- Despite having a pretty disappointing season power wise, Ryan Howard is still among the league leaders in RBI. There has been tons of discussion about whether or not the RBI is overvalued, but it's tough to argue with the fact that Ryan Howard has produced runs in big situations. He's a bit of the Anti-Abreu in that respect. Fan Graphs took a look at Howard's numbers and determined that he has come to bat a league leading 141 times with runners in scoring position. So there's plenty of luck associated with his productivity. But as a lot of the commenters have pointed out, his .313/.418/.509 stat line during those situations is very telling about the way defenses have to play him with runners on second or third base. As Mike Schmidt pointed out in the interview I posted a few weeks ago, Ryan Howard desperately needs to learn to put the ball to the opposite field in order to improve his rate stats. The Good Phight looks at his OBI% over the last few years to determine that he is really efficient at driving in runners in front of him. But his BABIP (batting average on balls in play) with bases empty is a solid 24 points lower than with a runner in scoring position (.316 versus .340). It's not just strikeouts that are making Howard's contract look like a looming black cloud, but you can expect gaudy RBI numbers to continue at the same clip.
- Wanna hit homeruns like... Jose Canseco? Then buy his slowpitch softball bat!
"The Bass Jose Canseco Juiced features a one-piece construction made from Bass' new Anabolic Composite material. This composite design will inject a new level of power into your game and gives the bat added strength and toughness that won't wear down."
For the record, I'm rolling my eyes right now. It's a step above celebrity boxing, but clearly this man's desperation knows no ends.
- On the prospect front, Bullpen Banter recently posted up their Top 100 Prospects report that features 5 Phillies in the top 100. Any player who has had an at bat or thrown a pitch was deemed ineligible for this list so it's a true list of prospects. The one that excites me the most right now is catcher Sebastian Valle. While his defensive skills seem to need a little more refinement, every report indicates that his athleticism is top notch for a catcher. At the All Star Futures game a few weeks back, he had two solid at bats roping a double down the line and flying out to CF. Scouts seem to indicate that he is transitioning very well against top notch pitching. While Chooch has surprised a lot of people with his offense, I don't believe he was ever thought of as a long term catching prospect. If Valle continues to produce, I think he could be wearing pinstripes by 2013. Check out Phuture Phillies midseason prospect report for even more Phillies news.
- Coming up on August 13th, a pretty huge Phillies Autograph signing at Bucks County Technical School. I've been to a couple of these in the past and while they're populated by the scurveyest people you'll ever come across and they generally smell like gymnasium full of old Italian hoagies, they're a great place for autograph and memorabilia seekers. Looks like Scott Mathieson, Mike Stutes, and John Mayberry Jr will be there from the current squad along with a host of former Phils.
Keep an eye out over the next few days. Hopefully we'll have a few more writers contributing to the site!
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