR in the last 3 seasons and 3.2 fWAR in the last 2.

How is Arroyo better exactly?

[Allen Thornberg]

Burnett: 97 ERA+ last 3 years (8.1 fWAR), 107 ERA+ (7 fWAR) the same last 2 years clout referenced. Arroyo had 1.7 fWAR in the last 3 seasons and 3.2 fWAR in the last 2.

How is Arroyo better exactly?

Posted by: NEPP | Saturday, April 26, 2014 at 09:44 PM

Because it's easier for clout to blame this loss on Arroyo's pitching greatness than it is for him to admit our offense is lousy.

[bay_area_phan]

Arroyo has a 5.35 career ERA against the Phillies, thanks, in large part, to a couple of terrible games in 2011 (including one where he pitched 2.2 innings and allowed 9 earned runs). But, since 2012, he has faced them 3 times & dominated them all 3 times. Tonight is the 4th.

[bay_area_phan]

Any junk-ball pitcher is death to the Phillies' lineup, and Arroyo is one of the game's ultimate junk-ballers. Average fastball velocity this year is 85 MPH.

[Iceman]

Ruiz on for the third time. Luckily they've got Galvis and Lee behind him to drive him in.

[NEPP]

True, the Phillies have always had issues with junkballers...and flamethrowers and LHPs and Aces and Sidearmers and LOOGYs and changeup artists and...

where was I?

[bay_area_phan]

Ooh, Tony Gwynn off the bench to pinch-hit. Arizona must be afraid now.

[clout]

NEPP: Last 2 seasons, Arroyo ERA+ 105. Burnett ERA+ 107. 3 seasons ago Arroyo had bad year which is why you referenced it, but you can go back 5 years, which would include Burnett's 2 bad years and get a different result.

Their career numbers are about the same.

[NEPP]

The fact that Tony Gwynn is our best PH bat should be all that is need to fire Rube.

What a terrible job he's done building a bench...and bullpen of course.

[bay_area_phan]

I knew if I insulted him, he'd probably get a hit.

[GBrettfan]

Interesting, and probably not something that will continue:

Dennis Deitch ‏@DennisDeitch 11m
Entering the night the Phillies' pitchers were hitting a combined .195. The third basemen were hitting a combined .183.

[Iceman]

Everyone knows my affinity for Revere, but you might as well put Gwynn in the lineup if he kills a particular pitcher. It's not like you're benching a power threat.

Instead, Gwynn sits while 0-for-20 Galvis starts and the second best hitter is in the 7-hole.

[Richard Nixon]

Gotta tip my cap to Bronson Arroyo...

[Curt]

I don't know if I've ever seen an .036 BA before.

[NEPP]

Even Mini Mart only ever bottomed out at a .091 AVG...so this is sort of historic in a way.

[NEPP]

Gotta score that a hit and advance to 2B on the throw, right?

[kuvasz]

who the hell is coaching base running on this team?

[NEPP]

So Gwynn is benched if Sandberg follows the same line of reasoning he has with Asche, right?

[Iceman]

The best explanation for Galvis continuing to get starts: Asche killed the donkey from the pictures that Mini had on Amaro.

[bay_area_phan]

Sandberg doesn't seem to get that you don't split the two LH hitters because of the opposing starter. You split them because of the LOOGY who's eventually going to come in, which means they should be split even a against a RH starter. That would avoid the present scenario, in which a LOOGY with a funky delivery gets to face Utley &, if Utley is fortunate enough to get on, then comes right back and faces Howard.

[NEPP]

Utley's cooling off was inevitable...it doesnt make it any less annoying to watch.

[bittel]

I once saw a .900 BA. Anyone remember who it was? During the last 5 years.

[Curt]

I doubt Asche was benched for bad base running. If that were the policy, we couldn't field a complete team many nights.

[bay_area_phan]

Dinner time for me, so I won't be at my computer. Please deem this post a rant about the bullpen implosion that is about to take place.

[clout]

I question Sandberg's Manship.

[clout]

Bullpen ERA 29th out of 30 teams. Good thing it doesn't contribute to losses.

[NEPP]

Manschooner off to a choppy start.

[NEPP]

I'd say that Lee had more to do with this loss so far...but I'd imagine the bullpen will let them tack on a few more runs too.

[clout]

Love relievers who start batters 3-0

[NEPP]

Oh good...now Cody Ross can hit with the bases loaded.

That should put this one out of reach.

[Iceman]

I saw Jack's post in the last thread on the bullpen's BB rate not being bad. That's surprising. Their HR rate is dead last. Also not surprising.

It made me curious to see the stats since 2012 and not surprisingly, they have basically been the 2nd to 4th-worst bullpen since the beginning of the 2012 season. Every stat that counts, they are anywhere from worst to fourth worst- with the Mets, Astros and Cubs...the worst teams in the league, but teams that are at least in a rebuilding phase. This team is in 'win now' mode.

Amaro should be humiliated and is probably a punchline in most front offices around the league.

[Jake]

I absolutely loathe Cody fvcking Ross

[NEPP]

****Amaro should be humiliated and is probably a punchline in most front offices around the league.****

The MLB Commissioner's Office had to step in this winter and force them to hire a Sabermetrics guy for statistical analysis. When has something like that ever happened before? Pretty sure he's been the punchline for a fairly long time in those circles now.

[Jake]

Shades of Ty Wigginton.

[Iceman]

BAP's boy Prado with a sparkling defensive play.

[bittel]

The year was 2008, actually. A young player starts off his season going nine for his first 10 ABs. Two walks mixed in as well for a lusty .920 OBP.

Cameron Maybin.

[MG]

Batting Chooch 7th is foolish and on Sandberg. He should be in the top 3. Still like to see Revere-Utley-Chooch-Howard-Byrd-Brown-JRoll.

I have no idea why Manship is on this roster. Nothing fastball he has average command of and below average control and a subpar changeup and curve.

[Iceman]

They probably just put the SABR guy in the Phanatic rotation. He does Sunday games and gives the regulars a day off.

[NEPP]

Remember when Trevor Cahill was good?

[NEPP]

Pretty much every other player in baseball not named Molina scores on that base hit.

[Iceman]

MG- I'd still like to see something unconventional with Revere hitting 9th, Ruiz leading off and Utley hitting 2nd.

Since the universe will swallow itself before that happens, yours is probably the best realistic alternative.

[MG]

Defense miscue tonight by JRoll was huge too. Have to look at the stats but hard to say the defense is improved at all really in the early going.

Asche/Nix have been as bad defensively as M. Young at 3B and Byrd has been a marginal upgrade over D. Young so far & not as good defensively as advertised.

[NEPP]

Chooch!