You Get Nothing! You Lose!

Sorry, Red Sox...

• It's still daylight (and about 95 degrees) in El Paso, TX.

• Cliff Lee is really good at baseball.

• Dom Brown hit a baseball really hard.

• The Phillies have fifty wins (still think I'm crazy for predicting 97?)

• Ryan Madson is not, in fact, dead.  

Phils End 20 in 20 With a Fizzle

I said 2+ weeks ago that a 12-8 run over the 20 games in 20 days stretch would be considered a success. I'm here today to say that 10-10 still isn't a failure. It's .500, and more than half of those games were on the road. They have 10 days of Sub-.500 opponents and then a day off at home before the Marlins come to town. Let's look at a little good and bad right now status report right now...

The Bad:

• Cliff Lee does not look good. Lee earned massive recognition last season as a guy who didn't walk anyone. This year, he's regressed back to the norm. Not to say that his numbers are terrible, but 10.28 K/BB and 4.71 K/BB are completely different numbers. His K/9 rate is a career best which leads me to believe he's just doing a little too much of the work himself. When you try to strike batter out, you occasionally let one slip. And if you're walking guys more than usual, the one that slips can really do some damage. I expect a better second 3rd from Lee, but don't look for 2008 this year.

• The bench and bullpen are too much of a revolving door. Mostly due to injury, but partially due to the juggling match that Charlie likes to play, the bullpen and bench just don't seem to have very defined roles just yet. Is RF a true platoon? Who's the first lefty off the bench? Who's the first lefty out of the pen? It's all just a bit confusing right now. Ballplayers are creatures of habit. Ryan Madson finally looks comfortable as a closer, and here comes Jose Contreras back to the team with Brad Lidge pitching scoreless innings of extended spring training. We need to know by the All-Star Break just where people fall in line.  

The Good:

• Raul Ibanez can still hit a baseball. Since May 12th, Ibanez's BA has gone up 14 points and more importantly, his OPS has risen 79 points. He's a streaky hitter and these kinds of ups and downs can be expected, but for the start of May, Ibanez looked more helpless at the plate than he ever has in his career. It's a long summer and regardless of whether or not the Phillies trade for a little more outfield pop or platoon Ibanez with Francisco and Mayberry a little more when Victorino gets back, Raul will have some important ABs with this team down the stretch.

• Domonic Brown has 4 multi-hit games since being called up. How many did he have last year? Three. He already has more doubles than he did last season and he's hitting the ball hard when he does get out. He's not missing the ball at nearly the same rate as he did last year and during the spring, and in the NL, there aren't a whole lot of rookies lighting the world on fire. Freddie Freeman looks over-matched and Brandon Belt has been up and down. As a fan of the hardware, I would really like to see Domonic Brown make a run at the ROY award. I think it's only another week or two before Brown rises to the top of the class and gets full time starts against lefties and righties alike.

Game's Easy... 9-3 Edition

Last time the Phillies threw back to back complete games? May 1999 with Paul Byrd and Curt Schilling (Oh, you saw that graphic at the bottom of the screen too? Good for you!) Is asking for back to back complete game SHUTOUTS being greedy? It's been said again and again, but this pitching staff is really good at baseball. Scary good. May never lose a series good. Might not lose back to back games good. GOOD.

Worried about the bullpen still? They've thrown 32.2 innings so far this season... out of 106. That means that even when you factor in the clunkers by Hamels and Lee and the two by Blanton, the staff is still averaging 6.1 IP and a 4.05 ERA. Which means even with 4 terrible games, they still basically average a quality start! It's comical to once you realize that the best is still yet to come from these guys. Who needs a bullpen? Rich Dubee has the EASIEST JOB IN THE WORLD!

The 1998 Braves rotation of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Denny Neagle, and Kevin Millwood are commonly referred to as the strongest rotation in baseball history. Through 12 games, their Braves were 6-6. 

Twelve games and four series into the season and the Phillies offense is just as impressive. 6 of the starting 8 are still sitting above .300. They lead baseball in OBP. They're scattering hits to all parts of the field, they're hitting balls hard, and they aren't striking out. And all of this without Chase Utley (who coincidentally started running drills today in the outfield at Nationals Park.)

While the pre-season favorite from the AL sits at 2-9 with and Red Sox Nation starts to panic, the Phillies march into a weekend series against the Marlins who toss Javier Vazquez, Anibal Sanchez, and Chris Volstad (combined 1-3 with a 7.23 ERA). Even with our arguably weakest lineup of Oswalt, Hamels, and Blanton I like our chances.