2010 Jimmy Rollins, We Hardly Knew Ye Redux

For the first time since the home opener introductions on April 12, the Phillies were back to their regular lineup in its regular order. Cole Hamels was once again pitching, and all looked right for the Phillies entering interleague play against a struggling Red Sox. I got home in the middle of another nerve wracking 9th inning, just in time to see J.C. Romero walk Adrian Beltre to load the bases with David Ortiz on deck as a pinch hitter. It's a wonderful thing that David Ortiz is no longer the feared slugger he once was, otherwise the ball he hit to straightaway centerfield would have easily been a grand slam that tied the game at 5-5. Instead, Shane Victorino caught the ball to end the game. All seemed good for the Phillies to me, until I read the first recap. Then I discovered that Jimmy Rollins had strained his right calf. Again.

Rollins left in the 6th with a re-strained right calf.

(Photo courtesy of Steven M. Falk/Philly.com staff photographer)

Before I get to the latest in the injury problems for the 2010 Phillies, let's rewind a bit. Where I last left you, Roy Halladay had thrown a complete game loss to the Pirates last Tuesday. This followed a big outing by Kyle Kendrick and the offense on Monday, which saw Kendrick pitch eight innings and the offense score 12 runs to destroy the Pirates 12-2. This followed the weekend sweep of the Brewers, who looked every bit the 2nd to last place team that they currently are. Coming off that and the big win on Monday, Halladay's CG loss took the wind of out the Phillies sails going into a two games series against the Cubs.

The first of those games was another tough loss that saw another wasted effort by Jamie Moyer, who pitched seven innings and gave up only two runs. At this point, I have to say that Moyer, who was demoted to the bullpen last year and had three offseason surgeris, is the frontrunner for comeback player of the year. Hopefully he continues his ageless success. Still, the Phillies only managed one run and lost 4-1.

Thursday afternoon, they managed to score four runs on the long ball, with Chase Utley effortlessly hitting a baseball into the right field seats in the 1st and Jimmy Rollins coming up with a clutch three run homer to break the 1-1 ball game in the 6th. However, Joe Blanton, who mostly mowed down the Cubs through the first six innings, gave up two more runs in the 7th and the game was tied 4-4 on a homer given up by Antonio Bastardo in the 8th. Ibanez came through with a clutch single to make it 5-4, and Jose Contreras had an epic save that followed a hit batsman, a single, two strikeouts, and a pop out. Whew.

Now we can talk about last night, the kickoff bash of 2010 interleague play. The Red Sox came to Philadelphia hoping to continue their hot streak at Citizens Bank Park of recent years, and ran into the wall of Cole Hamels, who had looked an awful lot like the 2008 Cole Hamels in his last four starts. He pitched seven innings, gave up one run, and struck out eight. The offense was keyed by homers Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth, the latter of whom continues to show why the Phillies should pay him lots of money for many years. Between those long balls and Hamels' ace-like performance, the Phillies won 5-1 after the bullpen gave fans a few heart palpitations for good measure.

 Cole Hamels, apparently possessed by some sort of demon

(Photo courtesy of Stephen M. Falk/Philly.com staff photographer)

The hitch in the game was the aforementioned re-injury to Jimmy Rollins in the 6th. This was his first game back in the leadoff spot, and probably his last for a few days at the very least. He's saying all the right things and swears that it wasn't nearly as bad as the first time he strained it. For now, he'll most likely rest tonight and tomorrow and then the Phillies will see how he's feeling. I thought I was done saying this for the season, but once again: get well soon, Jimmy.

Game 8: Jimmy Who?

Another win is in the books for the Phillies in this offensively hot 2010 season, with them beating the Nationals 14-7. Yes, the Nationals scored 7 runs, 6 of which were off Kyle Kendrick. Remember how people always said to not trust Spring Training results, no matter how tempting? This is starting to look like a good case for why. Of course, it's only 2 starts, but he probably had the most to prove as a starter going into this, and has not done so, even against the Washington Nationals. Once again, he needs to go back to working out with Roy Halladay.

(Photo courtesy of Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

The story of the night, going in, was the effect that losing Jimmy Rollins to the DL (out 2-4 weeks officially, hopefully on the lower end of that) and resting Jayson Werth. Well, from the 1st inning it was clear that this game belonged to the offense, on both sides. Stammen and Kendrick were both rocked and knocked out in less than 2. Kendrick gave up 6 runs in 1.2 innings, Stammen gave up 7 runs in 1.1. Not exactly your classic pitchers' duel. Once again, the Phillies bullpen was phenomenal, giving up 1 run in 7.1 innings. Figueroa not only pitched effectively, but hit a single and a double. He's looking like a better pick up every time he goes out. Durbin continued to look as effective this year as he was disappointing last year. Bastardo and Herndon combined to pitch a scoreless 8th and 9th.

