Weekend Series Preview: Metropolitans at Phillies, 9/11-9/13

The Metropolitans of New York (62-78) come to Philadelphia to face the Phillies (79-59) in a four game series beginning tonight. Read on for details on the pitching match ups and other key notes from this division rivalry.

Friday, 7:05pm. Nelson Figueroa (2-4, 4.74 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (8-9, 4.32 ERA). Figueroa, a former Phillie, has a 3.00 ERA over his last three starts, with a 1-2 record. Colbert is 0-1 with a 7.20 ERA and .457 batting average against in 2 starts against NYM this season. Hamels has a 2.65 ERA in 15 career starts in September. David Wright against Cole Hamels- 8-for-20 (.400 avg) with a homer and 3 RBI.

Saturday, 4:10pm. Mike Pelfrey (10-10, 4.83 ERA) vs. Jamie Moyer (12-9, 4.98 ERA). Pelfrey is 2-2 in his last 4 starts with a 5.32 ERA. In his career against the Phillies, Pelfrey is 4-2 with a 3.88 ERA in 8 games. Pelfrey's road ERA in 6.55 in 2009. Moyer is once again taking "Jay" Happ's turn in the starting rotation, while Happ deals with an oblique strain. Moyer's ERA in his last 5 games is 1.84. Moyer is 8-5 with a 3.55 ERA in 21 games in his career against the Metropolitans.

Sunday, 1:05pm. John Maine (5-4, 4.52 ERA) vs. Kyle Kendrick (unofficially). Maine will be making his return from the disabled list and is expected to have a low 60-pitch limit. It will be Maine's first games since June 6th. Maine is 1-3 with a 6.34 ERA in 6 road starts this season. Jimmy Rollins is a .160 hitter (4-for-25) against John Maine. Kendrick is 0-1 with a 5.06 ERA in 4 ML games pitched this year. In 4 career games against the Metropolitans, KK is 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA.

Sunday. 8:05pm. Tim Redding (2-5, 5.78 ERA) vs. Pedro Martinez (4-0, 3.64 ERA). Redding has a 1-1 record and a 3.47 ERA in his last 4 games. Redding threw 5 scoreless innings against the Phillies on 8/22 in New York. The Metropolitans have won only one of the past 11 games that Redding has pitched in. The Phillies have won all 6 of Pedro Martinez's starts this season. In 7 career starts at Citizens Bank Park, Pedro is 2-1 with a 5.34 ERA.

Angel Pagan has hit safely in 22 of his last 24 games played, batting .352 during that streak. He has raised his season batting avg. 32 points since the start of the last series the Metropolitans and Phillies played against each other.

Ryan Howard is batting .300 (60-for-200) since the all star break. Howard is batting just .207 (12-for-58) against the Metropolitans in 14 games this season.

Carlos Ruiz is batting .037 (1-for-27) with a homerun and 4 RBI against the Metropolitans this season.

Raul Ibanez is hitting .071 (2-for-28) in his last 9 home games with a triple and 3 runs scored.

Team batting average, Metropolitans- .269
Team batting average, Phillies- .257

-------------------------------

Be sure to follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE!

PhoulBallz Interview: Reading second baseman Jesmuel Valentin

Jesmuel Valentin, image- Jay Floyd Switch-hitting infielder Jesmuel Valentin has been a bit of an underrated contributor with the Double-A Reading Fightins. Heading into action on Friday, Valentin was batting .339 over his last 14 games. Overall this season, the 22-year-old is batting .282 with four home runs and 35 RBI in 64 games. Valentin, who plays mostly second base, but dabbles at shortstop a bit also, is the son of former big leaguer Jose Valentin . The Puerto Rico native was a supplementary round pick (51st overall) of the Dodgers in 2012. He was acquired by the Phils as part of the Roberto Hernandez trade in 2014. Recently, I spoke with Jesmuel about his team's success, growing up around the game and more. Read ahead for that full interview. -The Reading team has been great and you've contributed very nicely to the club's success. What are your thoughts on competition in the Eastern League this year? I just came here with the mindset that...

Catching prospect O'Hoppe tabbed to join Phillies

Logan O'Hoppe, image- Jay Floyd Please consider supporting my work and via my Patreon page . For a small monthly fee, your patronage will get you exclusive interviews and other prospect related material as well as early access to all of my other content such as this feature. Thank you. On Friday, the Phillies added a pair of catchers to their 2020 player pool. Minor leaguers Logan O'Hoppe (pronounced Oh-HOP-ee) and Henri Lartigue arrived in Philadelphia to help catch bullpen sessions for the team's collection of approximately 30 pitchers. The call to O'Hoppe was extremely welcome as the 20-year-old had been staying as active as he possibly could, working out with other players that have been been waiting out quarantine due to the current pandemic at his home on Long Island. However, he had been very eager to step back onto an actual baseball field. "I just hope I can play soon. Where ever that is or whatever form that is, that'd be aw...

Chris Truby Speaks on Santana & Other BlueClaws Matters

On Monday, it was announced that the Astros selected outfielder Domingo Santana as the player to be named later in the late July trade that sent Hunter Pence to the Phillies. Santana, a Dominican born slugger, posted a .269 average with 7 HR and 32 RBI in 96 games with the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws. The 19-year-old is regarded as a five tool talent and has been ranked among the Phillies' top ten prospects by multiple national outlets. I had the opportunity to speak with Lakewood manager Chris Truby about Santana, the PTBNL list of five Phillies prospects that the Astros had to choose from, as well as other matters pertaining to the BlueClaws, as they enter the final few weeks of their regular season. Check out the media player below to hear the full interview. ______________________________________________ You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE . You can also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE .

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog