Phillies Nation

wow tim you diehard. How was it?

doen’t have to go five inning in rain out

I just looked up stats to compare Ibanez to other players in baseball…he is the best offensive player in baseball right now. He has the highest OPS+ and slugging percentage in baseball. He also has scored the most runs. He is completely versatile and can hit anywhere in the line up. I’m starting to think breaking up the lefties doesn’t even matter because Ibanez and Utley will hit left handed pitching. I actually think a line up with Utley 2nd and Ibanez 3rd is a really good idea. I even think Werth should be batting lead off since he’s also an on base machine. Feliz would be really good protection for Howard as well because he has the ability to drive in runs. Rollins could also work as good protection for Howard. Rollins and Victorino should not be at the top of that line up anymore. They don’t get on base enough for the big boys.

I know all of you hate JRoll at leadoff, but you know what that is where he is most comfortable, and you move him down he will think he is a power hitter, he will come around and help this team from that spot. And to shake the line up around a little, Uttley 2nd maybe but the three lefties in a row can hurt them in late innings, I still like Chase in the 3 hole long term, just because I don’t think you can move him to 6th, and call me a traditionalist, but I just don’t like 3 4 5 hitters all left handed sorry.

Carpenter got hit in the 1st because he had too much adrenaline coursing through his veins. His sinker didn’t at first. Would anyone expect anything different for a young kids pitching his first Major League start? After the 1st, he settled down nicely until he ran out of gas as he approached 100 pitches in the 5th. Of course, getting squeezed by the ump in the 5th didn’t help matters…After yesterday, I hope we hear the end of anyone waxing nostalgic for Pat Burrell. On all 5 tools — hitting for average, hitting for power, fielding, running speed, and arm strength — Raul has Pat beat hands down.

Doug why do you need to bash Pat the Bat, he did good things in Philly, plus he got laid A LOT, Raul is on FIRE, and I love how he plays the game, he has defiantly hitting, and may be a upgrade on defense slightly, sometimes he goes for balls that he can’t get to, and turns singles into triples, and I am not complaining about that, and he is faster, but Pat had a pretty good arm, didn’t he lead outfielders in assists one year, and yes he was way conservative in the field, but he knew his limitations, the guy helped us win a WFS no need to bash him, and if i remember correctly, isn’t this time of year Pat usually hit really well. Sorry for all this but I just don’t get why you have to bring Pat up, and I had to say something

do not get me wrong I Love how Raul is playing now, I was one of those people when they picked him up said lets wait and see, I thought he would be an RBI machine but did not think we would see the power numbers, and he is clutch, and is a better base runner then I expected, I waited I SEE he has been on fire. What i dont see is everyone who said how bad of a pick up this was apologizing and saying they were wrong. I admit when I am wrong, cause I thought Moyer would pitch well this year, and also said I thought JB would be a great#3 guy, wrong twice

Too early to be touting Raul as MVP!? I dont think so.

Shag beta sigma delta Says I didn’t like the Raul move and he right now is unreal, and you are right since they shorten the season to 6 weeks, we should all say how wrong we were. But maybe you can find me a stat since I am bad on the computer, what was pat the bat hitting at this time last season. and what were his final numbers?

Does anyone else feel like Raul Ibanez is too good for Philly? I don’t necessarily mean that at in a bad way but lets look at this for a second.

- Chase Utley: Fantastic player, filthy mouth, was more than likely high during the Championship parade.
- Jimmy Rollins & Cole Hammels: Tremendously talented, super cocky. Can’t always back up their attitude.
- Ryan Howard: One of the best sluggers in the game, undisciplined at the plate and it prevents him from living up to his true potential.
-Brad Lidge: Dominant at times, picked up off the scrap pile, coming back to earth.
-Shane Victorino: Scrappy, gritty player, often seen wearing Ed Hardy and Affliction garbage.
- Brett Myers: Hot and cold, acts like a pro-wrestler most of the time (see also: Shane Victorino’s fashion sense).
- Jason Werth: Wore an Incredible Hulk hand the entire WS parade.
- Joe Blanton: Nicknamed Joe the Pitcher. Sloppy mess.
- Jaime Moyer: Souderton, PA.

This team is VERY Philly. Rough around the edges, underachieving, frustrating at times, but easily likable and they come through when it counts.

Then there’s Ibanez. Consistent, mature, clean-cut, quiet, polite, level-headed, and amazingly talented. I almost feel like he’s too good for our team. Not to say he belongs on a team like the Mets or the Cubs where they boo the sh*t out of their players and then criticize other cities for boo’ing players but I feel like Ibanez should be on like the Cardinals or something. I hope Philly remembers these first two months should Ibanez have a bad streak. When Jimmy hits a funk I don’t feel bad getting on his case because I feel like he was up the night before playing highlight videos from his MVP season for groups of strangers… Much like you didn’t have a problem getting on Burrell’s back when he was slumping cuz you know he was closing a bar in Center City the night before rather than hitting the batting cages.