Phillies at Braves: 2013 Opening Day Game Preview

At long last, the new season is upon us. With the Phillies out of the postseason for the first time in six seasons last year, the time between their last contest and the following season's opener was certainly longer than most fans in the Philly region had grown accustomed to. But, after a considerable wait, a chance to reclaim the top spot in the National League East division is about to begin.

Opening the season on the road, the Phillies will send lefty ace Cole Hamels to the mound at Atlanta's Turner Field to take on right-handed veteran Tim Hudson.

Monday, 7:05 PM. Cole Hamels (17-6, 3.05 ERA in 2012) vs. Tim Hudson (16-7, 3.62 ERA in 2012). The 29-year-old Hamels posted a 7-2 record with a 2.87 ERA in 14 second half starts last season. In four starts againt Atlanta last year, Hamels went 1-1 with a 2.77 ERA and a .221 batting average against. In 15 career outings at Turner Field, Hamels has a 5-4 record along with a 4.18 ERA. In his career against Hamels, Dan Uggla is 8-for-55 (.145 average). Hudson had a 3-1 record with a 3.99 ERA in five starts against the Phillies last season. In 116 career games at Turner Field, Hudson sports a 3.22 ERA. Michael Young is 9-for-28 (.321 average) with a double in his career against Hudson. Ryan Howard is a career .322 hitter with three doubles and seven homers in his career against Hudson.

Former Braves 1st round draft pick Jason Heyward is a career .207 hitter with three home runs in 46 games against the Phillies. The lefty hitter tallied a .761 OPS at home last season.

Justin Upton is a .321 hitter with four homers and nine RBI in 24 career games against the Phils.

Jimmy Rollins led the Phillies with HR (23) and RBI (68) last season. In 202 career games against the Braves, Rollins is a .274 hitter with 18 home runs and 42 stolen bases.

In 74 career games at Turner Field, Chase Utley has posted a .258 average with nine homers and 42 RBI. Utley batted .121 in 15 games against Atlanta last season.

Comments

PhoulBallz Interview: Reading second baseman Jesmuel Valentin

Jesmuel Valentin, image- Jay Floyd Switch-hitting infielder Jesmuel Valentin has been a bit of an underrated contributor with the Double-A Reading Fightins. Heading into action on Friday, Valentin was batting .339 over his last 14 games. Overall this season, the 22-year-old is batting .282 with four home runs and 35 RBI in 64 games. Valentin, who plays mostly second base, but dabbles at shortstop a bit also, is the son of former big leaguer Jose Valentin . The Puerto Rico native was a supplementary round pick (51st overall) of the Dodgers in 2012. He was acquired by the Phils as part of the Roberto Hernandez trade in 2014. Recently, I spoke with Jesmuel about his team's success, growing up around the game and more. Read ahead for that full interview. -The Reading team has been great and you've contributed very nicely to the club's success. What are your thoughts on competition in the Eastern League this year? I just came here with the mindset that...

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...

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,...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog