2010 MLB Season Discussion

[Trichocyst]

Let's see, I would expect to see Kendrick, Happ, then Halladay. I concede that the Phillies have some issues to overcome, but I believe they'll pull through. Last year their bullpen was a disaster area with Lidge pitching hurt. Bastardo has been alright so far and Dave Herndon has been better than his (limited) numbers would suggest.

Blanton will probably replace Kendrick who's been worse than Moyer. Moyer's season is already bizarre. Two five run innings, then everything else is sterling. Hamels is looking a lot better already, but has some shitty, shitty luck. He got 2 wins from mediocre starts and a loss from a great start.

Ibanez is starting off very slow, but he's basically the Pedro Feliz of 2010. I hope he turns it around, but I think they'll manage through his struggles.

[Conrad]

Seriously though, the Phillies and the Giants (if Zito continues to do well) are easily the best teams in the NL. And the Phillies are better than the Giants by far. They do have issues though, mainly:

-Bullpen is questionable, can you count on Lidge coming back? Who do you count on to get out a big lefty bat?

-Is Blanton going to replace Moyer? Rotation behind Halladay is a bit iffy if Hamels isn't going to show some signs that he can pitch like it's 2008.

-Ibanez is hitting in the .100s again, he's getting older and I wonder if he'll give the kind of production he gave early last season. His stats after June were pretty terrible, though he was decent in the playoffs I remember a lot of his hits in the World Series were when the games were already out of hand. They can afford to carry his bat, though.

-Romero's coming back soon, hopefully he can fulfill the LOOGY spot we need him to be. Bastardo's been pretty good so far too.

-Blanton coming back will put Kendrick back in the rotation, who hasn't been great so far anyway. Moyer & Hamels both had great starts against the Marlins, except for Moyer's first inning on Saturday. Certainly a Jekkyl/Hyde thing going on there. If they can both avoid falling off, I'm not as worried about the starters.

-Ibañez is historically streaky, isn't he? Werth wasn't starting the season that well either but he's gotten better since then. In any case, we can always put Francisco out in LF instead with little consequence.

You're right, though -- the chinks in the armor are pretty glaring, and there's no clear answer on how to fix them just yet. Still, continuing to play despite some big names being on the DL is promising. I by no means think that the Phils are invincible, though.

[Moss]

Kyle Kendrick has been terrible this year, no doubt. So what's he do? Run up against the shitty, confused offense that is the Braves. I mean he's already got three sure fire outs in Melky, McLouth (assuming both start) and the pitcher. So then he's gotta dance around the other six. Well Glaus has been shit. Chipper's still below .200 isn't he? So really.. McCann, Prado, and Heyward, lol.

Do the Braves see Halladay here? If so, calling a sweep. Sorry, not a blind Braves fan. I know Atlanta's limitations, and they still can't hit the broadside of a barnyard consistently.

Yeah, we do face Halladay. Lowe vs Halladay, rofl. Mismaaatch.

I'm not calling you blind, but you are definitely pessimistic.

[Akiyama]

I'm not calling you blind, but you are definitely pessimistic.

Sure I am. No where to go, but up bro.

But no, seriously. I'm being honest. Which part of the Braves line-up screams out scary? When Heyward's our best hitter as a rookie (he's good, but the best hitter in a Major League line-up already? and he's still hitting 7th?).. and then Chipper/Escobar/McLouth/Glaus all looking like poo... there's not much to be excited over. I guess we can like the fact that our pitching is still pretty good? Yay. Does no good when we score an average of 2-4 runs when you discount the 16 run game and 9 run games.

[Cephius]

-Romero's coming back soon, hopefully he can fulfill the LOOGY spot we need him to be. Bastardo's been pretty good so far too.

-Blanton coming back will put Kendrick back in the rotation, who hasn't been great so far anyway. Moyer & Hamels both had great starts against the Marlins, except for Moyer's first inning on Saturday. Certainly a Jekkyl/Hyde thing going on there. If they can both avoid falling off, I'm not as worried about the starters.

-Ibañez is historically streaky, isn't he? Werth wasn't starting the season that well either but he's gotten better since then. In any case, we can always put Francisco out in LF instead with little consequence.

You're right, though -- the chinks in the armor are pretty glaring, and there's no clear answer on how to fix them just yet. Still, continuing to play despite some big names being on the DL is promising. I by no means think that the Phils are invincible, though.

I honestly think the Phillies should start looking for a new shortstop. I know Rollins is a fan favorite and a leader in the clubhouse and all that, but the guy has fallen off so much from his MVP year it's not even funny.

[Akiyama]

Uhh.. not sure if you noticed, but he actually started off hot this year before the injury.

Just sayin'

[Trichocyst]

Rollins time in Philly is probably coming to an end soon. When asked about staying after his contract is up he went on some diatribe about taking a pay cut to stay on a winning team or going to find a pay day somewhere else. He's off to a good start this year, minus the calf injury, but I wouldn't expect to see him past 2011.

[Cephius]

23 at bats :/

He did hit 21 homers last year but his OPS+ was 86 and that's hitting in front of a couple of the best hitters in the entire league.

[Trichocyst]

Kendrick, Halladay, Moyer against the Braves. Happ is scratched with a minor elbow strain. Jimmy Rollins is a good player, but he's not even the best guy for the job on his team. I've always thought he's overrated (especially his MVP season) for a long time, but he's at least shown some signs of plate discipline this season which is promising with Utley, Howard, and Werth behind him.

[Akiyama]

Ahh. Not liking the Halladay one. Oh wait, he's going second? So he's matched up with.. Hudson probably as our next three are Hanson, Hudson, Lowe.

[Trichocyst]

Yeah. It's Hanson/Kendrick, Hudson/Halladay, Moyer/Lowe.

[Akiyama]

That seems like an awesome three days then. Hudson's looked pretty good this year, same with Hanson. Lowe's been shit, yet he's 3-0. Damn him getting run support.

[Soa]

They said last week they were skipping Kendrick's start and then just slotting Blanton back in, I wonder what made them change their mind? EDIT I didn't realize they were skipping Happ, that explains it.

Yeah our bullpen is definitely our weakness, and unless Lidge and Romero both come back and be effective it will plague us all year long like it did last year. They need to stop with the Madson at closer experiment, he's a great 8th inning guy and I don't know why they keep messing with it. I get the feeling he's gonna replace Lidge after he leaves, and I honestly don't want that.

I actually think they will resign Rollins. They have no one in the system remotely close to big league ready, and I doubt they will be able to find much better come free agency.

As for Ibanez, if he doesn't perform well this year I think he'll get cut in the offseason. The Phillies have cut older, underperforming players with big contracts before (Geoff Jenkins, Adam Eaton) so I could see it happening. Ideally he'll play well until his contract runs out, but he's looking old this year (can't catch up with fastballs) so far.

[Penthesilea]

They said last week they were skipping Kendrick's start and then just slotting Blanton back in, I wonder what made them change their mind? EDIT I didn't realize they were skipping Happ, that explains it.

Yeah our bullpen is definitely our weakness, and unless Lidge and Romero both come back and be effective it will plague us all year long like it did last year. They need to stop with the Madson at closer experiment, he's a great 8th inning guy and I don't know why they keep messing with it. I get the feeling he's gonna replace Lidge after he leaves, and I honestly don't want that.

I actually think they will resign Rollins. They have no one in the system remotely close to big league ready, and I doubt they will be able to find much better come free agency.

As for Ibanez, if he doesn't perform well this year I think he'll get cut in the offseason. The Phillies have cut older, underperforming players with big contracts before (Geoff Jenkins, Adam Eaton) so I could see it happening. Ideally he'll play well until his contract runs out, but he's looking old this year (can't catch up with fastballs) so far.

I think I said earlier they may try to ship off come deadline if Dom Brown gets any substantial play time due to someone getting injured. I dunno how it'll play out, but I agree that Raul isn't looking good at all.

[Bozo]

Gload is a pretty good corner outfielder isn't he? Wouldn't mind seeing him get a start in left if Raul doesn't get better soon and gets benched or whatever.

[Trichocyst]

You could probably play Ben Francisco daily and get similar results.

[fren.]

Arodys: 10 IP, 13 H, 7 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, 6.30 ERA, 1.70 WHIP

Heheheheh.

Vazquez

[*Shinzon*]

Ah man great start for Ike Davis. Really looked like he was comfortable at the plate and didn't press knowing the situations and just took what the pitches gave him. I think this kid is for real.

[pohibaba]

If anyone has any question about how bad some Major League umpires can be, one of the umps in the Giants/Padres game right now just signaled a homerun on a ball that barely made it to the warning track.

[Akiyama]

lmao, what?