Phillies Preview Part Two: The Conclusion of Spring Training

3/31/13

It’s that time of year when the Phillies are finished with spring training and bring that nice weather they have had in Clearwater up north to Philadelphia.

The Phillies finished spring training with a 16-15 record. There were some positives in spring training and there were some negatives that Phillies fans should focus on when the regular season begins. Granted that this is spring training, statistics usually don’t tell the story about whether a guy will have a good or bad season. Spring training is when the players get back into shape and their rhythm gets re-established and back into full swing. The coaches give the players ideas on improving their game if a player is struggling at the moment. Sometimes the advice works, and sometimes you scrap the advice and go back to the old ways.

So how did the new guys do that the Phillies acquired this offseason? Did the team show signs of improvement that were glaring weaknesses last year? What were the positives and negative in spring training this year? Let’s take a look:

Michael Young looks like a guy that they desperately needed last year; a guy that can step up to the plate and be an RBI guy. He also doesn’t strike out much, which is encouraging to hear since most of the lineup is a strikeout waiting to happen. What has been surprising about Michael Young is his defense at third base. There were questions as to whether he could make the transition from being a utility player to playing only one position in the field. He answered those questions by flashing the leather and making some solid plays in the field. Speaking of solid plays in the field, another new guy, Ben Revere, has made plenty of those this spring. He has become a fan favorite with the Phillies fans, and he could overtake the leadoff spot in which Jimmy Rollins has long coveted under Charlie Manuel. John Lannan, the pitcher the Phillies fans once hated for plunking Ryan Howard and Chase Utley six years ago as a member of the Washington Nationals, showed good signs of becoming that fourth or fifth starter. He throws a lot of strikes and makes the hitters hit the ball on the ground. Mike Adams and Chad Durbin both looked like the guys that can make a big improvement to the bullpen that was faulty last year.

Let’s look at the negative stuff first and end with the good stuff:

Negatives – Roy Halladay’s lack of velocity, Darin Ruf’s chance to show he belongs with the Phillies, one of the corner outfield spots not having a solidified starter because Delmon Young will start the season on the DL.

Positives – Ryan Howard and Chase Utley are healthy, Cole Hamels looks like an ace, the emergence of Domonic Brown, Cody Asche and Tommy Joseph, the battle for the final roster spot and the battle for utility infield spots.

Halladay’s lack of velocity is concerning to everyone in baseball. Once a pitcher that threw 92-93 miles per hour is now throwing at best 88-90 miles per hour. The speculation has been whether he’s nursing an injury or the fact that age has taken a toll on the once best pitcher in baseball. Halladay is going to be 36 years old this season and he now has to learn to pitch finesse (or in other terms, pitch like Jamie Moyer).

Last year, Ruf was a bright spot in the Phillies organization. He broke Ryan Howard’s homerun record in Double-A hitting 38 homeruns. Ruf got the call to the Phillies in September and showed the team what he did while he was in the minors. This spring, he started out very slow, but his bat was getting better as he was getting regular playing time. He got sent to the minors to work on his fielding skills in left field since they were a disaster.

One of my questions in Part One of my preview was who was going to be the starter in left field. Domonic Brown guaranteed his spot in the starting lineup, but in right field. Laynce Nix and John Mayberry Jr. looked unimpressive to start in left field. At the same time, this could be part of a platoon system where Nix plays against right-handed pitchers and Mayberry Jr. plays against left-handed pitchers.

Howard and Utley played in most spring training games. Howard finished spring training with a .338 batting average, hit seven homeruns, and had 16 RBI’s. He hasn’t had that productive of a spring training since 2009. Utley completed spring training with a .273 batting average, mashed five homeruns and drove in 16 runs. This was Utley’s most productive spring training since 2007.

Hamels looked like an ace this spring. He started five games this spring and had a 3-0 win/loss record, threw 19 innings, allowed 11 hits, gave up three runs (two of the three runs were earned runs), walked four batters, struck out 15, and had a microscopic ERA of 0.95.

A lot of pressure was on Brown this spring to make the team or to get traded. He responded to that pressure in a fantastic way. He had a .376 batting average, clubbed seven homeruns, and knocked in 17 runs. His defense will always be suspect, but if he keeps swinging the way he swung this spring training, he will finally get the respect he should have earned a few years ago when he was the top prospect in the Phillies organization.

The fountain of youth is always a good thing to feel intrigued about. Asche and Joseph are potential players that could replace Michael Young and Carlos Ruiz. Both Young and Ruiz are not getting any younger as age is catching up to them. Asche had a solid spring with a .357 batting average and he always puts the ball in play. Joseph was very impressive as he had a .462 batting average and mashed a titanic homerun this spring.

The infield battle was competitive. The battle was between Yuniesky Betancourt, Kevin Frandsen, and Freddy Galvis. While Betancourt had a great spring, he had an opt-out clause in his contract that if he was unable to make the Phillies by March 24, he could ask for his release. Betancourt got released after having a .447 batting average and 14 RBI’s this spring; the Phillies kept Galvis because he plays phenomenal defense and Frandsen has a solid bat as well.

Who will take the final roster spot? Will it be Rule Five draft pick Ender Inciarte or Pete Orr? Pete Orr got sent down to the minors so Ender Inciarte won the final roster spot. Inciarte could be very useful as a defensive replacement and a pinch runner late in games.

Let’s answer the rest of my questions I asked in Part One shall we?

 

The starting rotation looks solidified as Aaron Cook and Rodrigo Lopez were released as John Lannan is the fifth starter. Since Jake Diekman, B.J. Rosenberg, and Justin De Fratus were all sent down to the minors earlier this spring, the final results for the battle for the bullpen spots belong to Raul Valdes, Jeremy Horst, and Phillippe Aumont. Michael Stutes was the odd man out as he was sent to the minors. The backup catcher position when Ruiz has to serve his 25 game suspension is a difficult question to answer. The Phillies went with Humberto Quintero to be the backup catcher to Erik Kratz. Quintero provides the Phillies with experience, and has a solid arm and blocks the plate well. Steven Lerud is only good at calling games.

My prediction for how many wins the Phillies will finish the season with is between 85-88 wins as they will compete for the second wild card spot. Enough with this preview, LET’S PLAY BALL!!!

How many wins do you think the Phillies will finish with this season? Will they make the playoffs? Sound off and enjoy my blogging throughout the regular season. The first game will be April 1 when the Phillies travel to Atlanta to take on the Braves.

reCAP: Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Philadelphia Flyers

3/8/13

This game could not have been scripted any worse for the Flyers. These rivalry games always make the fans for both teams, and the players for both teams fired up. In fact, this rivalry right now may be the best one in the NHL. It’s at the level of Red Sox vs. Yankees rivalries. These games are always a good one no matter how good or how bad one of the teams is. The Flyers and Penguins play a similar style of hockey. They attack, attack, attack, and put pressure on the offensive side of the rink. Defense is optional for both teams. The goalies are both adequate too in Marc-Andre Fleury and Ilya Bryzgalov. So how did this script unfold last night? Let’s break it down period-by-period:

Everything seemed to be going right for the Flyers at the start of the first period. They came out with high energy and attacked the offensive zone and made the Penguins mad enough to commit stupid penalties. The goals in this period happened like (snaps fingers) that. Jakub Voracek scored 2 goals in this period, both on the power play. Unfortunately he scored the first of four goals, and what turned out to be the last goal for the Flyers. Voracek’s first goal, scored close to nine minutes into the period, seemed like Claude Giroux’s pass bounced off Voracek’s stick and found a way between Fleury’s legs. Voracek’s second goal, scored with eight seconds remaining in the period, whiffed on a slap shot from the blue line and the puck trickled its way right between Fleury’s legs. After Voracek’s first goal, Chris Kunitz scored the first of two goals he scored for the Penguins 47 seconds later on the power play. Sean Couturier couldn’t get the puck out of the defensive zone, which made the Penguins rush the Flyers’ zone. When the Penguins were setting up their offense, the puck hit Nicklas Grossmann’s skate and found its way towards Kunitz and he put the puck in the net. Three minutes after Kunitz scored his goal to tie the game at one, Zac Rinaldo found a rebound after a Grossmann shot hit Fleury’s pads and scored the second goal for the Flyers. Also three minutes after Rinaldo’s goal, Kimmo Timonen fired a blind snap shot on to Fleury and it pinballed off of him and went into the net to make it 3-1 Flyers. At the end of the first period it was a 4-1 Flyers lead. Could the Penguins show some life in this game or did the Flyers suck the life out of them with that spectacular first period?

It seemed like the Flyers stopped playing after the first period. I don’t know what was said in the locker room by Penguins coach Dan Bylsma, but he sent a powerful message to his players that made them play better the rest of the way. Tomas Vokoun replaced Fleury in net to start the period. The Penguins came out with a lot of energy and were not ready to bow down to the Flyers. Pascal Dupuis scored the Penguins’ second goal five minutes into the second period. Sidney Crosby took a rebound and handled the puck beautifully and wrapped around the net, which Bryzgalov got stuck on one of the posts, and found a wide open Dupuis for a wide open net. A few minutes later, James Neal found the back of the net to make it a 4-3 Flyers lead. Neal threw the puck into the middle of the zone and the puck bounced off of Braydon Coburn’s stick and the puck redirected into the back of the net. The Penguins scored one more goal in this period to tie the game at four. Tyler Kennedy scored the goal as Brandon Sutter screened Bryzgalov’s view as he had difficulties seeing who had the puck. That goal also ended Bryzgalov’s night as Brian Boucher had to replace Bryzgalov in net.

We have reached the third and final period in this game with the score tied. Who would score the goal that could ultimately win the game? It didn’t take that long for that question to be answered either. The Penguins scored the fifth and final goal of this game 18 seconds into the period. Kunitz scored which turned out to be the game-winning goal for the Penguins. This was his second goal of the game too. The goal was scored off an odd man rush in which Boucher looked slow going lateral from post-to-post. The only other big moment in this game was when the Flyers thought they had tied the game at five a piece off a Timonen slap shot, but the goal was disallowed when Scott Hartnell’s stick was over the crossbar. Do I agree with the call? Yes, because I thought the top of Hartnell’s blade was over the crossbar. The Flyers went on to lose this game 5-4.

Overall, this was the worst game the Flyers have played this season. The last time they blew a three goal lead was 20 years ago. This was a rarity for the Flyers, but one they should try to forget. What’s mind boggling is the fact that the Flyers quit after the first period. The Penguins were not fazed by the Flyers early momentum as they gained momentum the rest of the way. There’s not one player to blame about this loss. This loss I feel is solely on poor coaching. The Penguins adjusted their game, while the Flyers kept throwing the same stuff the Penguins saw in the first period throughout the entire game. It would have been nice if the Flyers won this game to take a 2-1 lead in the season series, but home ice has not been favorable for both teams.

Will this game hurt or help the Flyers as they prepare for their game on Saturday against the Boston Bruins? Sound off and stay tuned until next time…

reCAP: Philadelphia 76ers vs. Chicago Bulls

3/1/13

Previously against the Orlando Magic, Doug Collins had a meltdown with the media calling out his players on the 76ers for their lack of effort calling it “mind-numbing.” He went as far as saying that his players should be held accountable for how they display themselves on the court. Would the 76ers respond to Collins’ criticism and play hard against the Bulls? The Bulls have been struggling in the month of February. They have been playing very well for the first three months of the season. The Bulls play tough defense and they rebound the heck out of the ball. Their problem is playing an efficient offense without the presence of Derrick Rose. Rose has not played a game this season as he is recovering from a torn ACL injury. The Bulls were also without the services of Rip Hamilton and Taj Gibson. Hamilton has back spasms and Gibson has a sprained MCL.

The first half was boring. Then again, both teams have defensive minded coaches so anyone could expect this game to be low scoring. The Bulls dictated this half by grabbing not only defensive rebounds, but offensive rebounds. They also got to the free throw line when they kept grabbing those offensive rebounds. Evan Turner and Jrue Holiday were carrying the 76ers in the first half scoring 23 of the team’s 39 points. Carlos Boozer, Joakim Noah, and Luol Deng carried the Bulls scoring 33 of 45 points. The Bulls led 45-39 at halftime. Holiday led the 76ers with 13 points and Boozer led the Bulls with 12 points in the half.

The Bulls controlled this game in the second half. They had a lead as big as 16 points, but the 76ers kept fighting with them until the end. Kirk Hinrich stepped up for the Bulls along with Noah, who had a career game. Spencer Hawes stepped up for the 76ers although his numbers were deceiving. He was not great in getting position for rebounds. He let Boozer and Noah abuse him on the glass. Turner disappeared from this game after having a solid first quarter. The Bulls won this game 93-82. Holiday finished with 22 points. Hawes collected a double-double. He scored 20 points and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds. Turner ended with 12 points and eight rebounds. For the Bulls, Noah’s career night ended with him collecting his third career triple double. He scored 23 points, grabbed 21 rebounds, and blocked a career high 11 shots. Boozer had a double-double. He scored 21 points and snatched 12 rebounds. Deng disappeared in the second half after having a solid first half. He finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. Hinrich scored 15 second half points.

Overall, the 76ers have taken a turn for the worst. They have no offensive execution and they have an inability to box out and rebound the basketball. I liked how they competed and gave effort in this game after what was said by Collins against the Magic. However, competing and putting effort into a game just isn’t enough for this team. It’s simple: they don’t have quality talent on this team. Nick Young, Spencer Hawes, Kwame Brown, Dorell Wright, and Lavoy Allen don’t cut out as quality talent. That’s who the 76ers signed after releasing Elton Brand, letting Lou Williams sign with the Atlanta Hawks, and trading Andre Iguodala to the Denver Nuggets, and Nik Vucevic, and Moe Harkless to the Magic to acquire Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson. Bynum has not played a game all year, and Richardson is out for the season. I wish Collins would play Arnett Moultre more. When he played his six minutes in the second quarter in this game, he made his shots and was hustling up and down the court.

Should the 76ers tank their season? Sound off and stay tuned until next time…