KTE - Philadelphia Philles (April 9, 11, 12)

[Gwreck]

Off to the game this afternoon...the Phillies are likely to make a roster move involving pitcher(s) before the game but information was not available at press time...

2007 Phillies
Jimmy Rollins' so-called "team to beat" this year has been just that: they've been beaten 5 out of their first 6 games. Atlanta swept them, winning two games in extra innings due at least in part to serious bullpen failure. Florida took two of three this weekend.

Starting Pitcher Matchups
Monday: Cole Hamels (L) vs. John Maine
Hamels' first start was excellent and ruined by the bullpen. 7 IP, 8 K, 1 BB, 4 H. He will strike out a lot of batters and will be the most challenging starter the Mets see this series. The Phillies are counting on him in this, his second season, to have an even better year than his last (23 Starts, 9-8, 4.08 ERA).

Wednesday: Adam Eaton ® vs. Oliver Perez
Eaton got shelled by the Braves last time around. 4.2, 7 ER, 7 H, 4 BB, 3 K. He is susceptible to the homer as well, and the Mets' lefties should do quite well against him.

Thursday: Jamie Moyer (L) vs. Tom Glavine
Moyer may be the pitcher most like Glavine in the majors. Not a ton of strikeouts or walks, if the defense is on, Moyer will look pretty good. Moyer won his first start against Florida, 6.2 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 HR.

Phillies Lineup
Jimmy Rollins (S) SS
Loud mouth, free swinger, pretty good OBP and defense.

Shane Victorino (S) RF
Extremely fast but very few steals. Decent contact hitter but not much power. OF defense is ok but not fantastic.

Chase Utley (L) 2B
The Phillies best all-around player. Has gotten better each of the past 3 years. Still strikes out too much (132 Ks last year) but 76 extra-base hits and 102 RBIs weren't too bad.

Ryan Howard (L) 1B
Had a poor spring, apparently attributable to him not getting into his "groove" with respect to his swing. He's started slowly this year, and while it figures that he won't necessarily replicate last year's numbers, he's still super-dangerous.

Pat Burrell ® LF
The original plan (and implemented the first two games) was to bat Howard 3rd and Utley 4th. Putting two strikeout machines like Howard and Burrell back-to-back might not be Charlie Manuel's smartest idea.

Burrell is way overpaid by the Phils and they'd love to dump him if they could get a taker. He is always dangerous vs. the Mets.

Wes Helms ® 3B
Seems like he's been around forever but is only 30. He hit .329 (a career high) in a limited role (platooning with Mike Jacobs at first) for Florida last year. He did reach 23-67-.261 in a 475 AB year in 2003 for Milwaukee but how he'll do over a full season is questionable.

Aaron Rowand ® CF
Excellent glove, average bat. 12-60-.275 would be a solid year for him.

Carlos Ruiz ® C
A rookie with fewer than 100 ML ABs. 16-69-.307 at AAA last year.

Phillies Bench 'n Bullpen
Greg Dobbs (L), backup 3B, but not likely to seriously challenge Helms for ABs.
Abraham Nunez (S), the backup middle infielder.
Michael Bourn (L), untested rookie.
Jayson Werth ®, formerly with the Dodgers. Some decent power.
Rod Barajas ® is a solid backup catcher but figures to get no action this series (started Sunday).

Tom Gordon ®
Had a decent (34 for 39, 3.34 ERA) year in 2006 as closer. Blew his first save opportunity this year. Has only pitched 2 innings so far this year, so we figure to see him this series at least twice, regardless of whether there's a save situation or not.

Ryan Madson ®
Planned to be the 8th inning man, but has struggled early (and wasn't spectacular last year either).

Antonio Alfonseca ®
The 12-fingered and 12-toed wonder could replace Madson as the primary righthanded setup man if Madson continues to falter.

Matt Smith (L), a pretty good situational lefty picked up from the Yanks in the Abreu trade.

Geoff Geary ®, workhorse. 91.1 relief innings last year, 7-1, 2.96 ERA. Started off well this year so far as well.

Clay Condrey ®, came back to the majors in 2006 after two years in AAA and pitched pretty well in 28 innings. Barring demotion, this will be his first full year in the majors.

Who's Hot
Pat Burrell hit .381 this first week.
Jimmy Rollins has 3 Homers (including an inside-the-parker on Saturday) and 6 RBIs. He leads the Phillies in both categories.

Who's Not
Ryan Howard is hitting .217, has only 2 RBIs and one extra-base hit (a double).

Lead setup man Ryan Madson has allowed runs in each of his first three appearances and already has two losses. 5 hits and 4 walks in 5 IP. He last pitched on Friday, so he should definetly be around sometime in this series.

We unfortunately miss accused wife-beater Brett Myers this time around. He didn't look that good in either of his first two starts.

Who's Hurt
Freddy Garcia has bicepts tendinitis. Makes a rehab start on Tuesday with Clearwater (A).

Jon Lieber, with a strained ribcage muscle. Made a rehab start Saturday with Clearwater Survey says he'll be in the bullpen when he rejoins the team.

Ex-Mets
None

Ex-Phillies
Billy Wagner. Chavez, Newhan and Franco all spent time with the Phillies in the recent to prehistoric past.

[soupcan]

Nice job, thanks.

[metirish]

Great KTE,Rollins has become a punch line,love that.Willie even yesterday said it's sometimes better to shut your mouth.

The Philly pen by all accounts is not that good,Manuel will be the first NL manager to get fired.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I'd LOVE to see a three-game sweep here. It would put the Phillies at 1-8 and leave them in a pretty deep hole.

The Braves aren't going away any time soon, but the Mets have a chance to make this a two-team race, which is much better than a three-team race.

METS MUST SMASH PUNY PHILLIES!

[Guest OlerudOwned]

[A Boy Named Seo]

Great job, Gwreck.

Cole Hamels looks outstanding. 23-years old, almost 12.5 K/9 in 200 IP in the minors and he doesn't really walk peeps either. I'm excited to see him pitch, yet I'm a little scared at the same time.

He gave up 19 homers last year in just 132 IP, and 10 of those came on the road, so he wasn't really victimized by his home park. Seems like if he just keeps the ball down a little, he might be a monster.