The Philadelphia Phillies cured? Say it isn’t so.
But what if that figment of our imagination came true? What if the World Series favorite Philadelphia Phillies were indeed cursed from here on out?
Looking at the way this team is shaping up for the 2011 season, I’d put my money on the Phillies being cursed… here’s why.
With Opening Day nearly a week away, the Philadelphia Phillies pitching staff is still the top topic of preseason predictions. On paper, the Phils should easily pitch their way to the World Series, but so many things can happen over the course of the season that nothing is certain.
Roy Oswalt’s frightening experience on the hill on Wednesday proved that seasons can be altered in the swing of a bat.
Oswalt took a line drive to the back of the neck in the fourth inning of a Spring Training matchup with the Rays. Manny Ramirez‘s blast sent him to the dirt, but fortunately he only ended up with a nasty bruise and was able to walk off on his own without losing consciousness.
His X-rays were negative, but one thing is positive in Philadelphia, things could have been much worse for the most talked up rotation in the MLB.
Oswalt is lucky he didn’t end up with a serious injury. The Phils have yet to rule out a concussion, but Charlie Manuel expects him to make his next start. Nevertheless, Oswalt took a scary shot and it showed how vulnerable pitchers are on the mound.
Chances are the Phillies’ rotation will be the best around, but fans can only hope that freak accidents and injuries don’t send their stars to the DL.
Baseball may not seem as dangerous as football or hockey, but promising players can be sidelined quicker than a fastball passes over the plate. The ability to stay healthy and consistent over 162 games will determine if the Phillies will live up to their great expectations.
Such factors can cause the downfall of credible preseason predictions. Analysts can only guess. Sports are simply unpredictable.
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When you go through Spring Training, you don’t expect to have to see players go down due to injury. Nonetheless, it does happen, and when it’s a line drive right back to the pitcher, it’s always a very concerning moment, since you worry if the pitcher’s going to be alright.
Such a situation happened today in an exhibition game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays. Roy Oswalt was facing Manny Ramirez in the bottom of the fourth inning. Ramirez hit the ball right back to Oswalt, and he went down.
While the video looked like he was hit in the upper back, the slowed down replay showed he was instead hit behind the ear, on the neck. He was able to get up on his own power, and didn’t look to have any serious aftereffects from the shot.
He was taken to a hospital, and X-rays done were negative. Oswalt also noted that he did not suffer from any dizziness or concussion symptoms, though he did end up with a neck bruise.
The big story here is, of course, that a crisis was averted. Shots like that can go badly so easily, and he could have ended up with a concussion or even a broken neck had it hit slightly over.
There are probably some people out there that want to blame Manny Ramirez for the shot, but that would just be foolish. One can’t magically dictate exactly where a ball is going to go when they hit it, so I would hope no one really believe that was meant to happen.
It’s too early to tell if Oswalt will miss any time as a result of this, though I would imagine his preseason is over just to be on the safe side. After all, we know he’s going to be one of the stars in the rotation, so he might as well look forward to that.
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We’re well into spring training, and some story lines with the Philadelphia Phillies have emerged.
Ben Francisco has been stellar and is ready to replace Jayson Werth in right. We may even see Francisco in Werth’s 5-hole slot by season’s end.
Domonic Brown broke his hand at the wrong time. He’s been in free fall in camp, and he needed as much spring training as possible. He needs to regain his confidence.
Chase Utley’s knee has raised some concerns.
Other than that, everything’s just dandy.
With spring training in full bloom, it’s never too early to start thinking ahead. For all the promise teams show at this stage of the game, there is always the possibility of finishing below expectations. When that happens, there will be plenty of teams trying to make the best of a bad situation.
Whether that’s taking care of their economic safety or trying to put the pieces in place to build for the future, changes will be made.
The biggest chip most teams have is their staff ace. There is no bigger commodity in baseball than a pitcher with experience, promise or a balanced combination of both. So when things go south for a team, or a glaring need arises elsewhere, a team might be forced to part with their most proven arm.
The good news is that wherever an ace is available, interested parties aren’t far away. So here’s a look at the 10 staff aces most likely to be traded this season.
