Headscratcher...
I debated whether or not this would be my top headline, but the Phillies inability to score over the past week has made me slightly worried. This offense is easily the best in the NL, but for some reason they haven't done much offensively. With their 8-0 loss tonight at the hands of the mighty knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, the Phils have dropped 5 of their last 7. Their run totals in the five losses: 1, 1, 0, 3, 0. Their win totals haven't been much better, scoring 5 in both wins last week: one against the Red Sox, and one against the Cubs. And it's not like they're facing fantastic pitching, Dice-K almost no-hit the Phils, which is a crime. And Tim Wakefield just embarrassed the Phillies, making me curious as to what is going on. I'm going to chalk it up to just a team-wide dry-spell, but it might be something to keep an eye on to see if pitchers have figured out how to fool that lefty-heavy lineup. But, between Dickey and Wakefield, maybe every team will just throw knuckle-ballers against the Phils.
Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz are carrying the Red Sox
I talked a little bit last week about how much these two guys meant to the Red Sox. Their two performances last night and tonight against the Rays are keeping the Red-Hot Red Sox in the thick of the AL East. If Lester and Buchholz continue to pitch like this, especially against the offenses in the AL East, then the Red Sox may surprise some people. This is contingent on Lackey, Beckett, and Dice-K improving at least a little bit.
Quick Hitters
- Vlad hits 2 more- The guy is leading the AL in all-star votes for the DH slot, and he's filling it in perfectly. He's looking like vintage Vlad, and assuming he stays healthy I think he will put up numbers just below what he was doing in his prime. I would not be surprised by .320, 30 HR, 115 RBI at the end of the year from him.
- Kawakami can't buy a win- The guy's not pitching poorly, but his team isn't doing anything for him. Kawakami's one of those guys who's valuable to his team, but just not a great fantasy player. He doesn't do anything sexy, but to be 0-7 in the majors with an ERA under 5 is just a bummer.
- Ryan Dempster puts in the performance of the night- Shutting down the potent Dodger offense is no easy task, but Dempster did just that. 8 IP with none earned and 4 base runners is pretty solid work. But performances like this against the Dodgers may not last long, as some miracle splint has been created to minimize pain in Andre Ethier's bad finger. Fingers are tough to guage, but adding Ethier to a team that's been 15-6 in May will finally put the Dodgers on top of the NL West for good.
- Tulo's heating up- Sometimes the 1st half-2nd half split really amazes me. How can some players be so bad in one half of the season and then just turn it on or off with the snap of a finger. Tulo has been a consistent 2nd half player in his whole career, and it seems like those 2nd half numbers are going to be coming a little earlier this year. He's hit 4 home runs in 5 games after hitting just 1 in the whole season before that.
- Short post, but tomorrow is the first day of my internship at NBC. Much love.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
There's nothing to worry about with the Phillies. As Raul Ibanez said, "I'm not worried. This team can click at any moment." Maybe they're just not a knuckleball hitting team, they looked out of sorts with both Wakefield and Dickey (probably the most frustrating thing to watch, knuckleballs look easy to hit). Knuckleballers have been known to mess up swings and induce slumps for games to come. Maybe this is the case.
ReplyDeleteVlad
The Phillies offense will get there, but their biggest concern is by far the health of Jimmy Rollins. His hamstring injury is one that tends to linger for awhile. He is so valuable to the Phillies, especially now as they rank last in the national league in steals (16 in only 19 attempts). The phillies need to give him as much rest as he needs now and make sure he's healthy for a championship run.
This team scores runs in bunches, and when they all start to click (notice the WHEN not IF) it will be once again a scary sight for NL teams.
Dempster has been pitching well, he may be back to his form a few years ago when he won 17 games. The Cubs surprisingly don't look too bad, with Soriano looking like a baseball player again. They could be a surprise team to some come september.
I've never forgiven Tulo for his bust of a 2008 season. I drafted him in the 4th round that year...all he could muster was a mediocre 8/46/.260 in 100 games. Killed my team..he's dead to me, more dead to me than Derek Zoolander's dead mudda.
Vlad is back. I hope, one of my favorite players.
Screw the Sox.
Be good.