Padres vs. Phillies: Series open thread

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[This is worse than I thought]

What exactly is a Padre? Is that Spanish for priest?

[bullit]

spanish for "father." so yes.

[GBrettfan]

Thanks for the new thread, JW.

***
MG, you asked about Nola.

@ChrisBranchTNJ: Ruben says Nola will likely start at Single-A Clearwater, but “maybe higher than that.”

[bay_area_phan]

This feels like a loss.

[WSJ]

I don't know how to post pictures here, but this link is to a picture that shows how sidearmed Nola's deliver is. It's interesting that he can have such great control with such a sidearm type of delivery, but I'm eager to see how he does.

http://www.nj.com/phillies/index.ssf/2014/06/aaron_nola_scouting_report_for_phillies_first-round_pick.html

[bay_area_phan]

Looks like Tommy John Surgery waiting to happen.

[GBrettfan]

This is probably, easily, the most fun at the ballpark tonight:

Matt Gelb ‏@magelb 4m
Slip and slide! @ Citizens Bank Park http://instagram.com/p/pFCnN0gu4o/

[GBrettfan]

The above Instagram link is to a short video, by the way.

Another amusing tweet:

Chris Branch ‏@ChrisBranchTNJ 3m
As of the press conference, Nola had only met one Phillie: the myth, the legend, the MANSHIP.

* * *

I'm going to miss Chris Branch's tweets when he moves on to Huffington Post soon.

[clout]

Wow, is that a boring logo.

[Phillibuster]

The boringness of the logo is only matched by the terrifyingness of the Padres' mascot.

[Phillibuster]

Exhibit A

[Dickie Thong]

Do they still have the chicken mascot or did he contract bird flu?

[This is worse than I thought]

Having a team named after priests is not exactly the toughest sounding team sports name.

[Phillibuster]

The chicken was nixed for the Friar, I believe. In fact, I think the chicken was never the official mascot of the Padres, so much as an advertising mascot.

[GBrettfan]

I am no expert, but I would think that Nola's lower arm slot would put less stress on his shoulder.

[Dickie Thong]

Reminds me of a right-handed Chris Sale.

[Phillibuster]

So it looks like a number of our earlier draft picks from last year are going to repeat rookie ball again?

I notice that 4 of the top 10 (we actually signed) from the 2013 draft class don't have any stats for the 2014 season - Sandberg, Sweaney, Williams and Keys.

Or am I just missing something?

[GBrettfan]

"Phillies Introduce Nola, Oliver"

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/philledin/2014/06/10/phillies-introduce-nola-oliver/10301389/

[bay_area_phan]

"So it looks like a number of our earlier draft picks from last year are going to repeat rookie ball again?"

That's pretty standard with high school draftees, even high ones. If a high school draft pick is playing full-season ball by Year 2, he's way ahead of the curve. On the other hand, if he's still in rookie ball by year 3, that's a pretty bad sign.

[Phillibuster]

Ah, I had it mixed up when Williamsport began. I thought they just finished early, but started in May.

I see now that they actually begin... Well, now.

[Phillibuster]

It's absolutley downpouring here in Baltimore. I predict a stoppage in the bottom of the 4th.

[Phillibuster]

Ugh, Howard.

[GBrettfan]

Second batter in, and a walk.

Oh, and thanks, Howard, for that error to make the routine out a runner on 1st and 3rd with one out, instead.

[Phillibuster]

Thankfully, AJ and JRoll did what they had to do.

[Phillibuster]

That looked pretty close to me. Time for the Sandberg Shuffle out to 1st...

Although Jimmy looks like he's grabbing his leg a bit. That's bad.

[jr]

Burnett will pitch great tonight,dropped him from my fantasy team.

[Cyclic]

4 pitches, 2 outs.

Sure glad somebody like Chooch is batting 7th.

[M. Martinez]

Has Revere been practicing bunting or working on padding his MLB lead in dribblers back to the pitcher?

[BobbyD]

There's a lot of terrible baseball nicknames. I mean, who today would think it would be a good idea to name their team after a pair of socks - even if it had something to do with the uniform?

[Cyclic]

I mean, as far as bad baseball nicknames, can we really throw stones?

[Phillibuster]

Wow, nice glove by Revere there.

[Cyclic]

Awesome catch by Revere

(cue his detractors with the "bad route" complaints)

[GBrettfan]

I so enjoy listening to Moyer talk about pitching and game fundamentals and tips. He seems like he'd make a great coach.

Nice catch by Revere there. Nice couple of innings for Burnett (knocking wood now).

Did they flash a stat that the Phillies have allowed 130+ walks in the past 30+ games? That's startlingly bad.

[Phillibuster]

Revere actually ran a pretty good route on that one. He started going back a little more than necessary, but he readjusted quickly.

[Cyclic]

Yes they did, GBrett. 134 walks in 32 games. 10-22 in that span.

[Phillibuster]

Good thing Howard didn't walk there.

[M. Martinez]

After dribblers back to the pitcher, Revere's 2nd-best tool is making routine catches look much harder than necessary.

[Cyclic]

Battle of futility.

[Phillibuster]

I notice that the box Nola's headset is plugged into has "Matt" written on sharpie on a piece of yellow duct tape.

[Cyclic]

Yes, Aaron Nola. It's not even close to being packed because of the rain and the weather. That's it.

[GBrettfan]

Nice of young Nola to mention only the rain as a reason for the sparse crowd, and not bring up the dismal state of the team.

[GBrettfan]

In the battle of bad baseball teams, the Padres just took the advantage.

[Phillibuster]

I imagine that Nola didn't really follow the Phillies' home game ticket sales over recent years closely enough to make that assumption. The Braves are a good example of success not breeding attendance.

[Phillibuster]

Pft. Cesar really looking to earn that second demotion.

[Phillibuster]

Revere just misses HR #2.

[Cyclic]

Almost had career HR #2 there!

[GBrettfan]

I know, I was rooting for it to go out!

[Juums]

For a weak-wristed guy that can't hit the ball out of the infield, Benji put quite the charge on that one.

J-Roll's doing his part to kill the momentum, though.

[GBrettfan]

Nice hit, Utley! Way to go get that low ball!

It seems to me that Rollins has hit far fewer pop-ups this year than the past few years. I have not missed them.

[Phillibuster]

You could really see Revere load up on the front foot with that swing. He was trying for #2.

If he can put that kind of a charge on the ball more often, coupled with his usual array of dribbly singles, he'll be a positive at the plate.

[Phillibuster]

Nice work by Howard there flipping it over the shift.

[Phillibuster]

Gloop!

[Cyclic]

Futility reigns!

[GBrettfan]

Byrd with the hit that sails out of the park! Yes!

In the battle of bad teams, advantage now to the Phillies. Let's hope Burnett doesn't start walking everyone now.

[Juums]

For a geriatric outfielder who was supposed to be on the DL by the first week of May, Marlon Byrd didn't leave many questions as to whether that ball was going to leave the yard.

[Phillibuster]

Sigh. Domonono.

[Cyclic]

Hey the broadcast said Dom is 9-27 in June coming into tonight. He sure has turned it around. Got that OPS all the way up to .590.

(It's back at .584 now.)

[M. Martinez]

After his third double of the season, Bennie's slugging % jumped to .340, 21 points above 5-tool Dom's...

[Phillibuster]

I feel like Burnett should be swinging away instead of failing to bunt properly. He was our best-hitting SP.

[Phillibuster]

Revere prepares to bunt, then thinks better of it when the pitch almost sails into the broadcast booth.

[GBrettfan]

Burnett with a BIDP. Worst bunt ever?

[Cyclic]

Wish he'd gotten down a better bunt. I'm totally fine with him not being on base. I cringe every time he's got to exert himself running.

[Phillibuster]

Utley + Howard = 1st & 3rd again.

[Phillibuster]

Domonada.

[GBrettfan]

Brown this year makes it hard to believe that he was ever protected from trade.

