Skip to main content

Series Preview: Cubs at Phillies, April 27-30

By
The Phillies (9-10) return from a season-long ten-game road trip to begin a four-game series against the Cubs (6-13). 

While the five-time defending National League East division champion Phillies have not lived up to expectations thus far this season, the remedy could be a series against a Cubs team that has won just 1 game on the road this season.

Thus far in 2012, the Phils have struggled offensively, ranking near the bottom of the list, as a team, in nearly every offensive category.  The Cubs, who rank dead last in the Major Leagues with just 7 homeruns this season, have done just as poorly, if not worse.

In the series opener, the Phillies will send their ace Roy Halladay, who got just 1 run of support and took his first loss of the season in his last outing, to the mound.  The Cubs will counter with lefty Paul Maholm, who is considerably hot and cold when facing Philadelphia.  In his career against the Phils, Maholm has made 4 starts in which he has thrown at least 7 innings while allowing 1 or fewer runs, while he has given up at least 6 runs in his 3 other outing.

Read ahead for more details on the pitching matchups and other key stats from this series.


Friday, 7:05 PM. Paul Maholm (1-2, 8.36 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (3-1, 1.50 ERA). In 7 career starts against Philadelphia, Maholm has a 3-2 record with a 4.50 ERA and a .276 batting average against. Maholm, a former 1st round draft choice of Pittsburgh in 2003, has a career 4.91 ERA in 2 starts at Citizens Bank Park. Shane Victorino is 4-for-8 (.500 avg) with a double and a triple in his career against Maholm. Opponents are batting .178 against Halladay through 4 starts this season. In 35 career regular season games at Citizens Bank Park, Halladay is 21-8 with a 2.28 ERA. Starlin Castro is 5-for-9 (.556 avg) in his career against Halladay.


Saturday, 7:05 PM. Randy Wells (0-0, 3.60 ERA) vs. Joe Blanton (1-3, 4.34 ERA). The righty Wells will be making his 2nd appearance of the season. Wells, a 38th round draft pick of the Cubs back in 2002, is 12-14 with a 4.05 ERA in 38 career road starts. Hunter Pence is 6-for-17 (.353 avg) with a double and a HR in his career against Wells. In 5 career starts against the Cubs, Blanton has no decisions and a 3.04 ERA. In his lone home start this season, Blanton earned a win while allowing just 1 earned run over 7 innings of work against the Marlins. Reed Johnson is 5-for-12 (.417 avg) with 2 doubles and a homer against Blanton.


Sunday, 1:35 PM. Matt Garza (1-1, 3.37 ERA) vs. Kyle Kendrick (0-1, 9.39 ERA). Garza, a right-hander, is 1-1 with a 1.29 ERA in 3 career regular season starts against the Phillies. Jimmy Rollins is 1-for-11 (.091 avg) in regular season action against Garza. Opponents are batting .204 against Garza this season. Kendrick has thrown 4 scoreless innings against the Cubs in his career. Ian Stewart is 3-for-10 (.300 avg) with a double and a homer in his career against Kendrick.


Monday, 7:05 PM. Jeff Samardzija (2-1, 4.12 ERA) vs. Vance Worley (2-1, 2.16 ERA). In 7 career games against the Phillies, Samardzija is 1-2 with a 9.00 ERA.  In 2 road starts this season, Samardzija is 1-1 with a 10.38 ERA.  Shane Victorino is 2-for-4 with a triple and a homerun in his career against the righty Samardzija. Worley won his only career start against the Cubs, when he allowed just 1 earned run over 8 innings last July.  Opponents are batting .242 against Worley this season. 



In 5 road games this season, Alfonso Soriano is batting .190.  In 21 career games at Citizens Bank Park, Soriano has posted a .322 batting average with 5 doubles and 5 homeruns.

Starlin Castro is batting .435 in 6 road games this season. Castro is a career .415 hitter, with 5 doubles, a triple and a HR in 13 games against the Phillies.

Lendy Castillo was the Cubs' Rule 5 draft selection out of the Phillies' organization last December.  In 5 big league outings this season, the Dominican right-hander has allowed 5 earned runs in 5 2/3 innings.  Last season with Class A Lakewood, where Castillo, a converted position player, sported a fastball that ranged from 91-94 MPH regularly and posted a 4-2 record and a 2.54 ERA in 21 outings.

Juan Pierre's .339 batting average is tops on the Phillies.  In 68 career games against the Cubs, Pierre has a .255 batting average.  In 36 career games at Citizens Bank Park, Pierre is a .310 hitter.

In 38 career games against the Cubs, Jim Thome has posted a .288/.430/.576 line.

Righty reliever Michael Schwimer is back with the Phillies, after he was called up on Wednesday to fill the void left by injured reliever Mike Stutes. Schwimer, a minor league All-Star in each of the past two seasons, had posted a 1-0 record with 2 saves and a 1.04 ERA in 7 relief outings this year for Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

_________________________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lidge Shaky, T-Mac Honored in Trenton

By
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. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Q&A with Tim Gradoville

By
Tim Gradoville is a career minor league catcher, who once, as a September call up, was up with the big club for the proverbial cup of coffee. Slated to be the Phillies bullpen catcher, at a later date, Gradoville is currently assigned as a special instructor with the Lakewood BlueClaws. I had the opportunity to speak with Tim and here's how that went down... What's the atmosphere with the BlueClaws like so far this season? Well, I think we have a good mix of players. We have some veteran guys, and some young guys too, so it makes for an interesting mix. I think the guys like to have a good time, and they're pretty loose and that translates into winning games. They have a good time. With a young team, you never know what you're gonna get, sometimes, but they seem to gel pretty well together, so that helps to build team unity, helps guys get along. They're having fun, they're enjoying baseball. This game can be a grind sometimes, if you're not having fun. What...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mike McGuire Living a Dream With Favorite Team

By
LAKEWOOD, NJ- Every young ballplayer grows up wishing he could play for his favorite team. Mike McGuire has an opportunity to do just that after signing with the Phillies organization in July. McGuire was a 43rd round draft pick taken by the Cleveland Indians in the 2008 amateur draft out of the University of Delaware. Early scouting reports liked McGuire's abilities, despite some arm trouble. He advanced as far as High A Level Kinston last season. While there, he posted an 0-3 record with a 5.46 ERA in 9 games, 8 of which were starts. The Indians weren't happy with McGuire's efforts this spring and released him. McGuire caught on with the Sussex Skyhawks of the independent Can-Am League, where he stayed in shape and pitched against other formerly affiliated minor leaguers. As a starter with the Skyhawks, McGuire went 3-4 with a 5.29 ERA in 8 outings. From there, just as all players in those independent leagues hope for, the 24-year-old McGuire got noticed. The Phillies wer...
3 comments
Read more