A Letter From Brett Myers

Get off your knees, Brad. You're blowing the game.

Hit the Links - Cole Hamels Can't Pitch to Save His Life Edition

Don't know if you noticed, but Cole Hamels is all too unlike Cole Hamels this season. After yesterday's 4-2 loss to the Mets, Phillies blogs everywhere popped out posts on what's wrong with the guy and what the heck should be done. Mostly because there is no point in me trying to say a thousand things that have already been said, here's a comprehensive list of the Hamels-talk that is going on around the internet:

• He's taking gosh darn forever to throw pitches. [Balls, Sticks, & Stuff]
• It's that SI cover jinx coming out to haunt him. [Phillies Nation/Swing and a Long Drive]
• Fatigue, fatigue, fatigue. [Beerleaguer]
• He's a young, developing, two-pitch guy. [Philled In]
• This is just entertaining. [WSBGM's]
• He's just not getting ahead. [The Zo Zone]
• The inconsistency is bringing him down. [The Fightins]
  

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State of the Blog - 8/21/09

I'm not going to promise a flurry of posts. Any time I say that I'm going to write something, it doesn't happen. But I promise you this: There will be new posts here in the coming week. A few things on my personal agenda (I can't speak for Kevin) are the following:

• World Series retrospective
• More "Forgotten Faces"
• Some "Hit The Links" posts
• Keep Jamie Moyer's mouth shut for a while
• Playoff preview... Maybe?
  

That's what I hope to accomplish in the next week. If not, sorry, folks.

Forgotten Faces - Mike Zagurski

Now, I know that you're thinking, "How could anyone ever forget that massive reliever?" Seriously, though, I did. Until this recent post for The Dugout. Well, according to Baseball Reference, "Little Kruk" is currently clocking in at 225 lbs and doing mediocre work at AA-Reading. Through 38 games for the R-Phils, he's thrown 44.1 innings and posted a 3-4 record with a 4.26 ERA. His WHIP is 1.37 and he's walked 21 batters while striking out 52. 2009 is a recovery season for Zagurski, who underwent Tommy John surgery last year. He did start out in Clearwater this year, but he was called up to Reading in late April.

Oh, and if you're wondering who the heck Mike Zagurski is to begin with, here's an all-encompassing article from the Lawrence Journal-World. It chronicles his trip to Philly, starting with his not being drafted or recruited out of high school and culminating with his appearance in the majors in 2007.

[Image from TheFightins.com]

Chase away those rain-delay blues

Check out this video from the fine folks at ImprovEverywhere.com

Be sure to read the entire report here.

Cliff 'Wild Thing' Lee?

Cliff ‘Wild Thing’ Lee?

No, this is not an allusion towards Mitch Williams, nor am I suggesting that Lee be moved to the closer role (although he’d certainly do a better job than Lidge). This would be a cinematic reference to Ricky Vaughn, of the Cleveland Indians and the movies ‘Major League’ and ‘Major League II’. Following, I will give an objective analysis of why or why not he is a carbon copy of a fictional character.

1. Criminal Record
Cliff Lee has no criminal record to speak of, whereas Rick Vaughn has at least stolen a car. We have no idea what else he did to land himself in the California Penal system. But, the more alarming question, is how he got out of there in the first place.

2. Pitches
We know they both throw fastballs. Lee has control, Vaughn has velocity. They both also throw curveballs, as evidenced by the line “Forget the curveball, Ricky, give ‘em the heater”. I’d say it’s a spot on match.

3. Off the field life
Beyond the criminal record, Cliff Lee is simply not the personality that Vaughn was. I doubt Lee ever slept with the 3B’s wife, made anyone’s ‘Hall of Shame’, or got in a fight during spring training.

4. Nickname
I realize that Lee has no ‘official’ nickname, but I refuse to call him anything but ‘Phifer’, which is his middle name. Therefore, that is his informal nickname. Sadly, this nickname is easily trumped by ‘Wild Thing’ Rick Vaughn. His nickname came from his lack of control in spring training, which is later to be revealed as a vision problem.



Vaughn had a rough road to the playoffs, but we really don’t know anything else that happens after one season. Cliff Lee, however, is a Cy Young award winner, and is doing quite well with the Phillies. He’s let up as many earned runs as he has gathered hits for his new team. And despite the lack of a true nickname, I'm glad to say that Phifer is definitely a better pitcher than Rick Vaughn. And he does not use a Veg-o-matic to cut his hair.

State of the Pitching Staff - Rotation

Seeing as how there are far too many problems facing the Phillies' pitchers recently, and the fact that the rotation has seen a complete revamping, I figure it is now an appropriate time to take a look at each pitcher's individual statistics and whether they are helping or hurting the team. Let's start with the rotation...

LHP Cole Hamels: 7-7, 4.69 ERA
Where would I put Hollywood Hamels at right now? I would put him down as "keeping the status quo." He's not necessarily hurting the team, but we know how he can pitch, and this is definitely not it. Hopefully he hits a good stride here and can help the Phils on this playoff run. If not, we'll be watching him fill the role of "back-end starter."

LHP Cliff Lee: 3-0, 1.12 ERA
I'd be willing to bet that the folks who were upset about not getting Halladay are no longer feeling that way.

