Skip to main content

Series Preview: Mets at Phillies, 4/29-5/1

Plagued by a wave of injuries, the Phillies return home to face division rival New York in a three-game series.

Starting pitcher Joe Blanton, who was originally slated to face the Mets (11-14) in the series opener, was placed on the disabled list on Thursday with a right elbow impingement. 23-year-old righty Vance Worley has been recalled to take Blanton's turn for the Phillies (16-8).

The Phillies have quite a collection of players already on the disabled list, with the likes of Chase Utley, Domonic Brown, JC Romero, Brad Lidge and Jose Contreras already missing time. It remains to be seen if Carlos Ruiz will be added to that collection, as the Phils' catcher left his last game early with a back injury.

For game one of the weekend series, the Mets will counter with Mike Pelfrey, who has allowed 20 earned runs in 12 innings pitched (15.00 ERA) over his last 3 starts at Citizens Bank Park.

Read ahead for details on each of the pitching match ups for this series and much more information.


Friday, 7:05PM. Mike Pelfrey (1-2, 7.23 ERA) vs. Vance Worley (1st start this season). In 14 career starts against the Phillies, Pelfrey has a 6-4 record with a with a 5.08 ERA. In 3 road starts this season, Pelfrey has posted a 0-2 record with an 11.91 ERA. Pelfrey has a 9.55 ERA in 6 career starts at Citizens Bank Park. Ryan Howard is 13-for-32 (.406 avg) with 2 homeruns in his career against the right-handed Pelfrey. Worley pitched 1 scoreless inning against the Mets last season. In 5 games in the Majors last year, Worley posted a 1-1 record and a 1.38 ERA. In 4 starts at Triple A level Lehigh Valley this year, Worley posted a 2-2 record with a 2.78 ERA and a 25 strike outs in 22 2/3 innings.

Saturday, 1:10PM. Jonathan Niese (1-3, 5.10 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (3-1, 2.41 ERA). The Phillies are undefeated in day games this season. Niese, a lefty, has a 1-2 record and a 3.96 ERA in 4 career starts against the Phillies. Placido Polanco is 4-for-13 (.308 avg) with 3 doubles and 4 RBI in his career against Niese. In 9 career starts against the Mets, Halladay has a 7-2 record with a 3.43 ERA. David Wright is 2-for-18 (.111 avg) in his career against Halladay. In his last start against the Padres, Halladay tied his single-game career high by striking out 14 batters.

Sunday, 8:05PM. Chris Young (1-0, 2.65 ERA) vs. Cliff Lee (2-2, 4.18 ERA). Young beat the Phillies back on April 5th, when he allowed just 1 run over 5 1/3 innings. In 6 career starts against the Phillies, Young has a 4.05 ERA. Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard are each 2-for-11 (.182 avg) against Young. In 1 career start against the Mets, Lee allowed just 2 unearned runs in 7 innings pitched. In 7 regular season starts at Citizens Bank Park, Lee has a 4-2 record with a 2.77 ERA.


Ike Davis is batting .386 in 12 road games this season. The Mets' 1st round draft pick from 2008, Davis, is a .333 hitter in 11 career games at Citizens Bank Park.

In 7 games since returning from the disabled list, Jason Bay is batting .333 with 2 doubles, a HR and 3 RBI. The Mets have won 6 of the 7 games Bay has played in this season.

In 15 career games against the Phillies, closer Francisco Rodriguez has never allowed a run and he has held Philadelphia batters to a .109 batting average.

In 80 career games against the Mets, Placido Polanco is a .303 hitter. Polanco's .389 batting average this season is good enough for third best in the National League and his 37 hits are tied for second best in the NL.

Phillies reliever Ryan Madson has a 2.89 career ERA with a 3-4 record, 5 saves and 3 blown saves in 54 career games against the Mets. Opponents are batting .190 against Madson this season.

Ryan Howard is batting .381 with a 1.048 OPS in 11 homes games this season. Howard is a .264 hitter in 99 career games against the Mets.

Mets team ERA- 4.42
Phillies team ERA-3.28

_________________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

You can also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Diekman a Late Addition to Mesa AFL Roster

On Wednesday, Phillies lefty pitching prospect Jacob Diekman made his Arizona Fall League debut. Diekman, who was drafted in the 30th round of the 2007 amateur draft, was assigned to Mesa late, in order to increase his 2010 innings total, according to Mesa hitting coach Mark Parent, who managed Diekman in Lakewood this past season. Diekman, 23, posted a 2-0 record with 1.90 ERA in 21 games with Class A Lakewood before being promoted to High-A Clearwater on June 24th. In 24 games with the Threshers, Diekman went 0-2 with a 3.66 ERA. Combined, Diekman tossed 55 2/3 innings and held opponents to a .187 batting average against at two levels in 2010. However, after not pitching in an official game since he threw a shutout inning to wrap up the Clearwater season on September 5th, Diekman was unable to record an out as all seven batters he faced reached base, six with hits, one on an error. Diekman was charged with 5 earned runs in the outing. Diekman had spent time at instructional ball from

McGwire Stays Phony, Despite Admitting Drug Use

Mark McGwire made an effort to publicly come clean today, admitting to the world that he took performance enhancing drugs during his playing career. Steroids and human growth hormones were among the drugs that McGwire admitted to using. MLB Network featured a one on one interview with Bob Costas and McGwire on Monday evening. The broadcast was virtually garbage, thanks to McGwire. Ahead is a list of quotes from McGwire's interview. McGwire repeatedly stated his point of view that there were no dishonorable intentions involved when taking steroids, and that he was merely using them as a means to recover from varying ailments. When asked if he felt like he cheated... "As I look back now...I can see how people would say that. As far as the talent goes and the hand-eye coordination, the ability, the genetics I was given...I don't see it." "I did not take this for any strength purposes." Denial. Read on for similar B.S. He whined about the abuse he's taken at

Bubby Rossman's long awaited MLB debut

Eight years after he initially signed a professional contract with the Dodgers and a five-year stretch playing away from affiliated ball, Bubby Rossman became a major leaguer on Wednesday. Added as a substitute for pitcher Kyle Gibson, who is restricted from travel to Canada for the Phillies' series in Toronto, due to his medical inability to be vaccinated from COVID-19, Rossman took the mound for the first time in the majors. Rossman, who was a 22nd round draft selection in 2014 had pitched in 200 professional games before his one-inning outing in the Phillies' 8-2 loss to the Blue Jays. In 27 appearances with Double-A Reading this year, the 30-year-old right-hander has performed well, tallying a 2-2 record with a save, a 3.32 ERA and a .200 batting average against.   The embedded video below features a media session with Rossman from prior to opening day this year, in which the California native discusses his journey through independent baseball and back to affiliated ball wi