Back to that offense, Shane Victorino's performance in the lead off spot was simply stellar. He was 4 for 5 with 2 singles, a 3 run triple, and a 2 run homer. That's 4 for 5 and a double shy of the cycle. He was certain doing his best 2010 J-Roll impression. Then there was Chase Utley, with his 2nd and 3rd homers in as many games. Placido Polanco and Ryan Howard also contributed multi-hit games of their own (as did the aforementioned Figueroa). All in all, J-Roll was missed, but not in the box score.

(Photo courtesy of Matt Slocum/AP)

Now, it's on to the final game of the series tomorrow, and Happ will try to bring the second sweep in a row for the Phils. So far, the offense is scary good. There's no two ways about that. You can argue all day long that we've only faced the Nationals and the Astros so far, and there's certainly some merit to that. However, even good teams playing terrible teams don't tend to average 8 runs a game. Winning 7 of 8 is impressive no matter what the schedule is. That being said, it'll be fun to see what happens going forward against the Marlins this weekend and against the Braves after that. I say, bring it on.

2010 Jimmy Rollins, We Hardly Knew Ye

The Phillies had a glorious 5th inning today to come from behind an earlier 4-0 deficit to the Washington Nationals and ended up winning today's game, 7-4. Sadly, the 6-1 (best since 1993) start the Phillies have now pulled off was overshadowed by injury news. After being introduced in the line-up to raucous applause, Jimmy Rollins failed to take the field, and Juan Castro turned up like an unwanted relative. It was like your cool uncle failed to show up to a family reunion and sent your weird, estranged uncle in his place. At least this estranged uncle got himself an RBI double, though he also committed an error that led to runners on the corners and Chad Durbin having to come in and resolve the situation.

Rollins being out and heading for the MRI machine tomorrow would have bad enough in and of itself, but then Jayson Werth had to go give himself a sore left hip beating out a grounder in the 4th. Luckily, he seems to be alright, and is day to day. Rollins, on the other hand, reportedly has a type 2 calf strain which usually requires time on the DL. As others have pointed out, Shane Victorino had a similar injury in April 2008, stayed out the rest of the month, then came back in early May and did quite well for the rest of the season. Judging by how the Phillies have played so far, if that were the case, I think we could be in far worst shape. In the meantime, all eyes will be on the MRI results tomorrow. It'll also be interesting to see just what Shane Victorino can do in the leadoff spot in the coming games.

(Photo courtesy of Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)

The other main story of the day was the second start of Cole Hamels. Once again he worked hard, and he managed to get through .2 more innings this time but did so by giving up 2 more runs than last Wednesday. Still he struck out 6, putting his K rate at slightly above 9 per 9 innings. He just needs to start settling in and not let things unravel in an inning, as they did for him today in the 4th. He needs a few lessons from Roy Halladay in pitching efficiency and getting out of jams. Lucky for Hamels, he got the win with a stellar offensive rally and the work of what is starting to look like a rock solid bullpen.

(Photo courtesy of Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)

So there we stand for now, atop all of baseball after a week, according to our record and the ESPN Power Rankings. For now, I'll sure miss the J-Roll of 2010 who worked 7 walks and hit .391/.516/.739 in that first week. Until his injury today, he even had me starting to believe that those numbers weren't a fluke, and while he clearly wouldn't continue at that unbelievable pace, he was showing signs of being close to his 2007 MVP form. For now, because I don't have any reason to be otherwise, I'll be optimistic that Rollins will bounce back from this injury after the appropriate rest and continue to be the catalyst at the top of our line-up that he can be and had been for the first week of the season. I know I can speak for Phillies fans everywhere when I say: get well soon, Jimmy.

(Photo courtesy of Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)

Sweepin' Up the 'Stros

The Phillies have their first sweep of the season. And wow. Roy Halladay sure knows how to get the job done. Today marks his 150th career win, and 50th career complete game. Yes, you read that right. A full one third of his wins are complete games (Update: It's been pointed out to me that not all of his complete games were wins. Nevertheless, the numbers are still pretty unbelievable). That, my friends and fellow fans, simply does not happen anymore. But it just did, today.

