Skip to main content

Series Preview: Phillies at Metropolitans, 9/23-9/25

The Phillies, losers of 6 straight games, travel to Citi Field this weekend to take on the division rival New York Metropolitans in a three-game series.

During the Phillies' recent skid, the five-time National League East division champions have been without two big time contributors to their offense, as Ryan Howard and Hunter Pence have missed time with injuries. Howard has been resting his ailing left ankle this week, while Pence has been out since straining the patellar tendon in his left knee on Tuesday. Both stars are expected to play this weekend.

In the series opener, the Phils will send lefty Cole Hamels, who hasn't been very successful against the Metropolitans throughout his career, to the mound, while New York counters with right-hander R.A. Dickey, who is typically strong against the Phillies.

Philadelphia has won 10 of 15 meetings with the Metropolitans this season. Read ahead for more details on the pitching match ups and other key notes from this series.


Friday, 7:10 PM. Cole Hamels (14-9, 2.80 ERA) vs. RA Dickey (8-13, 3.35 ERA). In 16 career starts against the Metropolitans, Hamels is 3-10 with a 4.69 ERA. Hamels is 1-4 with a 5.05 ERA and a .340 batting average against in 6 career starts at Citi Field. In his last 5 starts, Hamels has posted a 0-2 record with a 3.71 ERA. Dickey has a 2-3 record with a 2.90 ERA in 5 career starts against the Phillies. In his last 5 starts, Dickey is 3-2 with a 1.56 ERA. Jimmy Rollins is 1-for-11 (.091 avg) in his career against Dickey.

Saturday, 1:10 PM. Kyle Kendrick (8-6, 3.04 ERA) vs. Dillon Gee (12-6, 4.48 ERA). Kendrick is 5-1 with a 3.15 ERA in 15 road games this year. In 14 career games (11 starts) against the Metropolitans, Kendrick has a 2.97 ERA. Jose Reyes is 10-for-26 (.385 avg) with a double, a triple and 2 HR in his career against Kendrick. In 14 home games this season, Gee has a 6-3 record with a 3.18 ERA. Gee is 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA in his last 4 starts.

Sunday, 1:10 PM. Roy Halladay (18-6, 2.40 ERA) vs. Mike Pelfrey (7-12, 4.58 ERA). Halladay has an 8-2 record with a 3.13 ERA in 10 career starts against the Metropolitans. In 16 road starts this year, Halladay is 10-3 with a 2.35 ERA. Josh Thole is 7-for-15 (.467 avg) in his career against Halladay. In 18 career starts against the Phillies, the righty Pelfrey is 7-6 with a 5.08 ERA. Pelfrey has a 2-4 record with a 4.62 ERA in 14 outings since the All-Star break. Chase Utley is 12-for-37 (.324 avg) with 3 doubles and 4 HR in his career against Pelfrey.


In 9 games against the Phillies this year, Josh Thole has posted a .192 batting average. The lefty hitting Thole has a .171 average against left-handed pitchers this year, through games on Wednesday.

Jose Reyes is batting .331 in 58 home games this season. Reyes has a .405 batting average in 9 games played against the Phillies in 2011.

Carlos Beltran's 15 HR and 66 RBI are still tops on the Metropolitans team, and he was traded away in July.

In 12 games against the Metropolitans this season, Jimmy Rollins has posted a .320 average.

John Mayberry Jr. has posted a .310 batting average with 10 HR and 30 RBI since the All-Star break. Mayberry is a .160 hitter in 7 games at Citi Field.

In 70 career games against the Metropolitans, Carlos Ruiz is a .228 hitter. Ruiz has posted a .320 batting average in 54 games since the All-Star break.

Phillies team ERA- 3.05
Metropolitans team ERA- 4.22
__________________________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Lidge Shaky, T-Mac Honored in Trenton

TRENTON, NJ- Brad Lidge made his second rehab appearance for the Double A Reading Phillies on Thursday night and it didn't go as well as the veteran reliever or the team had hoped. Lidge struggled with his command and turned in a rather poor outing for the club that entered the night in a playoff race, 1 game behind division rival Trenton for the Wild Card spot in the Eastern Division. On the disabled list since spring training with a strained right rotator cuff, Lidge experienced an elbow strain when he was working back from that issue in late May. In his outing against the Yankees affiliate in Trenton, Lidge displayed difficulty with his control as he threw three wild pitches, hit two batters, walked another and gave up a single, all while letting up two earned runs on 28 pitches in 2/3 of an inning. After the disappointing performance, Lidge was composed and focused on some positive aspects, having reached 89 and 90 MPH on scouts' radar guns, according to some reports. ...

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...

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...