At first glance, identifying the five best catching prospects in the Houston Astros’ system is like deciding which Jersey Shore cast member to invite to your niece’s Christening. It’s a quandary, really*. Your options are pretty bad across the board.
Scouring the Houston system for promising catchers wasn’t easy; in fact, it was darn near impossible. Truth be told, I was tempted to just start and end this list with the words “Craig Biggio” and hope everyone reading was 45 or older. Fortunately, my better judgment won out; the last thing I need is all 12 Astro’s fans mad at me**. I’ve never messed with Texas, and believe me, I don’t plan on starting now.
But seriously, as Astros fans flock to the ‘net in need of baseball info, it’s our job at Bleacher Report to try our best to make the best of a bad situation, so I’ve compiled a list of the five most promising catching prospects in the Houston system.
Proceed with caution: you’re about to miss Brad Ausmus more than you ever thought you could.
(Author’s note No. 1: Any Jersey Shore aficionado knows the clear answer to this question is Vinny. If a question is ever aimed at determining which of the Seaside gorillas is the most normal, acceptable, or redeemable, the answer is always Vinny.)
(Author’s note No. 2: Kidddingggggg…)
Just when you thought the offseason couldn’t get any worse for the New York Yankees, there is now talk of CC Sabathia possibly opting out of his contract after the 2011 season.
Considering Andy Pettitte’s retirement last week, that would be very, very bad news for Yankees fans with AJ Burnett projected as the team’s ace in 2012 were CC to leave.
Sabathia originally signed a seven-year $161 million contract with New York prior to the 2009 MLB Season. The contract includes an opt-out clause after the third year (2011) which would allow the lefty to become a free agent again or pursue an even better extension with the Yankees.
In October during the team’s playoff run, CC Sabathia told reporters that he had no intentions of opting out of his contract. Now on Monday in Tampa, FLA with a new season looming, Sabathia is changing his tune.
When asked if he would opt out of his contract, Sabathia replied,”I have no idea. It’s still in my contract, anything can happen.”
It is possible that Sabathia truly doesn’t know what he will do following the 2011 MLB Season, it is also possible that his agent instructed him to say that in order to get the New York Yankees thinking about life without CC and what they would do not to lose him.
I think he knows exactly what he intends to do next season. Like LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh scheming to join the Miami Heat in 2010, it is my best guess that CC Sabathia intends to partner with friend and former Cleveland Indian teammate Cliff Lee and join the Philadelphia Phillies in 2012.
It might seem unlikely, but did you ever think Lee would be going to Philadelphia instead of New York or Texas? I didn’t think so.
For the 2012 season, it should be a reasonable assumption that the Philadelphia Phillies will contain both Jimmy Rollins and Roy Oswalt. In 2010, Rollins had a down year due to the fact that he spent nearly half of the season on the disabled list. However, it is safe to assume that he will return to form in 2010.
Rollins is a veteran and a star, and he knows what is at stake this year. This could be the only opportunity that he will have to play with a rotation of this caliber, and, beyond the chances of a repeat of a World Series championship, his career is also at stake, as this is the last year of his contract.
Oswalt is a proven ace, who still has yet to lose a game in Citizens Bank Park as a Phillie. He still ranks as one of the top pitchers currently in baseball and finds himself among the best rotation that exists in baseball today. At the end of the 2011 season, there is a mutual $16 million option to stay with the Phillies for the 2012 season. If that option is not taken by either party, we will likely see Oswalt retire, although I think that he would take a serious pay cut to stay with the Phillies before he actually retired.
Rollins will produce a season much more like his 2008 and 2009 seasons to ensure his longevity with the Phillies organization, and Oswalt will continue to hand his command on the mound for this coming season. Expect both of these players to have great 2011 seasons and be on the Phillies roster for 2012.
However, for the sake of argument, let us assume that the Phillies can only or will only spend the amount of money to keep both of these players. Which of these players has more to offer to the organization and would be more worth paying to keep as a Phillie? I think that if we examine the 2010 season, we can assume that Oswalt brings a talent to the organization that would be harder to replace than it would be to replace the talent that Rollins brings.
We saw a 2010 season where Rollins was missing from nearly half of it. Of 162 regular season games, Rollins played in 88 of those games. Even with Rollins missing half of the season, the Phillies had the best regular season record in all of baseball. It would be much more difficult and expensive to find a replacement for Oswalt than it would be for Rollins, especially since the Phillies could look within their own organization to find some to replace Rollins who could produce very comparable numbers.
I am, of course, speaking of Wilson Valdez. Valdez sometimes gets criticized for not producing offensively, but this is not quite fair. Valdez may have less ability to hit home runs or steal bases than Rollins, but he still is quite able to do so. Valdez filled in for Rollins a lot this season, having played in 111 games, still not quite the numbers for a full season, so his numbers would be north of where they were had he been an everyday starter.
That being said, Valdez had seven stolen bases and was never caught in 2010. He also hit four homeruns. With stolen bases, Rollins had 17 and was caught once, so Valdez is not quite to Rollin’s ability, but they compare more closely when it comes to other aspects of batting.
Rollins batted for an average of .243 with 41 RBIs, an on-base percentage of .320 and a slugging percentage of .374. Valdez, on the other hand, batted for an average of .258 with 35 RBIs, an on-base percentage of .306 and a slugging percentage of .360. I should also mention that Rollins made $8.5 million in 2010, whereas Valdez only made $400,000. Valdez is only entering his sixth year as a professional player—although he is technically six months older than Rollins—and will not be eligible for free agency until after this season.
When comparing Oswalt to the rest of the pitching in the majors, he was eighth with ERA, second with WHIP, 18th with strikeouts and 33rd with wins; however, that last stat would likely have been higher if he had not played the first half of the season in Houston. Oswalt’s 2010 stats were a 2.76 ERA, 13-13 Record, 193 strikeouts, 55 walks, and a 1.03 WHIP. With the starting pitcher free agents who are due to hit the market after the 2011 season, only two pitchers can really compare to Oswalt, Chris Carpenter and Cole Hamels.
Even if the Phillies went the route of trying to sign a free agent to replace Oswalt, they would be paying top dollar to replace him or, more likely, sign someone who does not really hold a candle light to what they could get out of Oswalt. If the Phillies tried to trade for someone to replace Oswalt, the cost would likely be too great to either the everyday starters or the farm system. Rollins could be replaced from within at a fraction of the cost and see similar results.
Oswalt would not be nearly as easy to replace, not that replacing Rollins is easy, and finding one from within may be difficult. Vance Worley has potential, but I will not claim that he is Oswalt’s caliber until he proves it, nor would I bet on it. Oswalt is a quality pitcher that is rarely found in baseball, especially at his consistency.
Overall, the Phillies would be better off with keeping Oswalt and letting Rollins go than they would be if they kept Rollins and let Oswalt go. I would expect both players to remain a Phillie, but if we could only pick one, Oswalt is the better option for the team to keep.
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The Houston Astros have always had a team that was based on strong pitching. From the 1980s with Mike Scott, J.R. Richard and Nolan Ryan to their most recent World Series run with Roy Oswalt, Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte.
When the Astros have had success, you can bet they had one or more superb pitcher behind it. The Astros have used strong pitching to secure six division titles, two wild card berths and one National League pennant. I have compiled a list of who I think are the top 15 starting pitchers in the history of the Houston Astros.
Pitching is a vital part of the game, and with the Phillies rotation we are expecting a few World Series championships.
With Cliff Lee going along with Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels, we are all expecting the greatest starting rotation of the decade, or even of our lives!
This has sparked a lot of historical comparisons, to the Braves of old and to others. This got me thinking, “Who are the best pitchers in Phillies’ history?” This slideshow is devoted to just that. Covering 3 centuries (19th, 20th and 21st) of Phillies’ history, here are the top 25 pitchers of the franchise.
3 Things To Remember:
1. All stats are with team unless specified otherwise.
2. Some of these players are very old and there are not many if any pictures of them.
3. Some rankings had to be adjusted according to era..