Series Preview: Cubs at Phillies, 6/9-6/12

Sporting the best record in the Major Leagues, the Phillies (37-25) will play host for a 4-game series against the Cubs (24-36), who are 11 1/2 games out of first place in the National League Central division.

Jimmy Rollins, who has been sidelined in recent days with a deep bone bruise in his right knee, will be back in the Phillies' lineup Thursday night.

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

Thursday, 7:05PM. Randy Wells (1-1, 5.74 ERA) vs. Kyle Kendrick (3-4, 3.78 ERA). In 1 career outing against the Phillies, Wells threw 7 scoreless innings. In 3 starts this season, batters are hitting .246 against Wells. Kendrick has pitched 1 scoreless inning against the Cubs in his career. In 8 games at home this season, Kendrick is 1-3 with a 4.24 ERA. Kendrick has a 19-16 record with a 4.65 ERA in 56 career regular season games at Citizens Bank Park.

Friday, 7:05PM. Carlos Zambrano (5-2, 3.98 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (8-3, 2.56 ERA). In 7 road starts this season, Zambrano is 4-1 with a 4.53 ERA. Zambrano has a 1-0 record and a 2.02 ERA over his last 4 starts. In 5 career games at CBP, the righty Zambrano is 2-2 with a 4.28 ERA. In 7 home starts this year, Halladay has a 4-1 record with a 2.66 ERA. Aramis Ramirez is 2-for-13 (.154 avg) in his career against Halladay. 97 strike outs for Halladay rank second in the National League behind teammate Cliff Lee who has 100.

Saturday, 4:10PM. Matt Garza (2-5, 4.07 ERA) vs. Cliff Lee (5-5, 3.62 ERA). In 1 career start against Philadelphia, Garza got a win, allowing 1 run over 8 innings. Garza has a 1-3 record with a 5.16 ERA in 5 road starts this season. Raul Ibanez is 4-for-9 (.444 avg) with a double and 2 HR in his career against Garza. In 7 home starts this season, Lee is 4-1 with a 2.34 ERA. Lee is 3-0 with a 1.56 ERA in his last 3 home starts.

Sunday, 1:35PM. Doug Davis (0-5,6.37 ERA) vs. Roy Oswalt (3-4, 3.05 ERA). Davis has a 12.38 ERA in 2 road starts this season. Davis has a 2-2 record with a 3.71 ERA in 8 games against the Phils. Jimmy Rollins is 3-for-24 (.125 avg) in his career against Davis. In his last 6 starts, Oswalt is 0-4 with a 3.93 ERA. Oswalt has a 14-13 record and a 3.82 ERA in 32 career games against the Cubs. Kosuke Fukudome is 2-for-19 (.105 avg) in his career vs. Oswalt.

In 17 career games against the Phillies, Kosuke Fukudome is a .227 hitter. Fukudome is batting .213 in 20 road games this season.

Geovany Soto is a .235 hitter in 17 career games against the Phillies. Soto is batting .170 against right-handed pitchers this season.

In 10 games against the Phillies, reliever Carlos Marmol is 0-1 with 3 saves, 1 blown save, a 3.86 ERA and .081 batting average against. Marmol has a 0.55 ERA in 15 road games this season.

Rollins has a .224 batting average in 64 career games against the Cubs.

In 35 career games against the Cubs, Chase Utley has a .305 batting average and a .934 OPS. Utley is hitting .150 in 6 home games this season.

Rookie Domonic Brown has a .138 batting average in 8 home games this year.

Cubs team batting average- .269
Phillies team batting average- .247
________________________________________________

Image- ESPN

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

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

Jason Knapp Q&A

PhoulBallz .com was fortunate enough to meet with Phillies prospect Jason Knapp just one day after he caught the attention of the baseball world with his 7 shut out innings, 14 strike out performance against the Indians' Lake County team. - I asked Jason, the Lakewood BlueClaw , for some thoughts about his big game... I had pretty good command of three pitches (fastball, curve, change up). I was on the same page with my catcher, D'Arnaud , and I ended up, ya know, I felt pretty good. - In a great performance like that, how much credit goes to Travis D'Arnaud , the catcher? More than you might expect, definitely. I didn't shake him off once. He told me what to throw and I do what I'm told. And if it works out, a lot of the credit goes to the catcher. - Does the lack of run support (Lakewood has scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts), in your few starts, increase your stress level, or enhance your focus? No, I just try to go out and do my job every outing. Ya know, we...

PhoulBallz Q&A with Mike Stutes

Mike Stutes completes "The Reading Phils Mike Tri-fecta" over three days, here on PhoulBallz.com. Stutes, a 22 year old, was an 11th round selection by the Phillies in the 2008 amateur draft. Stutes, a right handed starting pitcher, helped lead Oregon State to the College World Series championship in both 2006 and 2007. Stutes and teammate Vance Worley are the first players to begin a season at Reading the year after being drafted since Pat Burrell did it in 1999. Stutes was the Phils' minor league pitcher of the month in August '08, when he went 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 6 starts. Check out my Q&A with the third Mike below. Can I get you to talk about the coaching staff and how they help you deal with ups and downs? They've been real positive with me. I started out good and then I hit a rough patch. They've stuck with me through it all. I haven't heard any negative words from them. Every day they try to come out, work with me, try to get me turned around...

Eric B Needs to be Cut (and My Name is Rakim)

While the Phillies are on a hot streak this month, one player on the team is not. Eric Bruntlett is 1-for-12 in July. Since the start of May, Bruntlett's apex in batting average has been .167 on June 14th. Bruntlett's ineptitude can be tolerated no longer. Get rid of this guy NOW! Eric B. is the 2009 Endy Chavez. Remember Endy...the guy who in 2005 managed just 2 hits in his final 42 games played as a Phillie? That is about the sort of output the Phillies are getting from Bruntlett, and it's time to fix this void. Julio Lugo was designated for assignment last week by the Red Sox and is expected to become a free agent. The Metropolitans are rumored to be interested. Why wouldn't the Phillies be interested in a guy who could surely outhit Bruntlett? Lugo was hitting .284 through 37 games played this season with Boston. Suspended Lehigh Valley IronPig Pablo Ozuna is eligible to return next Wednesday. Ozuna is batting .294 through 51 games at triple A. Miguel Cairo is also...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog