Bastardo Gets NL POW Consideration

Not bad for your debut week, Antonio Bastardo. Pitching 12 innings, going 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA, surrendering three runs and striking out nine earned him a National League Player of the Week nominee. Ian Stewart of the Colorado Rockies took the honors. He earned his wins against the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers.

In the midst of all his success are a couple observations I've made. He can't keep trying to blow it by the batters. One thing that's been talked about was his gripping of the baseball too tight and there for losing control of his change up. I think with 2 starts under his belt and the rookie jitters out of the way, he'll be mixing in his pitches a helluva lot more.

But other than those, I congratulate Bastardo and I hope he cements a starting role for the near future. Keep up the good work.

Phils Offense Comes Alive to Split Series

After failing to score more than three runs in the first three games of the series, the Phillies offense powered its way past the Dodgers last night to split the four-game series. After winning the first game, Brad Lidge blew the next two games, wasting good starts by Joe Blanton and Jamie Moyer.

In the first game of the series, Cole Hamels went to work once again, this time shutting out the Dodgers on 97 pitches. He got runs from Ryan Howard's sacrifice fly, Raul Ibanez's RBI double, and Jayson Werth's RBI single.

Hamel's game was such a thing of beauty. He went the distance, striking out five and surrendering four hits and a walk. He also only allowed one runner into scoring position as he got plenty of help from his defense with a pair of double plays early in the game. He mixed his deadly change-up well with fastballs and curveballs to keep the Dodgers hitters off balance.

In the second game, things didn't go so hot for the Phillies. Moyer was fantastic, going seven innings and giving up two runs on four hits. He also struck out three. Up 3-2 going into the ninth, Lidge put two men on but had two outs. He forced a groundball to Pedro Feliz who booted it to load the bases. Next batter was Andre Ethier who hit the shot over Eric Bruntlett's head in right field to win it for the Dodgers.

The third game, as Yogi Berra would say it, "was deja-vu all over again." Holding a 2-1 lead in the ninth, Lidge gave up a home run to pinch hitter Rafael Furcal, his sixth blown save of the season. The ball just barely got past Werth's out-stretched arm. Chad Durbin would surrender the walk-off homer by Andre Ethier in the 12th.

Last night's game was a show as the Phillies dominated from start to finish. Antonio Bastardo took the mound for his second career start and pitched a good follow-up performance. He went five innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and fanning four. He got the win, starting his career 2-0. He is doing an excellent job at petitioning to the Phillies that they do not need any other help until the deadline.

Charlie Manuel shook up the offense by leading off with Shane Victorino and dropping Rollins down to sixth. It worked well as the offense featured some fire works from homers by Victorino, Carlos Ruiz, and Howard. Chan Ho Park pitched three strong innings in relief, giving up only one hit.

Series MVP's:

Dodgers: Ethier - 6-16, 2 doubles, 2 homers, 4 RBI's, 2 walk-off hits

Phillies: Hamels - 9 IP, CG, SHO, 5 K's, 5 hits

Next Series: @ New York Mets

6/9: Happ (4-0, 2.48); Santana (7-3, 2.00)

6/10: Hamels (4-2, 4.40), Pelfrey (4-2, 4.85)

6/11 Moyer (4-5, 6.27), Redding (0-2, 6.97)

No Posts Today

Like every Saturday, I won't be posting much today unless something big happens and I write about it when I get home. I work from noon until ten at night at the family liquor store so my ability to watch today's game will be hindered as well. I will say a few things I've noticed the first two games of this series.

In game one, I just want to say nothing but praise for Cole Hamels' outing. He stepped onto the mound in LA and absolutely dominated the Dodgers, who own the best record in baseball. His complete game shut out was a thing of beauty, from the five hits he allowed to only needing 97 pitches to get the job done.

Now last night's game is something I don't want people to start worrying about. This is what I call a fluke loss that ended the Phillies 7-game win streak. Even though it was Brad Lidge was in the game and got hit with the loss, he did not get stuck with a blown save because it was not his fault nor were the two runs allowed as they were not registered as "earned."

Sure he put two runners on base but that 2-out ground ball to Pedro Feliz should have been an easy third out. Feliz is still on of the best fielders in the game and I am not pitting this loss on him but at the same time, I'm taking most of the heat off of Lidge. He's still one of the top closers in the league.

Game is on at 4 PM EST today. Go Phils.

Non-Phillies: Congratulations Randy Johnson

I just wanted to congratulate Randy Johnson for earning his 300th win yesterday against the franchise he started it all with (sort of). Johnson won his first game with the Montreal Expos in 1989, who later became the Washington Nationals only a few years ago. Johnson pitched six scoreless innings and struck out two as the Giants won 5-1.

Phillies Injury Update

Brett Myers had his right hip surgery and the future looks grim. Myers had arthroscopic bony spur and labral debridement and will begin his rehabbing on Saturday. This rehab will extend for about three months. This means he will be allowed to start throwing in September. The only way he plays is if the Phillies make another deep playoff push and he pitches in the bull pen. Myers was 4-3 with a 4.66 ERA in 10 starts this year. He will be a free agent in the off season.

In other news, Shane Victorino is listed as day-to-day with a left hip strain. He didn't play last night versus the Dodgers as Eric Bruntlett played right field while Jayson Werth filled the Flyin' Hawaiian's absence in center. Charlie Manuel said that he wants Victorino in the line up still for his bat but he doesn't want to have him do any running or playing the field.

From Todd Zolecki's article:

"That's why I did what I did," [Victorino] said of leaving the game in the sixth inning on Wednesday. Victorino also said he has had soreness on the right side of his lower back for much of the season. "A little sore, but nothing that I really have to worry about," he said. "I had a problem on the right side. Now all of a sudden my left side."

I know this may be a hasty idea but why not put Victorino on the 15-day DL and call John Mayberry Jr. back up to start the games Victorino is out? It would be huge experience for Mayberry as well as allow Victorino to rest up his hip and lower back.

Todd Zolecki reported both injuries.

Padilla/Glavine on Phillies Radar?

Tom Glavine and Vicente Padilla were recently released from the Braves and Rangers respectively and should not be on the free agent market for too long.

Rumor Mill on Baseball Digest.com:

One NL exec said... "The Phillies have been waiting for just this type of opportunity; take a veteran starter for a test drive for the next month or so before having to make any hard decisions about (San Diego’s Jake) Peavy or (Houston’s Roy) Oswalt.”

Glavine, who spurned the Phillies for the Mets back in 2003, is said to be “furious” with how the Braves handled the situation and “can’t wait to stick it up their a**.” Signing with the Phillies would go a long way towards fulfilling that goal.

The Phillies are said to prefer Glavine (and the NL exec said the veteran southpaw’s agent made an immediate call to Phillies’ GM Ruben Amaro, Jr. as soon as the release was requested by Glavine, who chose to get cut rather than retire a Brave), but would gladly take a flier on the former Phillie Padilla if they fail to come to terms with Glavine.

I honestly would take Glavine in a heartbeat just because he is better than Padilla, who played for the Phillies from 2000-2005. Glavine, a 305-game winner is also a future Hall of Famer and would be fun to watch on the mound. The only argument I can make for Padilla is that Glavine would give the Phillies four lefties and Padilla would atleast give them two righties.

I know this is not a permanent replacement for Brett Myers, who's season is done after hurting his right hip. The Phillies are said to make a play for a big time starter at the trade deadline on July 31. Antonio Bastardo impressed everyone in his Major League debut but will and should not be starting every five days until the trade deadline. Glavine or Padilla just be a fill in for that span and if they pitch well, could compete with Jamie Moyer or Joe Blanton to stay on as the 5th starter.

Glavine has not pitched at all this year as he couldn't make the Braves starting five. Padilla is 3-3 this year with a 5.57 ERA. He has gone 53.1 innings in nine starts (that's just under six innings per start) and has struck out 27.

I could see the Phillies rotation looking like this for the next two months and be comfortable (in current pitching order):
-Hamels
-Moyer
-Blanton
-Happ
-Glavine

Phillies Sweep Friars

Coming off of a sweep versus Washington, the Phillies started their little West Coast trip as they played three games in sunny Southern California versus the Padres. The Padres came into this series on a 10 game home winning streak. That came to a screeching halt as the Phillies starting pitching dominated all three games and Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez sparked the offense at key times.

Joe Blanton took the mound Monday in the Phillies weakest start of the series. He threw seven innings, giving up three runs on six hits with five strike outs, earning him a quality start. Chase Utley and Howard went back-to-back in the fifth to make it a 4-1 game and then Adrian Gonzalez and Scott Hairston mirrored that feat in the sixth to make it a 4-3 game. The Phillies would tack on another run and Brad Lidge made his only appearance of the series, earning his 13th save in 17 chances as the Phillies won 5-3.

Tuesday's pitching match up was very interesting as Antonio Bastardo was making his major league debut in place of Brett Myers and facing Jake Peavy, a player who the Phillies have interest in acquiring before the trade deadline. Peavy only lasted one inning as he got rocked for four runs in the first. Bastardo went six innings, giving up a solo home run and four hits total and striking out five. It was also Ibanez's birthday as he gave the rookie Bastardo a present, going 3-5 with two homers, a double, and five RBI's. The final was 10-5 as Ryan Madson earned a rare five-run save.

Last night's game was utter dominance from JA Happ, making his 3rd start of the season. He improved to 4-0 and dropped his ERA to a 2.48 after throwing seven shut out innings, giving up four hits and striking out four. Howard hit a two-run bomb in the first inning to get the scoring going. JC Romero made his season debut, going 1.3 innings, giving up the only run (which was unearned) on two hits and one walk and striking out a batter. He was having trouble locating his pitches which usually comes with a first appearance. He will be fine and I am far from worried. The Phillies won 5-1.

Series MVP: Ibanez (6-15, 2 HR's, 2 doubles, 6 RBI's)

Next Series: @ Los Angeles Dodgers

6/4 - Hamels (3-2, 5.21), Kershaw (3-3, 4.34)

6/5 - Moyer (4-5, 6.75), Milton (2-0, 3.14)

6/6 - Blanton (4-3, 5.86), Kuroda (1-1, 2.53)

6/7 - Bastardo (1-0, 1.50), Wolf (3-1, 3.21)

A Few Notes and News

Bastardo impresses in debut:

I'm still tired from watching these 10 PM starts but hey, that's what a true fan does. Besides, I didn't want to miss Antonio Bastardo's debut. And boy did he put on a nice little show. He went six strong innings and threw 101 pitches, eclipsing the 75 pitch handicap Charlie Manuel and set for him. In his six innings, he surrendered four hits and one run, a homer hit by Adrian Gonzalez in the 6th, and struck out an impressive five batters.

Another impressive fact about his first start was that he threw 77 strikes (out of 101 pitches), just under 80%. Now that number will decrease as he should be mixing his stuff up with more sliders and curve balls. A 4-0 head start was also a nice touch which definitely boosted the 23-year old's confidence. He'll face the Dodgers

The return of JC:

No not Jesus Christ, but JC Romero. Romero is officially off his 50 game suspension for "substance abuse," and will be activated for tonight's game verses the Padres. I found this out when perusing the Phillies Nation like I always do as PN writer Tim Malcolm got the news via David Murphey's Twitter page that with the activation of Romero will be the sending down of Sergio Escalona back to AAA.

Eyre talks retirment:

Scott Eyre is about 90% sure he'll retire after this season. The 37-year old lefty has been dominant for the Phillies this year in the absence of Romero. Eyre is 0-1 with a 2.84 ERA in 12 2/3 innings this year. He is 26-30 with a 4.33 earned run average in 632 innings lifetime.

A snippet from Philly Inquirer writer Andy Martino:

"My wife is probably ready for me to be home," said Eyre, who has two sons, ages 8 and 10. "I've been playing for 13 years, and it's basically all she's ever known. We'll talk about it at the end of the year, but as of now I would say, yeah, I'll retire."

OTHER NEWS: Johnson seeks 300:

One of my favorite players to watch growing up, Randy Johnson, will be chasing history tonight. He is set to take the mound versus the Nationals to try (well not really) to win his 300th game, becoming the 24th player in baseball history to do so.

Johnson, currently with the Giants, is 299-164 with a 3.29 ERA and 4843 strikeouts. His strikeouts numbers are 2nd all time and 1st among lefties. His k/9 is a historical 10.7, which leads every player to ever step on a major league mound. He started his career in Montreal and then played in Seattle, Houston, Arizona, and New York (AL).

That game versus the Nationals is at 7:05 ET tonight.

Howard Co-Wins Player of Week; Mayberry Sent Down

A couple weeks after Raul Ibanez wins NL Player of the Week, Ryan Howard split the honors with Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres. Howard hit 4 homers last week including his monstrous grand slam. He also totaled 10 RBI's and a slugging percentage of 1.000. This was Howard's 4th career honor and first of the season.

In other news, John Mayberry Jr's tenure ended for now in the majors as the Phillies sent him back down to AAA Lehigh. That move will make room for Antonio Bastardo, who will be making his major league debut in a start versus Jake Peavy and the Padres tonight. This was a smart move since Mayberry wasn't being used much at all in his tenure and was losing the valuable at bats he would be getting in Lehigh. We'll see him again when the Phillies travel to AL teams.

Vote, Vote, and Vote Some More

Good job Phillies fans in making your voices heard. We currently have two starters if voting ended today for the all star game. Vote here on MLB.com and here is what the standing look like for some notable guys:

1B - Ryan Howard is third with Albert Pujols leading.
2B - Chase Utley is running away with this one.
3B - Pedro Feliz is in 5th.
SS - Jimmy Rollins is in second behind Hanley Ramirez.
OF - Raul Ibanez is in 2nd behind Ryan Braun. Shane Victorino is seventh and Jaywson Werth is 11th.