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Second inning retch
By egrissom | March 2, 2010
Last week I looked at where the Phils pitching got worse by inning in 2009 compared to 2008. I also wanted to look at how their runs allowed per inning compared to the rest of the National League in 2009
The table below shows the Phillies rank in the league for runs allowed by inning per game in which the team played that inning (so, for example, a team that played 158 games in which they pitched the eighth inning would have their total runs allowed in the eighth divided by 158 while a team that played 161 games in which they pitched eighth inning would have their total runs allowed in the eighth divided by 161). Remember that the Phils were sixth-best in the NL in runs allowed overall, so any inning in which they were worse than sixth they were worse than they were overall compared to the rest of the league.
| Inning | NL Rank Runs allowed per game |
| First | 7 |
| Second | 10 |
| Third | 4 |
| Fourth | 6 |
| Fifth | 13 |
| Sixth | 5 |
| Seventh | 2 |
| Eighth | 8 |
| Ninth | 14 |
The post from last week showed that, compared to their 2008 season, the Phillies dropped off the most in the second, fifth and ninth innings. Those are the same innings the Phillies fared the worst in during the 2009 season when you compare their runs allowed per game to the other teams in the league.
Hamels is working on improving his curve ball and adding a cutter.
This suggests that Chan Ho Park had an opportunity to stay in Philadelphia and make $3 million on a one-year contract. He eventually signed with the Yankees and will make $1.2 million with a chance to make an additional $300,000 in incentives.
JC Romero is trying to be ready for opening day but needs to be realistic.
JA Happ will start tomorrow’s game against Florida State. Halladay, Kendrick and Andrew Carpenter will pitch Thursday against the Yankees. Hamels and Moyer on Friday against Toronto. Blanton on Saturday when the Phils play the Pirates.
Victorino has a sore shoulder and may not play in Wednesday’s game against Florida State.
This lists the Phillies top prospects as ranked by Baseball America for 2008, 2009 and 2010.
Topics: pitching |

March 2nd, 2010 at 2:00 pm
Sorry been MIA my new job is killing me…at least im in Philly now! I work right on the Broad Street line so I should break my games attended record this year, and a good year to try to do that.
I feel like this team has some great potential.
The feeling of ‘unfinished business’ is a great theme…lets hope its not just all talk.
Re the prospects link…hmmm…wonder who will be the best to come out of that crew? I have a feeling a few will.
Marson the best career in the next 5 years??
I love the competition between Moyer and Kendrick, both good character guys and may the best man win…my guess unless Kendrick blows Moyer away Jamie gets the nod.
and Park…what was up with that…I REALLY wish he was on this team. Thats too bad they could not get the $ worked out…BUT they must have figured they could do ok/better with those replacements. I am not sold on that. Park has some wonderful outings for us last year when he settled into the Pen.
Polanco…love it. I watched his career closely ever since he left us. Always though…why didn’t they just move him to 3rd and dump Bell. Guess the timing did not work out. Thanks for the memories Feliz, good luck
And Vic in 7 hole…he doesn’t care, it will all work out…Charlie does a nice job of moving the bats to get the best production.
Werth’s last year in Philly? Probably, lets hope its a good one…he MUST be motivated…think he can match last year??? sure would be nice…
March 2nd, 2010 at 2:12 pm
I’ve read some comments Park has had to make, and he seems to put a larger portion of the blame for his exit on himself and his agent than I think is usual for pro athletes. He commented specifically that he thinks he misjudged the market.
He also did a rather startling thing that I don’t think will endear him to many in New York. When asked after making his comments if he was excited to play for the Yankees, he shrugged and said, “We’ll see?”
Article in question here: http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20100301_Chan_Ho_Park_wanted_to_stay_with_Phillies.html
How amazing is it that guys would rather stay with the Phillies now than go to the team that just beat them for the World Series? I’ve said it before, but it’s amazing the difference a few years of (outstanding) success makes.
Follow up, bonus question, who would make the PR nightmare of bluntly dissing the team that just signed him?
Chan Hoooooooooooooooooooo, that’s who!
March 2nd, 2010 at 3:07 pm
I think it’s Drabek and Michael Taylor atop the list for best career over the next five years of the guys on that list.