(Photo courtesy of Dave Einsel / AP)

I haven't updated since the Phillies left my area on Thursday, so I'll give a brief rundown of this recent sweep and then some thoughts on what the Phillies have shown so far.

Friday night's game saw a solid start from J.A. Happ, giving up no runs in 5 innings. However, as with Cole Hamels in game 2 against the Nationals, Happ labored through those 5 innings. The bullpen, however sparkled. David Herndon continues to be one of the better Rule 5 picks around lately. His strong innings were followed by an inning each by our favorite pair of former Cuban defectors, Danys Baez and Jose Contreras, who were both unhittable. Among Baez, Contreras, Herndon, and Madson the Phillies have 4 relievers who have touched 95 and above on the radar gun, each with a solid mix of pitches to boot. This raw stuff was simply not there in the bullpen last year. Backing up this combined 4 pitcher shutout, the offense did its job and scored 8 runs on 16 hits, including 3 hits by the reawakened Raul Ibanez. I'm going to pretend that he had a stunt double standing in for him before that point and hope for the best from this point forward.

(Photo courtesy of Todd Zolecki)

Moving on to Saturday night's game, our favorite 47 year old pitcher got his first start of the season, playing on "turn back the clock night" in Houston, where the Astros wore 1965 throwback uniforms. Incidentally, as has been pointed out elsewhere, Jamie Moyer is the only active player who was alive in 1965. It's those little details like that that make his career all the more astounding. His start was not all that astounding, however, giving up 5 runs including 2 home runs in the 3rd inning, which now puts him at 493 homers given up in his career. That means he's 12 short of the all-time record set by the Phillies' own Robin Roberts. Not bad company. That start aside, a 2 run shot by Ryan Howard in the 6th inning put Moyer in line for the win and the bullpen did its job once again, limiting the Astros to one run in 3 innings of relief. Shane Victorino, the last lackluster piece of the Phillies offense, came alive with a 2 run homer in the 8th after an RBI single earlier in the game. The Phillies took it 8-5.

And then there was one. One game left to earn the first sweep of the season. One game left, if all went well, for Roy Halladay to win his 150th game. It was a pitchers' duel from the start, well at least after Roy Oswalt gave up a leadoff homer to Jimmy Rollins, J-Roll's 34th career leadoff blast. That and a sacrifice fielder's choice by Ruiz in the 2nd was all Halladay needed. He went 9 innings, struck out 8, and gave up one unearned run. That included a 6th inning where he loaded the bases with no outs, then got a sacrifice double play and a quick 3rd out when Carlos Lee popped out to shortstop. Halladay gave up 2 singles to start the 7th, then after allowing the runners to advance on a Kaz Matsui bunt, Halladay induced a grounder back to him and a strikeout. Oh, and he even had a single in the top of the 7th. He cruised through the 8th and 9th, though Carlos Lee hit a monster foul ball that was feet away from being a homer to start off the 9th that likely gave all Phillies fans watching a near heart attack. Clearly the baseball gods were smiling on Roy today. When he got Pedro Feliz (yes, that Pedro Feliz) to pop out to Utley to end the game with the Phillies winning 2-1, it became clear to all just why the Phillies went to great lengths to acquire this guy.

Needless to say, the Phillies season so far has been an exciting one. With a 5-1 record, the Phillies came into today leading the majors in most offensive categories, but they showed in today's game that they can win with more than just their frightening offense. The bullpen got its rest in today, but they've all looked sharper than us fans could have hoped for coming out of spring training. About that offense, every single regular has now contributed solidly, even a few of the pitchers, though that's really the icing on the cake. I won't make crazy statements on how many wins, runs, etc. the Phillies are on pace to get, but I will say this. Assuming that there's more to this first week's performance than completely destroying a few mediocre (or worse) teams, this is going to be a damn good year.

Let the Roller Coaster Ride Begin

Having been at the game once again yesterday, I can easily say that the final score of 8-4 does not do justice to the fact that the real Phillies season started yesterday. That would be the Phillies season where, even when we're ahead, the team still does its best to treat us to a nice roller coaster ride of nerves.

Let's begin with mediums, then I'll get to the highs and lows. Cole Hamels. His much ballyhooed start was certainly not his best. Then again, compared to his first start last year, this one was an absolute gem. He clearly was not hitting his spots all the time, based on the 4 walks he issued in 5 innings. He also struck out 5, so while that's not a great K/BB ratio, it's still a great K/9 IP ratio. It's also one start, but hey, the numbers have to start somewhere. Despite his struggles, he did manage to get himself the win and only gave up 2 earned runs.

 (Photo courtesy of Yong Kim / Inquirer staff photographer)

Hamels showed flashes of 2009, which was certainly cause for a few heart palpitations. However, he never became completely unhinged by a bad inning as occurred a few times last season. The closest it came to that was after he gave up a solo homer to Ian Desmond to start the 3rd, then issued back to back walks and 2 singles. However he got out of a bases loaded jam to end that inning. That bases loaded jam was certainly one of the lows of the game, but Hamels escaped relatively unscathed. His greatest problem and cause for concern going forward, was not so much the damage caused by the Nats line-up, but the number of pitches it took Hamels to limit that damage. Giving up 2 earned runs in 5 innings is fine, but if it takes him 103 pitches to do so every time, he will not go any deeper into games. Which brings us to the Phillies bullpen last night.

On the whole, the 'pen was a high. Chad Durbin looked sharp, after a fairly lackluster 2009 season. Danys Baez struggled, but was bailed out by Antonio Bastardo doing what he's paid to do as the lefty specialist: come in for one left-handed batter, throw a pitch, get an out, and hand the ball off to the next pitcher. That next pitcher was Ryan Madson who registered the four out save and was throwing some sharp stuff. He even got an at bat with the bases loaded, and I was really hoping for a relief pitcher grand slam. I wonder how many of those there have been in baseball history.

Another high was the offense. Rollins had his second 2 BB game in a row. He only had 4 such games all season last year, so that certainly bodes well.  Polanco, Utley, Howard, and Ruiz all had multi-hit games, and Howard blasted (and I mean blasted) his 2nd homer in as many games. Hell, even Cole Hamels had an RBI single, making him the 2nd Phillies starter in 2 games to do so. I wonder how many teams have started off their seasons with back to back games with pitcher RBIs. If anyone has any insight on that, let me know.

So there you have it, game 2 of the 2010 season. The good, the bad, and the mediocre of the Phillies season so far. The offense overall looks great, though it would be nice if the bats of Ibanez and Werth started showing some life soon. The pitching was solid in the end, but not wonderful. Despite the 8-4 final score, there were several near disasters in this game against a line-up that is hardly among the most fearsome in baseball.

In the greater scheme of things, the Phillies added some pitching depth by claiming Nelson Figueroa off waivers yesterday, who is likely to go straight into the bullpen today and replace Drew Carpenter. This strikes me as a good, low-risk move at a time when the Phillies sorely need more major league-ready pitching depth. It also gives Figueroa another shot at proving his value to the Phillies as part of that ill-fated Curt Schilling trade to the Diamondbacks all those years ago.

One final note: Kyle Kendrick has his first start of 2010 today against the Nationals, and his days in the rotation may be numbered. I fully expect him not to take that time for granted and pitch his hardest to make his case for the 5th starter spot when Blanton returns from the DL. Hopefully he'll continue his spring training emulation of his man crush. All Phillies eyes (and ears in my case, since the game will be blacked out on mlb.tv) will be on that starting at 4:35 PM.

The Doc is in!

As avid Phillies fans know by now, the media muzzle on Roy Halladay has been removed and this guy sure knows how to endear himself to us fans. Not only has he been arriving for workouts for months already at ungodly hours in the morning, but he's also inspiring certain younger pitchers to do the same.  I know it's always a good idea to temper expectations before a season begins, no matter who you're talking about, but Roy Halladay has officially reached "this guy is something else" status.  Now he just needs to work on his hitting so he can keep up his absurd numbers of complete games.  In case you were wondering, that absurd number is 49 complete games out of 148 total wins in his career.  That means one third of his wins are complete games.  Oh, and overall he averages nearly 8 innings per start.  The term "workhorse" doesn't begin to describe this guy.  He even has a zen-like attitude vis-a-vis the pettiness of our rivals to the north.  What a stud.

Even Charlie Manuel is getting just as excited as the rest of us watching Halladay throw, judging by where his hands are:

(Photo courtesy of Todd Zolecki)

If you want to read more on what Halladay has the potential for this season, check out Todd Zolecki and that sportswriter extraordinaire, Jayson Stark.  If you're a Phillies fan and not excited about Roy Halladay yet, please check your pulse right now.

