Comments on: Sloppy, but Joe’s

By: egrissom

egrissom — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 13:00:48 +0000

I totally agree on tonight’s starter. The Phils can’t afford to be giving away games. Not only do the Phils not have much chance to win a pen start game, it also messes up the pen for the next few days (at least till Monday’s off-day). With a AA or AAA guy, at least they don’t have much of a chance to win but it hurts their pen less going forward.

Glad to see Utley homer, too. Can’t believe you would suggest he’s a bigger draw than career .308 on-baser bobblehead giveaway night.

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 12:40:20 +0000

I gotta say, I’m not terribly happy with this pitching plan on the horizon. bullpen spot start tonight? Kendrick Thursday… Was there no thought process after the doubleheader Sunday to see this coming? Dont get me wrong, Im in their corner tonight and really will be pulling for the pen guys but I thought guys like Elarton were signed for this kind of thing? Also, I gotta say, I really wouldnt mind seeing Cloyd get a start. Ugh, I know, they both started this week already so no chance. Ugh.

Utley had a nice night for the Piggy’s last night. Packed up Coca-Cola Park too. Probably due to Mayberry Jr Bobblehead give a way. No?

By: egrissom

egrissom — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 19:14:13 +0000

I’m really worried the Utley thing is all for show. .159 or whatever at Single-A doesn’t seem like a screaming sign he’s ready to lead the team to the post-season. Hope it’s not the case.

If he’s the real Chase Utley, that would sure help a lot.

I don’t think he is.

I don’t remember a ton of clutch hits from Valdez, but his numbers in high leverage situations as tracked by Baseball-Reference sure are good. 316/348/425 in 220 PA for his career. Not bad for a guy who can’t hit even a tiny, little bit.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=valdewi01&year=Career&t=b

I’m tired of being the team that’s trying to demonstrate the guys nobody thinks can play can be average major league players, though. How about just filling in with average major league players where needed instead?

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 19:06:21 +0000

The thing about Valdez, and yes his overall offense is horrible, is that he always seemed to come through in a big spot. Felt like he hit .900 in clutch situations, and about .050 otherwise. Martinez, on the other hand, can be counted on to just not do anything, ever.

I’m ready for a big year for Utley. Mainly because do think otherwise would be to start following the daily changes in the Eagles’ QB depth chart.

By: egrissom

egrissom — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 18:30:48 +0000

One thing that Valdez and Martinez have in common is that neither of them belong on the Phillies. Valdez is hitting 237/244/276 so far for the Reds over 82 PA. Martinez has killed the Phillies over the last two years, playing way, way too much for a guy that hasn’t earned a roster spot. He turns 30 in September.

Since the start of 2011, the Phillies are 66-37 in games where Utley plays and 71-63 in games where he doesn’t play. Even if Utley puts up a 2011-like 259/334/425 line in 2012, that’s still a huge improvement over what the Phillies have gotten from the position when he’s out. So far in 2011, Phillie 2B are hitting 245/271/381. The .271 on-base percentage is the worst for a team’s 2B of any team in baseball.

Other hand — I’m not at all convinced Utley will be able to do much off all at this point. Let’s hope that’s not the case.

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 18:06:20 +0000

It’s pretty obvious that the ML game is too big for Martinez at this point. If there’s a way to make it work with sending him down, I’d like to. Watching him with the bases loaded and 2 outs was kinda sad. I didn’t get mad at him, I just felt sorry for him. Also made me wonder how Wilson Valdez is doing.

By: egrissom

egrissom — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 18:01:38 +0000

Totally agree that that’s what I would do. I think the Phillies would only do it if they think Fontenot can play short. I don’t think they do. 37 games there last year. Good enough for me.

By: Greg

Greg — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 17:51:10 +0000

With any luck, Michael Martinez will be shown the way to Lehigh Valley.

By: DaMannse

DaMannse — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 17:16:03 +0000

A good question. I have no idea. But boy do I hope Utley can get into some kind of form in a hurry. It’s hard to imagine his being worse than what we have had, though.

I also hope his knees hold out for the rest of the year.

By: egrissom

egrissom — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 17:16:00 +0000

Fontenot seems like a good guess. Seems like Luna and Fontenot are the best candidates and the Phils are pretty short on right-handed hitters for the moment.

They don’t really need four lefties in the bullpen, either. They do need another righty. If they aren’t going to use Savery and Valdes, I hope they send one of them down before Fontenot.