The moves to take care of Victorino and Blanton were great moves. Both guys will get more when they're time comes, but even like Cole Hamels, they understand their time and money will come.
Ryan Howard, you are ridiculous. Sure you hit home runs, BUT your biggest argument is your RBIs. RBIs happen because of the people in front of you. When you're hitting behind Rollins, Victorino, and Utley you should have a lot of RBIs. His OBP, SLG, OPS, and walks are all trending down along with his batting average. You know he'll hit 45-50 home runs and knock in 130-150 RBIs, but a lot of it has to do with his opportunities.
Actually, the reality of it is, you cannot blame him for asking. With the Phillies offering a more respectable $14 million this time, I do not see Ryan Howard winning arbitration. He might get $15 million, but he's getting in to an area where no one is going to be able to afford to pay him. Not even the Yankees unless they sign an aging, weight-gaining Ryan Howard to be their DH. The smartest thing for the Phillies to do would be to offer Howard a 4 year, $80 million deal and be done with him once the contract was up.
We know he produces well with our lineup, so for both parties, that may be the best move. Expensive now, but cheaper later.
Joe Blanton, you are my hero. Joe Blanton came out and was dealing. He had great stuff and was able to get ahead in the count more times than not. What may overshadow his great pitching performance was his one swing of the bat. After allowing a solo home run to Eric Hinske, Blanton returned the favor in the bottom of the inning. He blasted a solo home run of his own into the left field seats. It was the first time that a pitcher hit a home run in the World Series since 1974. It was also Blanton's first home run ever. He'll remember this forever.
Back to his pitching, he threw 6+ innings and struck out 7. The only runs he allowed came off 2 solo home runs. Blanton was very efficient and did a great job of getting ground outs when the wind was blowing out. Joe Blanton has stepped up in all 3 of his starts this postseason, giving the Phillies offense an opportunity to win games. The Phillies improved to 12-4 in his starts. Much of improvement since coming over the Phillies has been the increase in his strike-out rate, which was a problem earlier this season in Oakland. His slider was nasty last night.
Uh oh, the sleeping beast has been awoken. Last night, Ryan Howard exploded for 2 home runs and 5 RBIs. In September, Howard showed that he could carry this team. Hopefully, he can carry this team for just one more win. Jimmy Rollins also continued his breakout party going 3-5 with 3 runs scored. When Rollins does score, the Phillies have impressive win-loss record. I have a feeling he'll set the tempo once again tonight. Last night before the game I was talking with someone and I mentioned with the likes of Blanton and Sonnanstine, I'd expect a high-scoring game. Not necessarily because of their stuff, but because they were both relatively fly ball pitchers this postseason and the wind was blowing out in Citizen's Bank Park. Sonnanstine, lacking overpowering stuff, left his pitches up and the Phillies made him pay. Though it wasn't the best of the Rays bullpen, the Phillies scored 5 runs in 4 innings. All of the runs came because of the long ball.
There's one guy left that needs to join the party and that is Pat Burrell. The longest tenured Phillie is due and I'd expect something big from him tonight. He will not go down without a fight. He has come up with big hits this postseason and I'd expect something great from him during this series.
We're one game away! We're one game away from getting this monkey off our back. We're one game away from being declared the World Champions. This team needs to focus and do the same job they did all year.
We're on the doorstep of history. Make it happen Phils! You Gotta Believe!
Joe Blanton pitched very well to earn his first win as a Phillie. The Phillies won 2-1 as Blanton out dueled Braden Looper. He was supported by solo home runs from Greg Dobbs and Ryan Howard (31). Brad Lidge came in the 9th to earn his 27th save in as many chances.
The Mets had a 4-0 lead on Houston last night but saw the lead diminish to 4-2 going into the 9th. Ex-Phillie and current loud-mouth Billy Wagner loaded the bases and surrendered a 2 run single to Geoff Blum, blowing his 7th save of the year. He got out of the inning. In the tenth, Pedro Feliciano gave up a sacrifice fly to Daren Erstad and the Astros came from behind to win 5-4.
With those 2 games, the Phillies now hold a 1.5 game lead on the Marlins and a 2 game lead on New York. Pitching today is Brett Myers ((4-9, 5.46) for the Phillies and Todd Wellemeyer (8-4, 4.13) for St. Louis. Myers will look to follow up his 8 inning performance with another steller start tonight at 8 PM EST.
So, last night, I got the ESPN text that the Phillies agreed to acquire Joe Blanton. I immediately called my friends to see who was offered in the package for, the Joe Blanton. Pacing back and forth, I was thinking to myself about which one of our top prospects did they send packing to Oakland. Cardenas? Bastardo? Outman? Golson? Which one could it have been (assuming they sent some other low level prospects).
And then I got the next text: Phillies acquire RHP Joe Blanton for Adrian Cardenas, Josh Outman, and Matthew Spencer. I immediately said, "What the fuck?" and threw my phone. The Chicago Cubs gave up less for Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin than we gave up for Joe friggin' Blanton! Tim Kurkjian feels that Joe Blanton is a well-above average pitcher. Really? Really Tim? He has an ERA+ of 100. THAT IS AVERAGE!
Also, what is wrong with trying out JA Happ for longer than two starts. He pitched well enough here to deserve the opportunity and he pitched 7 innings of no-hit ball last night with 12 strike-outs. Why not try it? Why not try to build from within if you feel you have to overpay for a pitcher like Joe Blanton -- Especially a guy that has a 6.75 ERA over his last 8 starts. Especially for a guy that reminds us all of Jon Lieber.
Positives: He'll likely eat up some innings to help out the bullpen. He'll also likely eat up some cheesesteaks to help out the local restaurants. We've seen his ceiling and this year I assume we're seeing his floor. He has okay stuff, but no real out pitch. Some people like the timing of the deal because it was before an injury or win streak inflated his market, which could have made us overpay for him even more. In his career, he has pitched slightly better in the second half, than the first half. He's still only 27 and he is under team control until 2010.
Negatives: He's experiencing a pretty big decline in 2007, an ERA+ of 77, the same as Adam Eaton's. Yes, he pitched in the AL, but he is a career average pitcher with an ERA+ of 100. In 60 games on the road, he has a career 4.78 ERA. In 62 starts at home, he has a career 3.78 ERA. One could argue that pitching in Oakland has helped his style of pitching. He reminds us a lot of Jon Lieber. While, pitching very well against left-handed hitters, he has been awful against right-handers as he surrenders an OPS of .878.
Expectation: Blanton could have an average to slightly above average second half and that would be an improvement over Adam Eaton. The Phillies still lack a #2 or even #3 starter and that will hurt them come October. Blanton could provide some good outings in the short-term, but it is hard to say he will in 2009 or 2010. If this is what the Phillies addition to the rotation for the next few years is, it'll make the fans awfully angry. He improves the team marginally, but he does not improve their chances of making a deep playoff run. At some point in our lifetime, the Phillies front office will have to sit down and say, we really need to try to make a drastic improvement for this team. Every other Philly franchise has done it, so why shouldn't we. Only time will tell. Good luck Joe Blanton. Please prove us wrong.
According to MLB Trade Rumors, the Phillies are no longer interested in AJ Burnett and are now moving onto Joe Blanton. Compared to 2007, Blanton is having a down year even in pitcher friendly Oakland. In his three and a half seasons in the majors, Blanton has posted an ERA+ of 100 and a WHIP of 1.33 -- so he's been average.
This year, his home runs and walks are up and his strike outs are down, which has lead to an ERA+ of 77. Pitching well below average this year may lower Beane's asking price, but it may also be a concern with his high innings count last year of 230 innings. Has some arm fatigue caused his down fall? Also, it is hard to say whether or not he'd do well in Philadelphia. He still has a decent GB/FB ratio, but his K/9 are nearly comparable to Kyle Kendrick's. If I'm the Phillies, I'm saying to myself that if Blanton can be had for the perfect and I do mean perfect price, he is worth the move. He's not going to give you much more than #4 or #5 starter potential, but he will at least give you something than more than the likes of Kris Benson or Adam Eaton. He is what he is, an average pitcher. He's not really a #2 or #3 starter, but he'd likely be formidable. He doesn't have any lights out stuff, but for the Phillies he'd likely give them enough of a chance to win games. If the Phillies do acquire him, he's one of those guys that they will have to monitor him greatly. He's usually hit pretty hard between the 4th and 6th innings and things could unravel quickly.
Looks like the Phillies are moving from their B-list, to their C-list. I hope Gillick does his Billy Beane type research before he considers the move.
The Phillies also may have interest in Matt Cain from the Giants and left-handed reliever John Grabow from the Pirates [Philly Burbs]. Cain would be a nice, young addition, but rather pricey. Grabow will come cheap, but he really needs to cut down on his walks.
We Hate to Lose began in October 2007. The initial purpose of the website was to provide news updates and commentary on all four major sports teams in Philadelphia. Because of time-constraints, in April of 2009, I decided to post only on my first-love, the Philadelphia Phillies.
My name is Justin Evans and I hope you enjoy the site.
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