Cole Hamels also spoke to the media in the last few days, and he and pitching coach Rich Dubee are on mostly the same wavelength about how to get some of that 2008 magic back, which is definitely good news.  As I've written before, some of Hamels' struggles in 2009 can be attributed to bad luck, high BABIP, etc.  However, the way he responded to much of that bad luck played a significant role in him being pulled from games.  When Hamels visually lost his cool after the infielders missed a routine double play, for example, Charlie is going to take note of that and Hamels is less likely to stay in much longer.  While Hamels can't control what happens behind him, he can control what he does in response, and that's something he recognizes he needs to work on.  He is also in a much better place right now than he was this time last year in terms of arm strength and dedication.  I think it's safe to say he knows it's time to get up off the ground from last year, dust himself off, and return to being an ace (well, co-ace).

Don't just take this optimistic fan's word for the prospects of a resurgent Hamels.  In addition to the links above, check out a good rundown by the AP, Jon Heyman's column over at SI, and, if you have ESPN insider access, go over and check out what Buster Olney has to say.  If you don't have access, this little tidbit from the column should be enough to get you excited:

"In his first start in spring training last year, his fastball velocity was at 81-82 mph.  But already he seems to be able to throw much harder than that, and to do what he wants with a baseball."

So there you have it: what is shaping up to be quite the righty-lefty, 1-2 punch for the Phillies. It is without a doubt the best starting rotation the Phillies have had for quite a long time.  If our offense keeps doing what it does best and our bullpen manages to stay healthy this year, we can get back to the World Series and win it again.  The Phillies have a better team than last year and 2008, and I don't hesitate for a second in making that statement.  Of course, there's always the unforeseen, like injuries (see Mets, 2009), inexplicable offensive slumps (see Rollins, Jimmy circa June 2009), and the shockingly resurgent Washington Nationals.  Just kidding about that last one, sorry Nats fans.  For now, it's still one of the best times to be a Phillies fan in my lifetime, and Roy Halladay is here to make sure it stays that way.  If this team lives up to its potential, there's no good reason (Yankees included) why our season shouldn't end just as it ended two years ago:

Spring is here!

Though pitchers and catchers officially report tomorrow to sunny Clearwater, Florida, many have been throwing the ball around since yesterday.  That's right, spring has arrived for the Phillies. Spring has certainly not arrived in Philadelphia, my former home, or in DC, my current one.  Hopefully all of this snow will  be gone by the time I go see the debut of one Harry Leroy Halladay on April 5th at Nationals Park.  That same pitcher looks quite dashing in front of his brand new Phillies locker.  Now there's a sight to warm the hearts of Phillies fans.  That should hold us over until we have pictures of him destroying the Nats in 40 short days.

(Photo courtesy of Yong Kim at the Daily News)

Speaking of Phillies pitchers, Brad Lidge made himself available to the media today.  It sounds like he decided to finally tell the truth about the extent of injuries last year.  Either that or he's making a great effort to find a scapegoat for that dismal record of his in 2009, which does not need to be repeated here.  As I've stated before, I'm optimistic about his chances for a good, if not great season in 2010, and I do believe that those injuries and Lidge's denial of those injuries last year did a lot of harm.  Let's hope we see some quick evidence of improvements, especially a good down fastball and that biting slider that made him the closer we knew and loved in 2008.

For a whole run down of the state of Brad Lidge, check out what Scott Lauber has to say over in his blog, Philled In.  In the end, I just want to see more of this in 2010 than we did last season:

(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

The stories emerging from Clearwater are music to my ears so far.  Philippe Aumont's fastball has impressive movement on it.  Chase Utley is even faster than last year, when he was certainly no slouch at stealing bases.  J.C. Romero is doing better than expected and could be back providing some much needed left-handed relief sooner than expected.  Oh, and that Roy Halladay is just as inhuman as we all hoped he would be.

So spring has arrived and there is much to be happy about as a Phillies fan.  This is a better team than we had last year.  We shouldn't need Raul Ibanez to carry most of the offense until June this year, and Jimmy Rollins will more than likely remember how to hit before July this time around.  And we have Roy Halladay replacing half a year of Brett Myers/Antonio Bastardo/Rodrigo Lopez and a half year of Cliff Lee.  That's an upgrade we should be able to take to the bank in a few months.

Before the official start kickoff of all things Phillies for the 2010 season tomorrow, I just wanted to leave you with what was the best moment of the entire 2009 season.  While there were many contenders in my mind, this was the only one that I can look back at and distinctly remember just how ecstatic I was when it happened.  It also happened right before my birthday, so if I didn't say it enough before, I'll say it again: Thanks Jimmy.  Enjoy: