Pitching improvements, Terrible 2's, and more

Welcome to Philadelphia, Joe Blanton. Blanton is definitely a guy who is primed to come around. While he's not Ben Sheets, and he's not CC Sabathia, Blanton is a needed addition to the Phillies' staff. At the very least, this is addition by subtraction....take away Adam Eaton from the starting rotation and the Phils take a step in the right direction.

Blanton makes his Phillies debut against the Mets on Tuesday, the 22nd. Mets batters David Wright, Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran are a combined 3-for-20 (.150 avg.) against Blanton. 2 of those hits belong to Beltran.

Statement to ponder...The catchers suck. Everyone's favorite 35 yr old sophomore, Chris Coste, hasn't been able to shake himself out of a slump this month. Carlos Ruiz has been slumping for almost a couple months now. Since seeing his batting average reach a season high of .246 on May 25th, Ruiz has had only 1 multi-hit game and his avg. has dipped just about every week, to where it stands now at .204.

In 11 July games, Coste is batting .125 (4 for 32).

In 11 July games, Ruiz is batting .138 (4 for 29).

As pointed out by several sources, first of which was yesterday's game radio broadcast, Colbert Hamels has given up 6 earned runs in his last 3 starts. 5 of those 6 runs are solo homers. Hamels, to be a real ace, needs to cut down on his homeruns allowed. Oh, the offense scoring some runs behind him, might assist with that also. The Phillies have scored 8 total runs in those same previous 3 Hamels starts, and have lost two of those games.

Lastly, I want to touch on the Matt Holliday trade rumors. Keep dreaming!

Comments

Stats to Ponder: Jimmy Rollins Edition

J-Roll has batted under .200 for a calendar month twice in his career. In April 2004, Rollins went 13-for-71, for a .183 average. The following month, Rollins went 30-for-107, which is a .280 average. And in August 2005, Rollins went 22-for-117, for a .188 average. The month that followed saw Rollins go 49-for-122 for a .402 average. Rollins is batting .171 so far in May 2009. Improvement is not far away for Jimmy. The Phillies are 10-2 in games this year which Rollins scores at least 1 run. The Phillies are 4-12 in games which Rollins does not score. Jimmy Rollins in 6 games against the Braves this year is batting .071 (2-for-28). In 2008 Rollins batted .284 against the Braves in 18 games. In 2007 Rollins batted .347 against the Braves in 18 games. In 2006 Rollins batted .367 against the Braves in 18 games. Jimmy Milestone Watch: 6 more RBI and Rollins will tie Scott Rolen for 25th all time in Phillies RBI leaders. 7 more triples and Rollins will tie Richie Ashburn for 4th all time i...

Crawford's Chronicles: JP Crawford talks Spring Training

JP Crawford, image- Jay Floyd Entering this year as the widely regarded top prospect in the Phillies organization, J.P. Crawford will be taking time each week to provide insight directly from inside spring training in Clearwater, FL, right here on PhilliesNation.com. Crawford, 20, was named the top positional prospect in two leagues (Class A South Atlantic League and Class A Advanced Florida State League) last year, when he combined, in 123 games, to post a .285 average, 11 homers, 48 RBI and 24 stolen bases. He also represented the Phils organization in the MLB All-Star Futures Game last season. As the 2015 campaign approaches, the six-foot-two 180-pound lefty batter is expected to reach the Double-A level and continue to prove why the Phillies selected him in the first round of the 2013 draft. In this initial installment of our weekly check-in with J.P., he shares thoughts on a variety of topics, including his exclusion from big league camp, which member of the big leagu...

Phreestyle Battle & Notes

Unrelated to baseball, really...but it's fun and our Phils are off today. This new kid on the hip hop scene, Charles Hamilton , whose single Brooklyn Girl is ripping up radio and video count downs, was at PSU for a performance recently. A freestyle battle ensued, and as you'll see, the Penn State student held his own. Stay tuned for the ending. It's the best part. Here are some random Phillies-in-idle baseball thoughts and notes- Colbert Hamels is slated to make his Grapefruit League debut tomorrow vs. Team Canada. Shane Victorino is going to wear #50 on his jersey for Team USA, a nod to Hawaii Five-O. Brad Lidge is likely to not see game action till next week, after he throws some more bullpen sessions and works out the tightness in his forearm. Albert Pujols is declaring "respect for his country" as reasoning for sitting out of the Cardinals' exhibition this week against Team Dominican Republic. He told reporters, "I don’t want to play against them...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog