53 thoughts on “Box Score Recap, 08 May 2012”

    1. Yeah we might be on the verge of Fontenot call-up. If Galvis isn’t getting regular playing time in Philly it makes sense to swap the two of them.

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      1. Obviously, he is seeing the ball well. I know a .349 BA in AAA doesn’t translate over to the Bigs, but it has to be in the .270-.290 range. We need offense and we need it now.

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      2. Fontenot up, Orr down would make more sense so they’d still have a great glove guy on the bench until Utley is back.

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  3. Nice looking line from J-Rod, though he did throw a ton of pitches. And this Darin Ruf person can seriously hit.

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  4. The Clearwater game box is not here. They did play tonight. Lost. But check on Hewitt and Asche.

    Buncha hits between them.

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    1. Crap sports day in Philly. 0-7 counting the Phils minor league clubs.

      Not much going on with the prospects either but at least Hewitt keeps it going.

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  6. I think that we are putting the jinx on these guys. Eldemire was praised by nearly everyone on this site and he’s batting .100 in his last 8 games. Altherr was on a tear and then we talk about him and he hits .087 in his last 6 games. Guys on this site are begging the Phils to call up Overbeck (not everyone, of course) and he proceeds to hit .095 in his last 6 games. The latest seems to be Fontenot. Let’s see what we do to him.

    I’m not sure the jinx works on pitchers. People on this site are yelling, hooting and hollering for a Diekman call up. Jake has continued to pitch like he belongs in the Majors.

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    1. Shhhhh, I want to whisper this. Mitchell’s hitting .368 in his last 5 games and he has 3 assists in 24 games played. In the words of Til Tuesday, “Hush, Hush keep it down now, voices carry.”.

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      1. At this point I am willing to let Mitchell replace Mayberry who has been a colossal failure this year.

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        1. Mayberry has no options left so if you intend to send him down you risk losing him altogether. Now I fell into the school of thought that Mayberry was a mirage last year since his MiLB production never came close to that, but I do think he is valuable enough that you don’t give up on him this early.

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          1. The things that Mayberry is doing wrong are so obvious. Where is Charlie the great hitting coach? It took years to correct Chooch’s swing. Now Mayberry is doing nearly the same thing. Watch his hands before he swings and you tell me .

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          2. Then use him as a throw in on a trade as he has little value to the Phillies now.

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          3. There is no reason to cut Mayberry. Although he may not turn out to be the next Jayson Werth, or even an ok everyday player, he still adds great value as a 4th or 5th OF. He plays good defense, plays all 3 OF positions and 1B, and is a good baserunner.

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  7. I’m definitely ready for some changes. Jake for starters needs to replace Savery, Give me someone else for Schwimmer. Fontenot for sure but for Orr…I’ll save Freddy for Defense until Utley is ready.

    And let me swan dive off the ledge…give me Ryne for Manuel. That decision to let Blanton bat for himself with runners on 2nd and 3rd 1 out was horrible.

    No guts no glory!

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    2. What a great Monday morning quarterback you are. Joe B was cruising through 6 innings after coming off a complete game shutout and multiple games where our bullpen couldn’t get anybody out. If Charlie pulls Joe there and the bullpen implodes, you and others would be damning him for pulling a starter who was cruising along.

      Now for my criticisms, get Orr out of the lineup. He can’t add offensively what he takes away defensively compared to Galvis. Get Fontenot up here and mix and match at second between the two.

      Get Diekman up now – send down Savery or Schwimer who walks the first batter he faces every time he pitches.

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    3. Manuel is not a National League Manager. Most of his success came when Jimmy Williams was coaching. He’s a good player’s coach and he has general baseball knowledge, but I’d be willing to give Ryne the job if the Phils don’t make the WS again this year.

      I agree that the Phillies need to make some changes player-wise as well. Pete Orr is not a viable option at second. If Fontenot keeps hitting like he is now, then bring him up. Ruf has to be promoted to at least AAA the way he’s hitting.

