Series Preview: Phillies at Nationals, 4/12-4/14

The big story of the Phillies vs. Nationals series will, of course, be Jayson Werth's first meeting with his former team after signing a massive free agent contract last off-season. After helping the Phillies win four straight National League East Division championships, Werth signed a 7-year $126 million deal with the Washington Nationals.

Werth, who is off to a slow start, is looking to help his new club turn things around in the division as his 4-5 Nats host the 7-2 Phillies for a three-game series at Nationals Park.

In the opening game of the series, right-hander Joe Blanton, who is hoping to put a weak season debut behind him, will take on veteran righty Livan Hernandez.

Read ahead for details on the pitching match ups and more key details on this series.

Tuesday, 7:05PM. Joe Blanton (0-0, 14.54 ERA) vs. Livan Hernandez (0-1, 4.76 ERA). In 12 career starts against the Nats, Blanton has a 3-3- record with 5.73 ERA. In 14 road games last season, Blanton posted a 5.47 ERA. Ivan Rodriguez is 6-for-16 (.375 avg) in his career against Blanton. In 27 career starts against the Phillies, Hernandez has a 11-10 record with a 3.60 ERA. In 26 starts at Nationals Park, Hernandez is 9-10 with a 4.30 ERA. Jimmy Rollins is 13-for-61 (.213 avg) with 2 homers in his career against Hernandez.

Wednesday, 7:05PM. Roy Halladay, (1-0, 0.69 ERA) vs. John Lannan (1-0, 3.60 ERA). In 12 career games against the Nationals, Halladay has an 8-1 record with a 1.96 ERA. In 2 starts at Nationals Park last season, Halladay went 2-0 and allowed just 1 earned run in 16 innings pitched. Ivan Rodriguez is 14-for-35 (.400 avg) in his career against Halladay. In 11 career starts against the Phillies, the lefty Lannan has a record of 0-8 with a 6.09 ERA and a .313 batting average against. Lannan had just 2 wins at home last season in 13 starts. Raul Ibanez is 10-for-15 (.667 avg) in his career, with a double, a triple and 2 homeruns against Lannan.

Thursday, 7:05PM. Cliff Lee (1-1, 7.84 ERA) vs. Jordan Zimmermann (1-1, 3.18 ERA). In 2 career starts against Washington, Lee is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA. Ivan Rodriguez is 12-for-32 (.375 avg) in his career against Lee. The righty Zimmermann has allowed 11 earned runs in 8 career innings pitched against the Phillies. In 25 career starts, Zimmermann has a 5-8 record and a 4.58 ERA.

Placido Polanco is a career .328 hitter against the Nationals in 84 games. In 7 games last season at Nationals Park, Polanco went 10-for-31 (.452 avg).

Ryan Howard is just 1-for-11 (.091 avg) in 3 road games this season. In 25 career games at Nationals Park, Howard has a .929 OPS.

Prior to this season, Shane Victorino batting first in the batting order was 138-for-511 (.270 avg). In 2011, Victorino batting first in the batting order is 14-for-34 (.412 avg).

Former Phillie Jayson Werth is batting .200 with 1 HR and 1 RBI in 9 games this season with Washington. In 28 career games at Nationals Park, Werth has a .316 average and a .983 OPS.

Ian Desmond is a career .293 hitter in 21 games against the Phillies. Desmond is 6-for-14 (.429 avg) with 2 doubles and homer and 6 RBI against Blanton.

Phillies team batting average- .334.
Nationals team batting average- .217.

_______________________________________________________

Image- AP

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

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

Patreon Exclusive: Logan O'Hoppe answers Nine Silly-ass Questions

Logan O'Hoppe, image- Jay Floyd Phillies catching prospect Logan O'Hoppe was the subject of a recent player feature I posted here three days early. When I talked with Logan, he was kind enough to not only chat about some serious baseball related topics, he also had some fun with me and answered Nine Silly-Ass Questions! In this interview, the 20-year-old, who was an All-Star with Class A short-season Williamsport last year, offered his thoughts on his experiences playing in Australia last off-season, super powers, some surprising movies he's never seen, teammate Albertus Barber and plenty more. Read ahead for some excerpts from this Silly-ass interview... -You can 4-for-4 and your team loses, or you can get hit in the groin and your team wins...which do you choose? I mean, if we win, then the whole team has a good night, so I have to go with that one. That really benefits everybody. -Tell me, if you can, four words to describe Albertus Barber . One,...

Rappers in Phillies Caps

Weekend greetings to you phine pholks out there. Today's post features pictures of rappers wearing Phillies caps. Why rappers in Phillies caps, you ask? Because... Any other questions? We will start things off properly by going with a highly recognizable hip hop star. 50 Cent stays constantly relavant by consistantly creating radio friendly material to help sell (G) units, while he "keeps it real" by still rapping about the thug life he lived before becoming the 2nd highest earning black entertainer in America. 50 is seen here in a recent interview rocking a throw-back Phillies cap. Next up we'll use a throw-back screen cap from what may be the very first major appearance by a rapper wearing Phillies gear. Chuck D, of legendary rap group Public Enemy, wore a Phillies cap in the music video for rap anthem Fight The Power in 1989. The song was the lead single from the soundtrack for Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing . Next up we'll go with some home grown tal...

Calling All (Sal's) Pals...

Phillies phans should remember Sal Fasano fondly. In 2006, Fasano was the Phillies' back up catcher who hit .243 and slugged 4 homers in 50 games played. Sal's unique mustache and tough guy vibe won over the Philadelphia crowds and a fan group called Sal's Pals was born. Prior to playing with the Phillies, Fasano debuted with the Royals, and made stops in Oakland, Colorado, Anahiem and Baltimore. Fasano was a true journeyman who had no qualms about his reserve role where ever he went. Today, Twitter user and Phillies phan Sara Scott passed along an article that I feel deserves mention here. SI.com's Jeff Pearlman detailed the Fasano family's struggles with health coverage for their 2 year old child, Santo, who suffers from a serious heart condition. The article can be found here . Santo's condition, hypoplastic heart syndrome, requires medical attention to help his underdeveloped heart to mature properly. To this point, Santo's surgeries have cost over $1 mi...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog