Comments on: Gameday: Phillies (39-36) At Braves (37-40)

By: j reed

j reed — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:56:44 +0000

shag: i’m not sure about Garret Anderson’s strengths and weaknesses as a hitter but asking for a pitch inside off the plate to left handed batter a catcher better sure that their pitcher can put it under the hands or can throw a good knee buckler in the dirt otherwise its typically right where most left handers want it. The problem is esp. concerning the curve, it doesn’t really work from a right hander cause the left handed batter sees it coming across the pitchers body.. that cutter should only be thrown to a right hander cause it’ll taper away from them. Truly a bad pitch choice and I say that’s on Ruiz. Still every pitcher on this staff with the exception of Happ, Condrey has had problems or is struggling. When a staff struggles like this across the board, it seems improbable that this many players can put such crooked numbers in 3 month span. I really think something’s rotten in Denmark and it starts with the pitching coach.

By: beta sigma shag

beta sigma shag — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:59:46 +0000

I had half written manny post and lost it. I have to To say that they did look a lot better at the plate tonigt, vic got robbed once and hit the pitcher once, if they had not played bad for a month this would not be a bad loss, Happ pitched great even after the HR he did not get flustered and pitched well enough to win.
i can not believe jimmy goes 2-4 with solid contact in all at bats, hits the ball one the ground hard and people are still hating.
Madson I have 2 things
1: I really think blowing those saves when Lidge was on the DL went to his head and he has lost all his confidence and maybe he needs to get into a game not in the 8th or when it is not high pressure, Last year he did not flinch in the playoffs or WS but he was never behind,
2: sometimes I think Ruiz and Madson over think it, Fastball inside 0-2 cause they think he going to throw the change instead of throwing the change up off the plate, The HR was not where Ruiz wanted it inside off the plate, it was dead center.
All we need is a good home stand against 3 good pitchers Even though they lost they did not play that bad tonight
One more thing is it just me or is Dobbs hitting better now that he has had more time playing,
Sorry one more thing I would agree things are not all rosey, and there needs to be some trades, but none of the starting 8 should be traded they do need pitching a starter and a pen guy

By: j reed

j reed — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:52:36 +0000

Bm: yeah, well that’s part Ruiz…catcher calls the game. Like I said, other teams have done there homework and it shows. Its up to us to adjust to them….one of the difficulties with repeating is re-using a previous year’s formula when everyone else has had a chance to study it, find its tendencies and a weak points to exploit.

By: Stuart

Stuart — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:50:38 +0000

Yeah i think 9, ugh so long ago right. but I think chan ho should just come in when its a tie game. my personal thought is that charlie shouldve left happ in for one more inning and then pinch hit for him in the 9th. he was pitching fine and his pitch count wasnt that high. Chan ho did bomb out of the rotation but hes been a bullpen guy and thats what hes best at this year. hes be fine coming out of the bullpen this year.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:49:54 +0000

Its a big mess. I do not envy the old man.
that I think everyone can agree to. Its a mess.
Even the fielding has been bad lately. Ill be back tomorrow night to discuss.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:48:04 +0000

demoating out of the set up role. not the minors
manny

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:47:04 +0000

ha ha math isnt so good its 9 isnt it?

I also know everyone here wanted Madsen to take over for Lidge.
How did that workd out?
So you want chan ho now as the set up man? I can get that in writing so when he comes in in the 8th one night we can blame you? what do you want the old man to do? Parks been good but didnt he bomb out of the rotation like 2 months ago? Romero is a lefty specialist.
So you want chan ho park to set up? Lidge has been alot worse than Madsen this year. Chan ho to close?

By: Stuart

Stuart — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:42:40 +0000

Andrew we won the world series 5 months ago? had no idea the world series was in Feb. And the minute madson came in i looked up and said the game is over. he has not pitched well in weeks so yes, i was 100 percent sure before tonight that he should not have been in there.

By: bm

bm — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:41:08 +0000

i like madson and generally he is a good pitcher but his problem is pitch selection. everyone knows his changeup is his best pitch and he can get strike outs with it yet he is rarely throwing it and is constantly throwing fastballs for strike 3 which is not working.

By: Manny

Manny — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:41:00 +0000

I’m sure demoting a guy with a 3.XX ERA would be the best call ever, Andrew

By: j reed

j reed — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:39:41 +0000

bm: agreed. Dubee blows, when pitchers have problems he sends them to the minors….did anyone even see an ioata of improvement in Bastardo’s secondary pitches? I didn’t think he should have mastered them, but his slider hardly has any break….well okay it looks slurvery at times but even then with that kid’s arm velocity he should be throwing a hard slider…

By: The Dipsy

The Dipsy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:37:01 +0000

Wow Dan…what a rosey forecast you have. You must be a big Chicken Little. The Phils are playing as bad as they can and they’re still in first. The Marlins don’t have what it takes. We know that. The Mets are gonna be real injured for awhile and their starting piyching is poor. Now the Braves worry. Its not just Lowe, Jurrjens, and Vasquez, Soriano and Gonzalez but you just know that they’te gonna trade for one and maybe two offensive players before the deadline. Jones, McClouth, McCann and maybe.. Halliday? Then I think they might be there with the Phils. The Braves make these trades every year. Go Phils.

The Dipsy

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:36:25 +0000

I would put rollins in the 8 hole and tell him its for the season. Regardless of if he hits or not. But is shane a bonafide major league lead off hitter?
Id demote madson AFTER tonight. It is pretty hard to say you knew before tonght 100%. Although when he came in I was skeptical. Is chan ho the new 8th inning guy? Is it romero? Oh and by the way the 9th inning guy is pretty bad lately. Is it wrong to use lidege if we are leading in the ninth tomorrow? With them winning the championship 5 months ago I feel like its tough to want to fire the old man at this point.
Now why did Werth jsut give himself up at home? Come in spkies hihg or plow the guy over. It was a pitcher for gods sake. Of all the phillies Werth frustrates me the most. Going back to that mets game where he inexplicably just held onto the ball while the winning run scored.

By: Manny

Manny — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:36:09 +0000

Wow. Some serious overreaction here. I know it’s a tough loss, but there were several things to highlight from this game: pitching by Happ was a huge positive, the offense got plenty of hits, Jimmy got TWO… A completely different loss than yesterday’s, where EVERYTHING sucked.

It felt really bad to lose this one because we ended up getting swept, but I seriously doubt that this team will keep losing all these games in the near future.

And I can’t believe all the Madson hate… He was horrible out there and he’s been inconsistent lately, but putting him in the 8th was definitely the right call. With a 2.84 ERA before this game and STILL a very respectable 3.46 after it, I can’t see how we can say that “he sucks” when he’s been probably the best bullpen piece this season.

By: Stuart

Stuart — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:32:46 +0000

I agree with you Dan. It is not only our hitting, that can be fixed easier than our pitching staff. Both of those guys are done, Lidge was never that great, just had one good year last year. He was run out of Houston the year before.

By: bm

bm — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:32:42 +0000

exactly – switching up the lineup might do them some good because obviously whatever this is isnt working. i hate how charlie is just so stubborn and keeps things the same when its clearly not working

By: Stuart

Stuart — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:30:34 +0000

edit
coaching staff*

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:30:15 +0000

The Phillies have allowed both the Braves and Marlins back into the Division race. We could be up by so many games because the Mets have been rotting. The entire team is playing like crap. And our bullpen? Oh man do they stink. I think we need to go out and get a new closer and maybe even a new setup man. Lidge and Madson have lost their confidence, and they may never find it again. You can guarantee walks, hits and homers when they come into pitch. They are not feared, hitters are thrilled when they are in the game.

By: joedad

joedad — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:30:12 +0000

Too much talent on this team to be this bad. I expect a shakeup some time soon

By: DJ

DJ — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:29:47 +0000

Fire Dubee and shake things up! They need something like that!