Seems injuries have decided to make things interesting…
This past Saturday, during the Phils’ 4-3 lost to the Pirates, Dom Brown, during an at-bat against pitcher Paul Maholm, fractured the hook of the hamate bone on his right hand as he fouled off a pitch, before getting his only hit of spring training, a single. Brown has returned to Philadelphia to visit hand specialist Randall Culp, to see how bad it is, although the Phils expect that Brown will need surgery on his right hand, and will therefore be out for four to six weeks. This will mean that Dom Brown will more than likely start the year at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, before being called back to the main club, while Ben Francisco, who has been hitting the cover off of the ball so far this spring (before going 0 for 3 in today’s game with the Yankees), will be the one who will be the starter in right field, although no one have yet to say that he is.
This could end up being a blessing in disguise, as it should allow Brown to get away from all of the hype around him as he is considered the team’s number one prospect, as well as being the number one candidate for the job in right field, although he have not had a good spring as he had gone 0 for 15 before getting the single.
Meanwhile, in spite of taking a week off to allow his right knee to heal after it was announced that he was suffering from patellar tendenitis, Chase Utley was given a cortisone shot to help it heal. This is not good news, as the leg was expected to heal on its own, after being given some rest, although Utley have taken batting practice as he waited for his knee to get better. Hopefully his knee will be okay by the time that the team head north near the end of the month and it will make Utley sit out a few games during the regular season when told to by Charlie Manuel.
The Phils’ spring training record drops to 5-5 as they lose to the Yanks, 7-1.
The Phils get crushed as they drop one to the Yankees, 7-1.
The Yanks took the lead in the bottom of the second, as, with two men on, and with two men out, Eduardo Nunez hits a three-run home run, his first home run of the spring, as he knocked in Curtis Granderson, who had earlier singled, and had stopped at third on Eric Chavez’s single, and Chavez, who had just singled, giving the Bronx Bombers a 3-0 lead. The Yanks made it a 5-0 lead in the third as, with one man on, and with two men out, Granderson hits a two-run home run, his first home run of the spring, as he scored Russell Martin, who had earlier reached base on a Placido Polanco fielding error. The Yankees then made it 6-0 in the fifth as, with two men on, and with two men out, Jorge Posada hits an RBI single, knocking in Brett Gardner, who had earlier singled, then stole second base, before moving to third on a Nick Swisher ground out, 4-3, while sending Granderson, who had just walked, up to second base. The Yanks then made it a 7-0 lead one batter later as Chavez hits an RBI single, scoring Granderson, while sending Posada up to second base. The Phils would make it a 7-1 Yanks’ lead in the sixth as, with two men out, Wilson Valdez hits a solo home run, his first home run of the spring. That would end up being the final score, as the Phils’ offense could not get on track today.
Roy Oswalt took the lost (0-1, 7.71) as he pitched two and two-thirds innings, giving up five runs, only three of which were earned, on four hits, while striking out three. Vance Worley pitched two innings, giving up two runs on five hits and a walk, while striking out one. Drew Naylor pitched one and a third scoreless innings, as he gave up a hit and a walk, while he struck out three. Brian Bass and Ryan Feierabend combine for two scoreless innings, giving up just one hit (Feierabend) between them. A.J. Burnett got the win (1-0, 0.00) as he pitched three scoreless innings, giving up no hits, while striking out a batter. Joba Chamberlain and Pedro Feliciano then followed for two scoreless innings, striking out two batters (Feliciano) between them. Hector Noesi pitched an inning, giving up a run on three hits, while striking out a batter. Mark Prior and Luis Ayala then followed with two scoreless innings, with both pitchers giving up a hit, while each striking out a batter.
The Phils had only five hits in the game, a solo home run by Wilson Valdez, a double by Pete Orr and singles by Shane Victorino, Jimmy Rollins and Joel Naughton.
The Phils’ Grapefruit League record is now even at 5-5.
The Phils win their second straight spring training road game as they defeat the Pirates, 7-4.
The Phils’ stratch and claw their way to their second straight spring training win on the road, as they defeat the Pirates, 7-4.
The Phils took a quick 1-0 lead in the first, as, with runners on first and second, via two straight singles by Jimmy Rollins and Placido Polanco, with Rollins stopping at second base, and with no one out, Raul Ibanez hits an RBI single, scoring Rollins, while sending Polanco up to second base. One batter later, the Phils took a 2-0 lead as, with still nobody out, Ryan Howard hits an RBI single, scoring Polanco, while sending Ibanez on to third. The Pirates cut the Phils’ lead in their half of the first as, with runners on the corners, via a double by Pedro Ciriaco, and a single by Neil Walker, with Ciriaco stopping at third, and with one man out, Lyle Overbay hits an RBI single to right, knocking in Ciriaco. But, on the play, Walker is thrown out at third by Wilson Valdez on a strong throw, 9-5, for the inning’s second out. The Pirates then tied the game up at two-all in the fourth as, with a runner on second, and with two men out, Andy Marte hits an RBI single, scoring Matt Diaz, who had earlier reached first on a walk, and then stole second base. The Phils regain the lead in the sixth as Howard hits a lead-off home run, his first of the spring, giving the Phils a 3-2 lead. The Pirates then tied it up at three-all in their half of the sixth as, with runners on second and third, and with one man out, Garrett Jones hits into an RBI ground out, three-unassisted, scoring Neil Walker, who had earlier walked, then went to third on Tony Sanchez’s ground-rule double, while moving Sanchez, who had just doubled, over to third base. One batter later, the Bucos took the lead as Marte hits an RBI ground-rule double of his own, knocking in Sanchez, giving the Pirates a 4-3 lead. The Phils came back to tie it at four-all in the seventh as, with runners on the corners, and with one man out, Matt Rizzotti hits an RBI double, knocking in Freddy Galvis, who had earlier singled and had gone on to third on Brandon Moss’ single, while Moss, who had just singled, would stop at third base. The Phils then retook the lead as Pete Orr hits into an RBI ground out, 4-3, scoring Moss, making it a 5-4 Phils’ lead, while sending Rizzotti on to third base. The Phils then made it 6-4 as, with a man on third, and with two men out, Dane Sardinha hits an RBI single, scoring Rizotti. The Pirates tried to come back in their half of the seventh as they loaded the bases, via singles to Alex Presley and John Bowker, with Presley stopping at second base, and a walk to Corey Wimberly, moving both Presley and Bowker up a base, with only one man out. But Drew Carpenter pitched himself out of trouble by first striking out Josh Fields, swinging, for the second out, and then striking out Sanchez, looking. The Phils then made it 7-4 in the eighth as, with a runner on third, and with one man out, Glavis hits a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Valdez, who had earlier doubled, then went to third on Michael Martinez’s ground out, 4-3. That would be the final score as Antonio Bastardo would pitch an easy 1-2-3 ninth inning.
Joe Blanton received a no-decision as he pitched three and two-thirds innings, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk, while striking out two. Danys Baez received a blown save as he pitched an inning and a third, giving up a hit. Dan Meyer also received a blown save, before getting the win (1-0, 9.00), as he pitched an inning, giving up two runs on two hits and a walk, while striking out 2. Drew Carpenter received his first hold of the spring as he pitches a scoreless inning, giving up two hits and a walk, while striking out two batters. Mike Zagurski records his second spring hold as he pitches a scoreless inning, giving up a hit, while striking out one. Antonio Bastardo records his first save of the spring as he pitches a 1-2-3 inning, striking out two. Kevin Correia also received a no-decision as he went three innings, giving up two runs on five hits, while he struck out five. Brian Burres followed with two scoreless innings, giving up a hit, while striking out a batter. Fernando Nieve took the lost (0-1, 27.00) as he pitched an inning and a third, giving up four runs on five hits and a walk, while striking out three. Michael Dubee pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up a hit, while striking out one. Bryan Morris pitched an inning, giving up a run on a hit. Daniel Moskos pitched a 1-2-3 inning, striking out a batter.
The Phils had fourteen hits in the game, with Wilson Valdez leading the team with three hits, two singles and a doubles, as he raised his spring average to .417. He was followed by Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard, who both had two hits, with Rollins’ hits being a single and a double, and Howard’s being a single and a solo home run, his first of the spring. Freddy Galvis, Placido Polanco, Carlos Rivero, Raul Ibanez, Brandon Moss, Matt Rizzotti and Dane Sardinha had the other seven Phils’ hits, all singles, except for Rizzotti’s double. Rollins and Howard’s two hits help raised their spring batting averages.
The Phils’s Grapefruit League record is now 4-3.
The Phils defeat the Red Sox in spring training, 2-0.
In the first spring training game between the two teams that most people expect to be facing each other in the World Series, the Phils defeat the Red Sox, 2-0.
In the top of the second, the Phils took the lead as Jeff Larish hits a one-out, two-run double, knocking in Ben Francisco, who had earlier got on base with a single, then moved up to second base on a Stolmy Pimentel’s balk, then moved on to third on a John Mayberry, Jr., single, and Mayberry, Jr., who had earlier singled. That would be all the scoring in the game, as Phils’ starter, Cole Hamels, threw four scoreless innings, although running into a bit of trouble in the third as he gave up a lead-off double to Mike Cameron (which turned out to be the only Red Sox’s hit), before moving to third on a 5-3 ground out by Jarrod Saltalamacchia. But, after walking Lars Anderson to put runners on first and third, with one out, Hamel would leave Cameron on third by getting Marco Scutaro to foul out to the cather for the inning’s second out, and then Dustin Pedroia to ground out, 5-3, to end the inning. The next two Phils’ pitchers, Scott Mathieson and Michael Stutes, would both pitch two scoreless innings, as the Red Sox would either hit into first pitch outs, or strikeout looking or swinging on three pitches. The Red Sox would make one last threat in the ninth, with Juan Perez on the mound, as with one out, Michael Martinez would commit a pair of errors, with the first one being a fielding error which allows Oscar Tejeda to reach first base. Then, after Ryan Kalish walks on four pitches, moving Tejeda to second base, Martinez commits his second error of the inning, as he commits a force out error on a Yamaico Navarro grounder, allowing Tejeda to reach third, and Kalish to move up to second base, while Navarro would reach first on the play, loading the bases. But, Perez would then get out of the inning, as he would first get pinch hitter Daniel Nava to foul out to the thrid baseman for the second out, before ending the game by striking out Josh Reddick on three pitches.
Cole Hamels gets the win (1-0, 0.00 ERA) as he pitches four shut out innings, giving up just one hit, while striking out three and walking one. Scott Mathieson and Michael Stutes both followed with two scoreless innings, as they both record a hold, as they combine for four strike outs (two each) while walking only one batter (Mathieson). Juan Perez receive the save as he pitches a scoreless inning, giving up a walk, while striking out a batter. Stolmy Pimentel took the lost (0-1, 9.00) as he pitches two innings, giving up two runs on three hits and a walk, while striking out one. Dan Wheeler, Andrew Miller, Bobby Jenks, Jason Rice, Rich Hill, Michael Bowden and Blake Maxwell each pitch a scoreless inning, as they combine to give up four hits (Wheeler (2), Miller (1), Jenks (1)) and three walks (Rice (1), Bowden (2)), while combining for six strike outs (Miller (1), Rice (2), Hill (1), Bowden (1), Maxwell (1)). Phils pitching had an easy time, as the BoSox hitters were very aggressive at the plate, hitting into a lot of one pitch outs.
The Phils had seven hits in the game, with Ben Francisco leading the team with two hits, both singles, as he increases his spring training batting average to .375, as he scores one of the two Phils’ runs. Shane Victorino follows with a double, Ross Gload, with a single, John Mayberry, Jr., also with a single, as he scores the other Phil run, Jeff Larish, who hit a two-run double, and Dane Sardinha, who had a single. Dom Brown is still struggling at the plate, as he went 0 for 3, with a walk, as he struck out once.
The Phils, with the win, now have a 3-3 grapefruit league spring training record, as they snap a two-game losing streak.
And, spring training games have finally begun…
As the Phils play their first official spring training game, an exhibition game with Florida State, which started at around 1:05 pm ET. According to MLB.com, the Phils have taken a 4-0 lead against FSU, scoring all of their runs in the first inning, as they bat in the bottom of the six.
Lee’s health…or, someone please call out the adults.
It would seems that last month, while Cliff Lee was home playing catch he felt something wrong along the left side of his body, around the armpit, so, while he was planning to come to the city anyway, he had the Phils’ team physician Michael Ciccotti exam him, after having first called the team’s athletic trainer Scott Sheridan. The result of the exam was that the MRI discovered a minor strain along the left latissimus dorsi.
The Phils suggested that he do nothing for eight days, which Lee did, and when he pitched from the mound last Tuesday, his session was shorter than the rest, to make sure that there was nothing wrong with him. Other than that, he has been working out with the rest of the pitching staff, waiting for his opportunity to pitch in his first spring training game.
Okay, now I see nothing wrong with the Phils being careful with Lee, especially after spring training of last year when he was a member of the Mariners, in which he got injuried, and missed the start of the 2010 season. But, if the man himself says that he is right now feeling fine, let take his word for it, unless something else proves otherwise. I’m going to give Lee, and the Phils, the benefit of the doubt until his left side, or some other part of his anatomy, really start giving him problems. Until then, I’m not going to listen to the talk about his ‘injury’ since he is not injured. All that will do is waste too much of my time with needless worry.
I’d just looked at the Latest Leaders list for January…
And boy was I shocked by what I saw. Why? Because I’d discovered that I am among the top 50 fan blogs, at #35 no less. What is that a shock? Because I did not upload too many posts during the past month, and therefore did not expect to be even close to making the list. To say that there was almost no peep out of me last month is an understatement. And that was mainly because my home team, the Phils, did almost nothing newsworthy during the past month. Boy, I guess not saying too much might actually be a good thing. Since the time that pitchers and catchers are to report to Clearwater is just around the corner, I won’t be as quiet as a church mouse too much longer. Soon it’ll be time for me to start earning my keep.
Anyway, here’s the Fans #50 list:
FANS
1. Sarge’s Phillies Phantasy Camp Diary
2. Rockpile Rant
3. Rays Renegade
4. Red State Blue State
5. Unfinished Business
6. Hands off my Pirates Booty
7. The Three Bs
8. The Future Blog of the Red Sox
9. Yankee Yapping
10. Phillies Phollowers
11. Pinstripe Birthdays
12. Julia’s Rants
13. The Pittsburgh Peas
14. I’m Not A Headline Guy…
15. Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend
16. Strictly Cubs Baseball
17. Cook & Son Bats’ Blog
18. Dodgerfilms
19. White Elephant Parade
20. The Closer
21. 2011 Red Sox Fantasy Camp
22. Counting Baseballs
23. The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived
24. Yankees Chick
25. Crzblue’s Dodger Blue World
26. FutureAngels.com
27. Blogging ‘Bout Baseball
28. Pessimistic Cub Fan
29. Prose and Ivy
30. The Cub Den
31. The Phanatic Addict
32. Art of the Pale Hose
33. San Jose A’s Fan
34. SPANdemonium
35. Phillies Red Pinstripes
36. Sports Propaganda
37. Minoring In Baseball
38. Purple Pride
39. King of Cali
40. This is a very simple game…
41. Thomas’ Trolley
42. Rants, Raves, and Random Thoughts
43. Live, Eat, and Breathe Yankees
44. DYNASTY League Baseball from designer of Pursue the Pennant
45. Baseball Addict
46. Bjarkman’s Latino and Cuban League Baseball History Page
47. There’s Always Next Year
48. Cardinal Girl
49. Smitty’s Sandlot Smatterings : Lumber, Leather and Life
50. All Things Pirates: Breaking down the Buccos
As can be seen, there appears to be five Phils related blog on the list this time, although one, Sarge’s Phillies Phantasy Camp Diary is a new one. Anyway, give all of the blogs on the list a look see, folks. I’m sure that we’ll all appreciate it.
Philadelphia Phillies – Awards: Sacrifice Flies.
Since it was made an official offensive statistic in 1954, a Phil had led the National League in hitting sacrifice flies seven times. It would be accomplished by six different Phils.
The first Phil to win the honor was Don Demeter, who did it in 1962, as he hit eleven sac flies. The next Phil to lead the NL in sac flies would be Clay Dalrymple, who, in 1964, the year of the infamous late season collapse, hit eight sac flies. The third Phil to be the league’s leader in sac flies would be Willie Montanez, who would hit thirteen of them in 1971. The fourth Phil would be Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt, who, in 1979, would finish the season in a three-way tie with Cesar Cedeno of the Houston Astros and Dave Parker of the Pittsburgh Pirates, as all three would hit nine sac files. Schmidt would then lead the league by himself in 1980, the year that the Phils would win their first World Series Championship, as he hit thirteen sac flies. The fifth Phil to lead the league would be Garry Maddox, as he lead the league in the strike-shorten season of 1981 with eight sac flies. The sixth, and so far, last Phil, to lead the NL in sac flies was Rico Brogna, who, in 1998, would end the season in a three-way tie with Derek Bell of the Astros and Jeff Kent of the San Francisco Giants, who all ended the season with ten sac flies.
Of the six Phils who had led the league in sac flies, only one would be a Hall of Famer (Mike Schmidt). All seven times that a Phil would lead the NL in sac flies would take place in the 20th Century. Of the seven, two would be in a three-way tie (Schmidt in 1979 and Rico Brogna in 1998). The Phil to win with the most sac fies would be Willie Montanez with thirteen in 1971 and Mike Schmidt, also with thirteen, in 1980, while Caly Dalrymple, in 1964, and Garry Maddox, in 1981, would hit the least with eight.
Who would be the next Phil to lead the National League in sacrifice flies? I really have no idea at this point.
Philadelphia Phillies – Awards: Earned Run Average.
During the Phillies’ 127-year existence as a member of the National League, that had lead the league in ERA only four times, being done by just three men.
The first Phil to lead the lead in ERA was Dan Casey, who led the NL in 1887 with an ERA of 2.86. The second Phil to have the lowest ERA was Hall of Fame Grover Cleveland Alexander who did so during his pitching triple crown seasons of 1915 (1.22), when he help lead the Phils to their first NL pennant, and 1916 (1.55). The third, and at the moment, last Phil to lead the NL in ERA was Hall of Famer Steve Carlton, who did it during his pitching triple crown year of 1972 with an ERA of 1.97.
Of the three Phils to lead the National League, two of them (Alexander and Carlton) are in the Hall of Fame. Of the four time that a Phil led the league, it was done once in the 19th Century and three times in the 20th Century. Grover Cleveland Alexander had the lowest ERA, with his 1.22 in 1915, while Dan Casey had the highest with his 2.86 in 1887.
Who is the most likely Phil who is most likely to next lead the NL in ERA? More than likely it would be Roy Halladay, although Cliff Lee is also likely to do it.
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