I think Moyer beats out Kendrick for the rotation spot.
I agree they’re going to miss Park’s contribution in relief. Hopefully they find ways to make up for it, but I feel worried about the guys they have right now. I agree with Roger that it does seem like Park has come up with some strange thoughts about not signing with the Phils after the fact. If it’s true that he really could have had $3 million to come back to Philly it sure seems like someone screwed up.
I’m not as geeked up about Polanco at third as Leighton is, but I hope you’re right.
I think it’s likely we’re going to see Victorino moving back near the top of the order before long, with either Rollins or, more likely, Polanco dropping down.
I’d be thrilled to see Werth match his ‘09 season. I think we should expect him to drop off a little, but he can still do that and be really good. It is going to be a big problem for the Phils if he leaves after the season.
March 2nd, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Though I hate to say it, Werth leaving after 2010 seems like a painful inevitability. I’m really hoping the Phils have another successful year, go deep in the playoffs again, and sell out every game so that maybe the purse-strings to open up a little more for next year’s squad (and beyond).
Guys already seem to wanna fight to play in Philly (Lee, Halladay, Park…pitchers in a hitter’s park, mind you!)…you kinda sorta have to take advantage of that, aggressively.
March 2nd, 2010 at 4:14 pm
I feel the same way about Werth. Like the only way the Phillies could afford to bring him back was if something terrible happened this year — he was awful or got hurt early and missed most of the season. His 36 homers are going to be tough to replace. Maybe the Phils figure out a way to get it done, though, it sure seems like he likes to play here. I worry a little they think Domonic Brown is the answer in 2011. I’m exciting to see him, but I think there would be a huge drop off there.
March 2nd, 2010 at 10:46 pm
Who was the Phils’ 7th inning guy last year? Park? He did a good job.
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:49 am
Partly Park, I think, but Condrey and Eyre were both really good in the seventh and saw a lot of hitters as well. Happ and Blanton both saw a lot of action in the seventh with good results, too.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/split_stats_team.cgi?full=1¶ms=innng|7th%20inning|PHI|2009|pitch|AB|
(I can’t get that URL to format right, so you need to copy and paste it into your address field to get to the page).
March 3rd, 2010 at 9:18 am
Roger…I think another PR nightmare after signing with his new team was Coste admitting that he didn’t want to sign with the Mets because of his ties to the Phils. That won’t exactly endear you to the new hometown fans either.
I said it before and I’ll say it again…not particularly excited about the Polanco signing, especially in three years. I have a feeling the Phillies will be paying him to play elsewhere, or to not play at all, before the contract is over.
The bullpen doesn’t worry me too much. I still believe that with the starters they have, assuming of course that Hamels is Hamels again, that with a league average bullpen they will be in really good shape. As long as 3-4 of those guys are hot come playoff time, the team will be fine. There’s a lot of time between now and the trade deadline too.
I have a sinking feeling that Werth is gone too, unless he signs a Jason Bay type $65M/4 year deal. That would be the only way the Phils might be able to keep him around. Even then, it’s going to be tough unless they trade Raul and move D. Brown to left.
March 3rd, 2010 at 9:33 am
I don’t know if it counts or not, but Lee didn’t seem especially happy with the deal that sent him out of Philly either.
I agree with Greg’s comments on Polanco, Werth and Hamels. Especially about the number of years for Polanco. I think I’m maybe a little more worried about the pen than you seem to be. I agree they can and will make moves to improve it, but going into the season I think there’s a good chance that Madson will be the only guy I feel comfortable about going into a game. He might not even be able to pitch every inning.
March 3rd, 2010 at 1:50 pm
ok yes…although I am happy with Polanco this year…yea…not as sure about year 3.
and the Pen…yea…worried, would have liked to have Park around, oh well.
Middle of the pen will always have up and downs, but we really need Lidge to be 08 Lidge.
and in general…it’s all about staying healthy.
March 3rd, 2010 at 2:32 pm
A whole year of Halladay is going to be great. A whole year of Halladay plus a much better Hamels would be even greater. I think it’s easy to underestimate how big of a factor those guys can be.
Still think there’s always stuff to worry about, though.