mhaftman Blog Posts

Where will the Phillies be when the smoke clears

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 11:43:13 PDT

Ruben Amaro, Jr. has stated time and time again that the Phillies are looking to add a pitcher. A quality top end of the rotation pitcher. While thoughts of Peavy and Halladay and Bedard have danced in our heads, what will be the reality of it all come July 31st at 4 PM? With the current state of the economy, I don't believe that the Phillies will be looking to add a number one or number one-a contract to the salary. Maybe a two or three but definitely not anything above. And just to be clear Dan Haren is a one-a. Where he would definitely be a number one on most legitimate teams. This is pure speculation, but I don't expect more than a Doug Davis or Jason Marquis type of pitcher. If Bastardo can go deeper into games, Happ stays steady, and Moyer continues to improve, or atleast not decline, I believe the Phillies will stand pat with their rotation. They will say that they made the best effort possible for another top flight pitcher but no one would budge on their asking price. Also not to worry because Hamels, Blanton, Happ, and Moyer won it for us last year so they all have the playoff experience to make the team float. So where do the Phillies stand once the smoke clears? I think they look remarkably like they do now, And as far as the smoke goes, I think it is just being blown up our asses.

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Is Donald only worth a Penny

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:00:29 PDT

Todd Zolecki of MLB.com is reporting that the Phillies have been scouting Red Sox pitcher Brad Penny. The Red Sox supposedly asking for infield prospect Jason Donald. Brad Penny is not the power pitcher he used to be. He has averaged about 5.1 IP/9 this season for Boston. Donald has struggled in the minors this year and his value may decline if he continues sumping, but I would definitely NOT want Penny. Right now Happ and Bastardo are both throwing the ball better. Hopefully this just a rumor and the Phils are scouting others from the Sawx. Ruben realistically could wait until the All-Star break to acquire a front line starter. So for now it's just a waiting game.

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Ibanez early favorite for All Star Game

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:08:42 PDT

After starting sixth in all star votes, Phillies fans stepped up the in park and online voting to jump Raul Ibanez all the way to second place behind Ryan Braun. The usuals are occupying their places in voting with Utley, Howard, and Rollins all within the top 3. Third baseman Pedro Feliz is quietly putting together an All Star quality season. He currently is 5th in the voting.

The real story is Ibanez. Ibanez came to the Phillies this past offseason to replace Pat (the Bat, the Babe, Man or Machine, etc.) Burrell. Most fans were skeptical of what Ibanez could bring to the team. He would be the third lefty in the heart of the order. He was also 6 years OLDER than Burrell. So far, I would definitely say the Ibanez was well worth the draft pick we gave up. He is out homering a

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Phils take two of three from Yanks

Tue, 26 May 2009 09:47:16 PDT

The starting pitching was very good over the weekend in the bronx. It all seemed to be on Brad "Lit Up" Lidge as he blew the save and lost the game on Sat. and just blew the save Sun. Bright spot of the weekend was the first hit/HR of prospect John Mayberry, Jr. He got the traditional silent treatment from the rest of the team in response. Lidge's knee is causing such a problem that he is required to wear an orthopedic insert in his right shoe to alleviate the pain. That is a big red flag. He needs to have that taken care of for the second half of the season. I'd rather see him out now than later down the road during the playoff push.

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Blanton Struggles Pen scoreless in win in rubber match

Fri, 22 May 2009 11:47:48 PDT

Joe Blanton cruised thru the first four inning and hit the wall in the fifth. He gave up 5 runs in the fifth, but only cut the deficit to one run. The Phillies offense cruised, scoring atleast one run in every inning except the the fourth and ninth. Raul Ibanez tied the lead league in homers at 15 with his blast in the seventh. His three rbis (40) gave him the league lead. Up next the New York Yankees, who have been on fire as of late. I for see a couple of 8-7 games. I can't tell you who will be on top, but the fireworks will be going off in the Bronx this weekend.

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Two Aces in the Queen City Phillies Reds 51909

Wed, 20 May 2009 10:12:51 PDT

Even before the game started we had a little action. Charlie Manuel demoted Chan Ho Park from the rotation to the bullpen and promoted JA Happ to the rotation. Happ will get his first opportunity Saturday at the on fire as of late New York Yankees.

But onto the game. The Phillies took the lead early when Ryan Howard blasted his ninth of the season leading off the second inning. Jay Bruce tied it back up in the fourth with his twelfth round tripper of the year. This Phightins did take the lead for good in the fifth after Cueto gave up 3 runs. The Reds got two more off of Hamels in the sixth and it was over from there. Clay Condrey, Ryan Madson, and Brad Lidge gave up a combined two hits, two walks, and two strikeouts over the last 3 innings. Lidge tight roped out of danger in the ninth. He got Darnell McDonald out quickly to start the ninth, but after a hit by Alex Gonzalez and a walk by Chris Dickerson, the game got a lot more interesting. Willy Tavares struck out swinging. Tavares and recently fouled of a couple of the same exact pitches, Lidges go to pitch, his slider. The game finally ended as Jerry Hairston, Jr. popped the ball up into centerfield for Victorino to end the game.

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Phillies sign C Paul Bako to minor league deal

Tue, 19 May 2009 13:28:57 PDT

Slow day as the Phillies had an off day Monday. The Phillies signed Bako to a minor league deal and shipped him off to extended Spring Training. Bako had signed on with Cubs in January with an invite to Spring Training. Bako hit an even .400 in 33 At Bats with 1 homer and 2 doubles. I don't take this as a sign that Coste is in trouble. To be honest, I take it as a sign that they may send him to mentor Marson or any of the other young guys. I could be completely wrong and one could be gone as soon as today. At 4:30 p.m., I have yet to see who the Phils add to the roster to make 25. They currently sit at 24 with the swinging door opening for Escolona and Carpenter has closed and sent them back to the minors and Miguel Cairo being DFA'd. You will probably see some one called up just befo

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Weekend Series Update Philadelphia Phillies at Washington Nationals

Mon, 18 May 2009 10:40:34 PDT

Where do I begin. Its very hard to gauge a team based on their performance against the Nats. The Phillies could have blown that game WIDE open. On the night, the Phillies had twenty, yes TWENTY, runners in scoring position and only managed to get 8 home. Blanton struggled with command again walking 6 over five innings. Which further proves my point that the umpires have a league wide squeeze on the strike zone this year. I really can't put that much blame on Lidge for blowing the save Friday nights debacle of a game. The first hit barely made it passed the pitchers mound and the one Dunn hit, Feliz did the right thing at getting the lead runner. Yeah Utley through a slider to Ruiz and could have had Dunn out to end the ball game, but oh well. I was actually really looking forward to seeing Happ pitch Saturday night, but it obviously wasn't meant to be. I really do feel for Manny Acta. Does he have anyone in the pen with an ERA under 4? It seems like either the pitching or the defense or a combination of both let him down all weekend long.

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Studs and Duds Philadelphia Phillies Organizational Wrap Up 515

Fri, 15 May 2009 13:23:56 PDT

This will probably be my last post of the week barring any trade or situation which may arise. I wanted to encompass not only the Phillies but the farm system as well. Let's start from the bottom and work our way up. The Venezuelan and Dominican Summer Leagues, the Gulf Coast League, and the New York Penn League have yet to start up. The next couple of wrap ups will probably be short until then. On to Class A Lakewood.

The Lakewood BlueClaws went 3-3 since last weekend, winning 3 of 4 against Hickory and losing both games against Kannapolis. Highly touted rookie pitcher Jason Knapp pitched twice against Kannapolis. Lakewood lost both games but Knapp had a Jekyl and Hyde like set of starts. In the first game, Knapp only last 3.0 innings, giving up 6 earned runs off of 7 hits, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Knapp faced virtually the same lineup 5 days later, with drastically different results. Although he only lasted five innings, Knapp scattered 3 hits, walked one, hit one, and struck out 9. The most impressive thing about the nine strikeouts is that five of the nine were the first five batters of the game.

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Philadelphia Phillies versus Los Angeles Dodgers 51409 - Hamels shines despite lack of support

Thu, 14 May 2009 13:57:30 PDT

Cole Hamels pitched gem this afternoon. Nine strikeouts, one walk, and one earned run (HR) over seven innings. The Phils took the lead for Hamels in the bottom of the first with a lead off double from Jimmy Rollins, a sac bunt from Victorino, and a sac fly from Howard. That was all the runs the Phightless Phils had for the young lefty. The Phillies did make a game of it scoring 2 runs with 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth off of Jonathan Broxton. On the verge of a 1,2,3 top of the 10th Chad Durbin went two up two down and seemingly melted down after a payoff pitch failed to go his way. Durbin gave up two runs to give away the lead. Rookie Ramon Troncoso came in to save the game for Broxton setting down the Phillies on 13 pitches. It would have been less than 10 if Troncoso didn't hit Utley with two strikes and two outs.

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