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      1. Yes in the 2 seasons we had Jimy Williams we our first division title sine 93 and then a WS title, but in the 3 seasons since his departure the Phillies have returned to the WS, had the best record in the NL and then set a franchise record for wins while having the best best record in baseball.

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  8. Its time to remake the bullpen before they get 10 games out of first
    —- Put Kendrick in the 7 inning slot
    —- Split the 8th inning between Diekman and Bastardo
    —-Papelbon in the 9th

    Release Contreas and Sanches , return Savery and Schwimmer to AAA. Make Quails your mop up long relief guy since you are stuck with him .

    If any RP in Reading shows any promise promote them to AAA and demote Schwimmer and Savery since they have no major league future.

    –

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  9. I still say Bastardo’s trouble started when Cholly used his three days in a row after the race was over. Let’s face it he was been the wrong manager for this club for two years. He is a nice man and I would be happy to have him to dinner but he only manages one way. How long will it take
    after Utley comes back and he is playing every inning.

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    1. I think it is pretty well accepted that Dubee runs the pitching on the Phillies. At the very least, he must have been on board with the use of Bastardo. Lots of people are blaming Charlie for all the problems, but he didn’t deplete the farm system, build a team out of older players or cause all the injuries. He can be blamed for strategic gaffes and the lineups he puts out. I only hold Charlie responsible for about 25% of the problems this year.

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      1. Disagree in that your percentage is way too low and we have wrecked by injuries. Do you really think Charlie would use young players on his own? Charlie has mismanaged many games this year and has never been known for his strategic skills.

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        1. Charlie will use young players if they do the job. He probably uses Galvis too much. Remember, he can only use players on the roster. What young players on the roster that are doing the job has he not used?

          Many of the so-called mismanaged games are actually debatable. For example, letting Blanton bat last night in the 6th with men on 2nd and 3rd. Some say pinch hitting at that point was a no-brainer. However, when you consider the recent performance of the bullpen; whom would you trust to protect the lead in the 7th and 8th innings if you did that?

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      2. ‘I only hold Charlie responsible for about 25% of the problems this year.’…..so thats 4 games lost out of 17!

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        1. Anon, if you want to look at it that way, remember in baseball even the best teams lose one game out of every three. Last year, for example, in the regular season, the Phillies won 102 and lost 60 out of 162, more than one-third of the time. Right now the Phillies are 14-18. At best they could be expected to be 22-10. So, they have 8 losses more than if they were exceptional. 25% of 8 is 2 losses that Charlie can be blamed for. In general, it is my view that in baseball the manager gets way too much credit when the team wins and way too much blame when they lose. It is mostly about the players-if the Phillie bullpen was doing the job they would be something like 19-13 right now.

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  10. Don’t look now, but Darin Ruf is forcing people to pay attention to him. His age is what it is, but he has hit everywhere he has played and, unlike Overbeck, has shown advanced on base percentage skills. Up until now, the complaint about him in Reading was that he was not hitting for power. That seems also to be changing. He just hit his 5th home run today, has knocked in 4 runs this afternoon and his batting average is up to .384. This guy is a serious dark horse candidate – don’t write him off, at least not yet. I’d love to see him in Lehigh by the middle of June.

    Also, Pettibone is having his first really strong game as a starter in AA – showing what we expected at the beginning of the year.

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    1. What’s your take on Pettibone’s upside, I haven’t seen a lot of him but in the games i’ve seen I wasn’t overly impressed but I know he was highly ranked on this site’s top 30. Just for the record I’m not saying he’s not good or bad as I’m still getting comfortable with the phils prospects.

      Also in terms of Ruf, every time i’ve seen him he seems to hit but wasn’t impressed with his glove at 1st. I know the talk about his age for AA but any chance he moves up to AAA this year and do you consider him a legit prospect as I don’t recall seeing him get ranked in the last top 30.

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      1. Apparently, Pettibone throws hard and usually has good command, but up until this year he had very low strikeout rates. His ability to fool hitters or miss bats will, as far as I’m concerned, be the determining factor of how far he can go and there has been a recent uptick in his strikes, which is good. His upside is probably as a mid-rotation starter. HIs downside is probably as a middle reliever.

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    2. Wow, I forgot this was a prospect thread. Thought we were in the Open Discussion.

      I’m still super skeptical on Ruf. I know people say there’s not a lot of difference between AA and AAA but there’s enough of one that I’d at least like to see Ruf there before I get semi excited about him.

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      1. I agree that, for many players, there is a big difference between AA and AAA, Matt Rizzotti is proof of that. That having been said, Ruf is now doing literally everything that could possibly be asked of him. Hit for average – check (.389!!!!). Good on base percentage – check. Hit for at least moderate power – check. I will also say that I saw Ruf at bat this weekend and was very impressed with his size, stroke, and balance at the plate and his truly excellent contact abilities. He truly looks like a fine hitter. The question is whether he can hit the most advanced pitching.

        We need to see what he can do in AAA, but it’s very possible that Ruf is still improving. This is his age 25 year and seems to be on a continued upward trend, particularly considering that this is his first year in AA.

        Who knows what will happen but I, for one, am keeping an open mind. With the hitting problems of our big leaguers I can’t afford to be pessimistic.

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        1. Well he’s definitely earned his chance based on his AA performance. And because of his age I’d like to see him moved up ASAP. Overbeck could DH. The Phillies never seem to be in a rush with any of these guys though, so I won’t hold my breath.

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  11. Ruf reminds me of a RH Rizz….yes he can hit but in the NL you also have to play adequate defense somewhere unless they wanted to use him as they are using Kratz right now.

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    1. I haven’t heard of any problems with Ruf’s defense. I don’t think it’s a good comparison. Also, if I recall Ruf has performed well at most levels; where as Rizz emerged after a few years of not doing much.

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      1. The Rizz has over 2200 Minor league PA’s and he’s a .290 career hitter with a .860 OPS Ruf has over 1400 PA’s now and is career .306 with roughly the same OPS. I cannot speak to his defense he may be decent but that is not what I have heard.

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        1. Another thing they have in common: Neither will ever see a Phillies uniform and have meaningful playing time as they are career minor leaguers.

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  12. I agree that Darin Ruf needs to be sent to AAA now . @ 25 yrs old what are thet waiting for ? Right now he has the highest BA in their organization. . Diekman @ 25 needs to be with the big club especially with all their middle relief problems.

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        1. Yes, I thought I heard that Sanches would have to clear waivers to be sent back down. Might as well put that off for a little while longer as he wasn’t any less effective than Schwimer. Sanches has had a moderate amount of major league success as a mediocre middle reliever the last couple of seasons. Schwimer cannot say the same at this point.

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          1. I’d just let him and his double digit ERA go…middle relievers are not in short supply.

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  14. just wondering. Read a while back.that rice kills there pitchers, just thinking did any good pitchers come out of rice. I actually want heradon back and i hate him but cant watch, savery, schwimer or qualls anymore please no more

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    2. Last night’s winning pitcher, Tim Byrdak, came from Rice!

      Others include Norm Charlton, perfect game thrower Phil Humber, and TJ patient David Aardsma. Niemann is the only Rice pitcher to have a career as a starting pitcher.

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  15. The problem with Darin Ruf is that at 25 years old, he’s more or less at his peak. He’s a .306 career hitter in the minors. That’s good, but translate it to an MLB line and is it good enough to play? Probably not. But it’s always fun to watch those older productive players in the minors.

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  16. yes anyonymous the guy is famous. 40-26 4 pick in draft. and is almost thirty, what is so great about this guy, 566 inning with 400 strikeouts. nothing to brag about.

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