RHP Joe Blanton: 7-6, 3.88 ERA
This guy hasn't given up more than three runs in an outing since June 18. He's 0-2 in his last three starts, but the two losses came with scores of 2-0 and 3-2. He's also eating up a lot of innings; Blanton has gone at least six innings in 16 of his 22 starts, including each of his last seven. This guy is playing out of his head and definitely helping the team.

LHP J.A. Happ: 9-2, 2.66 ERA
If it weren't for Cliff Lee, this guy would be the current ace-of-staff in Philadelphia. He's 7-2 with a 2.69 ERA since entering the rotation, and he averages nearly 7 innings per start. Certainly a helper on this pitching staff.

RHP Pedro Martinez: 1-0, 5.40 ERA
Not ready to say he's helping, but he certainly didn't hurt the team by picking up a win against the Cubbies last week. Let's give him a "wait and see."

Overall, this rotation looks pretty special. Not counting Pedro due to his limited sample size, the worst ERA on this staff belongs to Cole Hamels. That is a good sign. None of these guys are hurting the team at this point, and that's exactly what they need. Unfortunately, they have had to toss up their games to the bullpen, which has been far less reliable than the rotation. More on that later today.

At any rate, this is the best rotation that we as Phillies fans have looked at all season. Forget the "they're all lefties" talk. It hasn't been a problem yet, and I doubt it will be in the future.

Calling Brett Myers

There was a time when I loved Brad Lidge. That time has ended. Now, if Brett Myers can stop falling out of cars, he can take over that closer role. Make that happen, Brett. Please. Just do whatever you can, and get someone to carry you out of the car.

More tomorrow...

Phillies 7, Rockies 0

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Happ (W, 8-2)	9.0	4	0	0	2	10	0	2.74

Now that is a stat line. [Box]

Quit standing there, and hit the ball!

It would be nice and easy to blame the Phillies' starting rotation for their recent skid on the West Coast. After all, they gave up 20 runs in the four losses during that span, so why shouldn't they be blamed? However, during those four losses, the Phillies posted a grand total of five runs, getting shut out twice. And, I don't know how much you people know about baseball, but confidence in your lineup can really be helpful as a pitcher. If you caught Cliff Lee's gem on Friday night, you should know exactly what I mean.

Cliff Lee had the eighth-worst run support on his side while he was in Cleveland. Friday night, he knew he had the backing of one of the best lineups in baseball to get him through nine innings against the Giants. Wouldn't you know it, he threw a complete game. The bats gave him five runs that night, and the Phillies cruised to a victory over San Francisco. So what the heck happened during the rest of that series against the Giants? Let's take it day by day...

Wednesday - Somehow, the Phillies made a guy with a seven-run ERA (Yusmeiro Petit) look like Satchel Paige for six innings, and then they continued to hack at pitches for three more, amassing 12 strikeouts in the game. Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez both went 2-for-4, but the rest of the lineup managed little else. What should've been an easy win for the Phils was a nightmare at the plate, and they lost 4-0, spoiling a good start by J.A. Happ.

Thursday - A chance at redemption looked good for the Phils as they scored in the first inning off an RBI double by Ryan Howard. Unfortunately, they didn't score again until Chase Utley's solo home run in the sixth inning. Another mediocre pitcher made the Phils look like little-leaguers, as Jonathan Sanchez totaled 7 K's against the Fightins. Two nights against middle-of-the-road talent, and the Phillies had struck out 15 times against starting pitchers.

Friday - A win... Thanks, Cliff.

Saturday - Tim Lincecum. Eight total strikeouts for the Phillies in this one.

Sunday - This is not the 2002 Cy Young award winner. This is the Barry Zito whose ERA was 5.15 last season. However, the Phillies put him in 2003 form (14-12, 3.30 ERA,) striking out five times in six innings and managing just six hits off the recently vulnerable pitcher.

The moral of the story here? Stop striking out. The Phillies struck out 35 times in those four losses. They got fantastic starts from Joe Blanton and J.A. Happ that were wasted, and they managed little by way of power or even contact. The real problem for the Phillies right now is that they need to get the bats off of their shoulders and start making contact. A little patience could go a long way for the Phils. Maybe they could take a little lesson from this memorable at-bat:

Giants 7, Phillies 3

Cole Hamels struggled through five innings of work against San Francisco as the Phils dropped the finale of their four-game series against the Giants. Hollywood Hamels dropped his first game in four starts, giving up six earned runs in the process. If it weren't for the acquisition of Cliff Lee, the Phillies could be coming off a four-game sweep at the hands of the Gigantes. The pitching hasn't been the only problem, though, as the bats have hardly gotten hot for the Fightins. Perhaps it's a tall order against a guy like Tim Lincecum, but the rest of the Giants' rotation is hardly Cy Young-worthy (see Barry Zito, Jonathan Sanchez, anyone else with an ERA over 4.)

Anyway... Moving onto a series that is actually winnable, the Phillies will face off with the Rockies at CBP starting Tuesday. Ten-game winner Jamie Moyer (10-7, 5.32 ERA) will take the hill against Jason Hammel (5-6, 4.66 ERA) on Tuesday night. Look for more preview action as the week goes on. Meanwhile, check out this brilliant clip of Sarge Matthews exemplifying "what not to say during a baseball broadcast. EVER." Courtesy The Fightins. Oh, and the box score from today's loss to San Fran.