Series Previews: National at Phillies, 5/3-5/5

In the first series between the two teams since Jayson Werth departed Philadelphia for the big payday in Washington, Werth's former team won 2 of 3 games last month in his new home park.

While Werth called those initial meetings with his former team "business as usual", it could be a different scenario this week as Werth will be playing in front of his former home faithful, when the Nationals (14-14) travel to Philadelphia for a 3-game series against the 4-time defending National League East Division champions, the Phillies (18-9).

Werth signed a 7-year contract worth $126 million with the Nationals in December after playing with the Phillies for four seasons.

In the series opener, Werth and the Nats' lackluster offense will face 2008 World Series MVP Cole Hamels, who is 5-0 in his last 8 starts against Washington. The Nationals will counter with veteran right-hander Livan Hernandez, who allowed just 1 run in 6 2/3 innings against the Phillies when he faced them last month.

Read ahead, for more analysis on the pitching match ups and other statistics from this series.

Tuesday, 7:05PM. Livan Hernandez (302, 3.23 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (3-1, 3.13 ERA). Hernandez is 12-10 with a 3.52 ERA in 28 career starts against the Phillies. Hernandez has a 6.55 ERA in 2 road starts this season. In 7 career starts at Citizens Bank Park, Hernandez has posted a 2-4 record with a 6.21 ERA. Placido Polanco is 19-for-52 (.365 avg) in his career against Hernandez. In 18 career starts against the Nats, Hamels has a 9-3 record with a 2.73 ERA. In two home starts this season, Hamels has a 7.45 ERA. Adam LaRoche is 4-for-12 (.333 avg) with a double and 3 HR in his career against Hamels.

Wednesday, 7:05PM. Jason Marquis (3-0, 2.62 ERA) vs. Vance Worley (1-0, 0.00 ERA). Marquis is 5-7 with a 5.34 ERA in 24 career games against the Phillies. Marquis has started 6 games at CBP during his career...in those games he is 1-4 with a 7.88 ERA. In 6 career MLB games, Worley sports a 2-1 record with a 0.95 ERA. Worley held the Mets to just 2 hits through 6 innings of work in his season debut last week. Jimmy Rollins is 6-for-41 (.146 avg) in his career against Marquis.

Thursday, 7:05PM. John Lannan (2-3, 3.78 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (4-1, 2.14 ERA). In 12 career starts against the Phillies, Lannan is 0-9 with a 5.80 ERA. In 3 road starts this season, Lannan is 1-1 with a 5.17 ERA. Raul Ibanez is 10-for-18 (.556 avg) with a double, a triple and 2 homers in his career against Lannan. In 13 career games against Washington, Halladay has a 9-1 record with a 1.96 ERA. Halladay has a 2.51 ERA in 4 home starts this season.

Jayson Werth is a .303 career hitter in 10 games against the Phillies. In 276 career regular season games at Citizens Bank Park, Werth has a .293 average and a .913 OPS.

Ian Desmond's .245 batting average leads the Nationals' offense. In 11 career games at CBP, Desmond has a .349 batting average.

The Nat's first round draft pick from 2009 Drew Storen leads the team with six saves. The 23-year-old righty has allowed 1 earned run over 16 innings (0.56 ERA) and has held opponents to a .158 batting average this season.

Ryan Howard's 28 RBI lead the Major Leagues. Howard is batting .345 in 14 home games this season.

Lefty reliever Antonio Bastardo has a 1-0 record and a 0.82 ERA in 11 games this year. Bastardo has struck out 18 batters in 11 innings pitched this season.

In 14 home games this season, Placido Polanco is batting .383 with 15 RBI.

Nationals team batting average- .227
Phillies team batting average- .256

___________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

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

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

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog