Phillies Nation

How comfortable are you with Nix manning a corner outfield spot defensively? Alex says corner outfield defense is an area of opportunity.

This week’s Writer’s Roundtable question was from Ryan Dinger and compiled by Don McGettigan:

“Aside from Roy Halladay‘s health, what is another major concern you have as you watch Spring Training wind down?”

Alex Lee:  This has been covered at great length, but my main concern is still the defense on the corners, particularly in the early part of the season.  I believe that both Michael Young and Domonic Brown will improve defensively throughout the year, but first base and wherever Brown isn’t look like permanent problems.  With Carlos Ruiz out for April, any additional lackluster defense could sink the Phillies hopes of a division title… and quickly.

Don McGettigan:  My biggest concern is getting Chase Utley all the way to Opening Day.  Utley is still arguably the Phillies best all-around player, and has missed the first month+ of the past two seasons.  With Carlos Ruiz serving a 25-game suspension to begin the year, the Phillies need Utley in the lineup to start the season. Continue reading PN Roundtable: Major Concerns?

Ben Revere has been everything the Phillies had hoped he’d be and more halfway through Spring Training. Photo AP

Our weekly Writers’s Roundtable is back and this time the topic comes from Don M.: Dom Brown has been far and away the best Phillies player this Spring by any measure. Other than Brown, who has impressed you the most this Spring?

Don McGettigan:  Perhaps because it’s potentially the year in Philadelphia for Carlos Ruiz, I was very impressed with what Tommy Joseph was able to do in the Grapefruit League (hitting .462, with a home run and two doubles in 13 at-bats) before being optioned to the minors.  Joseph also earned the praise of Roy Halladay  “He was very on top of things and aware of what was going on in games and situations. That’s what you want to see.”

Ian Riccaboni: Ben Revere has been as advertised for the Phillies. Despite an 0-fer last night, Revere is hitting .340, has four steals, and is playing great defense. If Brown wasn’t having such a great Spring, there’d be a lot more folks excited about the Phils speedy center fielder.

Corey Seidman: This is a tough question, but I’d say I’ve been most impressed by Freddy Galvis. I expected his extra-base hit power to go away after we found out about the PEDs, but he leads the Grapefruit League in doubles and legitimately looks like he could turn into a valuable starting middle infielder. It’s pretty exciting to see what he’s capable of this year.

Continue reading Roundtable: Besides Brown, Which Player Has Impressed Most This Spring?

Detroit Tigers vs. Philadelphia Phillies

Time: 1:05 pm

Brighthouse Field– Clearwater, FL

Weather: 81, Mostly Cloudly

TV: The Comcast Network, MLB Network

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Cliff Lee takes the hill for the first time this Spring against the defending AL Champion Tigers. Tyler Cloyd, Michael Stutes, Phillippe Aumont, Jonathan Papelbon, and Raul Valdes are scheduled to follow Lee.

The Phillies will face Tigers’ Rule 5 pick Drew Smyly. Smyly, a fellow Arkansan, is represented by the same agent as Lee and worked with Lee in the offseason to improve his game, focusing on the cutter.

Line-Up

1. Betancourt- SS

2. Utley – 2B

3. M. Young- 3B

4. Howard – 1B

5. Ruf – LF

6. Ruiz – DH

7. Mayberry – RF

8. Kratz- C

9. Martinez – CF

Go Phillies!

Detroit Tigers vs. Philadelphia Phillies

Time: 1:05 pm

TigerTown – Lakeland, FL

Weather: 79, 40% Chance of Rain

TV: Sorry folks, this one’s not on TV today.

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Roy Halladay takes the hill for the first time this Spring against the defending AL Champion Tigers. Rodrigo Lopez, Antonio Bastardo, J.C. Ramirez, Jake Diekman, and Joe Savery will follow Halladay.

Today will mark the first in-game action of the Spring for a few anticipated starters, including Jimmy Rollins and Carlos Ruiz, and will be the first time to see Tyson Gillies and Zach Collier in Spring action.

Line-Up

1. Rollins – SS

2. Gillies – CF

3. Ruiz – C

4. Howard – 1B

5. Ruf – DH

6. Mayberry – RF

7. Frandsen – 3B

8. Galvis – 2B

9. Collier – LF

Go Phillies!

It's finally time to get out of that suit and into red pinstripes. Spring is here and Hamels is on the hill. Photo by: Ian Riccaboni

Some folks react to today’s start of the Spring schedule with a shoulder shrug, a yawn. A bigger “why care” is exhibited instead of an “I care”. But, I do care and I’m really looking forward to today’s 1:05 PM start against the Astros.

It is all because of Cole Hamels.

While the pitches Hamels throws today may feel meaningless, and in the grand scheme of the history of the game, they are, there is a greater significance with every appearance, Spring Training or regular season. Hamels is entering the prime of his career, on pace for more than 2,800 career strikeouts, suddenly the leader on a staff with two Cy Young winners who are still pretty good in the own right. He is likely your 2013 Opening Day starter. He is the face of the Phillies no matter if Chase Utley or Carlos Ruiz re-sign after the season or Jimmy Rollins returns after 2014. And he is very quietly halfway through a Hall of Fame career.
Continue reading Why I’m Excited For Today’s Exhibition Game

Since I have been here, I haven’t seen any leadership

Jonathan Papelbon, February 21, 2013

I wish I could have written about this quote sooner. But, to be honest, I don’t think there is much to say; I believe Papelbon’s misspoke during a period of quick reflection. A reflection on a season’s worth of disappointments that are understandable when compared to the high expectations the Phillies had entering 2012.

While his comments may have been understandable, that doesn’t mean that he wasn’t entirely wrong. Dead wrong.

Listen, any team that had won the last five division titles has leaders. The 2012 Phillies met that description and then some. Twice a World Series participant, once a winner, in those five years, someone must have been guiding the Phillies. There were more than a few constants from those five years who returned for 2012: Charlie Manuel, Rich Dubee, Carlos Ruiz, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Cole Hamels, Kyle Kendrick, and Shane Victorino all entered the 2012 as Phillies who had been there from the beginning of their playoff run. So what gave in 2012? It’s pretty obvious to me. Follow the jump for some beautiful visual evidence.

Continue reading Papelbon Wrong About 2012

It is particularly difficult to watch a presidential debate or State of the Union and hear the party line as a response for each question. It becomes a predictable exercise where each answer is as rehearsed and choreographed as a pop music performance at the Grammys. When reporters engaged Carlos Ruiz in questions about his 25-game suspension for Adderall use, Ruiz stuck to the talking points, the party line: he was very sorry that he disappointed everyone, he’s putting it behind him.

Chooch had a very unique opportunity on his hands: he could have been a trailblazer, he could have been the first person taking a PED to describe the advantages of taking them, detailing why he took them, stating what aspects of his game they improved. He could have had the mea culpa of all mea culpas, describing when and why he started, why he continued to do so even after he was busted once and told he would be tested eight times a year.

Chooch didn’t give any of those details.

Continue reading Chooch’s Apology Doesn’t Fill In All Blanks

Catching depth is needed in Spring Training to accommodate the proportionally large pitching depth that travels to Clearwater. The Phillies currently have three catchers on their 40-man roster, Erik Kratz, Carlos Ruiz, and Sebastian Valle, but with Chooch out, Valle will compete with the three non-rostered invitees for an early season cameo as the Phils back-up catcher. Of all of the non-roster invitees, this is the group that is all but guaranteed to produce a Phillie in 2013.

The Front Runner

Humberto Quintero

Quintero is primarily the front runner for the early season back-up catching role due to the amount of experience he has in the big leagues. Quintero has almost no bat (career .234/.267/.323) and despite the fact that he was on the 2004 Padres with Jake Peavy in his prime and the 2005 Astros with Roy Oswalt in his prime and Roger Clemens putting up a league-leading 1.87 ERA, Quintero didn’t catch those guys. He often served as Wandy Rodriguez‘s personal catcher much in the same way Brian Schneider was accidentally-on-purpose Vance Worley‘s personal catcher throughout 2011.

Continue reading 2013 Non-Roster Invitee Preview: Catchers

After a few season with the Phillies, and 13 overall in the majors, Brian Schneider has announced his retirement, according to the Allentown Morning Call.

It had been a trying few seasons with the Phillies as Schneider seemingly spent more time on the DL than on the bench, where he was the primary backup to Carlos Ruiz. The Phillies kept Schneider around because of his catching intuition and rapport with the pitching staff, however, it was clear his body was breaking down early on in his tenure in Philly.

Schneider, who grew up in Northampton, PA, hit just .212 in 122 games over three seasons with the Phillies.

It’s up to you to tell us who should be part of the Phillies All-Time team. Once a week during the winter, we’ll unveil one position for you to vote on. After all the votes are tallied, and all the position filled, we’ll release the results. Make your vote count!

Below are the top choice and their totals as a member of the Phillies. WAR is used from Baseball-Reference.

• Carlos Ruiz (6+ seasons, 1x All Star): .275 avg, .781 OPS, 52 HR, 299 RBI, 15.2 WAR

• Bob Boone (10 seasons, 3x All Star): .259 avg, .695 OPS, 65 HR, 456 RBI, 11.5 WAR

• Mike Lieberthal (13 seasons, 2x All Star) .275 avg, .783 OPS, 150 HR, 609 RBI, 13.6 WAR

• Darren Daulton (14 seasons, 3x All Star) .245 avg, .783 OPS, 134 HR, 567 RBI, 20.9 WAR

• Andy Seminick (12 seasons, 1x All Star) .244 avg, .770 OPS, 123 HR, 411 RBI, 15.9 WAR

• Stan Lopata (11 seasons, 2x All Star) .257 avg., .814 OPS, 116 HR, 397 RBI, 15.6 WAR

Who we’re voting for:

-Ian Riccaboni: My vote for best Phillies catcher is Stan Lopata. Lopata, like so many other Phillies catchers, such as Leiberthal and Ruiz, lacked longevity but had extreme peaks, and in my opinion, the highest peaks of any Phillies catcher. Lopata’s three year stretch from 1954 through 1956 is better than any other Phillies’ catcher’s best three years and helped him earn the starting job from Seminick. Lopata was pretty putrid defensively but much of that was corrected once he became the first catcher to wear corrective, and tinted, eye wear in the 1950s.

-Ryan Dinger: I Vote for Carlos Ruiz. When this question was first posed, my initial inclination before checking the numbers was to say Darren Daulton was the best catcher in Phillies history. But after researching, it’s hard to argue against Chooch. Not only has he been a stellar defensive catcher, guiding the team through what has been their best era of pitching (and in general), but he has also become a solid offensive player. His career .781 OPS with the team is just two points behind Dutch, and he’s produced nearly double the amount of fWAR per season.

-Jay Floyd: I know that Mike Lieberthal is the best catcher in Phillies organization history.  After reviewing those stats, however, it’s easy to see that Liebey topped all others in games caught, HR, RBI, OPS, batting average and nearly all other crucial categories.  Despite the fact that his Phils career spanned the exact years between the ’93 pennant winning team and the franchise’s next playoff appearance in 2007, the Phillies’ 1st round draft pick from 1990 should rank atop the list of best catchers in team history.

-Don M.: My vote for Catcher goes to Bob Boone.  Bob Boone had little power and even less speed, but what he lacked offensively, Boone more than made up for with the gear on.  He managed to produce enough with the bat at the ultimate defense-first position to hold down a starting spot on some of the best teams in the Phillies’ history, including the 1980 World Series Championship team.

-Pat Gallen: My heart says go with Chooch because of everything he’s meant to this team recently. But one of the true leaders over the last 30 years was Darren Daulton. He helped catapult the Phillies to a run in ’93 that will forever stick with me. He was also a pretty good offensive catcher for a few seasons. Perhaps he, and other Phillies, was aided by a little juice, but so what. It was a fun run led by Dutch.