Is this how good Burnett is when he faces an offense that's last in the NL - including last in BB? Or did he figure something out? Get a shot for the pain?

[johnnysanz3]

You know at least a .600+ OPS would be nice from Dom.

[Juums]

I do love that, for a fraction of a second, Benji reared back as if he were going to try to gun Quinten down at the plate.

[Phillibuster]

See, Dom, this is why you run in the field.

[Five-4-One]

Dom with the fluid outfield play.

[Dickie Thong]

> Burnett will pitch great tonight,dropped him from my fantasy team.

And, I've got Kennedy on my team, which means, of course, he has to crap the bed.

[GBrettfan]

Nice show of appreciation for Burnett from the crowd, and deservedly so.

Let's see if Diekman can get out of the jam for him.

[GBrettfan]

It's not much of a jam, one on and one out. I didn't realize Burnett's pitch count was only 89.

[GBrettfan]

Nice job by Diekman.

***
Sorry, Dickie, I don't feel sorry for you.

[Phillibuster]

Yeah, he was cruising. Amazing how that works when you don't walk every third batter.

[Phillibuster]

Benny gettin' on again.

[GBrettfan]

Nice hit for JRoll - 4 hits needed to take the Phillies' record for hits! I was hoping he'd get a hit tonight to bring him closer. I'd like him to take the record on this homestand.

[Phillibuster]

Heads-up baserunning by JRoll there. Nice work.

[GBrettfan]

That was weird. I hope Revere and Brown were paying attention to the fact that Rollins tried to avoid getting tagged out, rather than giving in to it, and it paid off.

[clout]

Revere & Rollins > Pierre & Castillo?

[Wayne from PA in Nebraska]

Now we have 2 guys in the pen who throw 100 mph.

[Dickie Thong]

Matt Gelb (@magelb)
Jake Diekman: 96, 97, 98, 99, 99, 99, 100, 86. Four swinging strikes in eight pitches. Whoa.

[Phillibuster]

Howard again suffers from the special RyHow rule, which states that every outside pitch to him on a 2-strike count must be a called 3rd strike.

[GBrettfan]

I feel kind of bad for Howard. He has a hard enough time recognizing strikes without the umpire making it harder. He swings at those pitches outside and we wish he would lay off them. He lays off, and the ump calls a strike anyway.

[GBrettfan]

Quackenbush is a great name. Rivals Quisenberry. The Royals fans used to refer to the latter as "Quiz" for short. Think Quackenbush is called "Quack"? Or maybe "Duck"?

[awh™]

GBrett, Quackenbush also lives up to his name in how he moves: he walks like Baby Huey.

[Phillibuster]

Can Quackenbush and Duckworth be on the same team?

[awh™]

Pathetic. Win or lose, it's pathetic that they can't score with the bases loaded an no outs.

[GBrettfan]

Brown just makes it easy on pitchers any more.

[Phillibuster]

The ump sorta spotted them one of those outs, to be fair.

[Five-4-One]

Dom needs to be sent down. This really cant be good for him.

[GBrettfan]

Rooting for Papelbon to reach save #300 now.

[Phillibuster]

The more Papelbon excels, the more he's worth in a trade. Or, at the least, the better it means we're doing (because he only comes on in save situations).

[awh™]

Saves are a stupid and meaningless stat.

[awh™]

BTW, Diekman did a great job tonight.

[Meyer]

Paps is due for a 30 minute inning.

[GBrettfan]

Nice stop by Utley! But no chance to make a play.

This would be a terrible time for Papelbon, rusty as he must be, to blow a save. Against a team with terrible offense, following a terrible road trip when the team could really use a win, hoping for his 300th save, at home....

[GBrettfan]

Yes, Diekman did do a great job tonight, awh.

[GBrettfan]

Very nice crowd tonight, on their feet cheering Paps on.

[GBrettfan]

Oh, crap.

Come on, Pap. Just one little out before 3 runs score.

I predict he will give up a run before getting the out.

[awh™]

We win!