Kuzul

Things have certainly not been going well. It might be the Year of the Pitcher somewhere, but not in Philadelphia.

I’m sorry. Perhaps that wasn’t supportive. Let’s petition to focus only the positives.

I’ll start: Jimmy Rollins is the current active leader in consecutive steals, Placido Polanco is back from the DL with his team-leading batting average, and Ryan Howard leads the league in RBI.

Jayson Werth, however, has developed an unexplained aversion for touching his bat to the ball.

Someone should tell him it won’t make you blind.

Here’s another petition: stop the Tweet-volume graphs on the game recaps. There’s nothing more irrelevant to the game. It’s no secret that the volume of twits tweeting about the Phils is directly proportional to stuff happening during the game.

It’s just as circumstantial as the level of disgust rising in my house when my husband uses the john.

It’s not rocket science.

Supposedly things are so bad people are petitioning to get Pat Burrell back.

Fat chance. He feels right at home peeking over at old teammate, Aaron Rowand, in center field in San Francisco. But Pat’s move to the Bay Area has people wondering about those rumors that he got married—to a girl.

Or maybe I just made that up.

Now the Phillies have three more chances to turn it around against the newly crowned NL Central kings fresh off their six game winning streak.

Perhaps under the lovely shiny arch the Phils will figure out why the early season hitting explosion had an expiration date. Like a Viagra pill for batters, maybe they’ll find something that makes a big, stout piece of wood more effective.

How ‘bout putting Marisa Miller on the mound?

Or just paint her on the center field wall?

Now, you usually only have to glance at stats to tell when a team stinks, but in this case it makes no sense. The Phillies’ lineup leads the division in runs, home runs, RBI, total bases, slugging percentage, intentional walks, extra base hits, and fielding percentage.

They also lead in stolen base percentage because they think like I do: If you don’t steal, you won’t get caught.

And Jayson Werth leads the team with 92 strikeouts—most of which he’s earned since the All-Star break.

That might seem like a rather dubious honor but other players who’ve appeared on the annual “Special K” list are: Babe Ruth, Mickie Mantle, Reggie Jackson, Michael Schmidt, Sammy Sosa, Jim Thome, Adam Dunn, and Ryan Howard—not long before he signed a bank breaking contract.

It’s also possible that those other guys led their league in another important hitting category that Jayson’s failed to conquer. I’d love to investigate this further but I have dishes to do, a cat box to clean, and re-runs of Hawaii Five-O on at three.

Besides we’re staying positive: The Phillies are a better second half team.

The only reason that’s a scary statement is because the current first place team, Atlanta, leads the division in only one stat: on-base percentage. They’re like the Rudolph Valentinos of the NL East. They could sweet talk a girl out of her pants with a timely hit, a little hustle, and enduring patience.

Matter of fact, for their next stadium giveaway they’re handing out EPTs.

Even without extraordinary stats, they’re contenders. And trading off the slacking Yunel Escobar for the slugging Alex Gonzalez is a sure indication that they know this. As long as Brian McCann is the McMan, Chipper Jones continues to take his retirement advice from Brett Favre, and the Mets find the formula to forego flunking late in the season, it’s going to be a tough semester.

So while the Phillies search for the MLB equivalent of the Bunsen burner, I looked for the magic stat that could determine who the next division champ would be. As much as I tried to sway my decision to Philadelphia, the only conclusion I’ve come to is this: The devil wears Prado.

Martin Prado is on course to having a career year. He leads Atlanta in endurance and studliness, and was one of five Braves who made Charlie Manuel’s All-Star roster even though the skipper couldn’t say his name.

Hey, five team members on one All-Star roster? Doesn’t that sound like the 2009 Phillies?

I hate to say it, but if I’ve struck stat gold, Phillies fans might have to settle for good baseball, sexy facial hair, and appealing camera angles this year. Diehards should be asking themselves if they can survive a season unadorned by pennants or trophies or even postseason TV.

Hey, if it’s any consolation, I heard Kim Kardashian has decided to just appear naked in her next season on E!. And Survivor is having a reunion—only breasts and penises are scheduled to compete.

Or maybe I just made that up.

Stay positive.

See you at the ballpark.

Copyright 2010 Flattish Poe all rights reserved.

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MLB’s second-half of the season is officially in full swing

Thus far, in 2010 is proving to be one for the books. With so many tight division races, fans will have plenty of excitement to keep them occupied.

Still, fans tend to throw in the towel and write-off their teams chances of playing in October. A few teams stand out that might not be division leaders now, but still have the potential not to be counted out yet.

Remember, that pennants are not won in July and baseball can look decidedly different from week to week.

Here, are two teams, one from the AL and the other from the NL that should not be counted out:

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

The Angels lost their best player for the season, 1B Kenny Morales, which has finally impacted the team. Still, this is a group who has won the AL West six of the last seven years and it would be foolish to consider them out this soon.

Even with the first-place Rangers acquiring SP Cliff Lee, the back of rotation is not significant. The Angels have an ace in Jered Weaver. Weaver beat out Seattle’s King Felix for the third time this season, but the Angels have to give Weaver some run support. The vets need to step it up now specifically Abreau, Hunter and Matsui to stay in the mix.

Truthfully, they are not the same Angels from 2009. They lost a lot of speed on the bases, which played a enormous role in their past successes. The Halos should pick-up a solid bat before the end of July. Rumors that Red Sox Mike Lowell or Orioles Miguel Tejada are possibilities, but are a tad too old to get that excited or could be the difference makers.

The Angels remain just four and a half games out, and the next two weeks are the time to make a move on Texas. Angels are a second-half team, with a proven history and now’s time to prove it.

Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies, even worse than the Angels, have been hit with injuries. So far 12 players have seen the DL, including three All-Star hitters, the closer, a setup man, two starters and both their starting and backup catchers. Things have been far from sunny in Philadelphia.

After just two starts, NLCS rookie of the year SP J.A. Happ has yet to be back to his 2009 form, but he will be back. Then SS Jimmy Rollins has been actively on and off the DL, who is the Phillies lead-off bat. On June 28th, 2B Chase Utley hurt his thumb. Utley had surgery on his thumb on July 1st and will return in a few weeks. Turning to the bullpen, closer Brad Lidge is getting reacquainted after missing April and most of May, but Lidge still can throw heat. Phillies fans need to be patience with Lidge.

The Phillies are kicking themselves for letting Cliff Lee go. In 2010, Lee is throwing better than trade-off Roy Halladay, that is just a fact. Positives are SP Cole Hamels is looking better with each start and Happ should be of use when he is back any day now. I would also expect Lidge will be back to the dominating closer by mid-August again, but getting Lidge on the mound more will help keep him strong.

Now what to do about Jason Werth is another question. Werth is not hitting like his usual self, but can you blame a player who knows the team did not want him? Not particularly well executed by the Phillies management, who handed Howard a monster contract and making Werth aware he has no worth. No doubt this is taking a toll on Werth, whether he knows it or not.

1B Ryan Howard is currently on a hitting tear and is confident the Phillies are getting back on their feet. Rollins will start to get hot now that he is fully recovered. Utley will be back in three weeks, along with Happ and Polanco who will rejoin the team shortly.

The Phillies are a half game behind the New York Mets and five and a half behind the NL East leading Atlanta Braves. Remember the last three seasons the Phillies have had about the same record, and they have been to the World Series the last two years.

The Phillies will make a run at the division for sure and with so much baseball left winning it is not out of left field by any means.

Read more on….Lady Loves Pinstripes .

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The Philadelphia Phillies’ first half struggles are well-documented. A disappointing road trip and three-game matchup against the division-leading Atlanta Braves left them with a 43-40 record and six games out of first heading into the final weekend before the All-Star break. 

To make matters worse, the Phillies were staring at a four-game series against the surging, Central Division-leading Cincinnati Reds. The potential existed to be deeply buried at the figurative midseason breaking point.

But then something unlikely and uncharacteristic for the challenging 2010 season occurred—the Phillies found a way to pull off a series sweep and restore their hope for the second half. 

And, as big as it was to string together four victories, it was even more amazing considering the manner in which it was done. 

All four games could have gone either way. The first three were won on walk-off hits in extra innings—two of which landed in the outfield seats.

