Phillies Nation

In this jam-packed episode of Phillies Nation TV, Pat and Corey discuss Jimmy Rollins’ candidacy for the Hall of Fame, plus look back at a wild series against the Reds.

Natalie talks with Jen Utley about her and Chase’s involvement with the PSPCA. Natalie also has some fun at the Utley Foundation Casino Night, talking with Michael Young, Kevin Frandsen and Ruben Amaro, among others.

And last but certainly not least, Ian is with sandwich maven Tony Luke, as they attempt to capture the experience of eating delicious cheesesteaks and roast porks in South Philly!

Ruiz set career-highs in 2012 in eight offensive categories. Did Adderall aid that?

Once the season ends, or perhaps even at the July 31 trade deadline, the Phillies will be forced to deal with harsh realities. Several players who were integral parts of the teams’ run to the 2008 World Series could be on the move. It’s not out of the question to think the 2014 Phillies could be without Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and Carlos Ruiz.

Let’s focus on Ruiz. He’s was slowly working his way back to normalcy after a rough start following a 25-game suspension to begin the year. Then, he blew a tire going first-to-third in a game against the Reds last weekend and is now on the DL for 3-to-4 weeks.

The use of Adderall, for which he was suspended, tells me one thing; that he’s slowing down.  And inevitably, when a catcher slows down, it usually isn’t pretty. Ruiz was looking for an advantage and felt he could get one with the use of this banned substance. Without that aid, what does the future hold for Chooch?

For one, he’ll be 35 when next season rolls around. His .325 average last season appears to be an aberration, but we’ll know more about that after the year is complete. With 16 games and 51 at-bats under his belt this year, Ruiz is hitting .235. One thing Chooch has been known for is his ability to get on base and not strike out. His .361 career OBP is fantastic and would be sorely missed in a lineup that struggles with that idea. Even if his bat slows a bit, he still has shown to have a solid grasp of the strike zone.

Continue reading To Chooch or Not to Chooch

Tyler Cloyd pitched another gem. (Photo: AP)

Behind a second straight admirable start by Tyler Cloyd, the Phillies were able to snap a three-game losing streak against the Marlins, beating them 7-3.

After scoring three runs in three straight against Miami, the Phillies offense finally found its stride. The team notched 15 total hits, including four doubles and a home run. The outburst was a welcome sign for a team that had really been struggling. It’s a step forward. Now the challenge becomes doing it consistently and preventing the two steps back.

CLOYD EFFECTIVE ONCE AGAIN

- Juan Pierre has always been known for causing havoc on the base path, finding inventive ways to get on. Tonight, it was Tyler Cloyd injecting a little chaos of his own that allowed Pierre to reach base. Leading off the game, Pierre bunted a ball hard down the first base line. Ryan Howard fielded it cleanly and should have been able to tag Pierre with ease. Except Cloyd, who also broke on the ball, was still standing on the base line, directly in Howard’s path to Pierre. Using Cloyd as a human shield, Pierre averted the tag and slid safely into first. The play looked like a potential tone setter for Cloyd, an indication of snake bite. That proved to be untrue, as Cloyd would instead shake off the mishap and go on to pitch another good game. By the time Cloyd walked off the mound to close out the seventh inning, the unrecorded error was a distant memory.

- Much like his last outing, Cloyd wasn’t particularly dominant. The Marlins managed eight hits, but only two for extra bases. It was ex-Phillies who did all of the damage. Pierre had an RBI and Placido Polanco scored two runs–the only ones Cloyd allowed. Hovering in the mid-80s, he doesn’t blow it by anyone. But right now, he’s missing bats. He struck out five and walked two. Cloyd also got two doubleplays to get out of tough jams, including one to erase his first inning gaffe. Thus far, Cloyd has turned in two very valuable starts.

Continue reading Phils Bats Breakout In Win Over Marlins

Shortly before tonight’s first pitch, the Phillies were dealt another crucial blow when Chase Utley pulled himself from the lineup due to soreness on his right side. He was replaced in the lineup by Freddy Galvis.

Utley began to feel the discomfort during batting practice, and the issue was obviously strong enough to raise concern for the long-time Phillies second baseman, as Utley is often not wont to take himself out of a ballgame.

Utley will be reevaluated on Wednesday, and more information should become available at that time. If there is one silver lining here, it’s that Utley’s injury was not to his knees.

Still, with Carlos Ruiz and Mike Adams already on the DL, and Ryan Howard battling soreness in his knee, a DL stint for Utley, who leads the Phillies with an .814 OPS, is the last thing this team needs right now.

Philadelphia Phillies (21-24) at Miami Marlins (13-32)

Tyler Cloyd (0-0, 2.84 ERA) v. Jose Fernandez (2-2, 3.48 ERA)

TIME: 7:10, Marlins Park
TV: Comcast SportsNet
Weather: 77, mostly cloudy
Media: Twitter and Facebook

BREAK UP THE POWERHOUSE MARLINS!!!

Apparently this Miami Marlins team is supposed to be pretty bad. You wouldn’t know it from watching the Phillies last three contests against the Fish, in which they were outscored 21-3. It’s no wonder then that four of the Marlins 13 wins (30.7%) have come against the Phils this year. Last night’s loss may have been the most frustrating of the season, as the Phils wasted an otherwise dominant outing from Cole Hamels by once again forgetting to bring the lumber.

If you’re looking for a reprieve tonight, you’ve come to the wrong place. That’s because the man on the mound for Miami has flatout owned the Phillies so far this season. For that reason, you probably already know the name Jose Fernandez. He’s an unpolished rookie with a very high ceiling, who has been an otherwise pedestrian pitcher this year, except when facing the Phils. In fact, if you remove Fernandez’s two starts against the Phils–in which he’s held them scoreless over 6 innings and 7 innings, respectively–he would have a 4.94 ERA. That’s right. Simply facing the Phils has saved Fernandez a cool run and a half on his ERA. That needs to change tonight.

Starting for the Phils is Tyler Cloyd, who’s making is second start of the season in place of the injured Roy Halladay. In Cloyd’s first start, a couple weeks ago in Arizona, he pitched well enough to get a win. Though his numbers looked pretty good, for those who watched the game, it seemed apparent Cloyd had been let off the hook by Arizona. He left a few balls over the plate, and Arizona failed to capitalize. While it’s always a slippery slope to delve to deep into statistics after one outing, Cloyd’s 4.56 xFIP suggests there is going to be quite a bit of regression over the long haul, if the Phils continue to go with him. For now, he has a (supposedly) weak Marlins lineup to deal with, and he should be able to handle them.

Despite speculation on this website that Howard could be headed for a DL stint, he returns to the lineup and is batting cleanup tonight.

Lineup: Rollins SS, Utley 2B, M. Young 3B, Howard 1B, D. Young RF, Brown LF, Revere CF, Kratz C, Cloyd P

GAMEDAY BEER: Shiner Red Ruby

When you think of Florida, what’s the first fruit you think of? If you said oranges, you are 100% correct. But the second fruit you’d probably associate with the Sunshine State would be grapefruit, as Florida is one of the world’s largest exporters of the tart citrus fruit. The idea behind Shiner’s Red Ruby is to give you a hint of that grapefruit taste in your beer. Combined with the a strong malt taste, the beer has a citrus aftertaste, and a subtle bitterness. It’s definitely a summertime beer, which goes great in Florida, or on an 80 degree, humid night in Philly.  – RD

Not clear in the sense that his phlegm is clear because his allergies aren’t an issue; clear in the sense that seconds after Domonic Brown hit a home run, Sanabia hocked a loogie on the baseball in plain view of the cameras.

According to the rulebook, which these days is used more as a guideline than anything, it says:

Rule 8.02: The pitcher shall not — (2) expectorate on the ball, either hand or his glove;

Take a look, should he have been tossed?

(Thanks Fangraphs)

Jeff Schuler of the Allentown Morning Call has reported the following:

Josh Fields‘ bags were packed and he was getting hugs. Asked if he was heading south, said with smile, ‘Not the man to ask that question.”

— jeff schuler (@jschulermc) May 21, 2013

Dave Brundage on potential Fields move: “I can’t comment on that right now.’ Best guess: look for Howard to go to DL

— jeff schuler (@jschulermc) May 21, 2013

Connecting the dots, it appears that INF Josh Fields, who went 3-4 and was a HR away from the cycle tonight in a 14-5 IronPigs win, and not Darin Ruf will get the call if/when Ryan Howard heads to the DL. Fields entered today’s game with a .272/.340/.457 triple-slash and undoubtedly raised that tonight with an outstanding night.

We will have more as this develops.

Hamels has been a victim of poor run support all season. (Photo: AP)

The Marlins now have 13 wins on the season.  Four have come against the Phillies.  After showing signs of life against some of baseball’s best teams in recent weeks, the Phils offense laid an egg on Monday night in Miami, losing 5-1 to the Marlins and again leaving an effective Cole Hamels out to dry.  Alex Sanabia notched the win for the Marlins and Justin Ruggiano provided two key RBIs.

HAMELS RETURNS TO FORM

- Apart from two mistakes, Hamels, now 1-7, was dominant on Monday night.  He walked none and struck out 10 Marlins in only six innings before being removed for a pinch hitter.  Pitch count (89 pitches) and command (67 strikes) were not an issue, unlike recent outings.  Cole has now allowed three earned runs in 20 innings against the Fish, and has received a grand total of one run from his offense.

- With the free-swinging Marcell Ozuna buried in a 1-2 hole in the first inning, Hamels decided to stick with his fastball, which Ozuna stung up the middle, plating the Marlins first run.  Some say that Hamels has shown an overreliance on the cutter this season… this was just the latest example of his pitch selection costing him.

- Hamels appeared to be very angry with himself after allowing an RBI double to Ruggiano in the sixth that put Miami ahead 2-1.  But Cole really did look good – striking out double digits for the first time this year.  He did it three times last year, fanning 10 each time.  At one point, Hamels recorded eight of nine outs via punch out.

Continue reading Offense Fails Hamels Again as Phils Fall to Fish

Phils fans braced for the worst and came away with a pair of “phews”. Carlos Ruiz will miss just 3-4 weeks with a strained hamstring while Ryan Howard is day-to-day with a “bum knee“.

Ruiz has seen action in 16 games since returning from his 25-game suspension and has struggled, striking out an uncharacteristically high 16.1%, walking an uncharacteristically low 5.4%, and hitting just .235/.286/.275 in 56 PA. Ruiz left yesterday’s game in the second inning after hearing a pop in his leg. The injury was initially described as a hamstring strain. Catcher Humberto Quintero joined the team today in Miami, filling the roster spot vacated by Mike Adams‘ trip to the DL.

Howard, as reported this morning, has been amongst the worst first baseman in baseball in 2013, ranking 26th in fWAR among first baseman who would qualify for the batting title and 49th among the pool of every player to play first base this year. The lefty-slugger and former MVP is hitting just .245/.282/.430 with just 6 HR in 163 PA. Howard received a cortisone shot yesterday and will see how he responds to it.

Analysis: Will it be a blessing in disguise to having Howard out? I’m not sure I would go that far but I will say this: it is difficult to be a less-statistically relevant first baseman than Howard has been this year. Any combination of Michael Young and Darin Ruf will provide an upgrade in production over what this Ryan Howard has provided. What I won’t do is write Ryan Howard off yet – yes, he has been a declining player who has not executed the proper adjustments to remain an elite player since 2009 but it is entirely plausible that this most recent dip in production has come due to injury.

Philadelphia Phillies (21-23) vs. Florida Marlins (12-32)

LHP Cole Hamels (1-6, 4.61 ERA) v. RHP Alex Sanabia (2-6, 5.00 ERA)

TIME: 7:10, Marlins Park
TV: Comcast SportsNet
Weather: 78, mostly cloudy
Media: Twitter and Facebook

On Monday night in Miami, Cole Hamels will get his third crack at the Marlins lineup this year.  It has been a disappointing 2013 for the Phillies left-hander, and no starts epitomize his misfortune quite like the first two he’s made against the Fish.  Hamels has pitched 14 innings against Miami, giving up only one earned run, seven hits and three walks.  In those 14 innings – 13 of which came against rookie sensation Jose Fernandez – the Phillies offense was dormant, scoring zero runs for Hamels and leaving him with an 0-1 record despite a microscopic ERA.

To be fair, Hamels’ ERA for the year is an unacceptable 4.61, well above his career mark of 3.39.  He needs to be better.  After getting rocked in his first two starts, Hamels put together six consecutive quality starts and looked to be back on track, despite going 1-3 over that stretch due to the aforementioned lack of run support.  But he struggled again last week against the Indians, surrendering five earned runs.  Unable to put Cleveland hitters away, Cole ran too many deep counts and the result was 106 pitches in only five innings of work.  Hopefully facing a Miami lineup that is last in baseball in runs will help him return to the form that warranted a six-year, $144 million contract extension last summer.

Lucky for Hamels, the Phillies hitters won’t have to face Fernandez again until Tuesday night.  On Monday, they get Alex Sanabia who – surprise, surprise – also has had success against the Phils, with a 2.45 ERA in two career starts.  Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz are both out of the lineup as the team awaits the results of their MRIs.  This gives Phillies fans another look at Freddy Galvis who, after his Sunday afternoon walk-off home run, has an incredible OPS of .864 (he posted a .617 OPS in 190 at-bats last season).  With seven games against the Nationals and Red Sox looming, the Phillies need to take care of business in South Florida.

Lineup: Rollins SS, Revere CF, M. Young 1B, Utley 2B, Brown LF, D. Young RF, Galvis 3B, Kratz C, Hamels P

GAMEDAY BEER: Landshark

Courtesy of Ryan Dinger:  Typically I like to pick a craft beer for these, but the Marlins always remind me of Margaritaville’s Landshark. Partly because of the state of Florida and its tropical climate, but mainly because Landshark Stadium was the name of their former home in their last season there. Landshark is an Island Lager without a lot of flash. It is, in essence, a much-improved version of Corona. Easy on the eyes and even easier on the pallet, Landshark is a beer ideal for a lager fan looking for a quality beer without an overly complex taste. It will compliment literally anything you want to have to eat with it. - RD