On Thursday night, the game seemed headed for the same recurring nightmare of the past two seasons when Brad Lidge blew a save opportunity in the ninth, allowing the Reds to knot the score at 3-3 with two outs.

But, rather than allow the game to turn into another frustrating defeat, they hung in until backup catcher Brian Schneider ended the game in the 12th with a home plate victory dance after depositing a ball well into the right field stands. 

The next night, the Reds jumped out to an early lead and appeared headed to an easy victory, sporting a 7-1 lead after adding an insurance run in the top of the ninth. What followed was something even the most optimistic Phillies fans could not conjure in their minds with late game heroics a fading memory. 

A small rally blossomed into an eruption when “below-the-Mendoza” Gregg Dobbs jacked a 434-foot, three-run bomb to cut the lead to 7-5. An out and a walk later, minor league fill-in Cody Ransom smacked another home run to stave off defeat. 

This time, after holding the Reds scoreless in the 10th, a Raul Ibanez double was followed by Ryan Howard’s big fly into the left field seats. For the second consecutive night, the hometown heroes finished the evening with a team-wide celebratory scrum at home plate. 

Fast forward to game three on Saturday night. Ace Roy Halladay demonstrated his considerable pitching skills once again, shutting out the league-leading offense through nine innings. 

Unfortunately, as has often been the case this year, the Phillies could muster very little offense themselves. In fact, rookie Travis Wood was shockingly heading towards baseball immortality by firing a perfect game, before Carlos Ruiz led off the ninth with a double. 

Wood escaped trouble, and the teams traded bagels until the bottom half of the 11th. Ruiz smacked another double and scored on Jimmy Rollins’s clutch two-out single to kick off the now familiar nightly celebration. 

The series finale on Sunday was not a walk-off, but was definitely another nail-biter. This time, the Phillies used the same Ruiz double, Rollins single combination to plate a run in the third inning and rode a brilliant Cole Hamels pitching performance to a 1-0 lead heading into the ninth. 

Of course, some drama ensued when Brad Lidge was called upon to nail down the save. This day, he was up to the task, demonstrating better command and his signature slider. 

For the weekend’s work, the Phillies crept a little closer to the Braves and are now breathing down the necks of the second place New York Mets. Just half a game out of second, the Phillies start the second half four-and-a-half games in back of the Braves. 

Besides the psychological lift of feeling that they are within striking distance, the manner in which the Phillies were able to sweep the Reds could provide the necessary boost they need to make another divisional run. 

As skipper Charlie Manuel noted, the team seemed to be missing a spark. Neither fans or players seemed to possess the confidence that this year’s team had its customary late inning heroics in its figurative DNA. 

Perhaps this past weekend’s events will restore that former feeling of invincibility and swagger that has permeated the team over the previous three seasons. 

And, make no mistake about it, that missing mojo will be instrumental to realizing the lofty goals set forth before this injury riddled season. 

The Phillies find themselves in the uncustomary position of playing catch-up, but a little mojo—and the return of the walking wounded—will go a long way towards recapturing the NL East. The Braves are good and will keep the pressure on, but perhaps players and fans will look back at “Walk-off Weekend” as this year’s turning point.

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The mystery is over.  No need to even have a vote.  We now know who the Most Valuable Player in the National League is.

It isn’t Albert Pujols, Adrian Gonzalez, or Ubaldo Jimenez.  He plays in the National League East, but he isn’t Hanley Ramirez, David Wright, Jason Heyward, or Ryan Zimmerman.  

The 2010 NL MVP plays for the Philadelphia Phillies, but he isn’t Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, or Roy Halladay.

The 2010 National League Most Valuable Player is none other than Jimmy Rollins.

Not on board with that idea yet?  No matter–I would not have been either if I had not seen it with my own eyes.  But the evidence is overwhelming.

The Phillies started the 2010 season with six wins in their first seven games, and frankly they were not close wins.  Only a 2-1 victory over the Houston Astros in the sixth game was decided by less than three runs.

Then Jimmy got hurt.  During the one month that Rollins was out–from April 12th through May 16–the Phillies went 17-12 and briefly fell out of first place in the NL East.

Jimmy returned on May 17th, with the Phillies getting the win in his first game back by a score of 12-2.  But J-Roll’s return was brief, as he went back on the disabled list after only five games back.

And that’s when things got bad.

The Phillies were without Rollins from May 22nd to June 21st–exactly one month’s worth of games–and history will remember it as the most brutal streak that the current incarnation of the Phillies has endured.

For the record: The Phillies went 9-17 during the time that Jimmy was out.  They were shut out six times, and scored only one run in four other games.  Out of nine total series during the time that Rollins was out, the Phillies won only two of them.  And, they went from 5.0 games up in the division to 5.5 games out of the lead in the division.

That ain’t the stuff that World Series teams are made of.

J-Roll returned to the Phillies lineup on June 22nd, and the Phillies have yet to lose.  More importantly, they are scoring again–after a 2-1 victory on Tuesday, the Phillies scored seven runs on Wednesday, 12 runs on Thursday, and (as of this writing) have nine runs in the eighth inning against Toronto.

Perhaps the most important statistic is this:

Assuming tonight’s game against the Blue Jays holds up, the Phillies will move to 12-3 with Rollins in the lineup, and 27-29 without.

At the end of the day, the picture these stats paint is too clear to ignore: with Jimmy Rollins in the lineup, the Phillies are a World Series team.  Without him, they struggle to stay about .500.

I don’t know who is going to come out on top in the NL MVP voting at the end of the year, but I can tell you right now who the Most Valuable Player in the National League is.

He plays shortstop for the Phillies, and he’s got them back on a roll.

A J-Roll.

Asher B. Chancey lives in Philadelphia and is a co-founder of BaseballEvolution.com .

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Philadelphia, PA—Coming back form the DL is a tough thing to do, especially if you’ve spent all but 14 games of the season away from your team.

Jimmy Rollins proved that his almost two months away from the Phillies was an afterthought with a two-run, walk-off home run to vault the Phillies over the Cleveland Indians 7-6, in game two of their three-game set at Citizens Banks Park on Wednesday night.

Rollins made up for his 1-for-5 night with the home run, which is not only his first hit since returning to the club but also the first walk-off homer of his career.

His shot, which was his third of the season, was the climax of a back-and-forth struggle between the Phillies and Indians and the second consecutive game that was decided by one run.

Neither team benefited from good starting pitching as Kyle Kendrick only lasted four innings and allowed five runs—four of them earned—on six hits and one strikeout.

Kendrick got knocked around early as Indians outfielder Shin-Soo Choo had a two-run homer of his own in the top of the first to put the Indians up early in the first.

Cleveland suffered from the mound as well as starter as Jake Westbrook allowed four runs on seven hits in five innings to get the no decision.

The Phillies got on the board in the bottom of the first when Ryan Howard grounded into a double play that scored Placido Polanco. The run was scored because of heads-up baserunning by Chase Utley, who slowed his attempt to second so that Polanco could score from third.

The Phillies tied things up in the bottom of the second when Jayson Werth had a lead-off homer, his 13th of the year, to tie things up at two apiece.

After Trevor Crowe lead off the third with a double for Cleveland, Carlos Santana scored him from third one out later on a sacrifice fly to center to give the Indians a 3-2 lead.

Raul Ibanez went 1-for-4 with a two-run double in the fourth inning that scored Werth and Howard.

Choo, fresh off his first innings shot, sent Kendrick to the shower in the fifth with his second two-run homer of the game to put the Indians back up 5-4.

The Phillies bullpen held the game steady as David Herndon and Mike Zagurski both pitched one and one-third innings of scoreless ball and Danys Baez closed out the seventh innings for the Phillies.

The Phillies added another run in the bottom of the seventh when catcher Brian Schneider hit his first home run of the season off Frank Herrmann to tie the game at five. That shot gave Herrmann his first blown save of the season.

Chad Durbin pitched a scoreless eighth inning but faced only one batter in the ninth after sustaining a right leg injury following an Anderson Hernandez lead-off single.

J.C. Romero (1-0) finished the top of the ninth, only allowing one hit and a walk. The one hit scored Trevor Crowe when Jimmy Rollins over threw second base on a fielder’s choice. The error gave the Indians a one-run lead heading into the bottom of the ninth.

After a Brian Schneider lead-off walk, pinch-hitter Ben Francisco advanced him to second on a groundout, which brought Rollins to the plate.

Rollins’ walk-off home run to right field gave the Phillies a guaranteed series win, which they haven’t had in interleague play in over a month and put Cleveland at 4-10 in interleague play this season.

The two teams will finish off the three-game set tonight as the Phillies will pitch Joe Blanton (2-5) against Fausto Carmona (6-5).

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Everyone, including Rollins, knew his ball was gone.

Jimmy Rollins had a slow start, coming off the DL Tuesday going 0-for-4 and not really contributing to the Phillies’ 2-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

Wednesday, however, was a different story—kind of.

Rollins was more of a liability than anything through the first eight and a half innings. He was once again 0-for-4 at the plate, and even had a throwing error to his credit (rare for Rollins) that allowed the Tribe to take a 6-5 lead in the top of the ninth inning.

But when Jimmy messes something like that up, he usually comes back and makes up for it in a big way—which is exactly what he did in the bottom of the final inning.

With a 1-1 count, one out, and a man on second, Rollins blasted a pitch right down the middle, just this side of fair, down the right field line, for his very first walk-off homerun of his career.

That’s right, for all the years Rollins has been around, that’s the first time he’s ever hit a walk-off homerun.

Brian Schneider and Jayson Werth both had key homeruns to keep the Phillies in the game as Kyle Kendrick got knocked around early and couldn’t even make it through five innings. He’s been a pleasant surprise this season, but he’s got to make sure he rebounds in his next start or Ruben Amaro, Jr. might have to put Pedro Martinez on speed dial.

Either that or pray J.A. Happ ever comes off the Mark Prior list.

For weeks, we’ve been looking for something to get this team jump-started. They’ve been playing on auto-pilot for so long and, unless something wakes them up very soon, it’s going to start getting very, very ugly.

I’m not sure if this walk-off shot will be enough to get the team energized, rally around one another, and start putting a stretch together, but it’s certainly nice to enjoy it for the time-being.

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So, let’s do the math. Heading into tonight’s game, the Philadelphia Phillies were 9-3 with Jimmy Rollins in the game, and 23-27 without him. 

Additionally, the hometown team has outscored opponents 74-35 with him, but have been outscored 226-201 with him idle. 

That’s a 290-point differential in winning percentage.

Breaking it down a little further, that represents a 3.75 swing in run differential per game. With Rollins, the Phillies recorded 3.25 runs more than their opponent, but have scored .50 runs less than their opponent without him. 

The numbers seem to serve testimony to the importance of Rollins in the Phillies formula for success. 

The Gold Glove shortstop has had a difficult time living up to expectations after his phenomenal 2007 MVP season. He set the bar at such a high level with a campaign that hit on all cylinders, magnificently displaying his five-tool skills, that perhaps his value to this Phillies ball club has been underestimated ever since. 

That season, J-Roll did everything but sing “God Bless America” during the seventh inning stretch, and handle the tarp during rain storms. Oh, yeah, he did that too, on one excessively windy day in Colorado.

Because his batting average and OBP have been down the past two seasons, it might be easy for critics to overlook all the other ways Rollins contributes to the team’s success. 

When J-Roll is swinging the bat well his value to the team is highly apparent. A leadoff man capable of spraying line drives around the yard, racing to take extra bases, swiping bags at a near perfect success rate, and going yard 30 times in a season will surely jump start any offense. 

When you layer on the fact that the same player grabs his glove to assume the most important position in the field and has been recognized as the best glove man in the business three years running—it becomes even easier to see why he is so sorely missed. 

But perhaps the Phillies recent slide points out that despite how talented Rollins is offensively and defensively, his greatest contribution might lie elsewhere. As much as players look up to Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and now Roy Halladay, none of them provides the spark supplied by Rollins. 

For much of his absence, the team has looked lifeless and listless. Levity throughout the ranks seems clearly AWOL without J-Roll’s infectious smile. A suffocating tightness seems to envelope the team.  

It is unclear when Rollins will be fit enough to return. Considering his premature return the first time around, the organization is rightfully taking a cautious approach. 

What is clear, though, is that Rollins is the type of difference-maker who could jolt a moribund team. The Phillies and their fans can only hope that comes sooner rather than later.

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Jamie Ambler and I are both Featured Columnists covering the Philadelphia Phillies for Bleacher Report.

As we quickly learned upon meeting one another and becoming acquainted with each other’s perspectives on the Phillies and sports in general, there is very little we agree on.

From Ryan Howard to the Phillie Phanatic to Mike Schmidt to Richie Ashburn, ask these two guys a question, and chances are we’ll disagree.

In honor of our bipolar views on the world of sports, we present the first installment of The Philadelphia Feud: a new weekly feature in which Jamie and I debate hot topics from the Phillies, the NL East, Major League Baseball, and the world of sports.

Away we go.

Begin Slideshow

So far 2010 has been filled with drama.

Teams go from boiling hot to freezing cold in an instant. Stars have been struggling more than ever.

Who would have thought Memorial Day weekend would leave so many marks this season?

Here are three 2010 Memorial Day Weekend shockers:

• The Philadelphia Phillies are a mess. The Phillies were swept badly by the Mets, who did not allow the Phillies to score a run in all three games. Who knew that was going to happen? Jimmy Rollins or not.

Now the Atlanta Braves lead the NL East, a position the Phillies have owned for two seasons. Jason Werth and Ryan Howard have got to hit or else this could get worse for the Phillies.

• The Toronto Blue Jays, who usually start out hot, look here to stay in 2010.

Who would have guessed the season after ace Roy Halladay gets traded to the Phillies Toronto would be more of a threat. Add that to an ice cold Aaron Hill at the plate, but the team has the most home runs in all of baseball with 89. Wait until Hill starts going, which is inevitable.

Nothing short of crazy stuff! Halladay wants a World Series ring. He felt as a Blue Jay hurt his chances. Halladay is pitching better than ever, as he just achieved the 20^th perfect game in baseball history.

Thank god! Now Dallas Brandon can finally shut up, as he doesn’t hold a candle to Mr. Halladay. Stick it grandma, your grandson is annoying.

The Blue Jays won’t let my Yankees breathe, who are sandwiching the World Series champs with the Rays on top.

• The walk-off home-run is the most exciting way to win. It will boost any team’s morale, and the fans go nuts. It is everybody’s kind of win; the best kind no doubt.

It has always been nothing but fun and Kenny Morales did that for his Angeles on Saturday in grand-slam style. As the Morales leaped to embrace his teammates at home plate, he broke his leg.

Morales is leading the Angels in hitting for 2010, and now is out for the season. Such bad luck making the joy of the walk-off a tragic win for the Angels.

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Has anyone seen that panic button anywhere?

After Thursday night’s shutout, the Philadelphia Phillies leave New York having not scored a single run in their three-game set there, and having been shut out four times in the last five games.

Charlie, we have a major problem: there is no good precedent for the Phillies being shut out for an entire series.

The last time the Phllies were shutout for an entire three game set was—strangely enough—also during the last week of May, back in 1979.  There, the Phillies were shutout by the Chicago Cubs on May 25, followed by a scoreless three game set against the Montreal Expos from May 29 to May 30.

It gets crazier: the Phillies record going into that game against the Cubs was 26-14, and once the Expos were done with them their record had fallen to 27-20.  Meanwhile, the current Phillies squad went into last Saturday’s shutout loss against the Boston Red Sox with a 26-15 record, and they are now 26-20.

The bad news, Phillies fans, is this: that was just the beginning of a bad run that eventually got manager Danny Ozark fired, and the 1979 Phillies team was the only squad out of five straight teams from 1976 to 1981 to not go to the playoffs.

Yikes.

There is good news, though: Cole Hamels pitched effectively against the Mets on Thursday.  Hamels pitching well at this point in the season is far more important to the Phillies ultimate goals than the Phillies offense scoring runs at this point in the season, so this is good news.

Still, it would also be nice to score some runs.

Meanwhile, the Phillies head to Florida for a three-game set starting tonight, and for the first time in a while the Phillies enter a series in a position to lose first place by the end of the series.

Worse yet, with all five teams in the NL East within three games of each other, the Phillies could, quite literally, be in last place by the end of this Marlins series.

Better keep that panic button at the ready.

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